Lost in translation

Mohammed Fakir was in his thirties, dark haired, stocky and short. He was strong, though, and spoke good English. He was preparing for his meeting with his new boss Coldham Fintan Noose III. He liked him, whom he called Mr. Fin. The tall, blond American was not very fussy and didn’t put on any airs. As a boss he was fair too.

 

Mohammed knocked on the door and entered when he was invited into Mr. Fin’s sanctum. Mohammed realized immediately something was wrong with his boss. Mr. Fin had a tan, but he seemed white underneath it. After some small talk they went on to discuss the roster. “Aaban would like to change shifts with me next week only.” Mr. Fin didn’t react. “Ehm.” Mohammed cleared his throat. Mr. Fin looked embarrassed and apologized for being absent minded. He agreed to the change, if Mohammed wanted to do so. This was another thing Mohammed liked about his boss. Mr. Fin left a lot of freedom to his security team. As long as the building site was protected he didn’t meddle too much. The same went for the work schedule. Mr. Fin created the roster, gave it to Mohammed, who checked with his colleagues if it was okay and came back to Mr. Fin to discuss changes and preferences.

They moved on to other business. “Zunnoon is getting married and we want to buy him a gift. Would you like to contribute?” Mr. Fin was miles away in his thoughts. Mohammed coughed to get his attention. His boss was sorry. Normally Mr. Fin was totally focused and sharp minded, so Mohammed wondered what had ruffled his feathers. Mr. Fin said: “I must apologize. Do you think we can take a short break? It's nearly lunch time. Do you know a good Chinese?" Mohammed didn’t know exactly what lunch and a good Chinese had to do with each other. He hadn’t encountered any Chinese before, so he had to research who was suitable and come back to Fin. At least he had a clue where to start. He was befriended with the head of security of the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka and thought his friend would be able to help him.

His friend gave him the phone number of a suitable person. It took Mohammed some time to convince Mr. Lim Zhuang Da to come urgently to Fin’s office. Mohammed proudly presented the Chinese to Mr. Fin, who burst out laughing. Mohammed wondered what was so funny. Mr. Fin said: “Pardon me.” He still giggled. Calming down he continued: “Well, thank you for your effort, Mohammed.” Mr. Fin surprised Mohammed and Mr. Lim by switching to Mandarin. Then he switched back to English, so that both could understand him: “Mohammed, I’m impressed you could organize a meeting with Mr. Lim so quickly and without a lot of prior notice. I will remember that. Mr. Lim, would you be able to recommend a restaurant serving excellent Egg Fu Yung?” Mr. Fin’s lips were twitching. Mohammed suddenly realized Mr. Fin had asked for a good Chinese restaurant, not a person. Mr. Fin had been diplomatic and thank goodness not caused Mohammed to lose face in front of Mr. Lim and taken it with humor. All understood the implications, though, and soon were laughing about it. “Of course. The Red Dragon is famous for it.” Mr. Lim replied, when they had caught their breath again. Mr. Fin invited Mr. Lim and Mohammed for lunch, who agreed to join him.

Lunch and having something to laugh about seemed to have restored Mr. Fin’s equilibrium. He was focused again on work.

©2017

The Visit

Doly Bhottacharjyo met Frieda Noose at a party the aunt of her husband had organized. The two had a few things in common.

Doly was born in India and had grown up in different countries, since her father was a diplomat.

Frieda was Colombian and had spent the first four years of her life in Bogota, before her parents moved to the US.

Both had gone to university, were married and had young daughters.

Doly told Frieda about her work as a human rights lawyer at a charity, helping acid attack victims. Frieda was intrigued and asked if she could visit the charity to see what they were doing. Doly wasn’t sure if it would lead to anything, but she liked Frieda, so she agreed.

 

A few days later Frieda, who was dark haired, brown eyed and had a heart shaped face and olive skin, arranged the visit with Doly.

 

Doly wore business attire. She wanted to be taken serious and believed if she wore Western clothing it would help. At home she preferred to wear saris or a salwar kameez, a body shirt and pantaloons. Doly had some feminine touches too, like long black hair and large golden hoop earrings. She was 1.52 m tall and a bit shorter than Frieda.

Both were curvaceous.

