Eridanus ~ A Collection Of Short Stories

The Jewel Thief

(Reviewed by WritersBlock1316)

A strong gust of wind blew a pile of leaves onto the street, scattering twigs all over. A typical winter day would usually have people rushing around in their fur coats and woollen mittens. And well, this was a typical winter morning.

Sergei Ratmir put down his large black mug of steaming coffee on the table, glad to be indoors on a day like this. He wasn't particularly fond of the cold, although the frosted trees did look pretty outside with the onset of winter.

Sergei was seated gazing at the television screen, taking in the daily news.

"I thought the one thing that wasn't ruined everyday was the morning news," he grumbled, shaking his head at the TV. "It seems that there are things called advertisements."

His wife chuckled and entered the living room, her work suit in hand. Natalya glanced at her husband. "Well, there can't possibly be more advertisements than yesterday!" she mused. The news had finally resumed after the ad break.

"And we bring to you new developments on the recent jewel robberies," the host spoke.

"Ugh, not those again...," Sergei scoffed, picking up his mug for another sip. "They've been ranting about those confounded robberies for three days now!"

Natalya nodded, putting away the iron. "I heard they struck the Charles Mansion yesterday," she stated.

"Oh, a good loot the man would have found," Sergei replied with a smirk.

Natalya shook her head. "You wouldn't be so calm if he got our Swarovski dinnerware," she smiled sweetly. The host on TV continued reviewing the incident and Sergei's thoughts were drowned out.

Natalya checked her watch and headed to the closet to pick up her coat. Adjusting her hair one last time, she headed to the door. "See you in the evening!"she called with a wave and headed out. A strong gale hit Sergei in the face as the door opened and then swung shut.

He sighed and switched off the television. He headed for the bedroom and thought of having a relaxing, hot bath when it struck him that fate was going to ruin his life further.

In short, the bathroom heater was broken.

Sergei remembered that the electrician would probably drop by in the evening, but he couldn't very well wait till then! Sergei sneaked a look up the stairs. Natalya had rented the upstairs bedroom to a tenant, who was currently outside. He was half tempted to pop in there for a quick shower, because the devil had somehow forgotten to wreck the heater in the bathroom upstairs. But deciding it went against his morals, Sergei headed back to his own bedroom.

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The man rubbed his gloved palms together. It sure was cold. The bright yellow and green woollen gloves he wore, although hazardous to the eye, did their job pretty well, he admitted.

What with all the jewel robberies, everyone was being cautious. Windows and doors were securely fastened. People guarded their jewels. Insurance agents stayed by their phones. The robberies had started quite suddenly, and everyone hoped that they would end just as quickly.

He walked down Primrose Lane and caught sight of the familiar brown house on the left – #435, the residence of Sergei and Natalya Ratmir. It was the last house on the street, towards the left.

As the man trudged down the street, crunching gravel below his boots, he began worrying about his own possessions. Where they safe?  His anxious face was marked with a frown. The last thing he wanted was for himself to fall prey to one of those burglaries.

As he reached the porch of the house, the man realised that he didn't really want to disturb Mr. Ratmir and so made his way inside the house through the back door. Sergei's wife, Natalya, would be out on work, as he knew. He padded up the heavy oak stairs quietly and finally reached the upstairs bedroom. He fumbled around with his coat and retrieved a key from one of the pockets. Turning the silver key in the knob, the door swung open soundlessly. The man walked in and shut the door behind him.

Immediately throwing his yellow-and-green gloves on the bed (the ones that were hazardous to the eye), he stalked over to the wooden drawer and pulled it open. A sigh of relief broke the silence as he pulled out a gleaming pearl necklace from the drawer. It had not been stolen. Yet.

Carefully wrapping it in a newspaper he found on the table, the man placed the necklace deep in his deep jacket pocket and made the decision of heading back out, having secured the precious entity. Just then, he heard a sound outside the door.

His heart raced. His mind had run over the fact that Mr Ratmir was in his room and his wife had left for work. So who was outside the door? It couldn't be...

His heart was suddenly filled with dread. He quickly glanced at the window and opened it. That was the only exit from the room. He had to get out quickly, and the man wasn't keen on finding out who was outside the door.

He heard the doorknob turn and hastened his pace, grabbing his bag and dropping onto the fire exit.  In three seconds, the man was on the fire exit staircase outside and proceeded to hurry away, the gravel on the road crunching beneath his boots again.

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Two days later, an update of the jewel robber was released. "The thief may be armed, is of average height and has been leaving a pair of yellow and green gloves at crime scenes."

On the bed of the upstairs bedroom, in the Ratmir Residence, lay two incriminating gloves.