Register Robbery

Written by Steve Shrott, Published on 5/22/2009

Carol Ludlow amazed the hospitality industry when she hired troubled teens to work at her restaurant, Desserts on Me. The restaurant took off and she felt happy that she had improved the lives of these young people.

The kids didn’t always get along, but Carol thought that by showing them encouragement and kindness, she’d be setting a good example. She gave them each specific responsibilities at the restaurant. Dan was in charge of keeping the restaurant exterior clean and presentable. David, who was her newest hire, kept the kitchen clean, washing dishes and putting away supplies. Teresa was a natural when it came to baking, and Carol entrusted her with the recipes for the cakes and pies. Robert had a talent for management, and Carol often left him in charge when she went out to run errands.

One Monday morning, Carol returned from one of those errand runs to find Officer Whitcomb in the dining room of the restaurant, examining her cash register.

“Hello, Miss Ludlow. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but your employee Robert called in a theft. Three hundred dollars is missing from your cash register.”

Carol raised her eyebrows. “Oh, dear!”

“Robert said you left exactly three hundred in there this morning in case any deliveries arrived. When the dairy delivery arrived, Robert came in here to get the money and discovered it missing. He called us immediately, and I only just arrived. Robert said he can hear the front door ring from the kitchen and he didn’t hear it once, other than when I entered. The dairy delivery came to the back, as usual. There’s really only one possibility: the thief must be one of your employees.”

Carol felt a lump form in her throat.

“You gotta expect problems from kids like these. Sometimes they don’t know what’s right. I’ve told them all to stay in the kitchen. I’ll begin the interviews, and you can press charges when I figure out which of the troublemakers did it.”

“No, no, I’ll handle it.” Carol thanked the officer and ushered him out. She told him she’d be in touch if she thought she needed his help. As he left, the door made its usual loud ringing sound.

Carol walked into the kitchen to greet her employees. Robert, Teresa, David and Dan all stood silently, waiting for her to yell at them. Carol took a deep breath and said, “I know you’ve all heard about the robbery. We’ll talk about it a little later. Right now, I want to unpack the things I bought while running my errands.”

Carol placed the bag of supplies she had bought onto the kitchen counter. She removed the rubber gloves from the bag and placed them into the empty glove holder. Then she took out the towels she had purchased and hung them on the racks in the kitchen. The kids had been messier than normal this week and all of the regular towels were at the cleaners.

Carol walked back into the dining room and sat down at one of the tables. As she thought about the missing three hundred dollars, she felt sad. Obviously, one of her employees must have needed the money for something important. She decided she would call in the kids one by one to try to figure out who did it and why.

Robert entered first. He had long brown hair and a shiny crystal stud in his ear.

“So how did everything go today, Robert?”

“Okay. I stayed in the kitchen all morning watchin’ Teresa make that Black Forest Cake. You know how messy she gets. I just wanted to stop her from getting batter everywhere.”

“Thanks, Robert.”

“I wouldn’t even let her go to the bathroom till she finished. She would have gotten batter everywhere, and I thought it was better to be sure she finished her work before she took any kind of break. The only time I left her alone was when I went out back to greet the dairy deliveryman.”

“Well we’ll have to talk about the bathroom thing later, but in the meantime, why don’t you send Teresa out here?”

“Sure, Miss L.”

A moment later, Teresa came into the dining room, her patched-up jeans and T-shirt covered in flour. “Hi, Miss L.” She reached out to shake Carol’s hand, then looked down at her batter-covered fingers. “Sorry.”

“So how are you doing, Teresa?”

“Fine. Except Robert didn’t leave me alone all morning, besides going out back to greet the dairy deliveryman. He said I couldn’t go to the bathroom till I finished the cake.” She tossed her long blond hair behind her shoulders. “He kept on making jokes about me being so messy. Why does he do that?” As Teresa spoke, she gestured with her hands and flour puffed off of her clothes. She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, again.”

“That’s okay. I know you’re trying hard.”

“Can I go to the bathroom now?”

“Sure, honey.”

Teresa nodded and rushed away.

A few moments later, David entered the dining room wearing his usual baseball cap. His rake-thin body trembled as he sat beside Carol.

“I had a terrible day,” he said.

“Why?” asked Carol.

“I forgot about my skin allergies.” David rubbed his hands. “I accidentally put on rubber gloves when I did the dishes and it made my hands swell up. I could hardly move ’em.”

“How do they feel now?”

“A little better, but I still can’t move them very well.”

She looked at his hands. “Do you want me to call Doc Robbins?”

“No, that’s okay. I’m sure they’ll be alright soon.”

Carol nodded. “By the way, did Robert, Teresa or Dan talk to you today? Are they making you feel welcome?”

A sullen expression appeared on David’s face as he shook his head no. Then he stood up and slowly walked back to the kitchen.

Dan sauntered into the dining room next. A tall boy, he had tattoos all over his arms. “Hiya, Miss L. Did you see how amazing the front of the restaurant looks now?”

“Yes, very nice, Dan. How long did it take you to clear away all the leaves?”

“An hour or so. I had a very difficult time—the wind blew the leaves everywhere. But I finally did it. I’m proud of how neat and tidy it looks now.”

“That’s great!”

Dan walked back to join the others in the kitchen, and Carol folded her hands on her lap. As she thought about all the answers that her employees had given her, she realized that one of them had given something away. Carol knew who’d stolen the money.