London 2001.

At the police headquarters, the newly assigned Lieutenant Bradshaw Maslow comes and sits in front of the whole police department and asks,

“You all are aware of this meeting’s objective, right?”

“Yes sir,” everyone responded in a united tone.

“Okay, so, as you know that I’m completely unaware of this criminal and I want you guys to introduce this person before me very clearly, therefore, I will ask my assistant to run this presentation.”

The lights turned off and the presentation began. Many different photos of a tall heighted and long haired adult were displayed on the screen.

The assistant began narrating,

“This guy Harold Dawson is a renowned criminal and he is wanted all over England. His sole profession is committing heists and thefts on a very large level.”

Lieutenant Bradshaw paid close attention to every word that he heard. The narrator continued,

“He has been committing these crimes for over fifteen years now, but quite recently his name and photos have been exposed.”

“Recently, when?” Bradshaw asked.

“Two years back, to be precise.”

“Okay, continue.”

“He is an expert but the interesting part is that since last ten years, he has never committed a theft on his own. He acts as a manager and a director. He has an entire team of five or six criminals who work under him and make his operations successful.”

“Is ten years an estimated figure or an accurate one?”

“It is an estimated figure. Anyways, this guy sits at his home and one of the most unique styles of his crimes is that he directs his team through the phone.”

“On the phone, really?”

“Yes, their team is usually on a conference call or something, but he is the admin and he instructs each and every member regarding how a crime must be committed.”

“Interesting!”

“So, anyways, this is how they commit crimes and whenever we try to track their calls or do something similar, we get misdirected.”

“Misdirected?”

“Yes, it means that if we are told that he is committing a crime on the northern side of the city, it turns out that the crime actually took place in some southern region. This has happened all the time, we track their calls and locations and whenever we rush to hunt them, it always turns out that we are deliberately misdirected by them.”

“How come?”

“Because, then moments later, the crime is reported from some other location of the city.”

“Oh, dear!” Bradshaw uttered.

“Yes, I’m telling you that this guy is an evil genius. You cannot catch him that easily.”

“No, that’s not the kind of spirit I need in my team. Anything and everything is possible. We just need to strategise properly.”

“Sure, sir!”

Bradshaw looked at the criminal’s face carefully and said,

“Has this always been his shave style?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean in all the photographs, he has moustaches and a short beard. I mean is this his typical look.”

“Oh yes, this is it. Wherever he has been spotted, this is his one and only look.”

“Okay, well, anyways now I want to see all his crimes that he has committed so far.”

“Let me clarify one more thing, this guy never steals from honest and clean civilians of the state. His target is always criminals and mobs who steal from others. Whatever that is stolen by mobs, Harold steals it back and then returns it to its rightful owner.”

“Oh, well, this is something new,” Bradshaw gained some interest. “Tell me more.”

“Sure, few years back there was this case. A well-known industrialist lost his car. It was a Mercedes. He asked all the police departments to find it but there was no clue. Months later, he woke up one day and found that his car was parked right in front of his bungalow.”

“Wow!”

“And from the other corner of the city, the car was reported stolen. Even though the number plates were different but the original owner recognised his car from the inside.”

“So, you’re saying that this guy has actually made police’ job easy?”

“In other words, yes.”

“What happened to the mob then?” Bradshaw asked.

“It got arrested. Their house was investigated thoroughly and it turned out that they had stolen plenty of stuff.”

“Interesting!”

“Well, the bottom line is that this guy has won hearts of many civilians of the state; and they do not want to see him behind the bars.”

“Why?”

“Would anyone want to see their superhero tied in chains?”

“So, he’s a Robin Hood for some.”

“Well, that’s what it appears to be.”

“No!” Bradshaw exclaimed standing up. “Turn on the lights.”

The lights turned on. He started walking ahead and stopped, while he stood in front of everyone. While he was walking, he said,

“I don’t care how people see him; and I don’t care how he is making our job easy. A criminal is just a criminal. Once a criminal, he’s always a criminal.”

The police department’s officers got a bit serious. He continued,

“This man is breaking the law. He has no right to violate the law of the state. I want to see this man behind the bars of my jail. He should be taken to court and let them decide what must be done with him.”

“What about the fact that he has never been caught?” the assistant asked.

“It doesn’t matter. His face has been caught, and so will he.”

“His face was not caught; but he chose to reveal his face in front of everyone.”

“But you just told me that his face was caught in some CCTV camera.”

“Yes, that was a onetime thing.”

“So? He needs to be arrested just once.”

There was absolutely silence for a moment in the room. Bradshaw spoke after a while,

“We are the best police team this world has ever seen. We have to prove this, okay? So therefore, you all are getting assigned on this. This is not just my mission; this is each and everyone’s mission here.”

The assistant said raising his hand,

“Uh…Can I stop you for a moment? I’m sorry, but there’s something important that I forgot to mention.”

