A Crime of a Lifetime
Kate Lavelle
5th Class Ms. O’Connor

 
Jim was sergeant in the Garda station. He was sitting there on his big black chair in his office, waiting for a call about a crime, or at least something interesting!  And then, just at that very moment…..a call came in. It was about the most expensive jewel in the world which had been stolen! This was very serious – Jim was excited. He headed off with his investigation crew to the crime scene - the Bank of England. This is where the expensive jewel was kept, in a big glass see-through cabinet, with red laser beams all around it so if someone walked in to them the alarms would go off.
Jim and his crew stood outside the big bank - all its windows were broken. They looked around for clues. Jim was supposed to help, but his eyes’ were fixed to the roof, where he had seen a black figure with a sparkle in its hand flash across the roof. He stayed still; he was trying to make sure the figure would not see him. Next the figure disappeared off the side of the bank’s roof! “Where did he go?” said Jim puzzled. “Where did who go?” said Tom, one of the investigation crew. “The criminal on the roof!” said Jim. “You never told us the robber was on the roof” said Tom puzzled. The rest of the investigation crew stopped, looking for clues, and went over to Jim and Tom. Then Jim heard the engine of a car approaching them from far away. “I hear a car coming” said Jim to his crew. “We are not listening for cars Jim, we are trying to find out who the robber on the roof was” said Tom sarcastically, but Jim was determined to find out was in the car.
Tom and the crew got out some tracking computers, and looked for some fingerprints, so they could try and track down the criminal. Jim heard the car getting closer and by now he could see it. It was just down the end of the big road leading up to the bank. By now the rest of the investigation crew had found some clues and were programming them in their computers. Just down the road the big black jeep parked up on the kerb. Out of the car came a man dressed in black. He went into a jewellery shop which was closed today. Jim was puzzled. The man looked suspicious - he didn’t see the Garda down the road. Jim went over to Tom and the crew and told them what he had seen. They were interested to find out who this person was. They followed Jim to the man’s car - they hid behind another car and they saw the man get out a hammer and………..SMASH!! He smashed the window of the jewellery shop. They saw a sparkle coming from his car - they were sure it was the jewel! “So”, thought Jim, “this person is attempting to rob two places in one day”. Just as a robber entered the shop the Gardaí ran down to the robber’s car.  They needed the jewel and this was a good time to attempt to get it!
But just as they were a few metres away from the robber’s car the robber ran out of the jewellery shop with a big bag stuffed with jewels and immediately he threw the bag in his car. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching before he drove off. He saw the Gardaí running towards him. “Nobody move!” shouted Jim. The criminal attempted to run away but it didn’t work - he was surrounded. Tom took out his handcuffs and put them on the criminal’s wrists, and then put him into the Garda car. Tom drive back to the Garda station with the criminal, and Jim stayed behind to get the stolen things and put them in the other Garda car, to be investigated back at the station. Then he drove back to the station for further examination.
Tom got back to the Garda station first, so he brought the criminal to the ‘questioning room’. The investigator asked him lots of questions. Then they discovered something that they did not know about the criminal…..they figured out that he was homeless. He was stealing jewels so that he could then sell them to other people for lots of money. He could then use the money to buy a house for his family. They wondered why he has not asked the bank for a loan. They asked Bob the criminal why he had not asked the bank for this - he did not answer as he had not thought of that. He thought stealing was the only answer. When he was younger his Mum and Dad were poor and blamed it on him. They made him steal food from the nearby shop, and then they didn’t let him have any of it and they made him starve. That was why he thought stealing was the only answer. He had never learned any other way.
“Well stealing is not the only answer” Tom said to him. “You have had a bad life, but you will still have to go to jail for stealing” said the investigator to Bob. “I’m not going to jail and that is that. I will escape, you just wait and see!” said Bob. “You will be in jail for four years, and you will have to live with it” said Tom. Off went Bob to jail - he was annoyed, but he had to live with it as Tom had said. That was the end - Bob had to go to jail and Tom went back to work. As for Jim, he went back to his regular boring life, sitting on his big back chair in his office wishing that he could have more crimes to sort out. That was the best day of Jim’s life!