Kate Dunlap

When the burglar entered the Dunlap’s yard led by Officer Clayton, Mrs. Dunlap and the twins got to see his face for the first time. For a moment both of the twins only stared at the man. Then Emilie said, “Albert Green! What in the world were you thinking?”

“What?” Officer Donnellson cried. “Do you know this man?”

Emilie and Edward nodded their heads. “He’s one of the people in charge at the orphanage we used to live at,” Edward said. He was very surprised to see who the thief was, and at the same time he was also a little disappointed to find out that his suspicions had been wrong about the man at the Auto License Bureau.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Officer Donnellson said slowly.

Mrs. Dunlap explained, “These two children are orphans who used to live in The Blooming Desert Orphanage. My husband and I just adopted them and they came home to us just a few days ago.”

“I see,” Officer Donnellson said. After a pause, he turned to Albert Green. “Perhaps you had better explain everything.”

The burglar sighed. “You’re right. I did something wrong, and now the right thing to do is to confess. The twins are correct,” he continued. “I am one of the men in charge at The Blooming Desert Orphanage. In fact, I’m the man in charge of the finances. Really, I did not mean to break into these people’s house at first. Actually, I was on my way to do them good when… it happened.

“I was in my car driving to their house to drop something off from the orphanage for the twins – something they forgot when they left, I guess – and when I drove up to the house, I saw a watch just lying there on the retaining wall. I noticed it because of how the sun was shining on it. Well, it looked really expensive, and I thought, I could come back later when I’m sure the family is not home or something, and take the watch. It’s probably worth a lot of money. You see, the orphanage is having financial troubles right now. I totally forgot about the errand I was on, I was so obsessed with the thought of the watch on the wall. I planned on a way to get it the rest of the day. Finally I came back. I sure hoped it was still there! Well, I came when I thought everyone would be asleep, and took the watch.”

“You stole it, you mean!” Officer Clayton corrected.

“Yes, I stole it.” The robber swallowed hard and looked down at the ground.

“I watched you steal it,” Kate declared. “I saw the whole thing.”

Albert Green looked surprised. “Well, then you already know that I crashed my car in the process. I certainly didn’t mean to! But I didn’t let that stop me from taking the watch. I was terribly disappointed with it. It was not the very expensive watch I thought it was. It was a good watch, that is true, but it was not worth a lot of money.”

“I don’t understand,” Mr. Dunlap spoke up. “If the watch was not worth a ton of money and you were disappointed with it, why did you return to break into our house just now?”

“I did not intend to,” Albert Green replied. “But then I happened to see your wife with the twins at the symphony orchestra last night. I recognized the twins. And I heard one of them address your wife as ‘Mom.’ So I knew who she was. And I knew where she lived. And… then I noticed the jewelry she was wearing…”

“Go on,” Mrs. Dunlap said after a considerable pause.

Albert Green took a deep breath. “There is not much left to say. I noticed the jewelry, and I figured it was worth another try. So I’ve been monitoring your house all day long. When I saw you all get in the car to go somewhere, I figured this was my chance. But then you all came right back without your car! I didn’t know you were back until you shouted at me. I quickly grabbed a bunch of jewelry and a few other things I thought might be valuable. That is all there is to tell.”

No one said anything for a few moments. Then Mr. Dunlap said, “Well, thank you for telling us about it. Now I would like to tell you about something.”

Albert Green looked like he was not sure what was coming, but he nodded in consent. “What I want to say,” Mr. Dunlap went on, “is that what you did is very wrong. It is very wrong to break into other people’s houses, to steal things, and it is even wrong to be covetous of other people’s things.”

Mr. Dunlap paused, and Officer Donnellson jumped in. “What you said is right, Mr. Dunlap, except for one thing. It is against the law to burglarize people’s houses, and it is also against the law to steal. But you are wrong about the third thing. We do not have a law against wanting to have things that other people own.” He chuckled at the thought.

“I was referring to God’s law,” Mr. Dunlap responded quietly, and immediately Officer Donnellson stopped laughing. To Albert Green, he continued, “As I was saying, what you did is wrong. You disobeyed God, and that did not please him.” No one said anything this time, so Mr. Dunlap continued talking.

“God hates sin. With sin in your heart, you are on your way to hell. The Bible says that the wages, or the payment, of sin is death. And the Bible also says, ‘And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.’ Because of your sins, you will spend all of eternity in the lake of fire if you do not repent.”

“Hold on,” Officer Donnellson interrupted Mr. Dunlap. “This is quite the time to preach a little sermon, isn’t it?” he said sarcastically.

Mr. Dunlap was quiet for a minute, trying to think of how to respond correctly. Mrs. Dunlap, Edward, Emilie, and Kate were all standing by, listening to the conversation. They were all praying silently that the Lord would give Mr. Dunlap the right words to say. After a few moments Mr. Dunlap said, “I’m sorry if you do not like what I am saying. But may I please finish?”

“Yes, I think you should let him finish,” Officer Clayton stated. He had been quiet the whole time, and Mr. Dunlap thought that he had not been paying attention. But was wrong. Officer Clayton had been listening closely.

