The hoodlums were identical twins.
They were not very old, teenagers really, but they were feared by all those who lived in the neighbourhood. They were notorious for beating people up and although it was never proved, there were one or two corpses that couldn’t be explained. The truth is, they were wicked and frivolous at the same time. One of them carried a large, brass knuckleduster, while the other, a big knife. The brother with the knife was the leader of the two. The only way to tell them apart was that one of them had a mole on the side of his nose. He was the one that carried the knuckleduster. You might say he was the friendlier of the two. Neither of them were popular with the local syndicate boss, who saw them as a troublesome nuisance. He had warned them several times to stay out of his way. They had disobeyed this and robbed a store that was under the boss’s control. He arranged a meeting with them.
Only one of the twins was in the deserted building when he arrived. The one with the mole was there, but he was playing with a knife.
“I see,” said the boss, who was, after all, a serious man, “you are trying to trick me. You want to confuse me by pretending to be your twin. With that mole on your face, I know you are really the one that uses a knuckleduster.”
Moments later the twin brother appeared. He also had a mole next to his nose. He was twirling a knuckleduster around his finger.
They just stood smirking before one of them said, “Pretty good, eh? One of us is wearing a false mole.”
“Forget all that nonsense. I came here to talk to the leader. Now, which one of you is it?”
The boys began giggling. One of them said, “You have to guess. If you get it right, we’ll listen to what you have to say.” They both huddled closer to each other, standing bolt upright, they both looked exactly the same.
The big boss, who had never been any good at being patient, pulled out a gun and shot them both.
Now, that’s serious!