Wallet on a String

An 80-year-old man in Frankfurt-on-Main protected himself from thieves in an amazingly simple way by attaching his wallet to his jacket with 2 metres of string. This safety measure worked excellently. Immediately after a pickpocket's attack the thief tried to flee but was captured by the crowd, since the clever old pensioner had attached a little bell to the string to draw attention to his situation.


The King's Thievish Prank

Charles IX of France, one of the least gifted sons of Catherine de Medici, once enjoyed a joke in bad taste for his own pleasure. At the great Court Ball he allowed the ten most skillful pickpockets in Paris to ply their trade by taking any jewellery and valuables they fancied. The thieves had a wonderful time and Charles was amused to find jewels, fans and other valuables changing owners.


Magic

In olden days, magic was used to reveal thieves. One way was to stick the points of a pair of scissors into the wooden frame of a sieve. A man and a woman then held the scissor grips. The name of the suspects were chanted in a verse to St.Peter and St.Paul. At the name of the real thief the sieve was supposed to either fall down or twirl.