Interesting story. I'd say you tried to do an honourable thing by handing it over to the establishment you found the money in, and certainly by the sounds of it
they didn't do the honourable thing after that, but the thing is, you handed it over to them and thereby effectively washed your hands of it at that point. What happens after that is between them and the person who lost the cash. Hopefully (although I agree it is unlikely), they are telling you the truth that it was claimed and by the rightful person.
If there is a next time, maybe hang onto the cash,
tell the establishment/management that you have found a sum of cash, and either leave your contact info (so that the person can contact
you in an attempt to identify the cash [probably only by verifying the actual amount, there won't be much else to work with]), or inform them that you're taking it to the police and the people can then try to sort it out with them.
Basically when it comes to "lost money" you really can't trust anyone.
I remember one thing that happened to me at an ATM about 10 years ago when I worked downtown. I was in a hurry to get somewhere and somewhat distracted. The bank machine I used was different than the one I usually use (which gives you the cash you take out,
then gives you your card). This one gave you your card first, then spit out the money. Well as a conditioned response I suppose, when the card came out I whipped the card back into my wallet and walked off, on autopilot and thinking the transaction was all done. Well I realized my mistake
within easily two minutes. I basically walked off, made a few steps, then said, "hey, whoops," turned around went back to the machine. The cash was long gone. I had taken out ... I can't remember it was either $20 or $40 but no more than that. But it was gone. It had to be the person behind me in line, who I figure who could have easily said "hey dummy! you forgot your cash" but that obviously was not the choice that person made that day. I'm not sure what my point is here .... I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're dumb enough to be careless with cash, you have to be prepared to deal with the consequences of losing it. That person who lost the cash was careless. You found it ... at that point it's your choice, and your conscience, how to deal with it. But once you've turned it over to someone else ..... you no longer exert any influence. Hoping to see it back, in case it is not claimed, is ... possibly a bit of a stretch.
Of course, that doesn't justify the management of the establishment to be rude and to treat you like that. That's totally unacceptable how they've acted towards you. I know I certainly wouldn't be so quick to return there either.
cheers (sorry that you didn't end up with a free coral this time ...
)