A Cluttered Store

Cam almost tripped over something as he entered the empty store at 5:00 AM. He was half asleep as he stumbled over debris on his way to the freezer. He pulled out the frozen dough and popped it into the oven. Walker’s grocery liked to offer fresh baked bread to its customers, and it was Cam’s job to make sure it was ready. He was just glad he didn’t have to prepare the dough.

Cam knew he should go to bed early, but he never did. Consequently, he could barely keep his eyes open in the mornings, as he did his chores at the store. Today was particularly troublesome, as someone had left a bunch of clutter in the front. Cam was too tired to even care what it was, or who left it there. He just went about his business in his normal robotic fashion.

A cheerful young man, Cam was not the sharpest crayon in the box. The power of observation was not one of his strong points. Smoking the occasional joint, did nothing to sharpen his senses.

By 8:00 AM, he was close to finished his morning duties, when he heard commotion in the front of the store. Old man Walker must be getting an early start., he thought. Was that a siren I heard?

The loud voices, coming from the front of the store, didn’t distract Cam from finishing his tasks. Once he was done, he could head back to bed. Boy did he need sleep.

“Cam, you back there?” It was old man Walker. “Get out here – now.” He sounded pissed.

“Coming boss, I just have to put this stuff away.” Cam wanted to be done his chores before facing the grizzly old guy.

Cam came out from the back, and again almost tripped over the debris and clutter. “You wanted to see me boss?” Walker stood beside two burley policemen.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Walker shouted at Cam.

“Just let us handle it, Mr. Walker.” The taller of the officers tried to calm Walker down.

“What’s up?” Cam said. His fine features on a boyish face, wreaked of innocence.

“Cam, I’m officer Mullen. This is Officer Chase. We are investigating the break-in.”

“What break in? Where?” Cam looked bewildered.

“Right here, Cam. Do you know anything about this?” Officer Mullen sounded firm, but calm.

Cam looked around the front of the store and gasped. The cash register was opened and overturned, the glass from the front door was scattered all over the floor, cans and boxes cluttered the aisles – it was a mess.

“When did this happen? Was it while I was in the back?” Cam couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was shaking, to think that this could have happened, while he was working in the back.

“What time did you get here?” Officer Mullen continued his interrogation.

“I came in at 5:00 like always.”

“What did you see when you came in?”

“I never noticed anything unusual. But I was tripping over some stuff. Oh, no. Was this here then? I was half asleep. I never even noticed. I’ll bet it was the cash register I tripped over.” Cam was in shock now.

“I think you’d better come with us. We have a lot more questions for you.” The two officers escorted Cam out the door and to the waiting cruiser.

It was two weeks before the police were convinced that Cam didn’t have anything to do with the break and enter. They couldn’t believe it was possible, that anyone could stumble past the clutter and debris without noticing and reporting it. The more they questioned Cam, the more convinced they became that with him, it was possible.

The police determined that the break-in happened long before Cam arrived at the store.

Cam returned to pulling early morning bread for Mr. Walker.

(642 words)

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