Detective Kate Lance has got a rare case this time. A new coffee prototype, a new invention with the potential to capture the taste buds, has been stolen. That too, in broad daylight, right in front of CEO William's nose!
The immediate suspects are...
CEO Williams was devastated. This prototype was their chance to capture the market.
Detective Lance arrived in due time. Kate Lance was the best private detective in the country. She now proceeded to interview CEO Williams.
He was greeted at the airport by Manager John, then taken to the car. The navigation device pointed out traffic at every main road, which was strange. They had finally taken a long and dusty country road, having many bumps and hairpin bends, and had reached the office as soon as possible. The imposters were gone by then, escaped in the nick of time. They must have been the 'Pecking Pack', who had been the imposters most of the times. Yet, they had never fooled CEO Williams, for he could smell a rat in an instant. Now that they had tried it, they must face the consequences.
Kate took her leave at this point. It could easily have been con-artists. Sure, there was a backup for the prototype coffee, but that jar of coffee beans was priceless nonetheless.
Kate came out of the police station after 2 hours, after checking the criminal records of the "Pack". There were complaints for defamation of character, but nothing against stealing. In fact, the gang had been formed for the sole purpose of pecking at the black money collectors, to publicly humiliate them. Robbery did not fit. Also, however strict or rude CEO Williams may be, he was strictly against black money.
The answer was elsewhere.
Undoubtedly, some con-artists were at work. This expertise rested only with them. She decided to check out the various con-artist groups. Some were well-off, but some were struggling. These groups could be commissioned.
The next day, CEO Arthur Jenkins reported another robbery. All the prototype coffee beans had been stolen, along with the documents!
This meant that whoever was at the back of it wanted to get it patented.
Next, Kate checked CEO Williams' business contacts and ratings. She decided to interview all the people.
The suppliers she got, no sign of trouble. Consumers, she couldn't check all, as it was a large market. But she got the major consumers, no trouble. Retailers... some were fishy, but most were all right. Competitors, she interviewed the staff, but nothing came out. As for the CEOs, she couldn't get an appointment with any of them. And out of 10 companies!
She pondered over the case for some days. She had to catch the culprits. She stalked out the companies; she went to various manufacturing factories, incognito. Nothing.
Out of various con-artist groups, she got nothing out of most of them, and some were in hiding. She had to find them out.
The next group was somewhere near the warehouses. She had gotten a tip-off from a trusted source. She went to interview them, but got the once in a blue moon chance to eavesdrop. There, she heard something which made her rush to a place urgently, even if it was midnight.
She had arrived at the printing press, along with the police, in the nick of time. The magazine editions were going out tomorrow, along with the prototype coffee samples, in the name of some of the competitors!
The printing press was interviewed, and it turned out that all the competitors had sponsored the theft, and were hoping to patent the coffee. An arrest warrant was issued against them and the free samples were blocked, all in the nick of time.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
