A Thief and a Bag of Watches

By Syofiardi Bachyul Jb

The first rooster crow emitting from the chicken coop of the head of the district police had just ended when a skinny young man was dragged along by a handful of policemen and then thrown into a cell.

Just like a pack of hungry wolves seeing a dying and frightened deer, these youthful policemen landed jabs and kicks on the skinny body of the young man. Wearing a black T-shirt, the young man could only let out an "ouch" and "Have mercy on me" several times.

Yet, the hungry wolves were not in the least discouraged. They seemed to devour their prey. Clubs hitting the iron bars to scare the young man, followed by shouting threatening to kill only made the whole situation piteous and heartrending.

The young man could only huddle up while he sustained a series of kicks on his thin body by all these policemen, who happened to be at the station. With his two weak hands he tried to cover his face and with his knees bent he protected his belly. Nevertheless, he was beaten black and blue.

Haji Marpaud was still fast asleep beside his wife when the telephone rang and rang. Lazily, he swayed into the sitting room.

"Hello..." he said, taking a glance at the clock on the wall. It was five after four.

But, as soon as he heard the voice on the other end, he became tense and speechless. After giving brief replies like a child receiving an order, he panicked.

"Dik, our shop was burglarized!"

The wife moved and sat up at once. She saw her husband, far older than her, hurriedly get dressed. She rose and did the same.

In their Kijang van, the couple went to the plaza where the shopping center owned by the market cooperative was located. It was still cold. Street lamps were still on, illuminating the darkness all around. One could smell the aroma of a new morning, though. The couple pulled up at a shop called Haji Marpaud which stood among a row of watch shops, all still closed that time of morning. The signboard of this shop was decorated with twinkling, colorful small lamps, turning on and off in turn.

"You are Haji Marpaud?" asked a plainclothes officer, chief of the police detectives division. The voice was the same as that on the phone.

"Yes," Marpaud answered. "Last night I locked the shop as usual."

"Yes, but the burglar was smart. He could open your safe. Look, there's not even a scratch," the chief detective said. "Look inside, Sir and write down what the burglar got away with. Also, give me an estimate of your losses," he added.

Marpaud walked in, his wife following. He turned on the 100- watt neon light and a number of small lamps in the corners of the shop window. A flood of light rushed inside and watches gleamed with light inside the display case. In the shop window before him, a rectangular hole had been skillfully made. The burglar must have used a glass cutter to make the hole. He must have done this precisely and calmly. The watches on the top shelf -- expensive, imported ones -- had all gone.

Marpaud and his wife stood there in silence, with their mouths both agape.

"This burglar really has taste," he said. Then, turning to the detective in another part of the shop, he said, "Over here the watches were all very expensive, over Rp 300,000 apiece. And there were over 100 in all."

He rushed to his desk and took a thick book from the drawer. He leafed through the book and with his finger tried to find an item on a particular page.

"Before we closed yesterday, there were 215 watches," he said, "All gone now."

A loss of some Rp 100 million hit home and both he and his wife turned pale.

"Who reported this burglary to the police, Sir?" he asked, with a trembling voice.

"The market security guard. From across the road, he noticed the door was open. Then, when he saw someone come out acting suspiciously, he contacted the police."

"The burglar?"

"Only one person. He was arrested on Jl. Sudirman because he was unfortunate enough to have an accident. His motorbike hit the Adipura monument."

"The watches?"

"My men told me that the watches are now being kept safely at the district police headquarters. You can collect them there when there are no longer needed as evidence in court. Now you write down how many watches are missing and give me your estimated losses. Then let's go together to the police station. We also need to get some information from you. You can see the watches and the burglar."

Marpaud sat behind his desk and estimated his losses. Once in a while he looked around. Examining. The other items were intact. Obviously the burglar took only the expensive watches. After writing the figures on a piece of paper, he became lost in thought, buoyed by a feeling which he himself could not define. There was a feeling of loss, replaced a while later by a feeling of having discovered something. There was regret, followed a while later with thankfulness to God. However, he was quite happy because the burglar had been caught and his expensive watches would be returned to him.

