Akbar was holding court with his courtiers one day when a wealthy merchant came to him, agitated.

“Your majesty, I have been robbed. The 10,000 cold coins that I had in my home have gone missing. Please help me get it back.”

Akbar asked, “When did you find the money missing?”

The merchant replied, “This morning, your majesty. I got it only last night and kept it safely locked. When I woke up this morning, the chest containing the money was not there.”

Akbar turned to his trusted and most favorite advisor, Birbal. “What do you think, Birbal? How can we find the culprit?”

Birbal turned to the merchant and asked, “Do you have any suspects in your mind?”

“The only people who were at home last night were my family and servants. I suspect my servants, but how will I know who committed the crime? I do not want to accuse anyone without proof.”

Birbal thought for a minute and said, “Bring all your servants to me. I have a plan.”

When the merchant brought his servants to Birbal, Birbal addressed them, “As you know, someone has stolen gold coins from your master. I am going to give each of you a stick. These sticks are magical. They will grow two inches overnight if the thief touches it. You will stay the night here. If one among you has stolen the coins, tomorrow I will know who the culprit is.”

Birbal gave them a stick each and assigned them individual rooms to stay.

The next morning, he called the servants and asked them to show their sticks. After inspecting each stick, Birbal addressed one servant, “This man is the thief. Arrest him immediately.”

The merchant was pleased that Birbal found the thief so quickly.

“Has his stick grown longer, Sir?” he asked Birbal.

Birbal answered, “Of course not.”

The confused merchant asked, “But I do not understand how you then came to the conclusion that he is the thief. Did you not say that the thief’s stick will grow?”

Birbal replied, “Yes, I did tell that, but I had lied that the stick was magical. There was no way that stick would have grown. That man’s guilt made him worry that it would grow. So, he had cut the stick to reduce the length by two inches. That is how I was able to find out the culprit.”

“You are brilliant, Sir!!!” exclaimed the merchant in admiration of Birbal’s cleverness. He was also happy that justice was served.