Charitable theft

As we came back to the house I spotted Ethan's scooter left visible in the garden just waiting to be stolen.

I told Ethan he should have tidied it away securely.

Later we left the house and when I returned, on my own, I noticed Ethan's scooter had still been left out.  Ethan had ignored me and hadn't tidied it away despite my threats that it might be stolen.

So I hid it.

When Ethan came home I congratulated him for tidying away his scooter.  He looked to the place where there had been a discarded scooter and found a void.  He was worried.  It had been stolen.

"Can we phone a non emergency police number?" he asked.

"What, because someone was silly enough not to tidy it away and left it in full view?" I replied.  "I don't think so."

We talked about how much the scooter was worth to him and whether he would be prepared to pay a reward for its return.  I offered to create a poster and Ethan agreed that he'd pay £20 to get it back.

I said that if he gave me £20 then I'd get it back to him (obviously via my links to the criminal underworld).  It was a deal.

Ethan went to his room and looked in every nook and cranny and managed to scrape together £19 in change.  His Dad lent him a pound.

He came to me and gave me the handful of coins.

I came clean and we did a different deal.  He could have the scooter back and most of the money but I'd keep one pound and donate it to a local charity.  I also said I'd "steal" anything else that might be left in unsecured location and he wouldn't get it back without a donation to charity.

He thinks he's learnt his lesson.  What do you think?  Should I have kept the £20?  Am I too evil for words?