To Catch A Thief

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 A few distance from the beach and overlooking the beautiful sea, stood a ten storeyed building. It was made of brick and stone. Each floor had one huge flat and one occupant. Professor Maldini lived on the first floor. A professor of history and a brilliant man. He had traveled around the world teaching history. Now in his sixties, he had decided to spend the rest of his life here. He lived alone. Though he was rich, he led a very simple life and didn't need much to live on. His only interests were reading and teaching which he did at a nearby state university. But he had one passion or weakness, which no one was aware of. He liked to steal. Every now and then he would choose a target, burgle his or her house and pick up few things for his amusement. His challenge was not to get caught and he never did.

Michael lived a few blocks away from Professor Maldini. Like the professor, he lived alone and worked in a small firm downtown. He had heard about a thief prowling the neighbourhood. People had been complaining about losing their valuables and so as a responsible citizen Michael decided to do something about it. He made up his mind to catch this thief, whoever he was. But since he didn't even have his description, he devised a plan. 

He decided to bait this thief. Michael owned a few expensive artifacts which until now he had kept them locked up in his house. Now he began displaying these curios in public. Word hit the fan and soon enough it reached Professor Maldini's ears. Professor had never heard of Michael. So he made some discreet inquiries and found that Michael lived just a few blocks from his house and he did own few interesting artifacts. It was about time professor found a new target. 

To get acquainted with the surroundings of where Michael lived, Professor Maldini began his daily walks around Michael's area and also to know Michael's routine. He found out that on week days Michael left his house in the morning by about eight and returned by seven. Except few grocery shopping, he never left his house in the evening. Sometimes weekends, since he lived alone, he went out for dinner with his friends and sometimes, since Michael's parents lived a couple of hours' drive from his house, he would spend the night over at their place.

During the week, an old lady came to Michael's house who did his laundry and cleaned the house. Occasionally, she cooked for him but would leave by evening. So stealing during the day was not possible. Only convenient time for Professor Maldini to break into Michael's house was when Michael stayed the night over at his parent's house. And so he waited patiently for Michael to go away.

By now, Michael was confident that the word about his artifacts had reached the thief. To entice the thief further, he changed his routine a bit and left the house in the evening hoping the thief would enter his house.

One day he spotted a man suspiciously moving around his house. On closer examination he realized that he had been seeing this man for sometime now. Could this man be the thief? Michael began following this man. Upon making inquiries, to his amazement he found that this man was none other than the famous history Professor, Maldini. A brilliant man and a valuable asset to the state. But if Michael's intuition proved correct, the professor had a weakness and Michael felt his duty to straighten this problem. He found out where Professor Maldini lived, which wasn't very difficult given his fame and began checking the area out.

One evening when Michael returned home early, he found Professor Maldini taking his, now usual, evening walks near his house. Michael's maid had just finished her daily chores and was coming out of the house. Michael saw the opportunity and told his maid that since he would be going to his parents' house during the week-end, she should keep few extra set of clothes ready before she left the house. That would be three days from now for him to plan his next move. Michael made sure Professor Maldini was within earshot.

Finally the day arrived. He pretended he was going to his parents' house. And as he had guessed, but with some difficulty, he spotted  Professor hiding near his house waiting for him to go. With an overnight bag around his shoulders, Michael left his house. Professor Maldini waited for a few minutes and the headed towards Michael's house. So Michael's intuition was correct. Professor indeed was the elusive thief. 

Now it was Michael's turn to get into action. It didn't take much time for Michael to reach Professor's house. He  double scanned the area for confirmation that no one was around and approached the house from the beach-side entrance. Since Professor Maldini lived on the first floor, it wasn't difficult for Michael to climb. He landed softly on the balcony. Michael had been training himself to remain fit for the last couple of weeks just for this adventure. Since this was the first time he was, not only trespassing but actually breaking into somebody's house to steal. `

Meanwhile, once inside Michael's house, Professor Maldini began looking for the artefacts Michael had so proudly displayed in public. But today Michael had kept his apartment a bit untidy intentionally. He wanted to buy himself some time when Professor would be burgling his house. And sure enough Professor Maldini took some time to find those curios he was looking for. Finally with his trained eye he found them. He picked them up, put it in his bag and was about to leave when his eyes caught a set of freshly ironed clothes lying on the bed. Professor Maldini had a disturbing feeling.

