The Case of the Chocolate Thief

Bhanu, the eldest of the two brothers and two sisters complained to the other three, “Someone seems to be stealing my chocolates. I keep them at a hiding place in my bed room. But the hiding place is no more the hiding place because someone has found it out. I save few chocolates from the ones mom gives us and I keep them there. But lately, those chocolates have disappeared in thin air.”

The others three, Shanu, Kaju and Biju said at the same time, teasing Bhanu, “If you don’t eat those chocolates, why don’t you share them with us? See, we never save any of our chocolates; we eat them all and still want more. Had you given those chocolates to us, this thief would not have got any. And don’t even suspect that we are stealing the chocolates. If we want, we will ask and never steal.”

Bhanu was already angry because his chocolates were stolen by someone and on top of it, his brother Kaju and his sisters Shanu and Biju were teasing him. He got annoyed still more but controlled his anger and said, “It’s not a matter of joke. Suppose, the same thing happens to you, won’t you feel like catching the thief and punish him? And remember, I will never suspect you of stealing since you are such nice kids.”

Shanu, Kaju and Biju realizing that their things also could be stolen, felt alarmed and asked Bhanu, “Then, what do you suggest we do? Catch the thief red handed? Won’t it be fun?”

Bhanu retorted, “That’s what I had been hinting you guys and you started making fun of me. Yes, that’s exactly we all should do, catch the thief.”

Biju, the youngest of the four always liked solving such mysteries. She quipped excitedly, “Catching a thief could be such a thrill!” You must include me in this job. Shanu and Kaju suggested to Bhanu, “Why not make a plan?” Biju repeated, “Yes, why not make a plan. I will tell you what to do.”

Bhanu said, “Yes, let us put all of our heads together. Yes, Biju, you too. The thief seems to be a very cunning operator. He does it at night when we go to sleep. So, we will have to keep awake throughout the night to keep a watch on him.”

Biju said, “I have an idea. Let all of us not keep awake. We will take turns. Every one of us will keep awake just for two hours turn by turn. Others can go to sleep. We will all be sleeping in Bhanu’s bedroom tonight. Whosoever sees the thief will wake us the rest three and then, we will pounce at the thief together and catch him.”

All of them gave thumbs up to this plan.

After their dinner, all the four of them went to Bhanu’s bedroom. At sharp 10 PM, everyone went to sleep except Biju. Biju volunteered to be on the night guard first- she was so thrilled at the prospect of catching the thief. She was really curious to know who that thief was.

For the first two hours while Biju was awake and looking out for the thief, no one came into the room. So Biju was a bit disappointed. But as per the plan, now she was to sleep and Kaju was to be the guard. During Kaju’s two hours patrol also, the thief did not turn up. So he also went to sleep after his duty was over and now, Shanu took over.

It was now 2 o’clock in the night. The atmosphere was very quiet at the dead of the night. It was dark. It was also a bit frightening. Shanu was very alert and watchful. But she was not afraid at all. All along, she was absorbed in her thoughts about the thief and how to catch him. She guessed that the thief might choose the middle of the night as the opportune moment for stealing since this was the time when everyone got a sound sleep and would not wake up easily even if there were disturbances around.

And lo! There was someone who was entering the room. This someone was very cautious and moving around without making any noise. Now, the thief was crawling towards the hiding place where Bhanu had kept the chocolates. Shanu was not able to see the thief clearly since the room was all dark. She was trying to guess as to who that thief was. Was he the boy who stayed next door and was having a fight with them these days or was he someone else?

Shanu allowed the thief to move towards the hiding place. She wanted to catch the thief in the act of stealing, red handed. The thief had now almost reached the hiding place and was about to lift the chocolates. Just at that moment Shanu switch on all the lights of the room and woke up Bhanu, Kaju and Biju. Bhanu and Kaju, simultaneously, jumped on the thief and grabbed him. Biju closed the door of the room so that the thief would not run away.

And then, to their surprise, they found the thief was neither the boy next door nor any other human being but it was the black cat that used to loiter around their house for the past few days. They could never imagine that a cat could steal their chocolates. They locked the cat in a cage.

Next morning they told the entire episode of the night and how they caught the cat stealing the chocolates to their mom and dad. Mom and dad were very proud of Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju for their intelligence and bravery in solving the mystery of the thief. They also saw the thief, the black cat in the cage. They asked, Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju what were they going to do with the cat.

Bhanu said, “We have got a gentleman’s promise from the cat that he would never steal again. He is ashamed of his act of stealing and is begging us to release him. What should we do?”

Mom and dad said, “Give the cat a chance. Since he is repenting and has promised never to steal again, you can release him from the cage now.”

Bhanu, Shanu, Kaju and Biju agreed with their mom and dad’s suggestion and opened the door of the cage. The cat displayed his curtsy to all of them and thanked profusely for making him free. Then he said good bye and ran away.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.