Tic-Tac

"Only external wounds," the doctor informed. "Fortunately the inside wound wasn't too severe, so it just needed a period of recovery."

"Thank you, Doctor ...," said Hafiz who was lying on a hospital bed with several bandages tied around his head, arms, and thighs.

"Okay then I'll excuse myself," said the doctor who then walked away to open the door and left the room. Before the door to the room was closed, an old man entered the room.

"Thank you, you have intended to help me chase the pickpocket," said the old man after bringing a chair closer to the bed. "And it's because of me that you've had this bad experience." The old man took his seat.

"It's okay sir, it's not your fault," said Hafiz reassuringly. "I'm just being unlucky today."

"You can't say that," said Old Man. "Misfortune always comes with luck, today you were unlucky to be beaten by people, but you were lucky not to die. There are so many people who are not as lucky as you who died from being beaten." The old man gave advice. "What is your name?"

"Hafiz, sir."

"My name is Muhammad Rudi," explained the old man. "People call me Professor Mat Rudi. I'm a physics lecturer."

"Am I not bothering you? Perhaps you have other more important things to do at the moment?" asked Hafiz.

"It's fine, making sure you're okay for now is my responsibility," said the Professor.

"Then what about your wallet?" asked Hafiz.

"Money is not the big deal, but there are more important things in the purse," explained the Professor. "Jibril and his men are hunting for the perpetrators, after all that is their job."

"Jibril who?" asked Hafiz.

***

In an unused shop. With the condition of the rolling door which is half broken, it shows a gap that is enough for one slender person to enter. He was forcibly smashed by three people in police uniforms, one of whom was a leader with a thin beard and a large and athletic body.

Brrrraaakk...!!!

Everyone in the shophouse was surprised to see him, including a teenager who became a pickpocket at the station.

"Run! There are police!" shouted the teenager who saw it from the inside. He immediately ran to the back door. Followed by another friend who was also surprised to see the arrival of the police.

But the three policemen did not chase him, they remained standing around the rolling door and slowly entered holding the gun with both hands on alert.

"You guys, search this place!" the police chief said firmly to his two men.

"Yes Sir!" both answered firmly.

Arriving at the back door, the group of pickpockets who ran immediately stopped their steps when they saw three more policemen standing in front of the back door. This time equipped with a protective helmet and long-barreled weapons.

"Hands up and don't move!" sternly threatened one of the three policemen by pointing a gun.

The group of pickpockets raised their hands as they slowly retreated. Now their number is not only five people, but very many and consists of various ages ranging from children to the elderly.

"Everyone... quickly face the wall! Put your head on the wall and put your hands behind your back!" ordered one of the three policemen while then handcuffing them one by one.

The other three policemen who had ambushed from the front door now joined in, among the three being the leader.

"Quickly line up!" commanded the police chief who was big and athletic. "Get in the car in order!"

They also lined up to a truck that had been prepared to catch the pickpockets. Three of the six police officers, including the leader, are tasked with searching and gathering evidence. While the three leaders arranged a line of pickpockets to board the car.

"I didn't think, almost every day we patrol this area but I didn't think that this was their headquarters that we had been looking for," said the police chief to one of his eldest subordinates. "You're doing pretty well Ali."

"Thank you commander Jibril." said his men. "This cannot be separated from the information and investigation orders that the commander gave after the incident at Gambir Station yesterday."

"How about it, Eko? Has all the evidence been collected?" asked the commander Jibril to another of his men.

"Ready commander, I have collected everything." Answered his men while carrying a container containing a lot of stolen goods.

Jibril took one of the evidences. "This is the wallet that belonged to the old man who was stolen at the station yesterday, I will return it."

"Ready commander," replied his subordinate named E

I said.

When the three of them were about to get out to go to the car, suddenly one of his men who was in charge of leading the perpetrators into the car arrived.

"Report the commander, it turns out that the leader of the pickpocket was not among them," the subordinate said.

Jibril was surprised to hear that, her eyes immediately scanned the ceiling of the building to make sure that everything had been thoroughly searched.

"Looks like he already knew we were coming," said Ali, who had been quietly looking down to think about it.

***

"Drink this, Father has made this hot tea for you." said the professor while bringing warm tea to Hafiz who was lying on the bed.

"Thank you, Prof," said Hafiz who now took a position to sit down and immediately drank the hot tea.

"That's how Indonesians are," said the professor, then smiled. "Whatever the pain, hot tea is the solution."

Hafiz also responded to his joke with a small laugh.

Knock... Knock... Knock...

"Excuse me...!"

"Please come in!" Prof. Rudi's orders.

Enter a large man with a thin beard. then stood closer to the Professor who was beside the bed where Hafiz was lying.

"This is his wallet, Prof. Please check and let me know if anything is missing," said the man while handing his wallet to the professor.

"Thank you, Jibril," said the professor as he checked the contents of his wallet and smiled a little. "Looks like the money has been reduced, but that's not a problem because what matters is the other things in this wallet"

"You're welcome, sir. Because of what happened to you, my men and I were finally able to find their headquarters," said Jibril.

"Hafiz, how are you?" Jibril asked changing her gaze.

"It's getting better, thank you, sir," said Hafiz.

"I'm sorry, it's because of me you..."

"It's not your fault, sir," interrupted Hafiz. "It was I who was not lucky."

"Then what about the pickpockets?" chirps Professor changing topic. "Don't be too harsh with children, maybe they are doing this because of economic demands."

"We don't know the motive yet," said Jibril. "But the number of them turns out to be very large, and not only teenagers, there are also small children from elementary school age to parents your age."

"Then they are organized," the Professor continued. "There must be a big man leading them."

"That's the problem, their leader is running away," said Jibril. "It seems that he already knew of our arrival, and according to my suspicions, there is one person from the police who leaked information about this ambush."

"Is there really a policeman who is friends with criminals?" Hafiz said.

"Wohoo a lot," replied Jibril. "So you see, the enemy of bad people is not necessarily all good people, he could be worse than bad people. Because usually they are among good people to cover their bad."

"People like that are more dangerous than robbers and murderers, they can commit crimes without being known as evil, without getting their hands dirty," explained the professor.

***