The Case of the Unusual Thief
Chapter 1
A man was walking with brisk steps towards a huge glass building. He was quite handsome looking with over six feet tall. He had blue eyes and reddish-brown hair which ruffled with the evening breeze. He carried a battered looking suitcase in one hand.
When he finally reached his destination, he stood looking at the glass building quite apprehensively. This would be his second visit in a week. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet the stern woman upstairs for the second time.
'It's all because of you' the man whispered to nobody in particular which struck the guard as very odd, who had been observing that man for quite some time now.
'Can I help you with something?' the guard finally asked the man.
The man nodded. Trying not to look too suspicious he said, I need to go down to Level one below. Can you tell me the way?'
'Take the staircase on your left. But there is nothing there! A man who was in garment business owned a little shop but then one day he shut it and never came back. It has been years since the owner moved out.' said the guard.
'That's fine. Thank you so much' said the man. And without further ado, he walked away towards the staircase on the left.
CID Bureau, Mumbai -
A mess of newspapers lay on one of the desks. The headline in bold black letters read Whodunit! Robbery hits city of Mumbai, Police clueless about the culprit.
Another newspaper lay blocking the full report of the first one which bore the headline: Five thefts in 24 hours, CID steps in to solve the intriguing case.
ACP Pradyuman was pacing back and forth in the CID Bureau, a frown etched on his face.
Daya let out an impatient sigh and chanced a glance at Abhijeet who was looking irritable.
'I just don't get it! How can this thief vanish into thin air every time?' ACP Pradyuman said suddenly, making them all jump.
'Sir' Freddy came into the Bureau looking disappointed.
'What have you got for us, Freddy?' asked ACP Pradyuman.
'Nothing interesting sir' said Freddy gloomily. 'This robbery too was carried out exactly like the previous ones. All jewellery missing, no fingerprints and nobody's seen anything out of ordinary'
'How is this possible? How come nobody spotted anything suspicious?' said Daya.
'Sir, I think these robberies are carried out by the same person. The culprit is following almost the same pattern of robbing the houses. All the houses look like they have been struck by some natural disaster with everything strewn on the floor. This indicates that burglar conducted a thorough search before doing the actual stealing. Surprisingly, he doesn't leave a single clue as to how he gained entry in the house nor does he leave any fingerprints.' said Abhijeet.
'You are quite right but who could that be? Is it only one person or a gang? We need to get to the root of this as soon as possible' said ACP Pradyuman.
'I can't think whose house the thief would target next. How are we going to track him down if we don't know his next move?' said Daya.
'Maybe we should try to decipher how he chooses his targets. Maybe they know each other or maybe they are in the same profession... I don't know. But's that's the only thing I can think of at the moment' said Abhijeet.
'Sir, unfortunately, none of the victims had CCTV cameras in their houses. Else we would have caught the thief by now' said Freddy.
'I think Abhijeet has got a point. There must be something in common among all the victims. And if we can predict the place of next robbery, we will have the thief behind bars in no time.' said ACP Pradyuman.
'He seems to have targeted a particular locality. All the victims lived quite nearby' said Abhijeet.
'Well, I think there is nothing we can do about it at the moment. We will try the find that common thread tomorrow' said ACP Pradyuman at last and Abhijeet grinned triumphantly.
'Thank god, he left us early' he muttered to Daya and they descended down the staircase.
'Seems you are quite in a hurry' said Daya.
'But I told you yesterday! I am taking Tarika for a dinner date tonight, remember?' said Abhijeet.
'Oh, right. I totally forgot. Lucky we got off early. Well, have a great time.' Daya smiled at him.
'Yes, I will see you tomorrow then' said Abhijeet as they bid goodbye
Whistling softly to himself, Abhijeet drove home. He had promised that he would pick up Tarika in next one hour.
Dinner with Tarika was a lively and rather romantic affair. They talked and laughed and indeed had a great time. By the time, Abhijeet dropped her home, the moon had come out in the sky. Tarika shivered in the night breeze.
When they were a few feet away from her door, Tarika turned to Abhijeet, 'Thanks for the lovely dinner Abhi! I really enjoyed it'
'My pleasure' said Abhijeet in a very gentlemanlike voice.
'Well, goodnight then' said Tarika with a shy smile.
'Tarika!' Abhijeet called as she turned to go.
'What?' she said.
Abhijeet moved towards her and whispered, 'May I?'
Tarika merely smiled and Abhijeet pulled her into an embrace.
'I had a great time tonight and I wish there would be many more such times in days to come. Goodnight' he said.
Tarika felt a warm glow inside her. She waited to see Abhijeet walk back towards his car. Then she turned and marched towards her house. She withdrew the keys from her pocket, ready to insert them in the lock but stopped abruptly. The door was slightly ajar.
'Abhijeet? Can you just come over for a minute?' she called.
'What happened? Anything wrong?' asked Abhijeet, making his way back towards her.
'The door is open. I am sure I had locked it before leaving' said Tarika frowning.
'Okay, let's go inside and see' said Abhijeet and he pushed open the door.
As the stepped over the threshold, Tarika switched on the light and gasped.
The sight before them was not pretty. The house was a total mess.
'I can't believe this! Someone's broken into my house!' Tarika shrieked.
She hastened to go further but Abhijeet stopped her. 'Wait! The burglar might still be inside.'
They withdrew their guns and moved from one room to another cautiously. There was no sign of anyone.
'What the hell!' Tarika exclaimed as she cast a look across her bedroom.
Clothes had been thrown higgledy-piggledy all over the floor. The cupboard doors were open. Drawers had been pulled out and their contents emptied.
