East of Ludgate Hill

An exciting day in the office of McIntyre and Bland. At 9 a.m. all seems normal as the office staff arrive for their day’s work. The cleaner finishes her cleaning; the junior girl Minnie and her sweetheart Bobbie Druce from another office in the building plan their future; Ely, a clerk, returns from his holidays; and the managing clerk is making arrangements to send his son to a public school. The first sign of trouble is when Mrs Bland, the wife of one of the partners, calls to find out why her husband has not been home all night. The other partner, Mr McIntyre, discovers that the safe is unlocked and bonds worth £20,000 are missing. He jumps to the conclusion that Bland has absconded with the money and calls the police. He tells the staff that it will result in the firm going bankrupt and they will all lose their jobs. Gloom pervades the office and as they see their plans and lives falling to pieces. Later in the afternoon, however, the missing partner turns up and explains he has been ill in a hotel after a hectic night out, and that the missing bonds are in the bank where he deposited them on the previous afternoon, being unable to lock the safe.