Ther koude no man brynge hym in arrerage.
Ther nas baillif, ne hierde, nor oother hyne,
That he ne knew his sleighte and his covyne;
They were adrad of hym as of the deeth.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. There’s no farm manager, herdsman, or other worker whose tricks and deceptions that the Reeve does not know and he inspires terror in them. Since the Reeve is stealing from his own lord’s estate, it takes a cheater to spot a cheater. It is also said that no one has ever found him in arrears. This could be a case of good estate management, or maybe being extra good at hiding his own thieving with creative accounting.