The story of the Hitch-hiker

This is another fictional first person narrative. The narrator in this case has a brand new BMW, and is enjoying a trip down the highway when he spots a hitchhiker. He lets the man into his car; the passenger is described as being curiously rat-like, with long, white fingers. They engage in conversation, revealing the man's Cockney accent and attitudes. He challenges the narrator to guess his true profession. As he does, the hitchhiker suddenly reveals various items from the narrator's person, from a wallet to a watch to the narrator's shoelace. The narrator accuses the hitchhiker of being a pickpocket. The hitchhiker disagrees, claiming that he is a "fingersmith" - just as a goldsmith has mastered gold, he has mastered the use of his fingers. As they talk, the narrator is pulled over for speeding. The police officer who writes the ticket acts particularly cruel, threatening the narrator with a long prison sentence and a huge fine; he even spits on the car before leaving. The narrator is despondant until his new friend reveals that he has stolen the police officer's notebooks, which contain the tickets against them.