"So, Abang, I told you several times that the shop window should be covered. Yet, you have never heeded my words," Ina, his wife, said with a tone of deep regret over what had happened. Marpaud did not say a word.

Then he handed his estimate to the detective. The detective, big, well-built and with a thick moustache, looked at the note briefly before leaving the shop with the couple.

When they arrived at the police station, the chief detective and his subordinates took Haji Marpaud to see the burglar. A skinny young man wearing a black T-shirt was sitting huddled on the cold floor in one of the small cells. A policeman opened the door and along with some other policemen he cursed the burglar. Other policemen kicked and hit him. The young man continued to protect his face with his hands and his stomach with his knees.

Marpaud's wife was not used to such a sight. Every time a fist or a boot was about to land on the young man's weak body, she turned away and held her husband's arm tightly. She did so until there was no more kicking or beating. She looked at the young man before her and her husband. The well-built chief detective was lifting the young man's arms. The burglar was looking down, hiding his face. Blood was coming out of one of his nostrils and from the right corner of his lips. His face was bruised, as clearly seen under the yellow light coming in from the corridor outside the cell.

"You know this gentleman, huh?" the chief detective asked loudly.

"No, Sir," he said weakly.

"You know him, don't you?"

"No, Sir."

The stout detective then threw the young man to the corner of the cell. There he sat huddling, resembling a large frog.

"You know him, Sir?"

Marpaud shook his head.

"You, ma'am?"

"I don't either," Ina said.

There were not many policemen left at the station now. A patrol vehicle was parked in the yard, where there was also a new jeep with black number plates which the chief detective drove and Marpaud's Kijang van. Police helmets were placed in a row in front of the front desk. There were only two policemen on duty.

Marpaud and Ina were taken to the chief detective's office. They were interviewed in front of a big typewriter. The sound of typing did not stop. Name, age, occupation, family members, residence, shop address, the date when the shop began operation, the contents of the shop, the opening hours of the shop, names of employees, if any, who could be suspected of being involved in the burglary -- all these details were recorded by the typist.

Then, a brown schoolbag was shown to them. It had watches in it. The watches were taken out and placed on the desk. When he saw these watches, Marpaud was stunned.

"This all, Sir?" asked Marpaud, his hair practically turning gray.

"Yes. My men brought them here right after arresting the burglar," the chief said. Then, feeling uncomfortable with Marpaud's surprise, he turned to one of his men, "Hir, call the front desk officer!"

"Only 47 watches. In fact 215 watches are missing," Marpaud said, after counting the watches.

Corp. Tohir came in with the policeman from the front desk.

"These are all the exhibits, right?" the chief detective asked him right away.

"Yes, Sir."

"It can't be," Haji Marpaud mumbled.

The chief was uncomfortable with Marpaud's behavior. He ordered his men to bring him the burglar, at which the badly bruised young man was dumped into the chair beside Marpaud.

"Answer honestly," the chief said. "How many watches did you take?"

"There all in the bag, Sir," he answered weakly.

"How many are in the bag, hmm?"

"About 40, perhaps."

"Perhaps? Now count these, is this all of them?" he yelled.

The burglar glanced at the shiny watches beside him and then nodded his head. "Yes, Sir."

"This gentleman said he lost over 200 watches. Where are you keeping the rest?"

The young man was quiet. His head hung low, weakly.

"Answer!"

"Those are all I took. Only those," suddenly with some courage he raised his face and stared at the chief detective before him, trying to convince him. "I took these watches and then put them into the bag. Then I left on my Honda motorbike. I rode it as fast as I could but then I had an accident."

"What did you hit?" the chief howled, as if trying to get the better of the courage displayed by the young man, who by then had his head hanging low again. Apparently, the chief was venting his anger at the young man.

The young man said nothing.

"Come on, what did you hit? Answer me!" his big hand hit the desk. He did not care at all about the presence of Marpaud and Ina.

