The Case of the Appearing Cookies

Case of the Appearing Cookies

It was Monday morning. Hadly Flynn, the bank manager, yelled across the bank floor to everyone listening, that the United Way campaign was now under way. He told everyone he looked forward to the fun events that were planned for the week, but especially couldn’t wait to bid on Lucinda’s famous cookies during the bake sale auction.

Lucinda had been planning this event for weeks, and she really hoped it would be a success. The pledge sheets had been handed out, the peanut counting contest had started, and all she had to do was get the bake sale organized, and bake her cookies.

As the week progressed, people seemed to be enjoying the events that were happening. Tuesday afternoon, they had tri-cycle races out in the parking lot, and Wednesday, they had a pizza luncheon for all the employees. Pledges were slowly, but surely coming in.

Thursday morning, Lucinda was at work ten minutes early. Today was the day she would be getting donations for the bake sale. It was then that she remembered she had forgotten about the bake sale. Of all people, she couldn’t believe she had forgotten to bake her famous white chocolate oatmeal cranberry cookies.

She went to the employee lunchroom and gathered the tables that were going to be used to display the baked goods. She put on the red and blue tablecloths, set up the auction sheets, and waited for people to start coming in with their goodies.

At ten after eight, she began to worry. No one had brought her anything yet. Donated foods were supposed to be in that morning so that they could be bid on throughout the day and handed out at the end of the day tomorrow.

She was squirming in her seat at eight thirty when, Lazurus, from accounting, arrived with a grocery store box of doughnuts, minus one. Well at least someone remembered, she thought to herself as she put it on the table in the first spot. Of all people she would never have thought Lazurus would have brought something. He always hid down in the basement of the bank with his spreadsheets and calculator, and no one ever saw him. She didn’t know much about him. He kept to himself and only came up when there was an all employee meeting or a fire drill. She wondered if he even left the building at all.

Throughout the morning things trickled in. By noon, there were about a dozen things on the table. For an office of their size, she thought for sure there would be more. She left for lunch.

When she returned from lunch, she saw Rhonda from the loan department. Rhonda said she was sorry for not bringing anything in, but she had completely forgotten because she had been so busy. Lucinda told her not to worry, because she had forgotten to bring something as well.

Rhonda is one of those people always on the go. She has eight children, the oldest in college, youngest in diapers. She has sporting events she has to attend, ballet, and one of her children even goes to magic camp three nights a week. She is always away from her desk during the day, and hardly anyone sees her because she is always in the conference room with her next client. Lucinda could understand why she would forget.

Halfway through the day, the table was looking better. The second shift had arrived, and several of the tellers had remembered to bring in items.

Around four, Virginia came into the room loaded down with two big boxes of cupcakes. Virginia was the one Lucinda knew she could count on. Virginia’s family owned a bakery. Virginia was single, lived alone, and worked for her parents on the weekends. She was always bringing in baked goods she wanted people to try out. Lucinda told Virginia she had forgotten to make anything and she felt awful. Virginia told her it would still be a success.

By the time Lucinda was ready to leave, the tables were fuller. She just wished she had time tonight to make her famous cookies, because she knew how everyone loved them. And she wanted to have something to add to her own event.

She left the building with a frown on her face. She passed by the loan department and saw Rhonda sitting in the conference room with yet another client. Hadly was sitting in his office on the phone. He looked up for a moment to give her a smile and a wave good bye. She thought about going down to the basement to see Lazurus, but noticed he was actually walking out the door in front of her. He does leave!

When she arrived at home, her son was ready to leave for his basketball game, and her husband was heading out the door to a church meeting. She dropped off her bags, picked up an apple and went back out the door to take her son to the game, the whole time wishing she had time to make her famous cookies.

***************
The next morning was dark and stormy. Lucinda once again arrived early to work. She didn’t walk into the lunchroom right away, because she had some work left over from the day before which needed to get done.
Lucinda was sitting at her desk when the phone rang. Virginia called to ask if the bake sale was ready. She wanted to make sure she got a bid on her famous cookies. Huh? She caught herself before she said anything, and quickly hung up the phone.

She hurried into the lunchroom and was shocked at what she saw. The tables were now full of baked goods. There were at least ten pies, three more containers of cupcakes, a triple tiered cake, and bags and bags of cookies. Upon closer examination of the cookies, she saw a few dozen cookies that looked like her white chocolate oatmeal cranberry cookies. There was even a sign in front of them that said, “Lucinda McFee’s FAMOUS cookies.”

In front of all the donated items were auction sheets, and bids had already started coming in. The bids in front of “her” cookies had the most so far.

Who would have done this, she wondered as she walked around the table. She noticed the box of doughnuts Lazurus had brought was missing. She wondered if he had brought in something different, but didn’t see anything else with his name on it.

She saw the tiered cake had been donated by Hadly. Hadly’s wife liked to be extravagant. It was covered in chocolate fondant, and little pink roses adorned the edges of each tier. Hadly walked in and asked if she liked his wife’s cake, while patting her on the back and putting a bid down under “her” cookies.

