Robber Is Caught Red-Handed by Cop after He Steals Poor 91-Year-Old Lady's Money — Story of the Day

A cruel man robs a 91-year-old woman of her money but is outwitted by a police officer who captures him red-handed and he had no clue!

"I see a lot of muttering going on here. Is there a problem?" Officer Hill asked as he approached Alice, the cashier at Rancher's grocery store in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

"Well, officer, I've been telling Mrs. Morris that she has $2 less than the total amount, but she's not listening. I counted the money three times already, and I'm confident I'm not wrong about the calculation," Alice said, pointing to the dollar notes on the counter.

"She's lying, officer!" Mrs. Morris objected. "Last night, I counted the money. She's simply taking advantage of my handicap. She's deceiving me since I'm visually impaired! I should not have given her all of the money without counting them again!"

"Ma'am, please calm down," Officer Hill said. "Let me just count the money, and then we can check if she's lying." When Officer Hill did the count, he noticed that it was indeed $2 less than Mrs. Morris's actual bill.

This was the 4th time in a month that he had discovered Mrs. Morris was unable to pay her bills. She'd gotten angry and stormed out of the store the first few times, but this time she was dead set on proving that she was correct and Alice was wrong!

Mrs. Morris claimed that Alice had stolen her money, which he knew wasn't true because he was a regular client at the store and Alice was the best employee there. "She never took an additional dime from anyone, let alone rob an elderly woman of 91 with impaired eyesight! Alice would never do something like that!" he thought.

However, to diffuse the whole situation, he secretly slid two dollar bills on the counter and told Alice to clear off Mrs. Morris's bill. Then he escorted the older woman out of the store, his mind still lingering as to why Mrs. Morris was facing this problem every time.

Officer Hill was responsible for rounds in the neighborhood where the grocery store was. He knew Mrs. Morris as he'd often seen her coming to the grocery store with one person or the other accompanying her to the store as she was visually impaired.

Those days, it was a young man in his early twenties who never accompanied the elderly woman inside the store but instead dropped her at the entrance and left. An idea suddenly struck Officer Hill as he pondered how Mrs. Morris always had less money.

He had heard whispers that the young man was a tenant at Mrs. Morris's house. However, he couldn't accuse him until he was sure about it. So to confirm his suspicions, he surreptitiously quizzed the elderly lady without alarming her.

"Do you live in this area, ma'am?" he inquired, pretending to know nothing about her.

"Yes, officer," Mrs. Morris replied. "I live in the house across this street. The last one at the end of the street."

"Please come with me, ma'am. I'll drop you off. You'll have to go alone otherwise."

"Oh no, it's fine, officer. I have my cane with me, so there's no need to worry. And then, I just need to cross the street. Aiden will be waiting there."

"Aiden?"

"He's a tenant at my house…A lovely boy…. He always helps me. To be honest, I would say he's more like family. My son stays in New York, and he never comes to see me. Thanks to Aiden, I don't feel alone. Moreover, I need money to survive, and he agreed to pay the rent I asked for, so I'm glad to have him."

"I see…So shall I meet Aiden today, ma'am? He seems like a nice boy."

"Oh sure," Mrs. Morris replied with a smile. "Aiden would be happy to meet you!"

Officer Hill returned Mrs. Morris's smile, formulating a plan to catch the thief. He had a nagging hunch that Aiden was the source of Mrs. Morris's unexpected cash deficit, and if he was, he was going to be discovered soon.

"By the way, ma'am, what happened today in the store was not Alice's fault. Some of your money was hidden behind the bags Alice had kept on the counter, and she was unaware of it. Here's the change," he added, handing Mrs. Morris a couple of dollar notes on which he scribbled something in invisible ink.

"Oh, poor soul. I shouldn't have yelled at her."

"Yes, ma'am. I've known Alice for a while now, and she's a really nice girl. I think we can go to the store tomorrow and apologize to her? What do you think?" Officer Hill proposed, putting the first phase of his plan into action.

Mrs. Morris agreed to Officer Hill, and then the two walked to her home. There, he met Aiden, thanked him for looking after Mrs. Morris, and told him the whole story.

Officer Hill could see a sudden fear in Aiden's eyes as he mentioned the missing money. He'd been a cop for almost 15 years and was so good at catching robbers that he could do it just by smelling them.

Aiden was doing his best to grin while appearing natural, but his forehead was sweaty, and his eyes frequently avoided contact.

"All right, Mrs. Morrison, I'll see you tomorrow at the store. I'm hoping to see Aiden as well!" Officer Hill said, unleashing the second part of the plan.

Aiden nodded to him with a nervous smile. Officer Hill returned his smile and then left.

The next day, he was waiting for Aiden and Mrs. Morris at the store, and when they arrived, he ran to Aiden, making sure he didn't leave once Mrs. Morris was inside.

Mrs. Morris soon apologized to Alice, and Officer Hill turned to Aiden. "Would you mind lending me a dollar, Aiden? I left my wallet at home."

"Sure, sir," Aiden replied, pulling out his wallet. Officer Hill couldn't believe his eyes when he discovered it was stuffed full of cash. He yanked his wallet from his grasp and handed it to Alice. Then he gripped Aiden tightly and motioned to Alice to turn off the lights.

The customers began murmuring. Aiden was perplexed. "What are you doing? Give me my money back!"

Alice emptied Aiden's wallet as Officer Hill had told her to, and a dollar with something written in unique shimmering ink fell from it. "The truth always comes out," the message on it read. Officer Hill knew he was right! He asked Alice to switch on the lights and arrested Aiden.

"So that's what was going on. You've been taking money from Mrs. Morris regularly! It's no surprise she was usually short on funds! I handed her a few dollar bills yesterday after scribbling a message on it with invisible ink. That ink is visible only in the dark, Aiden. Thanks to it, we know who was taking the money every time."

Aiden realized he couldn't lie at this point. He admitted to the robbery and it turns out, he'd been doing it since moving into Mrs. Morris' house. He reasoned that because Mrs. Morris was elderly and visually challenged, he would never be caught in the act.

Mrs. Morris was astounded that she'd been living with a thief all this time. She thanked Officer Hill for his assistance and apologized to Alice again for doubting her, promising herself that the next time she kept a tenant, she'd be more cautious.

What can we learn from this story?

• The truth always comes out. Aiden never thought he would ever be caught, but eventually, he was.
• God always helps the needy. Mrs. Morris was nearly blind, so Aiden tried to deceive her. However, God intervened and sent Officer Hill to save her from Aiden.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about an old millionaire who leaves behind a gigantic $5.3 million mansion after his death, but there's a twist: neither his wife nor his daughter inherits it.

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