(Third Person POV)
(Y/n) and Noodle push the cart back to the laundry house, with Willy hiding in his laundry bag. They manage to sneak past the lovestruck Mrs. Scrubitt and Bleacher, who are having a romantic dinner. They stop at the laundry chute, and Willy hops onto the ledge.
"See you downstairs," he says to the girls, then jumps down the laundry chute. "GERONIMO!"
He lands in a laundry cart, getting the attention of the other staff members.
"Oh! Mr. Wonka. Good of you to join us," Abacus says a bit sternly.
Willy opens the bag and climbs out.
"Not late, am I?" he asks.
"Well, no. Cutting it a bit fine, but—" Abacus replies.
"Has Tiddles been pulling his weight?" Willy asks, hopping out of the laundry cart.
"As a matter of fact, Tiddles has been a very good boy and productivity is up thirty percent," Abacus replies.
"We took the afternoon off," Larry chimes in.
"But that's not the point," Abacus continues.
"This is the point!" Larry says while pointing.
"Not now, Larry," Abacus says.
"Sorry," Larry apologizes.
"The point is, where have you been?" Abacus asks Willy.
"And why do you smell of giraffe?" Piper adds.
"Guess I owe you guys an explanation," Willy says.
Lottie huffs and nods defiantly.
"Truth is I'm a chocolate maker," Willy tells them.
(Y/n) and Noodle come downstairs right when he says that. Noodle is carrying a bucket of slops.
"Not just any chocolate maker. The best in the world," (Y/n) says, causing Willy to blush a bit.
"Ah, well, (Y/n)'s flattering me, but she's right. They're exquisite," Willy says.
"The plan is to sell chocolate and pay off Mrs. Scrubitt," (Y/n) explains.
"At least, that was the plan until—" Noodle starts to say.
"Ah, let me guess. You had a little run-in with the Chief of Police," Abacus finishes for her.
(Y/n), Willy, and Noodle look at Abacus with surprise and confusion.
"How do you know that?" Willy asks.
"Because I was Slugworth's accountant. For a week at least. . ." Abacus replies.
*flashback*
Abacus bids his wife and daughter goodbye as he gets inside a cab to ride to the Galeries Gourmet.
"His regular bookkeeper was off sick, and I was called halfway across the country to take his place."
Abacus enter Slugworth's office with a red leather-bound accounts book.
"Good evening, Mr. Slugworth. I just need your signature on—" he stops when he sees the office is empty.
He looks around the office, and his eyes land on an accounts book similar to his, only this one is bound in green leather.
"It seemed a straightforward job. . . until I realized there were two sets of books: one for the authorities—and one which told the truth."
Abacus sets his book down on the desk and starts reading the green accounts book, and what he finds inside is quite shocking.
"Slugworth, Fickelgruber, and Prodnose have been in cahoots for years. A sort of chocolate cartel, if you will. They've been watering down their chocolate and storing the excess in a secret vault deep beneath the cathedral, guarded round the clock by a corrupt cleric and five hundred chocoholic monks. The only way to get in is to down a secret elevator and past the Mistress of the Keys—a subterranean sentinel who hasn't seen sunlight in years. There's thousands of gallons of chocolate down there, and the cartel use it to bribe, blackmail, and bludgeon the competition."
Abacus, having read the book all night, takes off his glasses and rubs his tired eyes, unable to believe what he just read. Suddenly, he hears Slugworth's voice coming toward the office, and he quickly grabs his book and hides behind another desk—not realizing that he left his glasses on the green ledger!
"I do not care that they were children, they were in our way. Next time, put your foot down," Slugworth orders God-knows-who. "Miss Bon-bon?"
"Good morning, sir," Miss Bon-bon greets her boss.
"From now on, I'll be keeping the ledger in the vault," he tells her as he gives her his coat and cane.
"Very good, sir," Miss Bon-bon replies.
He starts to walk away when he spots Abacus's glasses on the ledger.
"Oh, and Mr. Crunch?" he says, looking at the desk he knows Abacus is hiding behind.
Realizing he's been spotted, Abacus stands up sheepishly.
"Yes?" he asks.
"You're fired," Slugworth says.
"Very good, sir," Abacus replies, and hides behind the desk again.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wonka, but they've got you right where they want you. You can't get a shop without selling chocolate, and you can't sell chocolate without a shop."
*flashback ends*