 

“Welcome. I’m glad you could make it, Frieda.” Doly greeted Frieda warmly and hugged her. “I’m glad I could make it too.” “If you’re ready I’m giving you the grand tour.” “I am.” Doly explained what the different departments did and introduced Frieda to her colleagues. Doly provided Frieda with some statistics too. “There were officially 222 attacks last year. They involved 277 people and the majority were women.  The main reason for acid attacks is sexually motivated, for example a woman refuses a proposal. Other justifications are a too low dowry, conflicts over property, religious believes or social and political activism. We offer help from the beginning. We identify and investigate attacks, make sure the victims are brought to our hospital, which is specialized in the treatment of acid burns, offer psychological support, rehabilitation and reintegration and provide legal support. Of course we also have awareness campaigns. Our approach pays off. The numbers are down, but there is still much to do and too few funds available. I wished we could afford more beds at the hospital.” Frieda nodded in agreement. I’ve heard many times, that there is never enough money around. Can I see the hospital too?” “Of course.” The hospital was located in the outskirts of the city in a small, low rise building. It was clean and state of the art, which surprised and impressed Frieda. All beds were occupied. The patients were four women, a man and a young girl. The women weren’t related and all had been in different incidents.

“This is Bushra. Her family in law was unhappy about the dowry. They claimed her parents and her husband’s parents had agreed on a higher amount and Bushra was useless and lazy, so they dowsed her in acid.” The acid had burned away most of the skin of Bushra’s face including the left eyelid, which had caused blindness. Frieda was glad the victim’s face was covered in bandages. She would have had troubles looking at the wounds without recoiling. “Zineea refused a suitor, so he attacked her. The same with Yeasmin and Dina. Zahir and Lucky are father and daughter. They were not the intended victims. They were waiting for a taxi and standing beside a stranger, who was attacked. Father and daughter were splashed by mistake. Frieda tried hard to hide her horror. Yeasmin’s head had deformed. Zineea, Dina and Zahir had lost one ear each and their hearing. Lucky had been burned across her right arm, leg and part of her torso. Frieda saw red scars sneaking up her neck.  Some had lost their nostrils too. Frieda’s heart went out for them. She decided to help on the spot. Doly said: “It’s really great you want to help. We always look for volunteers…” She was skeptical, though, if Frieda would keep her promise or get fed up or bored. The work was very lowly and mundane, like cleaning the floors, preparing meals for the patients or assisting the nurses, administration work or fundraising.

“You also need to get a written permission from your husband that you can work here.” Frieda wasn’t taken aback. She knew men enjoyed a higher standing in Bangladeshi society than women did and that they were the property of their husbands. Since she couldn’t change this, she accepted it. “I will get it.”

Her husband Fin didn’t mind Frieda wanted to work for charity while their three year old daughter Casey was in kindergarten. He was willing to work around Frieda’s schedule, if necessary.

Having overcome this hurdle, Frieda started volunteering.

 

She was at first eyed suspiciously, because there weren’t many foreigners working at the charity. It was obvious Frieda came from a privileged background and some of the staff were betting how long she would last and which work she would refuse to do.

 

On Frieda’s first day she was asked to clean the floors of the hospital. She hadn’t any problems with it. Thank goodness most of the staff spoke English, so they could easily communicate. “Okay, tell me where I can find the equipment.” Frieda was shown where the cleaning material was stored and what she had to clean. Frieda minded her own business and got some ground covered. She had seen a handyman with his case at the fuse box. He had left the doors of the box conveniently open. Frieda had a glance inside before closing them.

