Z Jewelry is a jewelry wholesaler. Stewart was employed by Z Jewelry as a traveling sales representative. In connection with the employment, Smith drove his own vehicle to meet clients and attend trade shows. Smith testified that he knew that thieves are aware of jewelry trade shows and sometimes follow jewelry sales representative, looking for an opportunity to steal their jewelry and that they are most likely to strike when the car carrying the jewelry is unattended. Smith's practice was to keep the jewelry in the trunk of his vehicle while he was traveling on business. He kept the trunk padlocked and kept the only key to the padlock on the key ring with his ignition key.
One day, when Smith was traveling from a trade show, he stopped at Sam's Tunnel Car Wash. At Sam's, the driver leaves his or her vehicle with employees of the car wash, and the vehicle is sent through a wash tunnel. Upon completion of the car wash cycle, and employee drives the vehicle to another area of the car wash premises to be hand dried. Once the vehicle is dried, the driver is signaled to retrieve the vehicle.
Smith left his car and the keys with a car wash employee. Jewelry worth $850,000 was locked in the trunk of the vehicle. Smith watched the car as it went through the car wash tunnel. He watched as an employee dried the vehicle. As Smith was standing at the counter waiting to pay the cashier, he saw the employee wave a flag, indicating that the vehicle was ready for Smith. The employee then walked away from the vehicle. While Smith was standing at the cashier counter, someone jumped into Smith's vehicle and sped off. When police recovered the vehicle about 15 minutes later, the jewelry was gone. Was a bailment created between Z Jewelry and Sam's? Why or why not? Should Sam's be liable for the loss of the stolen jewelry? Explain.