The Smithfield Wallets Caper That Made Gentlemen Sulk
A baffling little ring stole purses among prize cattle, and the courts had to tidy the mess with surprising decorum.Read More 
South Kensington's Sticky-Fingered Season
An elegant fair, a crush of admirers, and a small army of nimble hands that treated pocket-watchery like high art.Read More 
When a Watch Vanished from the British Museum and Everyone Lost Their Cool
I love museums and also I will judge anyone who thinks a pocket is an ATM-this one time Victorian London proved that sentiment in a court transcript.Read More 
Curtis and the Covent Garden Lift
A genteel dust-up at the opera where a rather elegant hand and a trouser-folded wallet made magistrates marvellously flummoxed.Read More 
Patsy Conroy's Smooth Hands
He ran a waterfront crew that could lift a man's watch while he thought he was counting freight, and oh did I love the audacity.Read More 
Ikey Solomon Bought London's Goods
He ran the receiving end of a whole city kleptomania and made a polite fortune while the constables played catch up.Read More 
George Appo: The Bowery's Smooth Thief
He had a laugh like a bribe and hands that understood pockets better than most people understood manners.Read More 
Alice Diamond's Ladies Who Lifted
They ran rings round shopkeepers, dressed like roses, and moved like a private army of charmers - and I loved every scandalous minute.Read More 
The Great Exhibition That Picked London Clean
Six million visitors, iron and glass, and a thousand nimble fingers that treated pockets like confetti.Read More 