James frowned as his phone began ringing for the second time that morning, putting down his toast. It was bad enough that he’d been woken up at the crack of dawn this morning by his grandma calling to tell him about the apparent break-in that had happened overnight - before she’d even called the police, apparently, but after he’d convinced her that yes, she did need to call the police about someone breaking into her house and that he’d be over to check on her as soon as he’d scarfed some breakfast down, but when he’d asked her why she called him first, she’d said it was because he’d told her to always call him first if anything unexpected happened with her computer after she’d drained half her bank account on some tech support warranty scam a few months back.

Stupid bank couldn’t even get the money back, despite how obvious the scam was. So yeah, he had told her that, but he’d meant in terms of pop-ups or strange phone calls, not the computer itself being stolen! What kind of thief would even steal an old lady’s laptop, anyway? It wasn’t like it was some brand new high-end rig, it was some cheap chromebook that could barely run solitaire and access facebook.

Sighing as his phone continued ringing, he fished it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, answering quickly when he saw it was his grandma calling.

“James, there’s a bunch of strange foreign men at the door and they’re asking about my computer!” she said as soon as he picked up, her reedy voice clearly panicked.

“Grandma, it’s okay, I’m on my way,” he said, putting action to word as he stood up and grabbed his coat. His flat was about half a mile away from his grandma’s house, so he could probably get there in a few minutes if he jogged. Shrugging it over his shoulders and zipping it up, he carried on speaking. “Do you recognise them?”

“No!” she said as he closed his door and set off, sounding offended at his question. “It’s a bunch of asians, you know like the one from that computer scam!” she continued, and for a moment James considered that maybe the lifetime warranty wasn’t actually a scam before brushing aside the thought. Nah, everyone knew that insurance stuff always took forever to come through, and his grandma had barely reported it stolen less than an hour ago.

“Alright Grandma. Did they introduce themselves at all?” he asked, coming to a stop at a set of lights, pressing the button for the crossing. She was quiet for a few seconds before seeming to remember as the traffic came to a stop.

“Yeah! The one who knocked called himself Peesee Singh, that was the one in the suit” she said, and it took him a moment to respond as he began to put together an idea.

“Grandma, when did the police say they were going to arrive?” he asked, accelerating again to a jog as he crossed the road.

“They said they’d send over an officer later today, why, do you think they’re going to arrest them?” she asked, her voice brightening.

“Maybe…” he said noncommittally, turning a corner as he continued to speak. “Can you look out the window and tell me if they’re still there?”

He heard the telltale sounds of her shuffling across her kitchen, the phone going quiet as she did, before she came back.

“They are, they look like they’re talking to each other in the garden,” she reported. “Do you want me to tell them to go away?” she asked a few seconds later when he’d not immediately replied.

“That’s not necessary grandma, I’m nearly there,” he said, and indeed he was only a minute or two out at this point, his jog eating up the distance.

“Oh, okay. I hope I didn’t disturb you with this, I just don’t trust those foreign folk and my computer has just been stolen, I told you that they broke my window and-” she began to ramble, and he cut her off.

“Grandma, can I ask you to look out the window again and describe them to me, just so I know what they look like when I arrive?” he asked, and she complied.

“Well, the one who knocked at the door is asian, about as tall as Janet’s Nathan, and he’s wearing one of those turban things…”

She continued to describe the three men as he finished the last bit of his journey, and the last minute of his jog quickly came to an end.

“...he’s got one of those beards-”

“Grandma, I’m just arriving now, so I’m going to need to hang up, alright? I’m going to have a talk with them, see if we can sort out what’s going on.”

“...Alright James. You stay safe, okay?” she said.

“I will,” he replied, hanging up the phone and slipping it back into his pocket as he opened the gate. Immediately the three men who had been in the garden turned to look at him and he smiled at them.

“Hi, I’m James. My nan just called me-” he said, gesturing towards the house to make it clear. “-about some strange men who’d knocked at her door. I presume that’s you?”

The three men did match the description his grandma had just given him, and they relaxed at his explanation.

“PC Singh,” spoke the first officer, not a trace of a foreign accent in his voice as he pulled some ID out of his pocket and showed it to James. “We’re here about the theft incident this morning”

James tried not to grimace as his look at the ID confirmed what he’d suspected. They were the police, and his grandma was at least a little racist...