Chilled to the Cone: A Cookie's Creamery Mystery by Kathleen Suzette

Author:Kathleen Suzette [Suzette, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Noah arrived shortly after Bill and my dad left to go fishing. He took a glance around at the chaos we were still cleaning up. “Looks like they made a mess of things.”

I nodded. “I can’t believe someone came in here and did this. It makes me sick.” I introduced him to Henrietta.

“Did they just tear things up, or did they take anything?” Noah asked her.

Henrietta pulled her sweater tight around herself. “The cash register. They picked it up and took it with them.”

Noah shook his head in disgust. “How big is this cash register?”

“Oh, it wasn’t big. It was old and fairly small. I never would have guessed that they would just pick it up and run with it.” She shook her head, lines creasing her face. “There was a lot of money in it. Too much money.” The sound of her frail voice clutched at my heart.

Noah hesitated. “How much?”

She licked her bottom lip and then said, “About eight thousand.”

Chloe and I gasped. Bill had said there was a lot of money in it, but I couldn’t fathom having that much money in the cash register, especially overnight.

Noah shook his head in disbelief. “Why so much?”

Henrietta shrugged. “Bill kept saying he was going to make a deposit at the bank, but he just didn’t get around to it. He feels just awful about it. I guess I should have insisted that he take it down there and make a deposit, but he’s always done this. Lots of times he only made a deposit once a week. Or even once every two weeks. It was just foolish.” Her eyes went to the mess on the floor as she spoke.

Noah gazed at her, unsure of what else to say. “All right, then,” he finally said. “Do you have the serial number for the cash register?”

She nodded. “Sure, we still got the manual from when we bought it years ago. Come on back.”

She led the way to the tiny back room, and Chloe and I stared at each other.

“That’s a lot of money,” she finally said.

I nodded and went back to sweeping. “I’m shocked they left that much in the register.” I had lowered my voice because I didn’t want Henrietta to hear me say it. I felt terrible for her and Bill, but keeping that much money in the register was risky.

A moment later, Noah and Henrietta emerged from the back room. Noah had the manual and was walking around, looking at the store. “What time did you all get here this morning?” he asked.

“We were here at 5:00 AM. Many of the fishermen drop in to pick up some bait, sandwiches, or drinks to take out on their boats.” She sniffed, leaning against the counter.

He nodded. “Why didn’t you call sooner?” he asked without looking at her.

“Bill just wanted to clean it up and not tell anybody. He’s ashamed because he left so much money in that cash register. I told him we couldn’t do that. We had to let the police know just in case they ran into that robber.

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