"Your order’s being held up by some environmental inspector who turned up"

Chanukah was the busiest time of year at Tully’s Toy Shop. Jingle-jangle went the doorbell all day long.

Tully greeted everyone with a smile, but in truth he was worried. A big box of Chanukah goods still hadn’t arrived. He had ordered it months ago. He called the delivery company again.

“I really need the stuff,” pleaded Tully. “The supplier said it was sent weeks ago. Why is it taking so long to get here?

There was a long-suffering sigh from Bert.

“Look, there’s a backlog here. We don’t have enough drivers. We’ll definitely get it to you in a couple of weeks.”

“What! But it’s Chanukah, uh, a Jewish holiday. I need it now, not in two weeks!”

Tully sighed. He simply had to sort things out. Besides the money he would lose if the order came late, he couldn’t bear to disappoint his customers.

“How about I send one of my own people to pick up the stuff?” offered Tully.

“Dunno. I’ll check with my manager,” replied Bert. A few minutes later, he was back on the line. “Sorry, no can do. Your order’s being held up by some environmental inspector who turned up. Driving us crazy, he is.”

Alarm bells started ringing in Tully’s mind. Could this be Mr. Ingleton, who’d tried to get Eli’s Animal Place closed down? But what did an environmental inspector have to do with Chanukah goods? Tully only ordered goods that met the latest safety standards.