She returned to mopping the floor. Frieda stopped dead in her tracks, when she saw the man again. This time around he was about to repair an outlet. Having scanned the fuse box, Frieda realized the electricity hadn’t been switched off. “Stop!” she shouted. The electrician gave her a condescending smile and continued. Frieda dropped everything and tackled the man, before he could insert the screwdriver. They both fell. The electrician got up and shouted at her in Bangla: “Tumi ki pāgala? Ēkaṭā gādhā!” Whatever it meant, it wasn’t something friendly. Frieda cowered, when the upset gentleman made the impression of wanting to kick her. He got his temper under control, but continued to swear. Zainab, one of the nurses, had been attracted by the commotion. “Zuti, what is going on?! Why are you shouting like a mad man? Did I hear right you called Frieda crazy and a stupid cow?” Zainab was older and well respected, so Zuti looked immediately abashed and accepted Zainab’s chiding. The conversation was held in Bangla. Frieda couldn’t follow. She only understood her name. Zuti explained rapidly what had happened. Zainab believed Frieda must have had a good reason why she tried to stop Zuti, so she asked her for an explanation in English. “I prevented Zuti from being electrocuted.” Zainab translated what Frieda had said, while Frieda herself got up as well. Zuti shook his head in disbelief. He said: “But I have switched off the electricity for this section!” “No, you haven’t.” Frieda replied calmly, even if she would have preferred to strangle Zuti. They went to check and realized Frieda was right. At least Zuti was man enough to realize his error and to apologize sincerely to Frieda. She accepted graciously. Zuti felt very bad about the situation. It was the first time he encountered a female, who had some knowledge about science. Of course Zuti had heard there were female engineers and math teachers, for example, especially in the West. Frieda felt a bit awkward when Zuti stared at her as if she had two heads. Zuti tried to see if there was something different about Frieda. He couldn’t identify anything unusual. For a woman she had very short hair. That was the only thing Zuti could recognize. “Are you an electrician?” Zainab asked Frieda, breaking the spell. “No, I’m an electrical engineer.” Zainab translated for Zuti. Both were suitably impressed. Frieda only realized then that she probably had scraped her knee. “Okay, let’s have a look at it.” Zainab said briskly, overcoming her surprise and sudden shyness. Zainab ushered Frieda into a treatment room. The injury wasn’t that bad. It looked like Frieda was going to have a bruise, but there weren’t any open wounds. “Okay, I’ll suggest we cool it for a while and you can rest in the kitchen.” Babar was a bit surprised to see Frieda so soon again and with a slight limp. Zainab told Babar what had happened. “Oh, you deserve something sweet!” Babar exclaimed. He had just finished chomchom and dished out a few to Frieda. It was a connotation made with flour, milk, sugar, lemon juice, saffron and coconut flakes. The little balls were delicious and calmed Frieda. After half an hour of rest she returned to her work.

Frieda was wondering how she was going to explain her sore knee to Fin. Her husband was protective.  Knowing Fin he would not let it rest until he felt he had dealt sufficiently with Zuti. Frieda sighed. She hated lying, so she was going to tell Fin the truth and try to convince him to forget about it. Frieda had dealt already with the situation, so there was no need for Fin to get involved. Speaking of the devil Zuti approached Frieda, who was a bit apprehensive. He had asked Babar to teach him an English phrase. He thanked Frieda for preventing him doing a stupid thing. “Don’t mention it.” Zuti wasn’t entirely sure what Frieda had said, but gathered from her smile that she didn’t hold a grudge and had forgiven him. He was glad. Still Zuti believed he had to make it up to her. It would have been awful if his wife and son would have had to fend for themselves after his death.

 

Of course in the evening Fin wanted to hear everything about Frieda’s first day. He frowned, when she told him about the incident with Zuti. “Should I have a word with him?” “No, that’s not necessary. I have solved the issue. Promise me you won’t interfere.” “Alright.” It wasn’t easy for Fin, but he had given his promise, so he didn’t approach Zuti and threaten him as he had planned.

 

At the charity the incident between Zuti and Frieda had spread quickly. It caused Frieda’s co-workers to see her in different eyes and positive. Still some were envied and when possible they abused their position. Chandna tried her best to proof Frieda felt superior and make her leave. She gave Frieda chores most didn’t like, for example cleaning the toilets. Frieda did them without complaining and to her best ability. She preferred, though, to help Babar in the kitchen and picked up how to prepare Bangladeshi meals and rudimentary Bangla. It made communication easier. Some of the victims didn’t speak English at all, so it came in handy.

Frieda bonded with Lucky, whom she often assisted getting dressed or fed, because she couldn’t use her right arm and it was difficult for her to eat with the left hand. Another issue was the traditional believe, which was followed by Zahir and Lucky that the left hand was unclean and shouldn’t be used at all for eating.

Zuti turned into an ally and close friend.

Another girl asked shyly if Frieda would tutor her boy. He had problems with math. Frieda agreed easily.

Originally Frieda had thought she would spend three months in Bangladesh. It turned into half a year, because Fin’s plans changed. He got himself involved in the charity. Doly had recognized his organization skills and knew he was well connected, so she asked him to help fundraise, which was just up his street. If Frieda hadn’t become pregnant they might have stayed longer. It was sad to leave. Still Frieda didn’t forget the burn victims or her new friends. She supported them from abroad and sometimes returned to Dhaka to keep updated.

©2017

Career Advancement

This short story is connected to Ability and describes how Fin gets Charles to accept David is going to steal the stamps.

