This man had weighed his bag and was now shedding stuff when I saw him at the check-in counter in Pisa airport. What he removed first was a dozen identical wooden hangers. He leaned the stack against the nearest trash can and fiddled with his luggage. We were both early, before the check-in desks had opened.

“Gotta dump the stolen hangers?” I tossed off.

“They’re not stolen,” he stuttered.

“So where’d they come from?”

“I had them.”

“You travel with hangers?”

“I brought them from home.”

“You stay in hotels that don’t provide hangers?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“What hotel is that?”

“Uh. Um. Actually… I work on a ship. The ones they give us are… uh, wire.”

“So you bring your own.”

“Uh huh. Yeah.”

“What ship do you work on?”

“Um. Never mind.”

“Must be Silversea. That’s the sort of ship that would have beautiful wooden hangers like those.” I had noticed a Silversea ship off the coast that morning. Inside information! It freaked him out. The guy became fidgety. Looked nervous.

“Don’t worry, I don’t report hanger thieves,” I said. But I was glad to see his cold sweat. It’s thieves like him that cause hotels to install those maddening anti-theft hookless hangers.

Both our check-in counters opened. He finished before me. He picked up his stack of hangers as he walked away. I wonder if he tried to carry them on the plane. Or if he just wanted to trash the evidence.