A shocking Christmas gift

By Stephen Muthini

The day began like any other in the boutique and jewellery shop where Jane worked.

Being Christmas eve, there were not many customers coming to shop for majority had travelled upcountry to join their families for the Christmas celebrations.

Jane had, however, opened to serve the occasional customer, hoping to travel home on Christmas day.

Her employer had recently restocked the shop in readiness for the holiday season when she expected the sales to peak. She had sold a good number of items that week but still the shop remained well stocked.

Smart customers

At around mid-day, two smartly dressed ladies sauntered into the shop. Jane was dozing on her seat due to the torrid mid-day heat and the boredom occasioned by lack of customers.

She was at first reluctant to rise up from her seat. Many were the prospective buyers who came into her shop, sampled a number of dresses or jewellery which they went on to fit but later walked away without buying, promising to come another day.

She was sick of such customers who would leave everything in disarray, forcing her to spend time re-organising the shop.

She felt like telling them off, but she reminded herself that that was poor salesmanship every time she was on the verge of exploding in a tirade. She sized up the two ladies who were busy checking the dresses. They were expensively dressed.

These ones were worthy customers, she concluded and rose to attend to them.

"How much is this suit?" one of them enquired.

"Three thousand eight hundred shillings’ Jane answered. "Make it Sh3,500. I’ll buy several other items," the lady offered.

Jane was at first taken aback. Selling at Sh3,500, she would still make a good profit margin even if the lady didn’t buy any other item. But she needed not concede much ground otherwise the buyer might think it wasn’t a genuine product.

Good bargain

"Okay, I will make it Sh3,600 but on condition that you buy more items," she spoke affably. The lady agreed. She went on picking other items — a dress here, a necklace there and a suit there. It was more than Jane had hoped for. When Jane did the calculations, the items were worth Sh21,000. All the while, the two ladies were talking of how they would give everyone at home a pleasant Christmas surprise. Jane was ecstatic.

She knew she too would have a super Christmas this time.

"Bring the money, you are the one who carried it," one of the ladies said to her friend when it was time to pay.

"No, I didn’t," replied the other as she searched for her handbag.

"We must have left it in the car. Call the driver and find out," she suggested. The other lady did as she was instructed and confirmed that the handbag was indeed in the car.

"Madam, can we please walk to that supermarket over there where I left my car so that I can give you your money? My friend can guard our items and the shop, it’s only a short distance over there," the lady who had selected the items said to her. Jane saw nothing wrong in that. They walked away and left the other lady to guard the shop.

Sensing danger

After all she would be back soon, with Sh21,000 in her pocket. They reached the supermarket. There were many cars in the parking bay.

"Please go in there and buy me a large paper bag. I may need to buy a few more items from your shop. Your price is not bad at all," the lady told Jane as she gave her a Sh100 note.

Jane went into the supermarket and bought a paper bag but when she came out, her customer was nowhere to be seen.

She instinctively sensed danger and rushed back to her shop but it was too late.

The other lady had already made away with the items — free shopping worth Sh21,000.

Jane sunk to her knees and cried. There’d be no merry Christmas for her after all.

She was speechless.

When she heard of this, her employer was seething with anger at the ease with which the girl whom he had employed only a few months before, had been conned of items worth more than Sh20,000.

It took the intervention of neighbours to convince the shop owner that the girl could not have possibly been part of the deal and that anybody can indeed fall prey to such schemes which are usually well choreographed and meticulously executed.