This Fan Theory Pegs The Office's Dwight Schrute As A Criminal

As the undisputed king of workplace sit-coms, The Office often provoked tears of laughter, as well as tears of heartbreak during its surprisingly emotional moments. The show's cast of colorfully flawed characters are both relatable and cringe-worthy, with characters coming and going to give the show variety and create new relationships and rivalries.

Of course the most epic rivalry of The Office exists between Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his arch-nemesis, Toby. After taking an extended break between seasons 4 and 5, the HR Rep returns to work at Dunder/Mifflin in the episode "Frame Toby." This of course leads to a hilarious reaction from Michael, the stuff of which has created a slew of online memes. Teaming up with Dwight, Michael hatches one blundering scheme after another to try and get Toby fired — all of which, of course, end in failure.

The final scene of "Frame Toby" has Dwight describing what he deems to be "the perfect crime," consisting of an elaborate heist at Tiffany's Jewelers. On the surface, Dwight's rather sophisticated scheme appears to be another one of the character's deluded fantasies. However, one fan theory came to light which suggests that Dwight may have actually succeeded in his goal — and the evidence is overwhelming.

Reddit user k-n-i-f-e posted their fan theory that "Dwight pulled off the diamond store heist," and gave a pretty compelling argument to back it up. According to the scene in "Frame Toby," Dwight's initial plan was to break into Tiffany's, steal the iconic chandelier, and later hide the pilfered light fixture in Berlin.

Now this all seems incredibly far-fetched, yet as the user points out, there are a few hints in later seasons of the show that suggest Dwight may have actually achieved the ultimate crime. In the episode "A.A.R.M." of season 9, Dwight has a door installed that he claims came from a jewelry store that is now out-of-business. It's clearly not a door from Tiffany's, but...maybe Dwight decided to rethink a few of the details of his plan, including the location of the ultimate heist?

Even k-n-i-f-e pointed out in their post that this may likely be just a coincidence, but they continue to elaborate further; In season 9, Dwight takes possession of a farm from his Aunt Shirley, whom he has mentioned at various times throughout the series. "My theory is that after robbing the chandelier from the diamond store, he either exchanged it with Aunt Shirley for her farm, with the addition of feeding/hosing her in order to break even with the cost of the farm," the Reddit theorist states. "As a memento of his perfect crime, he kept the door from the jewelery store and later installed it in the office as seen in 'A.A.R.M'."

So did Dwight actually carry out his intricate plan? Is he truly an evil mastermind? While this is likely just a fan's head-canon at best, it does align with Dwight's sly and sometimes nefarious nature. Since The Office's series finale aired in May of 2013, we may never know the truth for certain.