A Most Considerate Thief
Apparently, modern technology helped put the robber in his comfort zone because in less than an hour we heard back from him! It was unclear how well he had mastered the technology but the gist was clear:
manan TE DIGO DONDE Te los pasaportes
(tomorr I TELL YOU WHERE the passports)
The lateness of the hour and the hunger and exhaustion of the day made the notion of communicating with the robber surreal but there it was in black and white. Over the next two days we continued to press and he continued to respond. At times he sent messages even without our prompting:
Thieve(s):
laS TARJETAS Y LA LICENCIA TAMBIEN MANANA TE LAS DEVUELVEN
(thE CARDS AND THE LICENSE ALSO TOMORROW WILL BE RETURNED)
Us:
Por favor tambien las llaves y la camara. Podes dejarlo en la recepcion de un hotel tal vez?
(Please also leave the keys and the camera. maybe you can leave it in the reception of a hotel?)
Thieves:
+MANANA TE DIGO DNDE T DEJO LOS PASAPORTES Y LAS TARJETAS
(+TOMORROW I TELL YOU WHRE I LEAVE THE PASSPORTS AND CARDS)
Us:
Pone todo lo que no quieras en el bolso, y dejalo en algun lado como el mostrador de informes del shopping
(Put everything you don't want in the bag, and leave in in some place like the information desk of the mall)
Thieves:
+A LA TARDe voy a capital y te dejo todo en algun hotel k despues te digo cual ok
(IN THE AFTERNOOn I am going to the capital and leave everything in a hotel tht I will later tell you which ok)
Evidently, in Buenos Aires, there are such things as “good thieves”, who are mainly interested in ripping your money but not that interested in such things as passports. As the conversations continued we were hoping we hit a good thief and not a superb techno-con artist.
Thieves:
+blockbuster de av la plata y saenz caapital federal (this last one arrived like 5 times for some reason)
(+blockbuster at la plata av and saenz caapital federal)
A few web searches and phone calls later we were able to verify that this Blukbooster (as pronounced in Buenos Aires) existed and indeed the thieves had dropped off the package like they said they would. The next problem was to ensure that we could grab it before it gets lost.
The Blockbuster was on the edge of town in a more run down area and it was after dark but its staff were not too eager to get involved, say with dropping off the package at a police station. There was much debate about whether we should go and retrieve the passports or wait until next morning. We finally decided that a Blockbuster couldn't be that menacing especially if we would have the taxi wait for us.
Despite the long taxi ride filled with many spy-thriller jokes, it was surprisingly easy to get the items back. The woman at the blockbuster seemed totally nonchalant and handed them over. The robber (or perhaps his or her girlfriend as a woman turned them in) had apparently told the clerk that she found the passports and wallet on the street. We got all three passports and the wallet with all the credit cards, license but no money.
Our adventure was over and we had gotten the most important things back, and a story for our lifetimes, the Buenos Aires style. Yippee!
We did think about sending a message back to the thieves to thank them! But how do you thank someone who has robbed you? At last we texted back:
“Thank you for returning the stuff. You are the most considerate thief.”
Saturday, August 19, 2006