The thief in the night

I am sorry to admit that there is a thief in our town. It was one of those days that starts off quiet and then bam a crime has been committed; not just in one care home but in two. SOMEBODY HAS BEEN STEALING THE TEA! This may seem trivial to you and I, but to the residents it is a major incident, and to top it all, in one care home someone has also been stealing the biscuits. Both crimes have unfortunately resulted in the communal kitchen being locked up at night. Both crimes have caused a lot of speculation and accusation in the corridors



Not least with one lady that I visit called Sybil who is most distressed, because this means that her and John can’t have their early morning cuppa and chat in the lobby.
Every morning for at least two weeks she greeted me with ‘Do you know? Someone has stolen our tea. Bloody disgraceful! I would’ve given ‘em the money to buy some if they were they were that hard up.’
And every morning I pretended that I hadn’t heard about this awful deed, hoping that my face would express disgust at all the relevant moments of the saga.

Then one day she found out who it was (or at least suspected who it was) Now our Sybil is not one to let things go, and each time we passed the said suspects door, she would shout, yes SHOUT. ‘Do you know someone’s been stealing our teabags Bloody disgraceful......etc.
Not content with this, we happened to be passing the unfortunate woman in the hallway this morning; Sybil immediately starts to indicate with a not so discreet nod of the head. ‘Do you know I have to take my own teabags down with me first thing in the morning because someone’s......
(pause for dramatic effect and another nod in the direction of our suspect)
been stealing our teabags……........

……Bloody tea leaves that’s what they are!’

or were!  So a tea leaf has been stealing the tea leaves, I couldn’t help but smile.

For our american cousins tealeaf is cockney rhyming slang for thief