Lucinda still couldn’t believe everyone thought they were her cookies. She was tempted to take one out and taste it to see if the recipe was similar, but she didn’t want anyone to see her.

Rhonda walked in and hesitantly went over and put a bid under “Lucinda’s” cookies. Lucinda noticed Rhonda glance over her shoulder as if to look to see if anyone noticed, then quickly moved down the table and put a bid under a blueberry pie and rushed out of the room as quickly as she had come in.

By noon, most of the items had at least one bid under them, but “her” cookies were still in the lead. She really wanted to tell someone that they were not her cookies, but this bake sale was for charity, and “her” cookies were bringing in the most bids. She sure hoped the cookies wouldn’t disappoint those who would win them later that day. She tried to think if she had given anyone her recipe. It was a common enough recipe, but it did have a secret ingredient that would give away the fact that the recipe was not hers.

At four, Lucinda pulled all the auction sheets and gathered everyone in the lobby of the office to announce the winners of the auction. “Her” cookies had by far been the overall favorite on the tables. Hadly’s wife’s cake came in second.

As the bank employees gathered in the lobby, she noticed Lazurus was standing in a corner near the back. She still wondered what had happened to his donated doughnuts.

********************************

The bank employees were anxiously gathered in the lobby, each hoping to take home goodies for the weekend. Most people had bid on several items, so almost everyone would leave with something. Lucinda could hear chattering from those closest to her. They were all talking about how much they wanted “her” cookies.

She was feeling guiltier as she got closer to the area of the table where the bags of cookies were. She wanted to thank everyone for the bids that were received on the premise that these white chocolate oatmeal cranberry cookies were hers. She handed out the chocolate chip cookies, the peanut butter cookies, and the no bake cookies first.

Just as Lucinda was ready to announce the winners of “her” famous cookies, a crash of lightning and a boom of thunder were heard, and the lights went out. Hadly, being the leader he is, jumped onto a chair and told everyone not to panic. He said the generator would kick in soon.

The emergency lighting dimly lit the lobby area. Lazarus had moved from the back of the room and was closer to the table now. He tapped Lucinda on the arm and said he couldn’t wait to have some of “her” cookies, because they were his favorite. She asked him what happened to his doughnuts. He explained he had been in very early that morning and forgotten to bring breakfast. He figured there were enough items on the tables that it would be OK to take his doughnuts back. He hoped she was OK with that. She shrugged her shoulders and asked him if he had seen anything strange this morning. He shook his head no, and went back to standing in the corner.

About ten minutes later, the lights came back on. Everyone was anxious to get out of the office to start their weekends, so Lucinda went back to announcing winners of “her” cookies, but really wondered if she should tell everyone that they were not really her cookies.

She surveyed the room and saw that all the top bidders were in the room. Rhonda had won a dozen cookies for $10.00. Lazarus had bid $7.00 and Hadly had bid on two dozen cookies for $20.00. Some tellers from second shift had also bid on a couple of the smaller bags of cookies. Overall, “her” cookies had brought in over $50.00 for the bake sale.

Lucinda took a deep breath and started to tell everyone she was very sorry, but needed to tell them something. As she started to tell everyone that the cookies were not really her cookies, someone who had been standing close by, yanked her arm as if they needed something right away.

**********************************

Rhonda was standing next to her with her finger pressed against her lip to tell Lucinda not to say what she was about to say. Had Rhonda baked all of these cookies, Lucinda wondered. Rhonda had said she hadn’t had time to do anything.

Lucinda named off the remaining names and collected the money, still feeling guilty that the cookies were not really her cookies.

As everyone was leaving, Lucinda went over and asked Rhonda how she had time to make all of those cookies. Just as she reached Rhonda, so did Lazurus, Hadly, and Virginia. Lucinda started to thank Rhonda for making “her” cookies, when Rhonda cut her off.

Rhonda looked at the others, who were standing there shaking their heads, and she began to tell Lucinda that she wasn’t the one that had made the cookies. She said they had all made the cookies. Rhonda explained that they all knew how busy she had been on the campaign, and when they had heard that Lucinda hadn’t remembered to make her famous cookies, they wanted to surprise her. Rhonda reminded Lucinda that she had once asked for the recipe after a team picnic. She had given the recipe to the other three, and they all had made a couple of batches and secretly brought them in very early in the morning. Lazurus laughed and told her that was why his doughnuts really were gone. They had finished setting up the bake sale table, and had eaten all the doughnuts during the preparations.

Hadly said that he knew the campaign would be a success with or without Lucinda’s famous cookies, but he also knew how much everyone loved her cookies. He was glad that he, well actually his wife, was able to help out.
Virginia gave Lucinda a hug and thanked her for her work on the campaign, and said she knew the bake sale wouldn’t have been the same without the famous cookies, which is why she helped.

Lazurus just said her cookies were his favorite, and he wanted the recipe, which is why he helped out.

Lucinda thanked everyone for their help as they walked out the door for the weekend, cookies in hand, and said she looked forward to more successful campaigns in the future. As she got in her car, she wondered why she always tried to do things by herslef, when if they lived united and worked as a team, they could help bring in more dough.