The Case of the Vanishing Order

It was a busy Friday night at Backwoods Burger. The place was humming—tables full, and a steady stream of take-out orders coming out of the kitchen all evening.

Around 6:20 p.m., Todd, a regular, walked in to grab his usual: a Backwoods Burger and fries.

Scott spotted an order with Todd’s name clearly marked on top, handed over the bags, Todd handed over a $20, told Scott to keep the change, and off Todd went. Easy.

At 6:30 p.m., Carla arrived, looking for her Whistle Punk Combo. She had ordered and paid online.

Scott checked the pickup shelf—no bag labeled Carla. Strange. He thought he remembered seeing her name earlier in the evening, but honestly? There had been so many orders, they were starting to blur together.

The only bag left on the shelf was for Leah, and it had been sitting there a while. 

He checked the kitchen—Carla’s ticket had been stabbed, and Sandeep remembered making it. Scott goes to leave the kitchen and notices the new dishwasher nervously shoving what looked like a receipt deep into the compost. The kid looked up, startled and laughed nervously.

Still no sign of the order.

But Carla had the email receipt. Paid. Time-stamped. Everything looked right.

Scott stared at the screen… then glanced over at the till… and finally muttered: “I'll tell Sandeep to remake your order—I know what happened.”

Suddenly, it all made sense.

What happened to Carla’s order?

Answer:

When Scott saw a stack of takeout bags with Todd’s name on top, he assumed they were part of a single order. But in the Friday night chaos, he missed that the second bag underneath was actually Carla’s—paid online, labeled, and ready to go.

As for the dishwasher, he was just tossing out an old receipt he’d found on the floor. When Scott walked in, the kid panicked, realizing how suspicious it looked—but it had nothing to do with Carla’s order.

And Leah’s bag? She’s chronically late picking up. Staff are used to it, so her order being left behind didn’t raise any red flags.

The real clue? Todd only paid $20—far too low for the two full meals he unknowingly walked out with. That’s what tipped Scott off.