The Monks who knew no walls,they broke-in , that's all !

A chill ran down his spine. He was on his feet instantly and listened. He could swear He heard footsteps. He took torch in one hand and his rifle in other. He had hardly reached the door when the footsteps suddenly stopped . He stopped too and listened. Then cautiously he tiptoed over the bedroom threshold ; looked right and as he turned to look left, he gave a start from sudden appearance of someone only few feet away who also started at his sudden appearance and nearly shrieked,  

“Daddy , what do you think are you doing?, put that gun down .it's me , Sara.”

 It took him only a moment to recover from surprise and see that it was Sara , his daughter.

 “ Sara ? Oh it's you. What are you doing here this late ?”

“I was taking a pee, who do you think it was? 

“I thought that ....”

“It was those monks ? Come on dad, you don't seriously think them that stupid burglars to break into a Policeman's house.do you? "

“I too wish they aren't  that stupid but looking at these recent burglaries around here they don't seem common thieves and they appear very different than anything I have previously known or seen. But nothing to worry about it , Now go to bed , you shouldn't be up so late.”

Seargent Daniel Belmont , a middle aged policeman , known for his alert and swift disposition; lived in a rented apartment at a suburban township with his family. He had worked diligently for 30 years of his life in police service. The slight greying of hairs at temple and a set jaw gave him an air of experienced and stern policeman , but he wasn't as stern and rigid as he appeared .he currently was assigned to crime branch and was working on recent cases of burglary that were still happening. The police were unable to get anything that might help them catch the burglars . Belmont's initial conviction was that it was a work of more than one person from the observation that all the burglaries were completed in only five to six minutes according to the difference between the time at which security cameras were disabled and the time when police arrived in response to burglar alarms .He was right , a security cam footage confirmed it was a gang of four bald men .

Other day at the breakfast table wasn't any different than previous two weeks . Same breads, same eggs ,same tea ,same newspaper and the same news of burglary but in different house than before. Belmont felt frustrated as he threw aside the newspaper .his wife , Anne could sense it and she knew that he was to be left to himself at such moments ;but she couldn't help but ask ,

“You haven’t eaten much darling, I know it's the burglary case but worrying won't solve it"

“hmm"

“come on, talk to me, you don't look very well “

“No , I'm just fine .”

Some time passed then he asked,

“you were saying yesterday something about going out on holiday ?”

“Oh , that ? I was just thinking to take Sara to her aunt, Martha’s home for her holidays and maybe if even you could...... but it's okay “

“No ,I Can't. please go if you like. Actually I insist you to“

“Are you alright, honey? What's the matter, you look worried"

“No, I'm not, it's you who is worried here.What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me? You and Sara , go . Maybe you should leave today itself . Do you understand?” Belmont burst out.

 Mrs. Belmont could barely find words.

“I..I was .... I was only concerned , I didn't know you would be so upset that you would want to send me away. I'm sorry Dan"

Belmont , having regained composure , said

“listen Annie , I am worried about you two. I am supposed to keep you safe. And I really mean it when I want you to leave. After all, you too need some rest. I'll go arrange your journey"

That night Belmont returned home to find both of them gone. He felt empty somewhere inside himself but that only strengthened his resolve to solve the case quickly. He at once got set to the work. He dug through all that was there about the four monks burglaries .He went all over them again.

The first one occurred thirteen days ago. The Inhabitants of the apartment were out of town for holidays. He went through the second case that took place only a block away from his apartment, here also the Inhabitants were out of town .likewise the third , fourth, fifth ,sixth and seventh one that happened yesterday. The police could attribute all those break-ins to the same gang because the security cam footage from three of the places featured same four bald men wearing a brown coloured leather jacket like some uniform and the common thread in all the break-ins was that the houses had been completely deserted. And someone knew the exact day and time when there will be none inside the house . The servants, delivery boys had been natural suspects but they seemed to know nothing and could also account for their whereabouts allaying them of suspicion to have tipped the burglars off . The burglars seemed thorough as they left no trace of theft. And strangest thing of all ,nothing was stolen from the place they broke into . This quality plus their bald look made them famous by the name of ' The Monks'.but They left the place completely disarranged and in shambles . What they were looking for was still unclear .Maybe-

His thought was left incomplete as he sensed some movement outside the main door.

