A little bell chimed overhead announcing the entrance of Detective Tinsel as he pushed open the door to the Deck Your Halls store in the North Pole Square. His relaxing Christmas Eve morning at the local cocoa shop had been interrupted by the urgent phone call requesting his services. He had to forgo his usual two large marshmallows in his extra creamy cocoa and order it in a to-go cup. Not exactly how he had hoped to spend the holiday. He took a long sip and lamented the lack of marshmallow sweetness.
Inspector Garland was already in the shop scribbling notes furiously on a tablet as he interviewed the two shop employees. The two elves being questioned stood at the counter. A pale and nervous looking elf named Spruce braced himself against the counter to support the extra weight of his co-worker Holly, who was sobbing hysterically on his shoulder. The spiral blond curls framing her face were damp from the tears she wiped away. At the sight of Detective Tinsel, she tried to regain some composure, smearing sparkles and mascara across her cheeks with the back of her white gloved hand.
“Glad you’re here, Tinsel,” said Inspector Garland.” We’re in quite a Christmas pickle!”
“We’ve been robbed!” Holly blurted out. She almost burst into a fit of tears, but instead stifled the sobs resulting in loud hyperventilating breaths.
Tinsel tried not to wince at her hysteria. He glanced around the store. The shop shelves were packed with every shape and size of lights, tinsel, ornaments, trinkets, and bobbles you could ever need to decorate for Christmas. Everything seemed to be in perfect order; there wasn’t an empty shelf or display case.
“Do you know what was stolen?” asked Tinsel.
“Yes,” Spruce squeaked, trying to wiggle his shoulder out from under Holly. “Santa’s personal Christmas tree star.” He held his felt clad belly and his face appeared to be a bit green. Tinsel took a step back in case he threw up.
“The Christmas tree lighting at Santa’s workshop is tonight. As you well know, it is tradition that the star is placed last. We have been using that star for over 1,700 years!” said Inspector Garland.
“Not to mention it’s solid gold, and worth a fortune,” said Spruce.
“If we don’t find it before tonight, it will mean our jobs,” said Inspector Garland.
“Alright,” said Tinsel, “You better start telling me the facts. We don’t have any time to waste. When was the star stolen?”
“It had to have been stolen during the night,” said Holly. “Everything was fine when you closed last night, right Spruce?” She sucked back a few short breaths.
“Yeah. The star was in the vault in the back room behind the counter.” I was putting an antique snow globe into the vault before closing and stopped to admire it. I locked the vault before I left.”
Holly interrupted. “When I came in this morning, it was...it was...” Her blubbering resumed. She pulled the hat off Spruce’s head and blew her nose into it. “You’ll have to tell them,” she cried pushing the soggy hat into his hands.
Spruce looked at the hat and gagged. He dropped it on the counter and swallowed hard. “Holly and I both got here at 6:30. I unlocked the door. While I was flipping on the neon lights in the shop windows, Holly stopped dead in her tracks at the doorway behind the counter and screamed!”
A muffled scream came from Holly as she seemed to replay the events as Spruce spoke them.
“Right after the scream, she yelled, ‘The vault door is open and the star is gone!’ I ran into the back room and into the vault, and sure enough the star was gone. I called Inspector Garland immediately. “
Detective Tinsel walked behind the counter and stood in the doorway. He peered into the long room. The wall directly across from the doorway had three large glass cases filled with sparkling silver and gold ornaments carefully locked away. The wall to the left, had shelves with finely embroidered tree skirts, Christmas quilts, and delicate table cloths. The wall on the right contained only the vault. The door was swung partly open towards the doorway he stood in. He walked over and examined the hinges. No sign of damage. He walked around and looked in the vault. A vacant spot in the back center of the vault had a small plaque that read “Santa’s Star.”
Tinsel walked back to the main part of the shop. “Holly, you got here the same time as Spruce this morning?”
“Yes!” she cried.
“And you stood right here in the doorway when you told Spruce the star had been stolen?”
“Yes, right there!” Holly exclaimed. Detective Tinsel frowned down at his cocoa.
“What do you think, Detective?” asked Garland. He came closer and whispered, “Spruce was here alone with the star last night.”
“I think I am going back to the cocoa shop to get my marshmallows, Inspector. You can arrest Holly for the theft of Santa’s star.”
How did Detective Tinsel know it was Holly?
SCROLL DOWN PAST THE PHOTO TO READ THE ANSWER
ANSWER
The door to the vault opened towards the doorway behind the counter. If Holly stopped in the doorway she would have only been able to see that the door was open. She couldn’t have known the star was missing unless she had gone into the room and around the door to look inside...or already knew.
Comments
Post a Comment