متصدی و دزدها

The Teller and the Thieves

A teller at a bank suspected some of her fellow employees of not being very trustworthy. She thought they were stealing. In order to catch them, though, she needed some way to link them to the crime.

She had a background in religion and folklore. She remembered that one religion’s literature had a myth that chronicled how a group of thieves was captured.

In the millennium-old story, coins of copper were covered with venom taken from a poisonous snake. The coins were left as bait for the robbers. When they touched the coins, the venom infected their bodies through their skin.

The venom ran through their veins, and they all became very sick as if they had a disease. It made their skin purple. The police arrested whoever had purple skin.

She knew she couldn’t use venom because it might hurt someone. However, she thought of a way to update the old story. She decided to cover a sum of money with a special powder. If people touched the money, the powder would cause their skin to itch.

She placed the stack of money in the bank’s safe. No one was supposed to take money from the safe. If somebody did, then they had to be stealing.

Within a few hours, three of her coworkers were scratching their hands and arms. They itched so badly that they couldn’t even work. She checked the money, and it was gone. She told her boss what she had done, and he had the thieves arrested. He thanked her and promoted her.

Because events from history often repeat, ancient literature had helped the teller solve a crime. She proved that stories from the past still relate to the problems of today, and they can be helpful in solving those problems.