He rose silently from his desk in the living room ,switching the lamp off. It got dark everywhere. He listened more carefully and he knew that there was someone at the sitting room door. He thought of reaching his rifle in the sitting room safe before them and started towards it But before he could move , the latch of the main door was forced and the metal of the bolt clicked open, freezing him in his path. He was trapped in his living room. He was sure by now that the burglars had found him or his house rather, before he found them out.

He thought of calling in backup but then thought better of it. If the thieves had entered his house , they were still thinking that the house was empty as Belmont hadn't switched on any lights except his table lamp. There were footsteps in the hallway. Belmont thought it out quick and got behind the curtains. No sooner had he concealed himself than the room's door flung open. Belmont peered from the slit in the curtains , a man stood with his back to Belmont. The faint glow Coming from outside was sufficient for Belmont to see the man. The man's scalp glistened in that light , he was bald .Belmont's heart raced as he recognized the brown leather jacket. Belmont was thinking on a plan when the man turned without warning and as if guided by some mysterious intuition, pushed the curtain aside to reveal Belmont .

Both stared each other in the eye for a moment ,Then they were on each other . The bald man seemed a trained fighter ; But Belmont didn't let him have chance by thrusting the pen he was carrying in the burglar’s eye. The burglar was about to call out to his companions when Belmont choked him in the crook of his arm. The burglar fainted , then slumped . Belmont was panting now, he was left with a minute or two before this gang pulled out. He tied the bald man as fast as he could. Then he peeked into the sitting room where the others were at work. And they too were bald to brow. It was a bald gang, the monks . They were three in number with their fourth companion lying unconscious in living room. Or so Belmont thought , as he felt a strong hand grabbing his neck and throwing him down on ground . Belmont coughed , winced in pain and looking up he found the Bald thief staring him in the eye . Surely he faked his fainting and Belmont cursed himself for tying him so carelessly and –

“that was a pretty tight knot, I must say" said the first bald guy. Others grinned as the first bald guy held up concealed knife in his jacket's cuff . That explained it.

“You are not looking for money, I know that ,what are you looking for?” Asked Belmont, from the floor.

The four roared into laughter. When they were done, the first bald man came near and nearly uprooted Belmont’s hair while picking him up and then said grinning,

“See Sarge ,We are here on our holiday, man. And we don't work on holidays, do we ? So money is not the object but that doesn't mean we can't have fun ..Merry Christmas old man. See you around”

The bald guy dragged Belmont to the living room and locked him inside and then they were gone.

Of course, they took nothing from his house . The thieves were on so called 'holiday'.

But their holiday didn't last long though .They were recalled on duty ,in prison!- their rightful place.

As they sat handcuffed on the bench , Belmont came grinning to them and took a seat next to them. He saw recognition in their eyes. He began,

“I must say ,I'm impressed by the way you achieve ‘work-life balance ‘. I'm really sorry for I was not on holiday. But I think now maybe I should since now that you are behind bars.”

They had done the mistake Belmont was waiting for them to do. The pattern of break-ins had suggested him of a possibility of a break-in into his house. And they did turn out to be that foolish. They had wiped all clean except Belmont's fingernails that contained the bald man's skin when they engaged in scuffle .The DNA test was a easy way to reach from those cells ;which Belmont scraped off immediately after the burglars left him locked; back to their owner . They forgot one thing they should have remembered about Belmont along with his name that – He was known for his alertness and swiftness.

Now Belmont waited in his car outside Martha's house , waiting for Sara and Anne

They were going on holidays , and that too without his gun because ,

 We don't work while on holidays,

do we?