“Go on.”

“This guy Harold Dawson…He has remained inactive since last two years.”

“What?”

“Yes, since last two years, there hasn’t been a single crime attributed towards him.”

“What is the evidence for this?” Bradshaw cross questioned.

“The clear evidence that we usually have regarding his crimes is that whenever he commits crime, he leaves his name. It is usually written on a note.”

“So, does this mean he is bound to leave this signature for every crime?”

“He always does, but since two years there hasn’t been any such thing.”

“So, maybe he is doing it on purpose. Maybe, this is a distraction.”

“Okay, well, that can be possible.”

“Obviously, because there have been thefts and heists in the state right?”

“Yes, that is true.”

“So, they can be one of his acts.”

After a moment, Bradshaw declared,

“Alright, I’m ending this meeting now. But you guys need to stick with this mission. I want to see this criminal behind the bars. And this is not just my mission, this is our mission. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir!” they all exclaimed.

“Good. The meeting is adjourned, but we’ll meet next week. And I want to see some progress on this.”

************

At some other corner of the same city, two teenage friends, a girl and a boy were walking. The boy said to the girl,

“Can I share something with you?”

“Sure.”

“You know few years back, I used to work for Harold Dawson.”

“Harold Dawson, the criminal?”

“Hey, hey trust me, he is no criminal. He is a man of great moral values.”

“Wait, you used to work with Harold, the thief who leaves his name after every robbery?”

“Yes, that’s right, but listen to me. You took him wrong. You have a wrong picture of his’ in your mind.”

“Oh, and I suppose you can give me a clear picture?” she taunted.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I can. This man is no ordinary man. I have worked for him and I have seen him very closely.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Hey, it’s just been five months since we’ve met.”

“Alright, whatever! Tell me, who he is.”

“This guy, his mission is to help the ones who’ve been wronged. He is seeking out to help the ones who cannot find justice in this city.”

“How?”

“I’ll tell you an interesting case. There was once an old man who had a really expensive painting. He bought it from France. One day, this man found that his painting was stolen; right in front of him.”

“Right in front of him?”

“Yes, the criminals who were secretly affiliated with his servants broke into the house and stole the large painting right in front of him. Luckily, the news reached Harold. Now, Harold investigated the matter on his own. He had to find out who were the criminals behind this. So, he eventually discovered that the criminals had sold the painting to some local museum.”

“I see, and then what happened?”

“Now, it was Harold’s objective to attain the painting back and return it to its rightful owner. So, what he did was that he hired his own man to work at that museum as a labourer or something like that. The labourer gave him every detail about the museum. Then one fine day, Harold just made a phone call and instructed all of us to conduct this robbery.”

“You were a part of that?”

“Yes, I was an acting visitor of the museum. We all were connected together through a conference call.”

“So, what happened further?”

“Through Harold’s guidance we all successfully carried out the operation. The robbery was successful and then the painting was delivered to that old man, who actually owned it.”

“Wow!”

They walked a little more silently until the girl asked,

“So, what was the reason for giving up this profession?”

“Well, first of all it was Harold who quit this. We all had to quit because of him.”

“Why did he give up?”

“There was an accident. He had to give it up then.”

“What accident? Anyways, so, you haven’t worked for him for like how many years?”

“I was sixteen back then, so it must be two years.”

“Oh…So, do you have a job now?”

“No, and you know it.”

The girl chuckled as if teasing her friend.

************

Meanwhile, at the Northern side of London, two parents Mr and Mrs Kingsley were seated together at the dining table and they were worried about their son. Mrs Kingsley said to her husband,

“We have to do something about Steve.”

“I know, I mean he is twenty five years old, he has done his graduation and he’s least concerned about his future and career.”

“Exactly, and since last few years he is focused on just one stupid reality.”

“That’s not the actual issue. The main problem is that he has the tendency to become a criminal.”

“I know, that’s what I’m very much afraid of.”

“He is inspired by this Harold guy and wants to become an expert thief like him.”

“Our son is quite bold and courageous; I don’t think he would be afraid of committing such heinous crimes.”

There was a silence of sadness for a while, until the father said,

“The other night, he was with his friends. I overheard his conversation with his friends. Do you know what he said? He said that I would be proud to see myself inside the jail one day.”

“Oh, my God!”

“And what’s worse, he said further that I want to be in a prison cell, so I can break outside making a dramatic escape, so that the world would remember it.”

“Steve is just so delusional and unrealistic.”

“Yes, he does not know the difference between world of movies and the world of reality.”

“Who can talk some sense into him? I know that we can’t. He hardly pays any attention to our words.”

“Can you suggest anyone?”

“How about a psychologist? Or a criminologist?”

“I’m fine!” Steve exclaimed who was standing nearby. “I don’t need to consult anyone.”

to be continued...