By now, Michael was searching Professor Maldini's house. Michael found few valuables and show-pieces carefully displayed. He picked up those valuables which he thought belonged to the professor and put it in his overnight bag. After all, he didn't want to steal things which the professor had stolen from others. That would complicate matters further. His plan was to confront the Professor with these valuables as an insurance. Probably shake him a bit and swap these belongings with those which he believed Professor Maldini would steal from his house. He wanted to make the Professor aware of his weakness. If the Professor realized that he was making a mistake then Michael would let him go and not hand him over to the police. Or else, Michael had no other choice. Professor Maldini was a valuable gift to the society and least Michael could do was give him a chance.

After putting the valuables in his bag, Michael gave a final look around the house to check if he had left any trace behind. Satisfied, he headed towards the balcony from which he had entered the Professor's house. Before he could take a step, the front door burst open and three police officers stood pointing guns at Michael. Michael was too stunned to move or even blink. Like a rabbit caught under the head-light. Not used to this kind of entertainment, Michael dropped the bag he was carrying and surrendered himself. The police handcuffed him and put him in the police car to take him to the station. Michael was dazed. Everything was happening very fast. He shook himself up from this nightmare and tried to argue that he wasn't the one that the police was looking for. One of the officers found it an understatement of the year. With no other choice but to protect himself, Michael told them it was Professor Maldini, the history professor who was the real thief and not him. One of the officers found it so funny that he laughed his guts out. He warned Michael that stealing was bad enough and accusing someone of such reputation was even more damning. The police officers seemed to know Professor Maldini and had an unanimous opinion that he was a respectable gentleman. Whereas Michael fitted the description of the thief perfectly. Almost too conveniently for Michael to digest. 

With no other way out, Michael asked the police officers how they found out where he was. One of the officers seeing no harm, gave Michael the phone number from where the anonymous caller had placed the call to the police. Michael couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was his home number. Now Michael wondered, how was he going to explain to the police officers that it was his home number and somebody had placed the call from his house to catch him. But nobody else lived in that house other than himself. That would take some convincing. Could there be anything more absurd?

Nevertheless the police officers checked the number and indeed it belonged to Michael. Now they found this so stupid that they almost pitied Michael. Michael didn't know what was happening to him. He was confident when it all began, too stunned to react when he was caught, scared when realization sunk in, confused when he found that his home phone number was used to catch him, and finally when he had solved the jigsaw puzzle he was brought to the police station. Wow, what a roller coaster. As he was mulling over, they arrived at the police station and to his surprise Professor Maldini was waiting at the entrance almost as if welcoming him. The police officers finally stopped laughing. As Michael got out of the police car, handcuffed, he saw Professor Maldini smiling, mocking at him. Michael went up the professor.

"So it was you who called the police", Michael concluded. Professor Maldini shrugged.

"So what did you steal from my house, you thief", Michael accused. Professor Maldini acted confused.

"I think I should be asking you that question", Professor smiled.

"I just wanted to erase your weakness but not hand you over to the police. But I guess you had other plans", Michael said.

"Looks like you are the one who is going to be erased. And what you call weakness is my passion",  Professor Maldini said.

"Whatever. But you shouldn't have done this", Michael said.

"Again, I should be telling you this", Professor replied.

Then it dawned on Michael that since he was caught red-handed stealing, he and not Professor Maldini was the thief.

"So tell me Professor, how did you know I was at your house?", Michael asked.

"That was just a guess like you had guessed about me, but you should have at least carried the clothes you had planned on taking to your parents' house", Professor Maldini whispered.

So that was it, Michael thought.

"I will have my revenge, professor", Michael said.

"I will be waiting", Professor Maldini replied.

"Please take him away, officers", Professor Maldini requested the police officer.

"Our pleasure, professor", the officer replied.

Michael was taken into the custody and charged and booked for the crime he had now committed.

Professor Maldini was a hero for catching the thief.