Judith Harley was a waitress at a hotel. One morning, she had to take a breakfast tray to a woman in Room 12. The woman was in the bathroom, so Molly put the tray on the table. Just before she left, she spotted a small handbag- an evening bag- on the table, right next to where she had put the tray. She picked it up and opened it quickly, but it was empty, so she shut it and put it back where it had been, as fast as she could and turned to go.
"Thief ! What were you trying to do with my bag? I saw you!" a voice shouted.
Judith looed round and saw that a woman had been watching her form the bathrood door. The police was called to the hotel and everything seemed clear to them. The ploce officer's report said that Harley was caught while attempting to steal from an evening bag.
The next day, Judith was taken to court. The owman from Room 12 was there too and the judge questioned her carefully.
The woman said, " I saw the waitress opening my bag. By chance, there was nothing inside it. She ten shut the bag and turned away. My money was in another handbag-"
"Did she attempt to steal the bad itself?" the judge asked solemnly.
"No, sir. She left it on the table. But if my money had been inside it -"
"Thank you" the judge interrupted her. "This court must onlyc consider the facts. The evening bag was empty and a person cannot steal anything from an empty bag. As a conclusion, stealing from your bag was not possible, so attempting to steal from it was also impossible. Therefore the waitress is not guilty of any crime. Case dismissed !"
Nobody can say whether it was the woman or Judith Harley who looked more surprised by the verdict, but that same afternoon, Miss Harley went back to her job as a waitress at the hotel.