Black Cat Weekly #67

Chapter 6

byAs Detective Joyce Cavenaugh stepped into the neighborhood diner where she often stopped for a coffee before starting her shift, she immediately spotted Maggie Turner, the owner. Instead of the usual cheerful greeting, Maggie blurted out, “Detective Cavenaugh, I’ve been robbed!”

Hurrying toward the diminutive woman behind the counter, Joyce said, “What was taken?”

“This week’s receipts. I had them ready to take to the bank later this morning just like I do every Friday. I took the money out of the safe and put it in my desk drawer until I could sort and count it. When I opened the drawer just now, the cash box was empty.”

“Could someone have come in through the back door while you were out here?” said Joyce.

“That was my first thought,” said Maggie, “but I keep the back door locked, and I have the only key.”

Joyce scanned the diner, noticing three people huddled around a booth to the right. “Were those three the only people here when the robbery took place?”

“You can’t think that one of them is responsible,” said Maggie. “They were out here the entire morning, and, besides, none of them has left the diner.”

“Did they know where you put the cash box after taking it from the safe?”

“Well, I suppose so,” said Maggie, “but—”

“Are you sure nobody else was here?”

Maggie’s face blanched. “We did have a soda delivery this morning. But how could the deliveryman have known that I had the money in my desk?”

Joyce didn’t like the thought, but pretty clearly one of Maggie’s employees must have told the thief where to find the cash. “I think I’d better talk with those three to try to figure out what’s going on.”

Maggie identified the first person to approach the booth where Joyce had stationed herself for the interviews as Billy Williams, her stock boy.

Assuming her official voice, Joyce said, “Mr. Williams, what can you tell me about this morning?”

The lanky redhead gulped and said, “What do you mean?”

“The robbery?”

“You don’t think I had anything to do with it,” said the teenager, seemingly growing weak in the knees. “I came in early and have been planted in that booth over there all morning studying for an English test tonight. I can’t afford to screw up.”

“Did you see the soda delivery earlier?”

“Yeah, just like every Friday morning, the guy slips in and out. Hardly noticed.”

“Do you know the deliveryman?”

“All I know is he’s a little older than me and has SIMMONS printed on his uniform.”

As Billy Williams returned to his booth, a stocky blonde Joyce recognized as Stella Beckum, Maggie’s longtime night manager, walked toward her.

“Stella,” said Joyce, “did you see anything suspicious this morning?”

“Detective, you know I would do anything to help Maggie, but other than seeing the deliveryman come and go, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”

“Can you tell me anything about the guy?”

“Nothing much other than he’s been making deliveries for the last couple of months.”

“Thanks, Stella,” Joyce said as she motioned for the young woman who Maggie had identified as Amber Kenton, a waitress who had been working at the diner since that Monday.

“I don’t want any trouble,” the young brunette said before she sat down at the booth. “I started here this week, and I need the job.”

“Just calm down, Ms. Kenton,” Joyce said. “I have a couple of questions, and you can get back to work.”

The woman pursed her lips. “O.K., I guess.”

“What can you tell me about this morning?”

“I was folding napkins and sorting silverware like always when Jerry came in with the sodas. He left, and a few minutes later Ms. Turner started yelling about being robbed.”

Joyce smiled. “Ms. Kenton, I believe you’ll be sorting utensils at another establishment in the near future.”

As soon as Amber called the deliveryman by his first name, Joyce knew she was the robber’s accomplice. Having worked at the diner for less than a week, Amber must have known Jerry Simmons before since his uniform provided only a last name. Confronted, Amber confessed that her boyfriend had convinced her to take the job so that she could tell him where Maggie kept the money before taking it to the bank every Friday. Jerry Simmons was later arrested and the money recovered.