Gotcha!!!

The audacity of hope is to defy probability.

Yesterday we recovered a friend's macbook which had been stolen from my place (I shared my distress here). We got the miscreant and just so you be aware, I have opted to disclose his identity (I trust that the report filed with the police will suffice to rebut any defamation claims made in this regard).

I wish I could say it was CSI Nairobi but we were going up against a petty thief who seriously needs to use his "skills" to get an IQ so the challenge was short of titanic. We still needed the drive of an outsider. The owner of the laptop shares my lethargy for senseless pursuit of material things but is slightly more vengeful and had indicated that running over someone was an option. And so we engaged the private services of a cop, and visited various estates, staked out one in particular, sourced for his pictures on the net (I did this bit, quite easy actually with our blinding devotion to sharing our lives on facebook), talked to his neighbours and finally knocked on his door.

I still can't wrap my mind around the "why" of it all. Why would you steal a laptop from people who are not perfect strangers and then keep it? It perturbs me given there were no drool marks on his face.

I was not there to see the look on his face when they walked into his house where the whole family was seated oblivious to the fact that they were habouring a felon. I wish I was there, right now my struggle would be to find words to express that look on his face. My last text to him was that we would do whatever it took to get him - I really wish I was there to say "GOTCHA!!!" I like living up to my word.

Anyway, my friends politely asked for their property and it came with a free bag (looks free too though) and fake nokia earphones. Yippee, we can now retire. We'll be returning those though. We are men of honour (except when circumstances demands otherwise which then speaks to the calibre of honour which we [tentatively] lay claim to).

The thief had upgraded the OS and put a new password so I had to text him to ask. I did so politely and he responded with the password. I thanked him and wished him a good night. And this was no attempt to "heap coals of fire on his head" as the good book would want. I tend to resort to absolute courtesy when I'm deadly serious - no raised tones in my speech when I'm damning a mortal.

My friend decided not to prefer charges. Mercy was not ours to give or to withhold so we respected his decision. For the record, I'd have done the same. Mercy and grace are accorded to me without measure, and so in those rare circumstances when I have the choice and my conscience permits it, I will give them without measure.

The elation the recovery brought was such a good way to end the weekend. It took a while to take in the fact that our search was over and my conscience had been cleared. I can imagine how much more relief the owner had. For me it was just a stained conscience, for him actual loss of property - valuable and cherished property.

I suspect this will be a blogful week, I have issues to share.

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