01/09/2026
The Story of Steve’s Stolen Guitar
Steve’s electric guitar disappeared from Holy Trinity Church on Friday, and we strongly suspected one of Corfu’s well-known local characters — a young deaf-mute man who often begs outside supermarkets or near St Spyridon Church.
He had come into the church during our rehearsal, saying he had left his sunglasses there — which was actually true. We let him stay, offered him cake and coffee, but he kept interrupting us and asking Steve for money. Eventually I told him he could either sit quietly and listen or leave, so he left.
On Sunday, Steve discovered that his guitar was gone.
We had no proof, but obviously had our suspicions. So with the help of Charles and Vera, we found photos of the guitar, made a little poster and put it into several Facebook groups, asking if anyone had seen it or had been offered it for sale.
Then somebody commented that they had seen the guitar on Friday evening outside Achilles Taverna in Corfu Town, next to Diellas supermarket.
So I went there. They knew nothing about it, but I explained the story and asked them to contact us if they heard anything. I also asked around a few nearby shops and even spoke to another local beggar, who knew our suspect very well and described him rather bluntly as “a drunk who steals absolutely everything.”
Still, no guitar.
We had already started thinking about collecting money to buy Steve a new one.
Then today my husband suddenly told me that the Corfu Medical Association had called him. Apparently, a man called Spiros from a taverna was trying to find me. They sent us his number, so I called.
“Are you the doctor’s wife?”
“Yes.”
“Come to Achilles Taverna. We have a surprise for you.”
“You found the guitar?!”
“Yes!”
And there it was.
It turned out that the owner’s grown-up children had found the guitar outside the taverna on Friday night and taken it inside for safekeeping, assuming some tourist had forgotten it. Their father knew nothing about it when I came asking on Sunday. Later, when he mentioned the woman looking for a stolen guitar, his children said, “But we found a guitar! It’s here!”
And so Steve’s guitar came home.
Steve had never wanted to go to the police. He simply said he was praying to God that his guitar would somehow be returned.
I told him, “Sometimes God needs us to be His helpers, so perhaps we should get actively involved too.”
So we prayed — but we also posted photos, asked around and followed the clues.
And apparently, sometimes answered prayers require a little detective work.
