The Landlord: Caught

When things began disappearing in the apartment building, the tenants were furious.

“Call the police, if you see anything suspicious,” Joshua, the bald, landlord with a long, red beard advised everyone. “Do not leave your doors unlocked.” Joshua seemed to be a kind, soft-spoken man and gifted musician. No one knew that he was highly addicted to drugs. The apartment community found out about his addiction later.

“I can help you,” he told those who needed assistance. “I will get rid of things you don’t need.”

Things they did need were suddenly gone overnight, too. Joshua was quietly selling their possessions to buy drugs on the street. Everyone in the building trusted him, except for one new tenant who became suspicious when a bottle of aspirin disappeared, the same day she moved in.

"Someone has a headache.”

 The next day her cleaning supplies were gone.

 “I have not been here long enough to use them.” A thief was obviously raiding her apartment. Her coffee began disappearing regularly, so did her sugar, salt and tea. Milk, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruit disappeared along with canned goods from her cupboards.

How many personal items Joshua stole before she caught him, she did not know. She began to set out small, insignificant items. In turn, each one disappeared.

“This is not a one-time event.”

“Is this kleptomania?” she wondered. “These things have street value.”

When her matches disappeared, she watched smokers. Coming into her apartment one afternoon, she smelled unusual smoke and found pieces of burnt incense and ashes on her bedroom windowsill.

“That could have caused a fire!”

She found her tall, white candles broken and her beeswax candles crushed.

Early one morning, she smelled oatmeal cooking.

“I just bought a package of oatmeal, the second since I moved here a month ago.”

Most of it had disappeared.

“This is the first time I have ever smelled oatmeal cooking here.”

She opened her patio door and waited. “Whoever is having oatmeal at five am is going to work.”

“My God, it is Joshua,” she realized, watching him get in his panel truck, to leave for his part-time job. “We’ll have to talk.”