'Check what's missing' said Abhijeet.
'My jewellery's gone! And so is my silverware' said Tarika looking panic-stricken.
'What about the cash?' asked Abhijeet.
'Oh my gosh! Abhijeet, this couldn't possibly be the work of the burglar who is desperately trying to catch, could it?' she asked.
'What makes you think so?' asked Abhijeet.
'Look at this, my house is ransacked just like the other victims! Things were strewn on the floor and there is no sign of forced entry. The front door lock is all intact. And - and my house isn't exactly far from the place where the other victims reside, is it?' she asked.
'Yeah, maybe... you are right!' said Abhijeet.
'God, what do we do now?' said Tarika.
'Let's go and check each room carefully. Meanwhile, I will inform the rest of the team. You go and check the kitchen and I'll have a look around the living room' said Abhijeet.
Abhijeet called Daya and told him about the entire incident. He assured Abhijeet that he and the others will reach there in a short time.
Abhijeet scanned the living room carefully. It was as messy as the rest of the house but all the electronics were untouched. It seemed like the burglar was only interested in jewellery.
'Abhijeet, this is something really weird but he hasn't taken my cash. I had a lot of cash in my cupboard drawer but it's untouched.' said Tarika appearing in the living room, carrying a wad of money bills in her hand.
'Really? That's totally weird!' agreed Abhijeet.
'And it's really stupid of him or her whoever it is. My imitation jewellery is gone too! I mean he's not going to get money by selling fake jewellery, is he?' said Tarika.
'I think he grabbed everything he saw. He wouldn't have had a lot of time obviously. He can always throw away the fake stuff later.' said Abhijeet shrugging.
Tarika let out a small sob. 'He took all of it. He took every single jewellery I owned! Imagine how would I look when I come to bureau tomorrow without my earrings and pearl necklace!'
Abhijeet looked at her incredulously. He couldn't believe Tarika was unhappy not because her house had been robbed but because she wouldn't be able to wear any jewellery to the bureau the next day.
'Women!' he muttered shaking his head.
'What?' Tarika asked glaring at him.
'Oh it's alright Tarika!' he said crossing the room in two long strides and putting a comforting arm around her, 'I know you are... er... a bit touchy about your jewellery but you can always buy a new one. I will gift you, I promise. And when we arrest the thief, you can have your old stuff back as well'
Tarika gave him a teary smile and nodded.
'Why don't you go and check the kitchen? I have informed Daya. The others will be here any minute now' said Abhijeet.
'Okay' said Tarika and walked away. As she was about to enter the Kitchen, she thought he heard a loud thump. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside.
The kitchen had not been spared either. Flour packets were torn open, Tin food cans were lying on the floor. A few of her glass bowls were smashed. And water had been spilt in the corner.
As Tarika's gaze flitted across a cabinet fitted in the wall, she froze.
The Cabinet was slightly ajar. A slender hairy hand was protruding out of the gap. It had sharp black coloured claws. Tarika suddenly realised where the thumping noise was coming. She didn't know what it was. 'Damn you! Not now! I don't need a creature hiding in her kitchen Cabinet at the moment!' she muttered.
Recoiling slightly at the sight of the hairy hand, Tarika yelled, 'Abhijeet! Get back here. Some creature is hiding in my Cabinet. I want you to help me drive him out.'
And then everything happened in a flash. The Cabinet flung open and the hairy creature leapt outside. Tarika let out of the blood-curling scream and leapt out of the way, the creature lunged past her, outside the kitchen, knocking a few jars of the rack.
Tarika steadied herself, panting slightly just as Abhijeet rushed inside.
'What is it? You scared me!' he said.
'There was something hiding in this Cabinet. It was all black and hairy and had sharp claws. I don't know what it was! Never seen anything like it before. It pounced on me and that's why I screamed.' said Tarika breathlessly.
'Probably a cat or a very big rat.' said Abhijeet.
'It wasn't a cat! And rats don't have claws!' snapped Tarika.
'Okay, whatever' said Abhijeet impatiently. 'It's gone now, isn't it? Let's not worry about that creature now. Anything missing in here?'
'I don't think so' said Tarika looking around.
'He smashed few of your glass plates' pointed Abhijeet.
'Woah! Wait a minute! My spoons, they are missing!' said Tarika.
'Spoons?' Abhijeet repeated, dumbfounded.
'Yeah, they were brand new and all shiny, I had brought them yesterday' said Tarika frowning.
'New and shiny...' Abhijeet muttered staring into the oblivion.
'But honestly, spoons? Why on the earth does he need to steal spoons?' said Tarika in an amused voice.
'Gosh! How could we all have been so dumb? We have got an important clue!' exclaimed Abhijeet.
'Really? What?' said Tarika looking totally lost.
'The other victims of this burglar had complained of missing jewellery. But the cash was untouched just like in your case. I remember one victim who was a woman had complained that one of her antique statues was missing which was fitted with sparking gems. And now you say your jewellery is gone and the metal spoons too which were brand new and shiny' said Abhijeet smiling.
'Yeah, but I still don't get you.' said Tarika.
'Tarika, our culprit is a kleptomaniac!' said Abhijeet.
'A -what?' said Tarika.
'It's kind of a rare disorder where a person has an irresistible urge to steal shiny, glittering or sparkly things. There is usually an impulse to steal and the economic motive is usually absent in such cases. It's just a hunch, but it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?' said Abhijeet.
'Yes! It fits in rather perfectly! I mean he stole all the shiny stuff and there was no economic motive so he left the money untouched! It totally makes sense! Abhijeet you are a genius!' said Tarika as the doorbell rang, announcing the other CID officers' arrival.