Ep 7. Local Celebrities

In season 8, episode 7 of Mystery Diners, titled "Local Celebrities," a restaurant owner suspects that her employees are taking advantage of her popularity as a local celebrity by offering free food and drinks to their friends without permission. The owner, who is also the face of the restaurant and a well-known figure in the community, contacts Charles Stiles and his team of mystery diners to investigate the situation and provide her with the information she needs to make necessary changes.

With the help of undercover diners posing as customers and employees, the mystery diners team sets out to uncover the truth about what's happening behind the scenes of this popular restaurant. They start by installing hidden cameras in key locations throughout the restaurant to capture footage of employee behavior. From there, they send in their mystery diners to pose as customers and order food and drinks from the restaurant, carefully watching for any signs of wrongdoing.

One of the things they quickly discover is that employees are indeed giving away free food and drinks to their friends and family without permission. Additionally, they start to suspect that some employees are stealing from the restaurant by taking cash from the register when the owner is not around. To confirm their suspicions, the mystery diners hatch a plan to catch the employees in the act.

With the owner's permission, they set up a fake contest in which employees can win cash prizes for selling the most food and drinks to customers. The catch is that the prizes are fake – the cash is actually marked bills that can be tracked if they are taken from the register. The mystery diners team then waits and watches as employees start taking money from the register to pay for their friends' meals and drinks, and some even attempt to take the fake cash prizes as well.

As the episode unfolds, the mystery diners team works to gather all of the evidence they need to present to the owner and confront the employees who have been taking advantage of her generosity. With the help of hidden cameras and undercover diners, they are able to get a full picture of what's been happening at the restaurant and help the owner take control of the situation.

Ultimately, the owner is grateful for the help of the mystery diners team and credits them with helping her protect her business from those who would take advantage of her kindness and hospitality. The episode concludes with a reminder to viewers to always be vigilant when it comes to their own businesses and to seek outside help when necessary to ensure the safety and success of their operations.