“So Mr. Bhatia, we meet again” said inspector Mahender “Yes and I’m not delighted I’ve been called here again inspector. What did I do this time?” I asked “It seems there have been a series of burglaries in your society right after you were released, sound familiar?” he asked “But this time I’m not to be blamed sir. I was at home the whole time” I said “Do you have any proof?” asked the inspector “I’m going to go now, when you have some proof then you come and get me” I said and left the police station. If anybody was to talk about me they would say that I am outgoing, smart and always have a story to tell about my adventures that would make anyone laugh. I can make a normal situation seem like a funny one, everybody used to love hanging out with me. Due to unforeseen circumstances I had to do something which was not natural to me, it took a great deal of courage to pull something off like that. From the outside nobody could think what I had gone through to save my daughter, Samaira. I was in a custody battle with my ex-wife for the last one year. After our divorce we had to sell our house and I came to live in this present housing society, no one knew of my previous life and the fact that I had a family once. I used to meet my daughter once a month and that too under supervision. One day my wife called me and said that our daughter is very ill and she needs money to get her operated. I did not have that kind of money on hand and was desperate because it was conveyed to me that if I didn’t get the money my daughter would not make it. So, to save my daughter I stole some money from one of my neighbors' house, gave it to my wife but unfortunately got caught when I got back. In court it was proven that I was lying and didn’t have a family at all, it was made up to save myself. I was sentenced to serve a year in jail. In reality my wife, with our daughter, ran away with the money I had given her. In the last few days, there had been a lot of burglaries in the society; the authorities couldn’t pinpoint who had done it and I being the only suspect, because of obvious reasons, was called for questioning. I reached the gate of my society and saw Rajveer, another resident. I waved to him, he didn’t stop so I could even say hello. This was the thing that was appalling. I already paid for what I had done and still people looked at me like I was a monster. What I did was something only I could understand, the circumstances, life at stake. Nobody would ever comprehend what I did and why I did it. Our housing society was located in the heart of the city with five building each consisting of twenty 3BHK flats. There were separate lawns and health clubs for each building with a common swimming pool and tennis courts. The whole area was lit with greenery and potted plants on every nook and corner. I took up the responsibility to find out the truth. Somebody else was doing the crime and I was getting blamed for it. I had had enough of stares and glares from the people around me who at one point loved me and trusted me. Today is the day I would catch the thief and reclaim my mislaid honor. I thought of laying down a trap for the burglar and catch him red handed. I will tell nobody about his plan and execute it in the most undisclosed fashion. I started working on his plan as soon as I reached home. The inspector had told me a few things that were stolen recently, which were, internet dongles, fitness tracking watches, i pads, high end mobiles and laptops. It was clear from this list that the thief wasn’t after money or jewelry, he had a fetish for these electronics and he wanted them at any cost. Maybe he didn’t have the money to buy all these and he wanted them as it is a trend these days to own these gadgets. They are like a status symbol, the mobile phone you carry, what brand of fitness tracker you wear, i pads, tablets etc. These are the basic necessities of today’s youth. So, for someone who is not able to afford them must be horrendous. After considering all of these possibilities I was hungry and I made myself a vegetable roll. I quickly finished my lunch and got back to work, no time to spare right now. Read the next part here