David Beasley, who was twenty four, had red-brown hair and blue eyes, had been engaged by Fin Noose to help with a heist in Bangladesh. He got excited when he heard he would work together with another legend, Charles Harold Fox. To his dismay Charles was haughty, and David preferred Fin.

Fin, who was five years older than David, light ash blond and had blue grey eyes, was sometimes gnashing his teeth, when Charles's behavior drove him mad. He wondered why Charles had no respect nor intuition how it made others feel. At least he had himself that much under control he didn't punch Charles, like he had done once in the past. The temptation was there, though. They had thank goodness security figured out quickly and planned accordingly. The only thing Fin was unsure about was who was going to do what. Of course he was sure each of them could break into the Museum of Independence and lift the stamps easily. Fin wondered if he should let Charles, the oldest of the three with slight built, light brown haired and had green grey eyes, or David go ahead with it. Whoever wasn't going to the Museum of Independence would steal the Buddha relief with Fin. Thinking about it carefully and weighing up what made more sense, Fin came to a decision. He invited Charles to a small snack and tea for breakfast. Fin had his favorite little tea stand, where he went every day to relax. He liked the cha, which was black and served with condensed milk and sugar. The neighboring stand offered pitha, which was made from rice flour and covered in ghur, a syrup made from the sap of date trees. It was delicious and looked a bit like small pancakes. Charles rolled his eyes, when Fin was warmly greeted by the stall owners, who knew him pretty well. Naturally Fin could order in Bengali too. Charles wouldn't take the pitha, because he believed he would end up with Bangla Belly and was sceptical about the tea. "The stall owners are meticulous here, so everything's spotlessly clean and they use bottled water only." Settling down at one small table Fin said to Charles: "I have come to a decision and I wanted to tell you before speaking with David." "That sounds ominous." "In a way it is. See, you and I are established, but David isn't, so he needs a success more than we do. David will take care of the stamps." Charles frowned. He wanted to protest, but seeing the set of Fin's chin and Fin's determined facial expression, he knew he wouldn't get his will. "I would appreciate if you would accept gracefully, when we meet up with David." Deep down Charles admitted it would have been good for his own ego, if he had been chosen to steal the stamps. He also admitted freely David had common sense and was capable, so there wouldn't be an issue with getting results. Fin was a bit surprised Charles backed down immediately. He had thought there would be an argument before Charles agreed. "I'd have loved to go to the Museum of Independence by myself, but you are right. I won't make a scene, when you offer the job to David." "Thank you. I really appreciate your cooperation." "Oh, well, don't believe I will make life easy for you, should I ever need your help." "When did you ever?" Fin asked sarcastically. "I was on my best behaviour this time around, wasn't I?" Fin was about to say something about Charles treating the hotel staff, David and himself, but kept quiet. He feared if he told off Charles, he wouldn't want to do the heist and that would have caused another headache. "You weren't too bad, but as the saying goes there's always room for improvement." Charles decided to ignore Fin's comment. Instead he inhaled the steam of the cha. It smelled good, so he took a cautious sip from the tiny cup. The tea was bitter, sweet and strong. Charles loved it. The pathi wasn't entirely to his taste and Charles let Fin know immediately. Fin swallowed his impatience. "If you want something else, go ahead." Fin gave Charles two twenty Taka notes, which was around 0.50 USD. It meant Charles could get easily a full Bangladeshi breakfast with tea, mixed vegetables, dal and paratha or a dozen singara, which were similar to samosas, but differently shaped and had a flakier consistency. Charles took the money, but didn't get up. "Have you heard of the seven-layer-tea served in Srimongol?" "No, I haven't. Where is Srimongol?" "In the north-east of Bangladesh. Thought it might interests you..." Fin confirmed it was fascinating. He hadn't realized Charles also liked tea. Sometimes Fin’s acquaintance was full of surprises. Fin knew when Charles gave his word he would keep it, so when both had finished their tea they returned and Fin told David about his decision, who was overjoyed he was going to get the chance to prove himself.

©2016

Ability

David Beasley was nervous. He was mussing his hair and swearing. David combed his hair for the second time in as many minutes. David had heard of course about Fin Noose and he felt privileged to maybe get the chance to work together with the best in his field, but he was worried. Fin's mercurial temper was legendary. David had heard Fin was a perfectionist and always dressed to the nines. David normally preferred more casual dress. Being unsure what to wear, he thought it was best to put on a suit and tie.

