Season 1 · Episode 1 · Case no. 001 · Case in progressCase solved
Biceps on the Trail of the Christmas Bonus
- Clients
- Two worried employees
- Subject of the case
- A missing Christmas bonus
- Questioned
- HR, accounting, (almost) the CEO
- Value of the case
- PLN 0.00
In a certain office, with strong coffee, unrealistic deadlines and hope that died last, a remarkably mysterious case appeared.
Biceps’s translationunrealistic deadlinesdeadline: yesterday.
One December morning Biceps received an urgent assignment. Two worried employees burst into his office.
“Mr. Biceps! The Christmas bonus has gone missing!” the first one shouted.
“For months rumors have been going around that this year it’s going to be exceptionally high!” the second added. “You have to find it!”
Biceps’s translationrumors have been going aroundnobody promised anything.
Biceps adjusted his hat, blew into his bubble pipe and regarded his clients with pity.
“Gentlemen, did this bonus ever exist?”
An awkward silence fell.
“Well… no, but there’s always a chance!” they answered in unison.
The detective began his investigation. He questioned HR, looked into accounting, checked the budget and even tried to reach the CEO himself. Unfortunately, every lead went nowhere.
At last Biceps came across the most important piece of evidence: the company budget spreadsheet. In the “Christmas bonuses” row there was exactly PLN 0.00. Someone had added in pencil: “Maybe next year.”
Biceps’s translationPLN 0.00budget on plan.
Biceps’s translationMaybe next yearnever.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Coffee (strong) | PLN 18,400.00 |
| Fruit Thursdays | PLN 6,200.00 |
| Optimization consultants | PLN 240,000.00 |
| Christmas bonuses Maybe next year | PLN 0.00 |
| Total | PLN 264,600.00 |
Christmas scratch card
Scratch with a finger or the mouse. Keyboard: the “Scratch” button.
The rest of the story is locked. Scratch the card to keep reading.
“So the mystery is solved!” Biceps exclaimed, putting the document down on the desk. “The bonus was not stolen, hidden or forgotten. It simply never came into being!”
The clients did not hide their disappointment.
“But maybe the board will change its mind? Maybe extra funds will turn up? Maybe a Christmas miracle will happen?”
Biceps’s translationChristmas miraclean email about the “difficult market situation.”
Biceps sighed heavily, put on his coat and headed for the exit.
“Gentlemen, in my profession I have seen many miracles. But for a company to pay out a bonus it never planned for, even I cannot afford that kind of fantasy.”
And so another case solved by Biceps came to an end.
The employees went back to their desks, still believing that a surprise was waiting for them under the Christmas tree. Biceps went home, richer by one more detective lesson:
Biceps’s translationsurprisea mug with the company logo.
Detective’s lesson
Clues missingCase solvedThe hardest thing to find is something that never existed.