The Real Hustle

This entry should really have been made about 2 weeks ago, but with one thing and another it slipped my mind. Take yourself back to a week last Friday (4th July). I was finishing up at work and about to start my holiday...

...it was late - very late in fact, past midnight I think. I left the office and picked up a small chinese take-away from across the road. (If you need a full picture it was hot & sour soup, special foo-yung and a portion of chips) As I set off down the road I was approached by a man who walked with a distinctive swagger. If I didn't know better I'd say he was a little bit tipsy. As he got closer I noticed his face was caked in dried blood. Perhaps the swagger wasn't alcohol induced after all.

"Where's my wallet?"

That was his opening line. No "Hello, how are you?" or "Nice weather for the time of year", just

"Where's my wallet?"

Normally I would have politely replied and then quickened up my pace but the blood was worrying me. It wasn't fake and if he's lost his wallet this might not be the result of a bar fight. Perhpas he'd been mugged. In the back of my mind I knew we were only a few yards from where a yound girl had been badly attacked a few months back.

I decided to be firm and direct.

"Do you need help. Can I get the police or an ambulance for you?"

"Where's my wallet? Have you got my wallet?"

"No, I haven't seen your wallet but you need help. Do you want the police?"

"Some bastard has run off with my wallet" (sorry for the profanity but I'm trying to keep it as real as possible)

"Ok, I'm calling the police. Rest against the railings there."

At this point he seemed quite calm and waited whilst I spoke to the police. I did my best to describe the situation, the hardest part was when they asked for my location. In the end I directed the operator via the pubs I knew. (typical eh?)

As soon as I hung up I turned to the injured man and found him ferreting around in a small bush at the side of the railings. Within seconds he'd pocketed something and flew at top speed down the road. Now I was stranded. I had a police car on it's way, possibly an ambulance, but no injured man. Just me and my chinese take-away (which by this point was starting to get cold).

My mobile rang. It was the police operator calling me back.

"I'm glad you called back. I think I've been caught out by some kind of scam or hoax. As soon as I hung up he ran off down Canute Road"

"Thought so", she replied, "You're the second call we've had tonight about a blood stained individual.

"I don't understand though, he never asked for money, he just seemed to want his wallet back, but I think he had it hidden in the bushes."

"Important thing is sir, do you still have your wallet?"

If only you could have seen my face then. Frantically I tapped all my pockets. Thankfully my wallet was still buried deep in my overcoat. The operator praised me for calling and after taking a description of the man she said it was ok for me to go home. I was worried that an ambulance was going to turn up and I would be charged with wasting police time, but the ambulance had been cancelled. A patrol car would circle the area to see if they could pick up the man. I think the operator was hungry because when I said I was off to warm up my take-away she kept me on the phone for another 2 minutes while she made me describe what I had ordered!

..but I'm still unsure as to what the scam or hustle was. Was he going to pick-pocket me? Was he going to try and get friendly with me and then ask to borrow taxi fare or something? Why did he let me call the emergency services if he was a crook? Guess I'll never know but...

...it has made me less likely to help out a stranger in the future.