Cally paused in front of the window display outside a Chinese restaurant in Peaceton and gazed at a row of upside-down golden-brown ducks on huge stainless steel hooks. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of row after row of them glistening and shimmering under the lights and her stomach rumbled as she inhaled the scent of soy, honey, and spices coming out of the open door.
As an old man jostled past her muttering about his lunch, she stood and stared in the window for a bit, lost in thought about what she’d discovered in the Peaceton shop. It was quite clear as soon as she’d got her head down and was back at work after the funeral, that Estrella was swindling product, and possibly also money, from Birdie’s shop. It hadn’t taken Cally very long to work out, either. Once the stockroom was in order and she’d organised the mess, it was more than obvious to her that things didn’t add up. Someone not quite as capable probably wouldn’t have found the discrepancies quite as easily, but once Cally’s strategies were in place she could see it as clear as day. Unless she was very much mistaken, Estrella was carefully filtering out orders here and there and often. Cally assumed that Estrellawould then be selling them via online sales channels, a market stall perhaps, or something similar.
Continuing to stare into the shop window, Cally shook her head. She couldn’t believe it. She was not that long into her job, and right away, she’d come across agiganticissue. What she’d found was a big problem that she would need to get to the bottom of sooner rather than later. She was going to have to deal with it, there was no doubt about that. Her issue was that she wasn’t really sure what to do or how to go about it. She had little to no experience of management, staff, problems or anything of its ilk at all.
Even though she was certain her figures were correct, a little bit of doubt whispered to her to hold her horses. She nodded as she made her way back to the Peaceton shop. She would perhaps talk to Logan about it and see what he thought before she did anything. Or maybe she would go straight to Birdie and come out with it right away. She really didn’t have a clue.
On top of being worried about what to do, her blood boiled away to itself. Shehatedwith a passion seeing Birdie being taken for a ride. She couldn’t quite believe Estrella's cheek. Although, really, she’d known it right away. The woman had given her the heebie-jeebies from day one, and now she knew why. Cally shook her head. If there was one thing she hated, it was dishonesty. She thought about how generous Birdie was and how Estrella was clearly not only fiddling but also not pulling her weight, too. Cally had watched her leave early on more than one occasion, pretend she was working when really she was looking at clothes on the Next website, and she was late nearly every morning without fail. Estrella getting one over on Birdie made our Cally see red.
As she strolled along a busy pavement and reflected on the problem, she saw the benefits of her previous part-time jobs. Yes, they were low-level and hardly very exciting, but along withthat came the simplicity of clocking on, clocking off, and that being the end of it. No problems and no responsibility. Her biggest problem in the past had been a dog eating a cashmere sock. Now, right from the start, issues were coming her way.
Cally had spent the rest of the afternoon cross-checking, sorting, and ordering and trying to not even look in Estrella’s direction. By the time she’d got home, she’d more or less stripped by the front door, made a pot of tea, hopped in the shower, and emerged in a soft cosy tracksuit, ready to clarify everything she’d discovered that week. Sitting at her desk by the window, she popped on the little lamp, turned on the fire, lit a candle, and flipped up the top of her laptop.
Half an hour later, her mind fizzed with the discoveries she'd made as she’d further sorted the stockroom and put her systems in place. As she rechecked her numbers and what she’d found the evidence was clear: Estrella wasdefinitelyswindling money from Birdie's business in Peaceton. Cally had gone over the numbers countless times, hoping she'd made a mistake, but there was no denying it. Estrella was a thief.
As she heard Logan's key in the lock, Cally pushed her chair out and smiled.
'Hey, Blackcurrant,' Logan called out as he entered the flat.
‘Hey.’
'You alright? You look a bit peaky.'
Cally wrung her hands. ‘Not really. There’s a problem at work.’
Logan shrugged off his coat. ‘That didn’t take long. Off to a good start. Come on, then. Out with it.'
'Estrella. You know the one I told you about who I didn’t like the look of right from the word go? I think, no, Iknowshe's been stealing from the business.'
Logan's eyebrows shot up. 'Stealing? Are you sure? That’s a big call to make.'
Cally nodded vigorously and patted her laptop. 'I didn’t really need to look because I could tell right away. But I've been going over the books, and there are discrepancies. Items missing from inventory, money not adding up. It's all very clever, but once you know what to look for, it's as clear as day.'
'Blimey. That's quite the bombshell. How long do you reckon this has been going on?'
'I'm not sure. It's hard to say without digging deeper. She was weird with me today, too. She kept poking her head around the door checking on what I was doing and asking about how much I knew about the ordering system. It’s like she’s clocked me.'
'So, what are you going to do?'
'I don't knowwhatto do. I mean, I know I have to tell Birdie, but I've only been in this job for a bit. What if I've got it all wrong?'
‘Don't doubt yourself. If you say the numbers don't add up, then they don't add up. You're good at what you do. That’s why Birdie wanted you in the first place.'
‘I never expected to be dealing with something like this so soon.'
'Welcome to the world of management,' Logan joked. 'It's not all spreadsheets and team meetings, you know.'
Cally chuckled. 'The chatbot is looking very attractive right now.’
‘What? You love listening to women complaining about their French linen dresses shrinking in the wash. Not.’
‘Ha.’
‘You’re best to just tell Birdie right away. The sooner the better, I reckon. No point in letting it drag on. I’ve been in this situation. Don’t let it fester.'
Cally took a deep breath. ‘I'll talk to her when I’m next in the shop downstairs.'
37
