Boroughs' case might just have been a cautionary tale if she hadn't used some ingenuity in retrieving the laptop herself. Instead, it's also a detective story.

The morning after Boroughs' laptop went missing, she searched Craigslist for "HP 9000" in the Chicago section, refreshing the page almost every half-hour until she found her laptop. The sticker on the laptop with the logo of the "33's" positively identified the computer as hers. (The logo of a South Carolina band is also tattooed on Boroughs' wrist.)

She then called the police. Chicago police, posing as Boroughs, went to the seller's house and arrested three people. (Interestingly enough, none of them work for Southwest, so it appears there are still some loose ends.)

The police retrieved eleven other laptops plus other electronics from the Craigslist seller's house, and itemized the gadgets in the arrest report as "removed from checked luggage of ticketed passengers on Southwest Airlines at Midway."

Now, most of us know not to check important electronics like laptops--not just because they'll get stolen, but because they may be damaged in transit. Those of you who don't know this should think twice--even if you can check your bags for free.