Two men on a bench

The Lake Gardens were quiet in the heat. Hana and Arjun left the motorbike by the gate and walked until Hana pulled Arjun behind a large tree.

On a bench by the water sat Mr Brown and the tall teacher. They were talking about the stars.

"Perhaps on some distant planet," said the tall man, "two plus two makes five. Who can say what is true?"

"A history teacher should care about the truth," Mr Brown said mildly. "I have never met one who didn't."

The tall man laughed, and his voice changed. It became cold and quietly menacing. "Then let's stop pretending. I am Duval. You walked me on a very circuitous tour this morning, but it's over. While you were busy in that bookshop, I swapped your parcel for mine." He gave a sly smile. "You never even noticed."

Mr Brown remained unperturbed, as if they were discussing the weather. "I noticed. But the parcel you took was never the real one."

Duval stopped gloating. He tore open the parcel. Inside were three library cards and a packet of sweets.

For a moment the great thief looked dumbfounded. He had built his whole life on duplicity, telling lies in six countries. Now a quiet librarian had tricked him first, and done it with perfect aplomb.

Behind the tree, Hana took out her phone and called the police. Duval stood up. He was a big man, and the gardens were empty.

"Where is it?" he said.