Like a scene from a crime movie, it started with the discovery of a large sum of money on a train. But rather than closing with a violent shootout and a string of dead bodies, this story has a happy ending.

Train attendant Alla Alitova from Volgograd made an unusual discovery as she was checking over the train she had just worked on. She found a bag with eight million roubles in cash – that’s about $340,000.

Being an alert stewardess, she knew exactly who owned it.  Alla remembered the man who occupied one of the most expensive cabins on the train.  He ordered three bottles of high-quality vodka on the journey – and drank them all.  She remembered that he seemed to be in the best of moods at the time. 

While many would have been tempted to hang on to the money, Alla had no such ideas.  She says other people’s money can’t bring you happiness, so she called the police. 

Detectives immediately launched a search to locate the man who’d lost the bag of cash.

Two days later a local businessman showed up to claim it.  It turned out he’d made a killing on a deal and decided to have some vodka to celebrate. But one bottle of vodka became three.  He was so drunk when he got off the train, he left the money behind.

The police were suspicious to start with.  But the man presented all the declarations and documents, proving he earned the cash by legal means.

It isn’t known whether he rewarded Alla for her honesty.