Day 704: 5 Minute Freewrite: Tuesday - Prompt: no trespassing

Even for a successful criminal, there comes a day when your number is up...

Thus it was for the finest cat-burglar in southern Virginia, on the day he decided to cat-burgle the Rosewood Apartments in Big Loft, VA.

He could have been excused for not knowing the police officer known colloquially (and for good reason) as the Angel of Death lived in apartment 413.

He couldn't be excused for missing the very large and well-lit “no trespassing” sign that had been left in the window. There appeared to be no one in the room beyond it, or even in the apartment.

So, he pushed the sign aside and got halfway in – he hadn't been caught in 200 attempts, and so –

201 was his number. The window slammed shut on him with him half in and half out, and bricks were slid onto the upper part to hold him right there, screaming, until the other police officers arrived to collect him.

The next day, Mrs. Magdalena Thornton from apartment 313 walked up to Captain H.F. Lee, the inhabitant of apartment 413, with a look as if she was trying to be serious, but was about to fail in a big burst of laughter.

“You know,” she said, trying to be stern, “you are a very kind man, but you have quite a mean streak when it comes to putting cat-burglars in mousetraps, Captain Lee.”

“Mrs. Thornton, I gave the man fair and ample warning. Don't hate me because he's stupid.”

She broke out laughing, and he walked away with a smile, completely unrepentant.