Once many years ago, in a remote corner of the country, the popular politician, ever the man on the spot with a "law and order" platform, had been given a new fur hat as a present. Now someone had stolen it.
There appeared to be only one way to determine who had perpetrated the crime, so the politician sent for Louie, the town's king of thieves.
"How about it, Louie; do you think you can get my fur hat back?"
"Well, it depends," Louie replied.
"On what?"
"On who took it," said Louie. "In the event that one of my followers stole it, you can be sure I'll get it back for you. But if it was stolen by one of your followers, then you might as well forget you ever had a fur hat."