It was time to go. David didn't want to come too late. A good impression was important and David didn't want to set off Fin's temper at the beginning. David had liked learning from Ruth. She never shouted and led by example. He feared Fin would be the total opposite. He had also heard rumors that Fin was violent and had punched a team mate, because he had failed in his task. Reassurances from Adam, his middle man, Fin was a good guy, hadn't helped.

Having arrived at Fin's room, he took a deep breath and knocked. A minute or so later - what felt like ages - the door opened. David had expected Fin was formal dressed. To his surprise it was a mix between black dress pants, a black t-shirt and a suit jacket in the same color. Fin's age was a surprise too. David had always believed Fin was in his forties, based on how much he had done.  Fin looked barely older than him, was tall, blond and had blue grey eyes. David's host smiled at him. Fin noticed David, who had red-brown hair and blue eyes, was nervous. Fin tried to ease David's tension. "Come on in." Originally David had expected Fin was staying in a suite. He found out both had the same room type only different views and a slightly different layout. David liked that Fin didn't put on airs. Fin had watched a Spanish news channel while waiting for David. "Do you speak Spanish, Mr. Noose?" "Yes and please call me Fin." "David." Fin smiled at his colleague and shook his hand. Fin offered David a seat. "If you want to get rid of your tie to be more comfortable, I have no issues with that." David was glad Fin made the suggestion. While removing his tie, David checked out the room further and noticed it was tidy. This was fitting with being a perfectionist. "Would you like something to drink or eat?" Fin offered. "Coke, please." Fin went to the minibar to retrieve the soft drink for David and a bottle of Vichy Catalan for himself. When settling down again, Fin said: "Tell me more about yourself." "Well, I guess I should start with my parents. Don't get me wrong, I really love them very much, but I believe they were simply crazy..." Fin's eyebrow rose, but didn't reply to the statement. "They had it all - a great job at the United Nations Headquarters for my mother and my father was an investment banker, both pretty successful. According to them their lives were too stressful and they decided to quit it all, when they had enough money together. They moved to rural Wyoming and bought a cattle farm. On the side they grow organic vegetables and have a few free roaming chicken. While my older brother loved it, I was bored as hell. I was up to a lot of mischief. A dare caused me to find my true calling. My friends bet that I wouldn't dare break into the ramshackle house of an old, deranged lady. Of course I was tempted, so I did my homework and broke successfully in. Even so my friends were waiting outside, I brought a token that I really was inside. Naturally I was the hero. I liked the thrill, but also the organization behind a heist. Some maybe find it tedious, but I thrive... At home I was also famous to be a fixer. If somebody needed something I knew where to get it from. When it was time for me to go to college I had heard through the grapevine that Ruth Frankham was open for tutoring. I approached her and after meeting up a few times she agreed to take me on. I told my parents I was going to L.A. and studying subjects involving security. They don't know what I do. To cut a long story short I learned everything I could from Ruth and I'd like now to start out by myself." "Ruth is specialized in museums burglaries, isn't she?" "Yes." David told Fin about the break ins Ruth and he had done together. "You can show me what you have learned. I want you to break into the Alto Museum and get me this figurine." Fin showed David a photograph of the item he was looking for. David was a bit taken aback. Fin had requested it friendly, but it was clear it was an order. He had hoped Fin would trust him enough to employ him immediately. It felt like a slap in the face. Grudgingly David accepted the challenge. He left soon afterwards, grumbling to himself. Of course the job was simple enough and he managed to figure out the low security quickly. Within a week he brought the figurine to Fin, who smiled warmly and said: "Well done. I'd like to discuss the job with you and to have your advice, but before we'll start can you return the figurine?" David was speechless. All the work for nothing? "It wasn't senseless. I needed to check you can fulfil the tasks at hand, since I don't know you. You have proven you can do the job and I didn't expect anything else, when you come highly recommended by Adam. You don't have to break in again to return the artwork. I'm sure you will find a creative way to return it." It seemed Fin was able to read David's mind. The explanation made sense and David felt flattered by the compliment Fin had paid him and their middle man. "Alright. After the figurine is back, I'll be in touch with you." "Of course." David didn’t need long to develop a plan. He cleaned the figurine to make sure none of his finger prints were on it. He packaged it and approached a homeless man. David offered the homeless 100 Euro if he would deliver the box. Of course the man agreed to do the job. The homeless left it one morning on the door steps of the museum. The staff was glad to have the figurine undamaged back.

