Pauline was living with a man named Charles. Both of them were thieves. Pauline stole a valuable diamond ring and gave it to Charles to wear (I think it was too big for her).
Some time later Charles accused Pauline of cheating on him with a man named Joe. Pauline got angry and packed up and left in the middle of the night, taking the diamond ring (among other things) with her.
Charles reported to the police that she robbed him and set his house on fire. Pauline went to prison.
Five years later Pauline applied for parole which involved filling out a detailed report of her crime/who was hurt/why she was sorry and would never ever do it again/etc.
In this account Pauline denied having set the fire at all and claimed that technically she didn’t rob Charles as the ring didn’t actually belong to him since she was the one who stole it in the first place.
Her parole was approved.
Perhaps the parole board was won over by her very compelling conclusion stating: “I promise to try and behave myself in the future.”
(Spoiler: She did not, in fact, behave herself in the future.)
@nadine-is-nadone
