The Curious Case of the Missing Wallet

 

Where did you/I  keep/forget/lose it?

Mr. Winston was in a hurry that afternoon, for his well-earned vacation was just around the corner...err,  hours of driving away. For this trip, he had prepared and dreamed of for days...and was excited to do absolutely nothing. "That's what a  vacation is!", he used to say.

That afternoon, he had gone along with his son, Harry, to the hair cut salon across the street. His wife had specifically told him to go with a quick cut and get home fast, as the journey to the villa was a long road trip. Nonetheless, Mr. Winston couldn't say no to the relaxing head massage. 

In about an hour, Mr. Winston was done, so was his son, and he pulled out his phone to see five missed calls and seven angry messages from his wife. He trembled and proceeded to scan the payment code of the salon. 

But, to his surprise, it said that the account he was paying to was invalid. A little afraid, and a little confused, he showed the message to the receptionist. She too, was confused, and afraid. He tried a few more times, just to see the message pop up again.

Then, he decided to change the app and try once more. 

Still, the same message was being displayed.

Curious, confused and afraid, he took out his wallet and asked her whether she accepted card or cash payments. She nodded, and took the wallet from his hands. Soon, the payment was complete, and he left with his son to go home.

On reaching home, his wife hammered him with all sorts of complaints, mostly leading to "reaching late". Harry backed his father as a witness, but that backfired too.

"I told you repeatedly, come home by 4...but NO! You decide to return by 5:30 with your head held high! And god knows what you're imprinting on our young son! Sweetie, why did you come so late! Was daddy talking with that stupid receptionist?!"

"No mummy-"

"Aah...look at this! You've told him to deny everything! Oh you rascal! I know exactly how you look at that woman! Will you except my card?? Oh yes, I most definitely will... "

"But honey, that's-"

"Lies!! All lies! Don't you "honey" me!"

"Mummy....daddy just had a head massage, hair cut and some payment errors..."

"Head massage!! You seem to have so much time eh! Ignoring all my calls, and going in for a massage!"

This went on for a while, and after the dust settled, Mrs. Winston ordered her husband to go for a bath.

After all was done, Mr. Winston got dressed, packed his bag and found his chance to fight back against his wife.

"Charlotte!! Where is my wallet!! I've told you a million times to keep it with my belt so that I don't forget it!!"

Charlotte replied in the same angry tone, "It wasn't in your pocket when you came back!! You must have put it on the basin in the bathroom!"

After re-checking the basin, all hell broke loose. Harry was ordered to look in the hall, Mr. Winston in the bed room and Charlotte "looked" in the kitchen. After twenty minutes, nothing much had changed. At this point, Charlotte was angrier, and Winston was really afraid. Then, Mr. Winston decided to trace back their steps to the salon to see whether the wallet had fallen anywhere or had been left on the counter. Harry decided to tag along too.

On reaching the front of the salon, Harry pointed out two CCTV cameras that were built in a way that they covered the entire area in question. Harry went to the security office to see the footage, and Mr. Winston went to the salon. 

The security were very reluctant and said that the footage could only be accessed by the police through the chairman who lived across the street. Harry tried to explain the situation to them, but they didn't budge.

The salon didn't help the situation either. The receptionist said that she remembered returning him the wallet. She also said that they had an honest business, and she had kept wallets and cards of people who forgot them to this day.

Hearing this, Mr. Winston was somewhat relieved but also afraid, as he did have at least two thousand bucks in the wallet.

As Mr. Winston was about to check the salon's footage, Harry came through the doors holding up a wallet and asked, "Is this yours' dad?"

Winston replied yes, and asked Harry where he found it. Harry said, "The security weren't helpful, so I hung my head and went back to the car. I decided to check the bags in the back to see whether it got in there by mistake when we were packing, and there it was. You're welcome."

Mr. Winston was speechless and also afraid of what his wife would say. But, he thought of a fix for that too.

"We found it on the counter, Harry."

"On the counter, dad, on the counter."