It all happened one Friday night, an audacious theft at Castle Jewelers (CJ). CJ was one of the most popular and flourishing jewelry stores in the city and such a calamity was unprecedented.

Couple of weeks ago, a leading security expert agency had advised CJ to install state-of-the-art security devices like CCTV and anti-theft alarms, but Majeed, the owner of CJ was filled with hubris and thus ignored the advice. His pride was exponentially proportional to the success of his store. Now, his worst nightmare was staring him in the face.

The local police was called in to probe the theft. After hours of investigation, the police left the crime scene crest fallen. There were no fingerprints, no broken locks and no footprints either. Moreover nothing was left behind by the intruders. It was incomprehensible as to how someone could have carried out the robbery so meticulously.  The room had a strong smell of camphor which made the police sniffer dogs bite the dust. The thief had managed to pick all the locks with panache, as though he had a complete key bunch at his disposal.

Devastated by the lack of prima facie evidence, the dejected police team handed over the case to a young team of detectives. The team was headed by private eye Hashim. He immediately arranged for a clandestine meeting of his most trusted teammates and updated them about the situation. His hortatory speech infused vigor among his comrades and they vowed to nab the culprit.

The news of the theft spread like wildfire. Everyone seemed to be muttering about it but there were no solid leads yet. Two weeks passed by this way. When all hopes had almost waned, the unexpected happened… the local temple received a telephone call enquiring if they were accepting gold oblations. The caller had shown intentions of making a large gold donation but had requested for anonymity. This was a major breakthrough. The receiver immediately informed the police of the call and they without a moments delay increased their patrol around the temple. This was a fiasco. The caller never turned up.

Hashim and his team had learnt an invaluable lesson from the event. Not only did they know that the thief had not disposed off the jewelry, they also knew that he was trying to get rid of it. It had become a curse rather than a boon for him. With this vital piece of information a trap was laid.

Couple of days later, a young man walks into a local bank and enquires if he could get a gold-loan. The bank officers get immediately suspicious but behave courteously with him and enquire about the purpose of the loan. The young man talks elusively which makes the bankers uneasy but they keep him engaged in the conversations. Moments later, Hashim enters the bank with police officers and apprehends the young man. Indeed he was the thief on the run. The entire loot is recovered and the young man is sentenced to a couple of months in prison.