Heaven's Gate Bridge Forty-one

Heaven’s Gate Bridge Forty-one

Mr. Miller had driven to his shop early that day. The morning air was cool. There was a slight breeze that he enjoyed. Everyone knew that it was his birthday. He would act surprised when he got home to a nice meal and birthday cake. In addition to that the children would have made some birthday cards by hand that showed their affection for their father. He even thought that some of the cards were quite nice. He would have to show them to the other family members at the next family reunion. But that would have to be after the baby was born and Frances was strong enough to travel. This reunion was not far but far enough that a drive could wear Frances out. The last thing he wanted was to exhaust the one person who was the closest thing in the world to him.

He had intended to give the employees a half day off with pay since it was his birthday and they had really worked hard. He felt that the surprise would come at a good time. Most of the work had been finished and picked up or delivered so the work was not an issue. The confrontation between Mr. Munson and Mrs. Smith had cooled down a little since the last argument. He could still sense some tension between the two. Mr. Munson had been quick to point out a few missing things which was found at the back of the store, behind some boxes. Mrs. Smith did not seem the kind of person who would be pilfering items, but then looks were not always the indication of a bad person. Mr. Miller had looked at Mrs. Smith as she left the store for the last week and her appearance was one of a totally innocent person.

As Mr. Miller was working on the payment for the new cloth that he had ordered in his office, he noticed that his cash box was unlocked. He kept the box in the back of the bottom of the drawer and always made a deposit to the bank before he went home at the week‘s end or if there was a lot of money around. His opinion was that money left sitting in an office was money that would soon find legs and walk off. To this day, he had not been robbed but remembered that his father’s best advice was “That it was better to be safe than sorry with saving money and raising children.”

He looked inside the metal box and saw that fifty dollars was missing. He looked at his money book and saw that Arthur Pinkley had paid in cash the day before for an alteration and some extra men’s items. The initials of who took in the money was JS for Mrs. Smith.

“Hello, Mrs. Smith, can you please come have a meeting with me now?” he asked from the doorway.

“Why certainly Mr. Miller. I have just finished the hemming of the shirt that you asked me to do special. Would you like to see it now?” she said as she walked half way to the desk with she shirt on her arm.

“No. Not right now. I need to ask you about the store yesterday.” he said as he looked around the workroom.

Mrs. Smith put the shirt down and put the needles and thread into the pin cushion. She walked carefully to the office. She knew that it was Mr. Miller’s birthday and she wanted to be the first to tell him how much she appreciated the job.

Mr. Munson was checking the layout of the patterns on a new suit that was being prepared. He was trying to be careful to pin the paper to the cloth and watch her go by at the same time. As she passed him, he stuck himself with a pin and immediately put the injured finger in his mouth.

“Mr. Miller I want to say that I know it is your birthday and I hope that it will be a happy one for you. It isn’t very often that an employer works in the same building with his employees where I am from. The bosses usually wouldn’t even step foot inside their businesses much less talk to an employee.”

“Oh my goodness, Mrs. Smith that is very kind of you. I feel that in this business, everyone works together and should know what is going on. But I am at a loss on how to mention this.” he said as he closed the door to his small office and pulled the curtain to cover the window . He pointed to a chair “Will you please have a seat?”

Mrs. Smith suddenly froze and then slowly moved to the wooden chair to sit down. “Mr. Miller what is it? Am I to be dismissed?” Tears started forming in her eyes. She looked for a handkerchief in her apron and started to twist it.

“Well Mrs. Smith I need to ask about how you handled the payment for Mr. Pinkley yesterday. I just want to make sure that the entries in the ledger is correct so when I prepare the bank deposit slip I have an accurate sum.”

Mrs. Smith took a big breath and put her head down as if to try to retrieve the memories of the hour that she was alone and in charge of the shop the day before.

“Well Mr. Miller, I was here and you know that Mr. Munson went home sick. I heard the bell on the door ring. I went up front and saw Mr. and Mrs. Pinkley. They are such a lovely couple. Mr. Pinkley wanted to pick up his order a day early so I went to the back and got it for him.” She paused to see if that was being accepted by Mr. Miller. “After he and his missus looked at the items, he said that they looked fine and that he wanted to pay for them in cash and to go. “

“Yes Mrs. Smith, I see that you did correctly. Any customer can pick up his order, if they are ready any time. I wish that I knew that he was coming in because I wanted to tell him that his uncle would need to wait until the factory had sent us the new cloth he liked.”

“Oh my goodness. I didn’t know that.” she said as she shook her head.

“No Mrs. Smith. I think Mr. Pinkley’s uncle will not be upset. But I needed to ask if Mr. Pinkley paid and how much?”

Mrs. Smith looked over at the cash box and pointed at it. “He gave me two twenties and two fives. They should be in your money box now. I put the key in the pocket in the back of the ledger as you demonstrated to me.” she answered with a smile pointing over to the ledger. “My mother brought up a proper young lady. We went to church and always followed the Lord’s ten commandments. I hold those as being very important.”

“Well Mrs. Smith, I don’t know what to tell you but will you look inside this box and tell me what you see?” He handed the box over to Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. Smith’s hands started to shake a little and her eyes became wide. She slowly opened the box and looked inside. Her head jerked up and complete shock appeared.

“Mr. Miller! It is gone! I promise you. I put that money there meself. I could never touch someone else’s money no matter what!”

“But isn’t it true that you need money for rent? You even had some new shoes on the other day. Where did you get the money for that?” he asked forcefully.

Mrs. Smith put the box on the table. She looked down at the beautiful new shoes that she had on. She straightened up in the chair. “Mr. Miller. The money was there. I don’t steal or lie. I will get my purse if you want to look through it.”

Mr. Smith was about to give his answer when his phone rang. “What? When? How is she? I’ll be right there.”

Mrs. Smith looked confused at the conversation that she was hearing but sat straight in the chair.

Mr. Miller put the phone down and turned pale white.

Mrs. Smith stood up to go over to him.

“No Mrs. Smith. I am alright but it seems that my wife is not. I must go immediately. I am asking you to not handle customers or their money until we can determined what happened. I am closing the shop for the rest of the day due to a family emergency. “ He stood up and reached for his coat. He walked to the door and called Mr. Munson.

“Mr. Munson please come here.”

Mr. Munson put his tape measure down and walked to the office door.

“Mr. Miller is everything alright?” he asked in a smooth, casual voice.

“Well I have a family emergency. The store is closed until Monday. Put up the closed sign and we will all leave now.”

Mr. Munson looked a bit surprised and nodded his head to indicate that he understood. He got his coat and umbrella and walked out as Mr. Miller was locking his office door. Mrs. Smith had her hat on and her purse in her hand.

As they all walked their separate ways, each person had a reason to be glad to be out of the store. For this day, there was every reason to be away from work.