Chapter 220. Valentine’s Day: Afternoon. (6/7)

Almost a full hour later we ended up back at the front of the store where we started. She looked extremely depressed, all her hope was lost. She was broken-hearted and it actually looked like she was ready to cry.

“Uhm, excuse me, I feel really bad saying this, but… we'll be closing up in the next five minutes.” The cashier who saw us nearby suddenly called out to us and said that.

“Oh. Sorry, we’ll be going now. Haaaaaaaaaah.” She let out a crestfallen sigh while staring at the ground.

“Why does this always happen to me? Things never work out or go the way I want. It’s… unfair. I work my hardest but I’m never rewarded in the end. Ever.” Tears started forming at the corner of her eyes as her lips quivered. 

Ugh. Even if you start crying and mumbling super depressing lines that strike a chord that I can totally relate to… it… won’t… phase me at all!

She completely forgot about me as the strength in her hand disappeared and released mine. Her arms hung down limp to her side as she walked out of the store. She leaned on the wall exhausted. 

She ran around the mall all day like a lovestruck idiot on Valentine’s Day just to find something nice for that dumbass guy she liked who didn’t ever look her way. She went so far and even mimicked the personality of the girl he liked, but that didn’t work out for her either.

For three years… she loved this guy? Yet he hadn’t noticed her feelings at all? How? Impossible. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it. What sort of guy wouldn’t notice a girl who’d put in so much effort, putting up with a guy she hated, just to find something he might like.

Haaaaaah. This girl was an irreconcilable idiot.

I watched as she made her way over to a bench straight ahead. Her knees gave out and she plopped down on top of it before she slid sideways until she was lying down on it with her face to the ceiling. She covered her eyes with the back of her wrist.

I should really ignore this. I knew that was the correct option here, but something in me wouldn’t allow it. When a devil saw a weakness in someone which would allow them to acquire a soul, I felt it was their natural carnal instincts that desired to acquire it.

“Haaaaaah.” With a sigh, I turned around and reentered the store.

“Sir, we’re closing in three minutes. I understand you want to help your girlfriend find that item… but I doubt it’s in the store.”

“Would you be willing to wager your soul that it isn’t in this store?”

“Huh? My soul? No way, no way. I wouldn’t wager my soul for something small like that.”

“Right? Only a fool would wager their soul on a bet they’re guaranteed to lose.”

For some reason, the cashier glanced at me before she blushed a bit and looked away.

Huh?

Well, I ignored it and headed down the fourth aisle. I stopped in front of the box. I had to tiptoe and I just barely grabbed onto the corner of the muscle massager gun box and pulled it out of the box.

With the item acquired I returned to the cashier who opened her eyes wide when she saw the item in my right hand.

“I’d like to pay for this please.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, right away. This is quite a surprise, how did you find it all of a sudden?”

“It’s elementary, my dear, I just figured it might be in one of the few unexpected places she hadn’t inspected properly. It seems whoever restocks your shelves are pretty sloppy and they leave boxes lying around on the very top shelves rather than breaking them down and throwing them away.”

“They probably climb up the step ladder and rest the box on the top shelf to stock the higher up shelves more easily. They end up forgetting or even intentionally leaving some of those boxes up there. The box might not be empty and it has some inventory in it that won’t fit on the shelf. Because they get lazy, they just leave it there rather than bring it back to the backroom. It makes it easier to restock later on if it’s a more popular product they frequently restock and the merchandise is already right there. This way, they can reduce the number of times they have to hoist another bulky box up the stepladder again that way.”

“Oh! You’ve cracked the case, Sherlock.” She clapped amused by the sham detective act I put on.

“But Sherlock, why was it up there in the first place?”

“Again, it’s quite elementary. A customer or somebody wanted to purchase it for themselves at a later time. They might not have had enough money at the time and were trying to stall for time until they got their next paycheck to buy the last one.”

“Your deduction is truly flawless. But what a terrible customer, they put your girlfriend through all of this. If I ever find out which customer did it I’ll definitely give them an earful.”

“Well, it may not even be a customer you know. It could very well be whoever stocks the shelves.”

“You mean to say… an employee who works here?”

“Yes.”

“Are you doubting me?”

“Not at all.” I grabbed her hand and felt her palms. I’d taken note of them before when she greeted us and noticed they were fair. They didn’t look like the hands of someone who would stock shelves, and as expected they didn’t feel as such either. There were no blisters, the palms of her hands were soft. As I’d expected, she wasn’t responsible for stocking the shelves. 

“You don’t stock shelves after all. When you waved at us when we entered I noticed your hands were rather fair, I didn’t see any blisters and they looked quite soft.”

“Don’t... stock shelves? You mean you believe the person who stocks the shelves did it?”

“Yes, and that person isn’t you.”

“If it is an employee doing such a thing that’s not the same sort of situation as a customer doing it.”

“Precisely, they’ve caused quite a bit of distress for another customer after all. One who searched through every inch of this store for two hours straight without giving up in hope of finding it.”

“Why are you convinced it’s the person who stocks the shelves?”

“Most customers aren’t going to hide it up in a box on the top shelf. It just makes them look like they’re doing something sketchy. They’d rather be discreet about it and hide it on a low shelf at the back close to the ground instead.” I would know all about that sort of thing since my own mother used to do it. She wasn’t that tall either.

“It’s pretty hard to reach the top of the shelf where it was kept unless you’re pretty tall. The employee stocking the shelves didn’t want to take chances so they’d naturally put it in the most out of reach and hard to find place. They wouldn’t look strange or suspicious at all like a customer would if they’re just putting the item in a box they’re carrying around before they place the box on the top shelf where they’re used to putting it.”

“I see! I see! That makes a lot of sense! But… isn’t it possible that I could have still put it there even if I don’t stock the shelves?”

“No, you’re sincere. The way you greeted us at the start showed your sincerity while working your job. The simple act of waving your hand at us when you greeted us shows your true character. Most insincere workers will put on a fake business smile and give a shallow greeting, but they won’t wave their hand at the customer in a friendly fashion like you. Thus, I knew for certain that the pained look on your face when you failed to locate the item we were looking for was out of a genuine feeling of remorse rather than the result of a guilty conscience from being the culprit.”

“Wow, you’re really observant with everything.”

“Do you mind answering a question of mine?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“This item, is it returned? Is that why it’s on clearance?”

“Hold on, let me check.”

She pulled up her records of returns in her system. When she found a match she said, “It does look like we had a return on an item. It’s listed in the system as being unused and unopened.”

“Was it purchased as a gift?”

“Hmm… yeah, it was. Does that matter?”

“Is there a reason for the return listed?”

“You sure like to ask a lot of questions.”

“Haha, sorry, I’m just a rather curious person.”

“Hmm, let’s see here. Oh? There is a note that says the giftee already had a similar product, I guess that’s why it was never opened or used.”

“I see.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing much. I just thought of a possibility..."