29th February 2008 :: A blanket of leaves

One day I saw a guy in the parking lot deflating the tires of my neighbor's car. Before I could grab his collar I realised it was my neighbor himself. Before I could ask a question, judging by my surprised expressions, he answered it himself.

“I am going out of town”
“So a car with flat tires will be more practical on a long journey”
“No I am not driving, I will be flying”
“So why are you deflating the tires”
“Do you remember that house on 3rd floor that was robbed last year?”
“Yes. But what has this got to do with it”
“That house was intentionally picked by the burglars. They knew the owner lives in Dubai and by the time anyone realised the house is robbed they had already sold the entire loot and had left town. Nobody was caught”
“Right. But I still don't see any connection”
“I will be away for a month and the fact that this car will not be moved and the dust and leaves covering it will make it a hot target for a theft. By any luck, the burglars will see flat tires and think it is not in a running condition or maybe they will be discouraged by the fact that it will be hard to steal a car with four flat tires.”
“But when you will come back, how will have a hard time taking it to gas stations to inflate all they tires again.”
“So?”
“So you could have paid some guy to wash this car everyday to make it look as if it used”

When I turned around and walked, I heard him mumble angrily “I knew there had to be an easier way...”