Thread by @RobinAdamsZA

The Curious Case of the stolen wallet.
A Cape Town Chronicle.
Part two.
A THREAD...

To recap...
My wallet was stolen when Lee-Anne car was broken into outside my Mumsy's house.
It must have fallen out in the car the day before. I didn't notice it was gone until I needed it the next day.

So we are at @PicknPay Parow where one of the thieves was trying to purchase another can of Fire and Ice deodorant with our Smart Shopper card.
Back at the scene of the crime around four hours after the first swipe.
A very alert staffer, Sarah, spots it...

To answer @BarbierAbra's question - the thief doesn't look like she has a cent to her name. Let alone a Smart Shopper card. And that attracted Sarah's attention. She caught a split second glance at the card and realised the last four digits are the same...

As what the manager Bernadine just told her.
Sarah's so sharp.
Bernadine asks security to escort the girl to her office and calls the @SAPoliceService Parow station commander.

Lee and I decide we're not hanging around. I have to get replacement cards and a temp licence.
So we head out to N1 City.
Later Bernadine calls us with an update.
Police have arrived to arrest girlie who says it is her boyfriend who gave her the Smart Shopper card.

Boyfriend is a skelm who operates around Parow Station.
We get all the things we need for a temp licence in the meantime at N1 City.
We get to Goodwood Traffic Dept, they close the gates as I park the car.
Damnit - we are too late.
I am properly the moer in.

We head back to Mumsy's.
Bernadine calls again - says boyfriend has now also been arrested. Gives us the names of the arresting officers.
She's so great - Bernadine.
Updates every step of the way.
Just brilliant! A legend.

Lee and I decide to head out to Parow Police station again. For an update.
As we walk in - Constable Tamara Tshona greets us and says the guy they arrested isn't talking. He says he got the cards from another guy and dude is in the wind.

I actually don't know what we are doing at the police station.
It's not like we are gonna solve the case ourselves.
We need to let the law take its course.
Yeah right!
It's Team Adams from CSI Parow.
This is our mission now.

Constable Tshona is so sweet.
We spoke quite a bit on our earlier visit. So she knows our story.
Living in Turkey, on holiday in Cape Town, getting married next year.
The whole move.

Tshona tells us to wait here (at the police station) for her.
We wait for what feels like hours, days. People flow in and out of the station.
It's nearly 6pm.
We don't know where she went or what she's doing...
We wait, and wait, AND WAIT!

It feels like everyone's left the station.
Not many officers in sight.
I ask some one of the cops I see afterwards if we can speak to the arresting officers from our case.
"Their shift finished at 5. They're long gone!" - came the reply.
Sh!t.

We're impatient.
Restless.
We don't know what we are waiting for.
We don't know where Constable Tshona is.
Why did she tell us to wait?
Where did she go?
There's a whiff of salt and vinegar in the air. That beautiful smell of slap chips. I'm instantly hungry!

Eventually, after what feels like five years of waiting... in walks Constable Tshona. Next to her is a man in handcuffs.
It's the suspect. The boyfriend they arrested near Parow Station.

Constable Tshona has both her hands full or cards.
MY CARDS!!!
WHAAAAAAAAAAT????!!!
My @TRTWorld work permit, my medical aid card, my Istanbul travel card, my @Besiktas stadium card, my SA driver's licence and ID.
All the important cards.

I am speechless.
How?
What?
When?
Constable Tshona says: "I begged him (the suspect). I said pleeeeeease. Just tell us where the cards are. That gentleman (me) won't be able to go back home to Turkey if he doesn't have his cards. Pleeeeease???!!!"

Suspect takes Constable Tshona to a drug house in Parow and shows her where the cards are. Hidden under a mattress in a room.
Wallet and money is gone. The @StandardBankZA, @FNBSA and my Turkish bank cards are missing too.

I don't care.
I have the most important cards back in my possession.
Constable Tshona is my new hero.
The epitome of going the extra mile.
I think her colleagues bought her some salt and vinegary chips much earlier. And she could now finally enjoy some dinner.

I don't even know where to start expressing my immense gratitude.
I have already written to @PicknPay head office to tell them about the legends in their employ - Bernadine and Sarah.
I still want to craft the most beautiful letter for @SAPoliceService about Constable Tshona.

And so the most bizarre criminal case comes to a close.
At the centre of it - a @PicknPay Smart Shopper card.
Who woulda thunk?
We genuinely have no idea in what box we place this story.
What category?
Is it funny ha ha?
Help us decide.