Mark was holding an ice pack near his left eye, where a huge bruise was already spreading. The policeman sat across from him and asked him how and what had happened, offered him painkillers and filled out paperwork at the same time.
– I just got into the elevator and realized that the light bulb was out. Someone had broken it, as there was glass on the floor – I lit it with a flashlight. Before I could do anything, some big guy burst into the cabin, hit me in the face with either his elbow or his fist, and took away my cell phone…
The policeman initially thought it was an ordinary robbery, but he was concerned about the fact that it had been planned. Since it was a regular apartment building, you could have bumped into a kid or a senior citizen who wouldn’t have had any money or the latest version of a brand new phone, and whoever attacked clearly knew what to take from the victim.
– Tell me, couldn’t this have been a joke by some acquaintance of yours? Or a malcontent?
– A joke?! – Mark exclaimed, putting the bag aside. – Have you seen my face? Does it look like a joke?
Mark hesitated after the man’s question, figuring he had no enemies that way. He’s just a quiet third-year student, never got into any trouble, but…
– I recently broke up with my girlfriend,” he began.
– You think your girlfriend could have done this to you? – The policeman was surprised.
– No, she’s twenty centimeters shorter than me, and she’s tiny, but her brother Philip is a bully. The girl gave me that phone a couple of weeks before we broke up. After we broke up, I received a text message from an unknown number, demanding that the phone be returned to its rightful owner. The girl said that she didn’t write anything and that she didn’t need the phone for nothing. But what if her brother decided to give it back this way? He never liked me.
It was just a hunch, a finger in the sky, but a week later Mark got a call from the policeman who was investigating the attack.
– You were absolutely right. We found your phone at Philip’s. He was mad at you for dumping his sister and decided to teach you a lesson. He just wanted to take the phone, but you resisted, so he hit you. Come to the station tomorrow, we’ll deal with it.
