Intruder Alert: Part 4

Part 4
Blake stood with Nellie at the large cabinet that usually housed the restocking robot.
“Well, it appears that every hydraulic hose and electrical cable has been  disconnected appropriately. Nothing broken, or damaged as far as I can see.” Blake said into a recording app in his phone.
Nellie piped in: “Weren’t these robots installed before the merchandise came in? I mean, right after the building was constructed?” Nellie said.
“That’s what I understand. I wasn’t here that long ago,” Blake said. His head began nodding.
“You’ve got that ‘Ah ha, so it is’ look on your face. Do you have it figured out yet, Sherlock?” Nellie teased.
“Yes, Ms Watson, it’s perfectly clear, million dollar robot disappears magically, leaving store personnel wondering if it was ever here in the first place,” Blake said. Voices could be faintly heard nearby.
“I think I hear Fred talking. He’s probably in the next aisle,” Nellie whispered.
“Right,” Blake whispered as he hurried to close the large empty robot storage closet door.
“Well, there’s Blake now,” said Fred as he appeared at the other end of the aisle. Blake turned the closet door handle with a click and spun around. As Blake walked quickly towards Fred and away from the cabinet, Dirk, the district manager appeared and stopped next to Fred. Dirk was holding a clip board. His brow was knitted, and a frown was fixed across his mouth.
“Good morning, Dirk, how’s everything going,” Blake asked his usual question to ferret out the situation, and test the waters.
“It’s going where it has never gone before. How’s that for a progressive answer?” Dirk responded.
“Very star-treky of you,” Blake glibly responded, and then curbed his tongue, knowing he could easily get too casual and familiar with this guy, and that wouldn’t go over well.
“Yes, we are establishing stiffer guidelines for personnel, store organization and accountability protocols,” Dirk went on in a more serious tone.
“Oh wonderful. Tell me more,” Blake responded, hoping he didn’t sound sarcastic.
“You’ll be receiving full details in the next couple of days. First I wanted to see where your store was coming up short, so we could make appropriate recommendations to bring it into alignment with the next generation store design.”
“Sounds very thorough,” Blake responded.
“I think we’ll find what you’re looking for down this aisle,” a floor clerk said as he tried to maneuver past Fred and Dirk.
“We’ll come back here later,” Dirk said to Blake, as he directed them to follow him by gesturing with his head towards the opposite direction.
“Okay,“ Blake said to Dirk. As Dirk and Fred turned to walk back the way they came, Blake turned to Nellie, looking a little dazed, rolling his eyes and drawing a circle with his nose.
“Carry on, Nellie. We’re work this out later,” Blake said with a sigh of relief.
“Check, double- check” said Nellie.

To be continued….