The magic thief

Suddenly the number of thefts seemed to have gone up in the town where Suman lived. Dadi told him one day on his return from school, “Did you know that Lala Karorimal’s shop was looted today? No one knows who did it.”
The grocer Gajanan Lal’s jewelry shop had been looted the previous day. The thief had disappeared without leaving a trace. The policemen of the town were shocked by the cleverness of the thief who simply left no clues behind.
Lala Karorimal’s precious diamond pieces had disappeared before his very eyes as had Gajanan Lal’s jewels and Seth Mithailal’s sweetmeats.
“The thief must be supernatural,” Suman told himself and then sat up straight. What if the thief was gifted with supernatural or magical powers? Then he had a sudden brainwave.
Having finished his lunch and homework, he proceeded to meet with Billoo and Blackie. He’d heard dadi say that animals were gifted with keener senses than humans.
Walking along the main road he heard an announcement:
“Hear! Hear! The mayor wants the townspeople to look after their own belongings. The invisible thief is too difficult to catch.”
Suman came upon Blackie and Billoo beneath the mango tree in the market place. To avoid being overheard by passersby, he led them both towards the bushes behind Shyam Lala’s shop.
Billoo told him that he’d been able to smell out the invisible thief at Karorimal’s shop.
“Are you able to smell him now?” Suman asked. Blackie the Bull replied, “Billoo has a stronger sense of smell than I do!” Then Billoo added, “Why don’t you speak to Lalu the Dog? His nose is even sharper than mine!”
The three set out in search of Lalu.
They came upon Lalu at Seth Mithailal’s shop where he was eating samosas with relish. Seth Mithailal’s servants loved the dog and often sneaked him snacks and other eats.

Suman and his two friends held a quick conference with Lalu who agreed to smell out the invisible thief.
The next evening after Suman was returning from the market place having sold his toys he saw Lalu speeding towards him.
“The thief is in Sameeran Bi’s house!” Lalu was panting with his tongue rolling out.
Sameeran Bi happened to be the richest lady in town. And just as generous. She’d opened a school for girls from poor families. She was also known to feed the poor and beggars once every week.
The thought of the thief entering the house of such a respected and big-hearted lady upset Suman greatly. He proceeded towards Sameeran Bi’s house determinedly. Lalu, Blackie and Billoo did the same.
Lalu stopped and sniffed the air. Sameeran Bi’s house was in view. “The thief’s here!” he barked and bounded towards the godown. The other followed suit without a further thought.
The godown was choc-a-bloc with sacks filled with crops. Lalu ran towards a particularly fat sack and growled, “He’s in there!”
“What are you doing here?” Sameeran Bi’s watchman had suddenly appeared in the godown.
“We are looking for the thief,” said Suman. Furious, the watchman exclaimed, “What! Are you mad? That thief has managed to remain unseen so far and you say you can actually spot him. I never heard such nonsense in my life!”
“What’s happening here?” A melodious voice made itself heard. Now its possessor had also made herself visible. Suman wheeled around: it was none other than the gracious Sameeran Bi!
“Sameeran Bi!” Suman cried excitedly, “the thief is here, hiding in that sack. I’ll just get him out, you’ll see!” He began rubbing the ring vigorously. The sack began to wobble rapidly. “Stop! Please stop! hee! hee! hee…”
Sameeran Bi and watchman held their breaths in amazement when Suman, who was still rubbing his ring announced, “I’ll only stop when you make yourself visible to us!”
“Alright! Alright! Hee, hee, hee…. I’ll do so…hee, hee, hee…”

The thief was still laughing when he emerged from the sack in person. Everyone gasped in shock. Why, this was Bhiru, Seth Maithailal’s trusted servant!
Bhiru was now sobbing helplessly. Sobbing, he told Sameeran Bi that his master Lala Maithailal had never given him enough money for a living, nor enough to eat. He was even thrown out of his job without being given a reason. That day he was passing through the forests when he rescued a dwarf who was drowning in the river. The dwarf gave him the gift of disappearing at will. But he also warned Bhiru against misusing his gift. “But I did!” wailed Bhiru. He begged forgiveness of Sameeran Bi and of all those present and vowed never to steal again.
Once he left, Sameeran Bi turned towards Suman and asked, “How did you know where he was hiding?”
“It wasn’t me who discovered him,” Suman laughed, “it was Lalu the dog who found him!”

(This work has been copyrighted)