Death...Fuzzy Side Up: A Detective Steve Smiley Mystery by Bruce Hammack

Author:Bruce Hammack [Hammack, Bruce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jubilee Publishing LLC
Published: 2020-03-01T22:00:00+00:00

The store had pretty well emptied out at by 8:00 p.m. and I’d stared at lists of names until my eyes almost crossed. I decided to take a walk around the store to get a layout of all the departments. At the back of the store I found two employees loading a variety of items into a company delivery truck. I asked what they were doing. A man double my size asked, “What’s it look like?”

I opened my coat, revealing a badge and a pistol. He took two steps back and apologized in more ways than I thought possible. His co-worker interrupted and gave a more succinct answer. “I’m the person responsible for shipping and receiving. These are deliveries for tomorrow morning. We’re loading tonight so the driver and his helper will be ready to pull out as soon as they get here.”

I thanked him and continued my tour of the store. Being late in the evening, the number of customers had thinned out. So had the number of employees. I made my way down an aisle in flooring and spied Chuck Windslow working on the other side of the center aisle. He appeared to be stocking. When he saw me he beat a quick path to where I stood.

“Can I help you with something, sir?” He took another look. “Oh, it’s you. I thought you were a customer. Good, that would put me off my schedule. If you have anything to ask me, come across the aisle. I need to keep stocking while we talk.”

“Mr. Windslow,…” I began, but he cut me off.

“The store management wants us to portray a friendly, welcoming demeanor. They insist we go by first names.” He pointed to his name tag. “My name is Charles. I prefer to be called Charles, but Ms. Clute thought it sounded too formal. She took my vest out of my locker and replaced my name with one of her choosing. Chuck,” he said with derision. “How did people ever derive Chuck from Charles? Do you go to a butcher and ask for a Charles steak?”

“It sounds like you didn’t like her changing your name.”

“I might not have minded, but proper procedures were not followed. She went into my locker and replaced my name tag without permission. To my knowledge I’m the only store employee that had their name tag changed by a supervisor.”

I pointed across the aisle. “There’s no one working in flooring tonight?”

A note of frustration laced his words. “Not unusual, especially on the weekends.” He kept working and said, “Do you know that on any given weekday twenty percent of the store’s workforce calls in to say they can’t come to work for some reason or another. That doubles on weekends.”

“Does that mean you have to cover both departments?”

“Yes, and it upsets me to no end. I was hired for my expertise related to things electrical. Flooring materials and installation methods are foreign to me. It’s most embarrassing trying to assist customers when you have no knowledge.

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