Police said on Friday they recovered a wallet that disappeared at one of Japan’s most isolated points by luring the culprit with bait — literally.
The suspects, it turned out, were the birds.
Standing on a quiet, oceanside vista in Hateruma island of Okinawa, a 30-year-old Japanese visitor noticed her wallet had vanished from the basket of her rental bicycle when she looked away for only a few seconds.
”The scene was the southernmost point of Japan — an open area on top of a hill. The lady went there with a friend, but there was no one else in the area because the weather was bad on that day,” said local police officer Tatsuyuki Ito.
After receiving a report of possible theft over the November 10 incident, Ito, a 28-year-old sergeant with six years experience on the force, immediately developed a hunch.
”I bought bread on the way to the scene. I placed it on top of the monument” marking the southernmost point of Japan, Ito said.
”I hid for a few minutes. As expected, crows came down and took the bread to a nearby screwpine brush.
”I followed the birds until they settled down to eat the bread. That’s where I found the red wallet,” Ito said.
”Crows did not eat it, obviously. There was no criminal element to the case,” he said, adding that he would not press charges. – Sapa-AFP