One night, a hotel caught fire, and the guests ran out in their nightclothes.
Two men stood outside watching the flames.
"Before I came out," said one, "I ran into some rooms and found a lot of money. People don't think about money when they're afraid. If anyone leaves paper money in a fire, it burns. So I took all the bills I could find. No one will be poorer because I took them."
"You don't know my work," said the other.
"What is your work?"
"I'm a policeman."
"Oh!" cried the first man. Thinking quickly, he said, "And do you know my work?"
"No," said the policeman.
"I'm a writer. I'm always telling stories about things that never happened."