SOMETHING MISSING BY MATTHEW DICKS

This can only be described as quirky! the imagination of this author baffles me. How on earth do you come on a scenario like this and more importantly make it work magnificiently.

Martin middled aged and very set and organized in his ways has a very big secret. He is a thief who systematically robs houses again and again of not the usual crystal and antique silver and diamonds (though he does that also but only after meticulous planning) but takes things like soap, toilet paper, detergents which he decants into bottles of his own and even medicines which he separates into pill size boxes all labelled clearly so there is no mix up. His scheme is so slick and practiced that no one whom he robs realizes that things are missing. They are the professional, richer people who do not know that five tomatoes are gone from their larder or that one bottle of glass cleaner is somewhat diminished!

Martin maintains files on each client as he calls them, has photographs of before and after the robbery and "cases" each house carefully for weeks if not months before actually committing the robbery. 

The twist to the story is that Martin feels a somewhat benevolent guardian angel attitude towards his clients and feels that he has to help out in situations where they could be in either danger or facing a problem. This involves going against all his tried and tested rules and methods but he breaks all of them in order that a client is protected. Martin does not feel that what he is doing deliberately hurts his clients or that it is wrong. 

The story for me was how a person used to a high degree of  planning and method can certainly change to one of spontaneity and realize how much fun he can have with that way of life as well.