“All right, I suppose you may finish,” Officer Donnellson said reluctantly.

Mr. Dunlap went on. “This gets better than what I just was saying,” he said. “God is not just a God of wrath. God is a God of love. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’” he quoted slowly. “Jesus, who never sinned, paid the penalty for us, so that we can be saved from our sins, and from the punishment of sin. There is nothing you can do but to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did in shedding his perfect, sinless blood on the cross. And you need to repent, or turn, from your sinful ways. The Bible says that God ‘commandeth all men every where to repent’.”

“I’ve heard all of this before,” Albert Green said slowly, “but I’m just not sure. I’m not sure that I want to accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior right now. I’ll think about it.”

“Well, it’s good to think about it,” Mr. Dunlap said, “but I wouldn’t put it off. You never know when God will say, ‘Your time is up,’ and then it will be too late. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,’” he said, emphasizing the word “now.” He sent Mrs. Dunlap up to the house to get three gospel tracts – one to give to each of the men. When Mr. Dunlap gave the gospel tracts to the men, Albert Green took one gladly, and Officer Clayton looked interested, too. He took one without hesitation. But Officer Donnellson was reluctant. Finally he gave in and took it, but stated that he was not interested.

“Will you read it at least once?” Mr. Dunlap asked him.

Seeing that Albert Green, Officer Clayton, and the entire Dunlap family was looking at him expectantly, Officer Donnellson felt under a little pressure and unenthusiastically promised to read it.

“Oh, I just thought of something,” Edward said. Everyone turned to look at him. “Remember the wallet that we found?” he asked the others. “Should I go get it?” Mr. Dunlap said that would be a good idea, so Edward ran into the house and quickly returned with the wallet that he, Emilie, and Kate had found a few days ago. “Is this yours?” he asked Albert Green.

“Why, yes, it is!” he replied. “How did you get it?”

Edward explained how they had found the wallet on the ground beside the retaining wall while looking for clues to solve the mystery of the stolen watch. Albert Green nodded. “Yes, now I remember. I must have had it somewhere…” he paused, trying to think. “Well, anyway, it must have fallen out when I jumped out of the car.”

“We figured as much,” Edward said. He handed the wallet to the man.

“Thank you,” Albert Green said. “And now, I know the right thing for me to do would be for me to give back the watch that I stole. He took the watch off his own wrist and handed it over.

“Well, I hate to break up the party,” Officer Donnellson said after a few moments, “but we really ought to go.” He turned to Albert Green and led him down the street to the police car.

As Albert Green was leaving, Mr. Dunlap called out, “I hope you think about what I told you. Be sure to read that tract.”

“I will,” the burglar called back. “And thank you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Officer Clayton echoed. Officer Donnellson said nothing, pretending to ignore the other men.

*

		*		

A few days later, after the mystery had been completely solved, the family was chatting together after supper. The conversation turned to the most recent excitement. Soon the topic of the thief’s capture was brought up.

“I never knew you were so fast, Kate,” Mrs. Dunlap said, thinking about how Kate had beat Albert Green into the neighbor’s yard.

“Yeah, watching you grab his bag away from him was really something,” Emilie chimed it.

“Yes, it was,” Mr. Dunlap agreed, “but it was not exactly the smartest thing to do. You could have been seriously hurt, had he turned on you faster.” He was quiet for a minute, but seeing Kate’s troubled face, he reassured her, “But don’t worry about it now. It’s over and there’s nothing you can do about it. Besides, if it weren’t for you, Albert Green might have gotten away! I’m just saying… Well, just try to be sensible next time.”

Kate agreed that she would try to use her brain the next time. Then she began to laugh as she thought of the conversation following the robber’s confession. “That was pretty clever, Dad,” she said. “Just think, after the confession, you were witnessing to Albert Green and he had no choice but to listen. Witnessing to a captive audience must be pretty easy!”

Mr. Dunlap chuckled, too. “Well, I sure hope he thinks about what I said. He seemed interested. You never know just what the Lord is doing in his heart. You know, it would be a very good idea to pray for him!”

“Yes, and the police officers, too,” commented Edward seriously. “I think Officer Clayton’s heart really might be tender to the word of God right now.”

“We also need to pray for Officer Donnellson,” Mrs. Dunlap reminded them quietly. “Let’s pray that God will open his heart to the gospel, as well.”

“There’s something we’ve totally forgotten,” Emilie exclaimed. “Remember, if we hadn’t gotten a flat tire when we did…”

“We’d probably not have caught the thief,” Kate finished for her.

“Exactly!” Emilie replied. “It’s so neat when things like that happen to show you that God really does care about us, and, even though it may look like something bad happens in our lives, he is using it for good!”

“Wow, it sure was quite the adventure,” Edward remarked. “These last few days have been some of the most fun days of my life. I mean, it wasn’t all catching the thief that I liked. We had fun just playing together and spending time together as a family. Of course, the mystery was… well, I suppose the word for it is exciting. And, I admit, catching the thief was really exciting!” The whole family laughed.

“You’re right,” Kate replied to her brother. “And do you know what? I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a lifetime adventure for all of us!”