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BIG BILL'S REWARD: A Christmas story
By Donald H Sullivan
Big Bill Harkins was tired. He and his partner, Sonny Sanchez, had spent most of the day inspecting Christmas trees, cutting and removing the misshapen ones, measuring and price tagging the trees that were big enough to sell, and getting the lot ready for Christmas. The trees were grown on the north end of Big Bill's used car lot.
Big Bill always looked forward to the Christmas season. He soon learned that selling Christmas trees was more profitable than selling used cars during the month of December.
Sonny was the only salesman that Big Bill employed. Sonny was a short, slightly built man, swarthy and sporting a Juan Valdez moustache. He even slightly resembled the man of Columbian Coffee commercials. Sonny looked even smaller standing next to Big Bill, a six-three, two-hundred-fifty pound ruddy faced red head.
Sonny was a great salesman, who claimed that he could sell overcoats at a nudist colony. Big Bill didn't know about that, but he knew that Sonny was good at selling used cars and was also good at selling Christmas trees.
Big Bill's used car lot was actually much too large for the number of cars that he kept there, so it had been no problem to make room to grow Christmas trees. After they had finished culling the trees, they set up the sign proclaiming "Christmas Trees. Half of the profits go to needy children."
Sonny looked at the sign after it was set up. He chuckled. "Someday some sucker's gonna check on us and see what needy kids gets half the profits."
Big Bill snorted. "Ain't no way anybody can check on us. We accept cash only, so how they gonna figure out how much profit we make? Besides, I write a fifty buck check every year to the local orphanage to make it look legit." He laughed. "We make a lot more than that in donations to our 'give to the needy ' jar."
"What the hell," said Sonny, "who can complain? Fifty bucks helps the kids during Christmas. Over a hundred kids there, I guess. They get fifty cents apiece." He snickered at his own joke.
The two men alternated every other day between the car lot and the tree lot. When Big Bill ran the tree lot, he dressed as Santa. The suit was much too big for Sonny.
###
The first week ended, and business was picking up. It was Big Bill's turn at the tree lot, so he left Sonny at the car lot and donned his red suit.
Most people didn't complain about the prices, but there were a few to be expected every day. An elderly lady approached him about the price of a six footer.
"It's a nice tree," she said, "but isn't a hundred and ten dollars a little steep?"
"Not at all, ma'am. We don't sell nothin' but Scots Pines, and them's the best. Gonna last all through the season with the proper care. You can go somewheres and maybe find a cheaper tree, but by Christmas it'll be lookin' ragged. But I'll tell ya what. I can come down to one-oh-five on it."
"Well, it is nice," she said, "and my grandchildren always like my decorated trees. Okay, I'll take it."
He had just finished loading and securing the tree on top of the woman's station wagon when a woman came running up to him. She was a beauty. A blonde, about thirty, Big Bill guessed. She was well dressed and had a well-to-do look about her. And she was distraught.
"Please help me. I've lost my necklace somewhere on the lot and can't find it." Her voice was trembling and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "It must have snagged on a tree limb when I bent over."
"If you lost it on the lot, it's gotta be here somewheres. Don't panic. Just take your time and look. I'd help but I'm a little busy right now."
"You don't understand." She was near hysterics now. " I have a doctor's appointment in the next half hour. It's expensive, but more than that, my husband just gave it to me a few days ago as an anniversary present. I'm worried sick about what he'll think if I lose it. He's on a business trip now, but will be back in three days."
"We close in about an hour," he said. "Me and my employee will comb the lot for it after we close."
"Oh please, please. I am willing to offer a reward to whoever finds it."
"If me and my helper can't find it, I'll post a notice of the reward and you can check back with me tomorrow."
"I'm going to be tied up for the next two days." She handed him a card with her phone number. "Please call me at this number if you find it. It's beautiful and expensive. It's a pearl necklace with a heart shaped pendant of diamonds and rubies. Whoever finds it will be tempted to keep it, so I'll offer a two thousand dollars reward. That should be enough to encourage the finder to turn it in."
Big Bill's eyes widened and he whistled. "Two thousand bucks. Nobody I know would keep that necklace with a reward like that." He checked the name on the card. Eleanor Preston.
"I don't care about the money or the value of the necklace. I want the necklace because of my husband thinking me so careless with his anniversary gift."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Preston. I'll post the reward right away."
After the remaining customers left, Big Bill went to get Sonny to help look for the necklace.
Sonny gazed around at all the trees. "Geez, man, this'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
The two men looked on the ground and on the branches of the trees for the next hour, but didn't find the necklace. "Looks like I'll have to post a notice of the reward," said Bill.
Before leaving for the day, Big Bill scrawled several notices and the two men posted them at the entrance and at strategic places throughout the lot. The notice read, "Lost, necklace. $500.00 reward. If found, turn in to salesman."
"The damn woman was desperate to offer two thousand bucks," he said. "Five hundred will do the trick. Ain't nobody gonna keep that necklace if they can get five hundred bucks."
###
It was Sonny's turn at the tree lot, but Big Bill kept Sonny at the car lot and took the tree lot. Just before noon, a young black woman approached him. "I've found the necklace," she said. She reached in her handbag and pulled it out. It was indeed beautiful. It was strung with pearls and had a heart shaped pendant studded with gems. There was no doubt that this was the Preston woman's necklace.
Bill pulled five hundred dollars from his wallet that he had set aside in case someone found it. He planned, of course, to tell Eleanor Preston that he found it, and then collect the two thousand dollar reward for himself. He smiled. "Give me the necklace, and the money's all yours."
The young woman did not offer the necklace. "I used to work for a jeweler," she said. "and I know that this thing is worth at least three thousand, maybe more. I think I deserve at least fifteen hundred."
"Are you nuts? Five hundred bucks is a lot of loot, lady. That kind of money don't come your way every day, you know." He thrust out his hand with the money. "Here ya go. All yours. Nice Christmas present." He smiled.
She put the necklace back into her handbag. "Bet if I put an ad in the paper, the person who lost this will be glad to pay fifteen hundred." She turned and started walking away.
"Wait. Just a minute. We can talk this over."
The woman stopped and came back. "For fifteen hundred, I'll talk."
Big bill checked his cash box. It held eight hundred from the day's sales. "Look, I can give ya thirteen hundred. It's all I got."
The woman thought about it for a moment. "Fair enough. It's a deal."
###
"Well," said Sonny, "we made seven hundred on the deal. Ain't too bad."
"Yeah, and I betcha I can squeeze another five hundred from Mrs. Preston. She was pretty desperate to get that necklace back. Her and her old man are loaded. She can cough up five hundred without even thinking about it."
He pulled the woman's card from his billfold and dialed the number. After several rings, a man's voice answered. "Jake's garage." Big Bill hung up. "Damn, musta hit a wrong number."
He dialed the number again, very carefully. Again, "Jake's Garage." Big Bill looked at the woman's name on the card. "Is there a Mrs. Eleanor Preston at this number?"
"Sorry, sir. Nobody here by that name."
Big Bill hung up and the two men looked at each other. Neither said anything for a long moment. Finally, Sonny spoke. "Betcha that necklace ain't worth more'n a coupla bucks. And you can bet t hem two women was workin' together. Man, we been scammed."
**The End**
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