The new burglar

There was a burglary in our house in Indiranagar, Bengaluru, some years ago. We had gone out of station for some days. When we returned and tried to open the door, it was bolted from inside. The thief had gained entry into the house through the back door. However, not many things were missing. One saree from the wardrobe, a small copper vessel and Rs 50 from an old purse was all that was taken away. Some dollar bills in the purse were not touched. Because the loss was not much, I decided not to report it to the police. I checked with the crime reporter of my paper, Deccan Herald, and he concurred.

After two months, the reporter came to me and said that articles recovered from thieves were exhibited in the police station. Owners could go there, identify the articles and claim them. I gave him a description of the copper vessel, which was a curio. The next time he went to the station, he looked for it but couldn’t find it. The inspector asked him what he was looking for and he was told about the burglary. The inspector said the article wouldn’t be there if the theft was not reported, but in any case, he would try. He asked for the location of my house.

The inspector then told a constable, “Go and fetch Velu.” The constable returned 20 minutes later with a short man in a lungi. A stern look, and some conversation, “Did you go to a house on 9th Main two months ago?” The man thought a bit and said, “No, sir.” The inspector stiffened and rose up from his seat, “Better tell me…” The man said again, “No, sir. Haven’t gone that side in many weeks.” Some stomping on the ground also did not help, the man stood his ground. The inspector told the man, “OK, go, but don’t forget this place.” As the man left, he had a worried look on his face.

The inspector said, “See, this is the thief of that area. But he didn’t do this. Can’t do anything now.” And then he added, “You saw the worried look on his face? You know why? He knows that somebody has come into his territory and he has competition now. Now, that is a worry for us, too. We have to find this new man.”

When the reporter met the inspector after some days, he asked him whether they had found the new thief. The inspector said, “Not yet, we were busy. But the other day, when we were on our night rounds, we ran into Velu. He was on his own rounds, looking for the guy. Velu will get him for us.”