OFFICER: Good morning. What can I do for you?
LOUISE: I want to report a theft. I had some things stolen out of my bag yesterday.
OFFICER: I'm sorry to hear that. Right, so I'll need to take a few details. Can I start with your name?
LOUISE: Louise Taylor.
OFFICER: OK, thank you. And are you resident in the UK?
LOUISE: No, I'm actually Canadian, though my mother was British.
OFFICER: And your date of birth?
LOUISE: December 14th, 1977.
OFFICER: So you're just visiting this country?
LOUISE: That’s right. I come over most summers on business. I’m an interior designer and I come over to buy old furniture, antiques you know. There are some really lovely things around here, but you need to get out to the small towns. I've had a really good trip this year, until this happened.
OFFICER: OK. So you've been here quite a while?
LOUISE: Yes, I'm here for two months. I go back next week.
OFFICER: So may I ask where you’re staying now?
LOUISE: Well at present I’ve got a place at Park Apartments, that's on King Street. I was staying at the Riverside Apartments on the same street, but the apartment there was only available for six weeks so I had to find another one.
OFFICER: OK. And the apartment number?
LOUISE: Fifteen.
LOUISE: Right.
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OFFICER: Now, I need to take some details of the theft. So you said you had some things stolen out of your bag?
LOUISE: That’s right.
OFFICER: And were you actually carrying the bag when the theft took place?
LOUISE: Yes. I really can't understand it. I had my backpack on. And I went into a supermarket to buy a few things and when I opened it up my wallet wasn't there.
OFFICER: And what did your wallet have in it?
LOUISE: Well, fortunately I don't keep my credit cards in that wallet - I keep them with my passport in an inside compartment in my backpack. But there was quite a bit of cash there ... about £250 sterling, I should think. I withdrew £300 from my account yesterday, but I did a bit of shopping, so I must have already spent about £50 of that.
OFFICER: OK.
LOUISE: At first I thought, oh I must have left the wallet back in the apartment, but then I realised my phone had gone as well. It was only a week old, and that’s when I realised I'd been robbed. Anyway at least they didn't take the keys to my rental car.
OFFICER: Yes. So you say the theft occurred yesterday?
LOUISE: Yes.
OFFICER: So that was September the tenth. And do you have any idea at all of where or when the things might possibly have been stolen?
LOUISE: Well at first I couldn't believe it because the bag had been on my back ever since I left the apartment after lunch. It's just a small backpack, but I generally use it when I'm travelling because it seems safer than a handbag. Anyway, I met up with a friend, and we spent a couple of hours in the museum. But I do remember that as we were leaving there, at about 4 o'clock, a group of young boys ran up to us, and they were really crowding round us, and they were asking us what time it was, then all of a sudden they ran off.
OFFICER: Can you remember anything about them?
LOUISE: The one who did most of the talking was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of something ... let's see ... a tiger.
OFFICER: Right. Any idea of how old he might have been?
LOUISE: Around twelve years old?
OFFICER: And can you remember anything else about his appearance?
LOUISE: Not much. He was quite thin ...
OFFICER: Colour of hair?
LOUISE: I do remember that - he was blond. All the others were dark-haired.
OFFICER: And any details of the others?
LOUISE: Not really. They came and went so quickly.
OFFICER: Right. So what I'm going to do now is give you a crime reference number so you can contact your insurance company. So this is ten digits: 87954 82361.
LOUISE: Thank you. So should I ... |