"The Adipura monument on Jl. Sudirman, Sir."

"You dirty rat. The monument is the symbol of honor for the residents of this city. Hitting it means insulting the city's residents, understood?"

"Understood, Sir"

"Do you also understand that the monument is made of concrete and is therefore hard?"

"Yes, Sir."

"But, then, why did you hit it all the same?"

The burglar was silent.

"Your motorbike is badly damaged but you got off scot-free, in good shape. You have some magical power, eh?"

The burglar remained silent. Then, no longer able to hide his exasperation, the chief slapped the young man as hard as he could with his big hand. The young man let out a long scream of pain. He held his cheeks.

It took the chief quite a while to take control of his emotions. In the meantime, the burglar had been dragged back to his cell.

"It's clear now, Sir. This is all," he said flatly. "Your suspicions make me uncomfortable. We are the state's servants. We have been sworn-in to uphold the truth and not to manipulate the truth. I'm afraid you are wrong about the number of watches. So, better think about it again when you get back home."

Marpaud had trouble keeping his composure in the fact of such an attack. At first he thought of defending his conviction. Then he decided to accept what had happened. He remained quiet and appeared obliging when given a receipt for the 47 watches. Then he and Ina left.

On the way home, he and Ina were overwhelmed with disappointment and they tried to forget it by talking about trivial things. The sky had started to lighten. It was beginning to get warmer. Street lamps had been turned off. A few cars passed on the road. School children, workers and employees were waiting in groups for public transportation.

"Why so, Bang?" Ina inquired. The question was more intended for herself.

"Are you sure the burglar is hiding the rest of the watches?"

"I don't know, hopefully he will confess in court," Ina said. "But, is it possible at all?"

"Obviously impossible. The court is nothing more than a play. It will only seek to confirm what we just heard," Marpaud said.

"I think the police must begin their investigation from the disparity in the number of watches missing and then promise to investigate it. Instead they have cornered us."

A few moments before the telephone rang at Marpaud's house before daybreak, the chief detective had gone to the Haji Marpaud watch shop. On the way, he learned through his walkie-talky that there had been an accident on Jl. Sudirman. He ordered a patrol vehicle to go to the scene of the accident, while he went to examine the shop. Then he got information from his men: a young man had been speeding and had hit the Adipura monument. This young man was very frightened when approached by officers. Suspicious, the policemen searched him and found a lot of watches in his bag. The chief detective then ordered his men to take the burglar to the station and seize the evidence.

The young man was dragged into his small but clean cell. There he was tortured. Afterward, as was routine, the policemen went into the chief detective's office. One of then, holding a brown schoolbag, placed the bag on the desk and opened it.

Ten pairs of eyes were dazzled by the shiny watches, still in their plastic wrapping. Out of curiosity, they picked up some. They tried them on, and then put them in their pockets. Merry shouts and joking resounded in the office. In a matter of seconds, the watches on the desk became gifts for just about anybody. Anybody there had the right to take as many as they wished. Some would be presented to immediate family members, relatives or girlfriends. And no one forgot to mention that some should be kept aside for the chief detective and their colleagues on night duty.

The drama was brief. Just like children being offered iced drinks after playing soccer. They greedily took the drinks and then resumed playing, enjoying their cold drinks. The policeman left holding the bag put everything in order and then took it to the cell. Then, shouting at the young man, he showed him the contents of the bag.

"You see how many watches there are in this bag. Forty-seven watches, clear?" the policeman threatened him. "You must say this otherwise no one can help you."

Padang, Dec. 12, 1998

The author writes poems, short stories, essays and feature articles for various local and national newspapers and magazines. His name is included in Directory of Indonesian Authors 1997 (Ministry of Education and Culture).

Glossary:

Abang/bang: literally means elder brother. A term of endearment used by a wife when speaking to her husband.

Dik: younger sister. A term of endearment used by a husband when speaking to his wife.

Translated by Lie Hua