Fin invited David a few days later for a tapas lunch. They talked about private things, likes, dislikes and family. David was at the moment single. In his own opinion he was too busy to take care of a girlfriend. Fin could understand David. If he hadn't met Frieda, who could live with his absences and philandering, he would have had no relationship at all. "Have you ever been caught as a teenager for breaking and entering?" "No. I was lucky, I guess. And you?" "My parents caught me stealing. All hell broke loose afterwards." "I can imagine. Once my friend and I had the brilliant idea to throw stones into some windows of our neighbor's home. My mother was very displeased, when the local sheriff brought me home. He let my mother deal with me and there weren't any official repercussions." "That's good. My parents didn't go to the police." "Well, I guess that's what loving parents would do..." Fin cleared his throat. His eye color changed to blue. "It hadn't anything to do with caring for me. My parents were concerned about their own image. It would have embarrassed them no end to have to admit their son was a criminal." David sensed he was on shaky ground now and changed the subject. The dinner was enjoyable and the two seemed to click. Both believed they could work together. David and Fin made an appointment to discuss the heist in privacy. David was surprised it was in Bangladesh. He had never been to Asia before, so it was going to be a culture shock. He looked forward to the challenge and working together with another genius, Charles Harold Fox, within in the burglar community.

Fin proved to be pleasant, took David’s finding serious and was open to his suggestions. The same couldn’t be said about Charles. He was the oldest and most experienced, no doubts about it. He looked harmless with his slight built, light brown hair and green grey eyes. David was impressed how arrogant and dismissive Charles was. David wasn’t looking exactly forward to meetings, where all three discussed security issues and what needed to be done. Fin was civil to Charles, but David noticed he struggled to keep his temper in check. David admired Fin’s self-control and diplomacy. He somehow managed to keep them on track and achieve their goals without coming to blows or having big arguments, especially when Charles put down David. The youngest member of the team at age 24 tried hard to shrug Charles’s behaviour off. It wasn’t easy and sometimes he was still seething after the meeting was over.

Fin and David didn’t have to spend time together, when they weren’t planning the heist, but they enjoyed each other’s company and shared regularly meals or went exploring Dhaka. Charles didn’t mingle with them. David thought Charles believed himself to be above Fin and him. David wasn’t happy Charles had a big ego. He was glad, though, Charles didn’t want to hang out with them. The atmosphere would have been tense and it would have been only a question of time until either Fin or he would have been thoroughly fed up with Charles. David didn’t need to spend time with someone, who so clearly didn’t like him.

Soon the planning had reached its end stage and Fin had to make up his mind, who was stealing the first stamp set issued after the independence of Bangladesh and who was taking an antiquity. The team was going to split up. Two were going to steal the Buddha relief and one the stamps. David hoped he didn’t have to work together with Charles. His biggest wish was that he was going to be allowed to steal the stamps. Fin let Charles and him know he had come to a decision and would tell them in his room. David was nervous and excited at the same time. It was a struggle for him not to mess up his hair again. Charles was already there, sipping a glass of Mum water. Fin was looking out of the window, enjoying the magnificent views over the city. It seemed the two hadn’t talked while waiting for David. “Take a seat, David.” Fin said. He was pacing the room now, before he settled down on the bed. “David, you will break into the Museum of Independence and get the stamps. Charles and I will take care of the Buddha Relief.” David wanted to hug Charles and Fin, but contained himself and said simply: “Thank you. I really appreciate you give me the chance to proof myself. I won’t let you down.” “No problem. We’ll do the jobs tonight.” Fin smiled. Charles congratulated David. He seemed genuinely happy for David. Was something wrong with Charles? David didn’t bother to find out the reason for Charles’s unusual behaviour. He focused completely on the break in. All three had staked out the security of the two museums they intended to burgle, discussed the best way to enter and where their meeting point was going to be afterwards.

David didn’t have issues with disarming the alarm system. What was a bit tricky was opening the entrance door. Finally David had unlocked it. Having come well prepared he knew where the stamps were located. No one disturb him, so he picked the lock of the show case and took the stamps out without leaving any trace, stowing them in his shoulder bag. He left the same way he arrived and didn’t encounter anyone.

Fin and Charles had been successful too.

The team disbanded soon after handing over the hot items to a middle man.

Having proven David could work alone as well as part of a team he was soon on the way to a stellar career as master burglar. 

©2016