The Christmas Tree Caper

by Melodie March

  She took another bite of her cookie and shuffled the pictures around the table as she looked for something specific. Finally, Daisy found what she was looking for and pushed the cookies away so she could show me the picture.

  “Look carefully near the pile of wet velvet under the tree. Do you see anything weird?”

  I felt like I was doing a search puzzle but I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn’t want to ask Daisy to just tell me because I knew she was excited to share whatever she found. Instead, I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them, letting them drift to the very first thing that seemed out of place in the destroyed Christmas scene.

  And this time, I saw.

  “Daisy… what is that? It almost looks like a Christmas ornament, but it’s… fuzzy? And the color isn’t very Christmassy.”

  She nodded as she took another bite of cookie, then washed it down with frosty chocolate milk.

  “It took me a while, but when I finally noticed it, I thought it was a Christmas ornament too. Then I remembered that time you took me to Wintervale Glen to help hand out Halloween candy to the old folks. And that’s when I realized what it was.”

  “Well?” I pressed. “Don’t leave me hanging, little love! What is it?”

  Daisy took her phone out of pocket and used the camera to zoom in on the item. As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t believe I’d ever missed it to begin with.

  “A tennis ball!” I said so loudly, Otis went running from his food bowl and back upstairs.

  Daisy nodded and gave me another photo where you could see the tennis ball a little less clearly but it was still there.

  “I noticed some of the older people had those on their walkers at The Glen but why would there be one in the window of Golden Oldies? Mr. and Mrs. Farmer don’t use walkers, do they?” she asked as she took another cookie. I closed the box behind her because if she spoiled her dinner, I’d never hear the end of it from James and Belle.

  “They don’t. And if they did, Kit would never be caught with something so low-key. It would be covered in glitter,” I said as I examined the photo.

  “So… why would it be there?” Daisy asked with her eyebrow raised.

  “That’s a good question, kiddo. But my money is on someone using a walker to smash the Golden Oldies window and losing a tennis ball from the base. That certainly gives us a few suspects, doesn’t it?”

  Daisy tried to slip the box of cookies into her book bag but I snatched it back.

  “Aw, come on. Belle never makes these at home,” she whined as I ruffled her hair.

  “You’ll live. Grab your bag and I’ll drive you home, kiddo. Your dad will have sent out a search party by now.”

  As I expected, James and Belle invited me for dinner and I was more than happy to take them up on it. James was a great cook and on his nights off from The Middle Road Inn, he would make elaborate meals for my granddaughter and the kids. It also meant I got to try to take my mind off of that tennis ball for a while.

  Of course, it didn’t work out that way.

  All I did was think about the tennis ball.

  Did Murray Middleton’s walker have tennis balls on the legs? If it did, was he missing one? Why can’t I remember? Would Gladys remember? Probably not… Gladys barely remembered breakfast most days.

  Dinner with my family was wonderful, but I needed to talk to Gladys. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I thought it was time to go see Ross at the police station...

  We just had to hope he finally took us seriously.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I can’t believe you’re giving all of this to Ross. We worked hard for these leads and you know he’s just going to blow it off,” Gladys grumbled as we walked into the building that had served as Wintervale’s police station since the 20s. It even smelled the same as it had back when we were kids, like old paper and stale pipe smoke. It was almost as comforting as the library but in a slightly more “law and order” kind of way.

  It had been ages since the last time Gladys and I bothered approaching Ross while he was at work, but I’d managed to convince Glady that we finally had some workable information and that meant it needed to go to the proper authorities. But deep down… I had a feeling she was right. All we really had was a cranky elderly man and a tennis ball by way of evidence. Would it be enough to convince Ross that an old man on a walker had the dexterity to shatter a store window, steal an ornament, then get away without getting caught?

  The more I went over it in my head, the more I worried there was a big missing piece in our puzzle and we weren’t any closer to finding it.

  Gladys and I didn’t even have a chance to approach Desk Sergeant Marcia before Ross came charging out of his office.

  “Ladies, I know why you’re here and I promise you, we have our best people on it.”

  I looked out over the small room that made up the police station. Chuck Carroll had his feet up on his desk and was snoring so loud, he almost drowned out the Christmas music that was blasting from Gwen Barker’s headphones as she played a game on her phone. I turned back to Ross with my hands on my hips and furrowed my brow.

  “Yeah, you all look mighty busy this afternoon,” Gladys grumbled to Ross’s displeasure.

  “Alright, holster the sass. I can give you five minutes but then I’m due at Mattie’s school for a safety lesson. Come into my office.”

  We followed Ross back into his broom closet of an office. I practically had to sit in Gladys’s lap for both of us to fit.

  “Okay, five minutes,” Ross said as he turned away from his computer. “Go.”

  I took a deep breath and told him everything we’d discovered as quickly as I could. I showed him Daisy’s pictures of the tennis ball and the old file on Murray Middleton, which caused Ross to arch his eyebrows.

  “Where did you get that?” he asked suspiciously.

  “That’s not the point. Murray has a history with the ornament and he stole it once before!” Gladys said a little too passionately. It was exactly enough to annoy Ross before our five minutes were even up.

  “Meg, Gladys, I appreciate your work here. But we knew about the incident when he was fourteen. Surely, you can’t believe than an eighty-year-old man would have the strength or dexterity to break a store window?”

  I could feel Gladys getting riled up next to me and knew that Ross was about to be on the receiving end of a lecture.

  “I can tell you one thing, Ross Slater, this sixty-eight-year-old former ballerina could kick your butt up and down Pine Street. So, why couldn’t an eighty-year-old-man break a window? Ageism! That’s what it is, Ross, ageism pure and simple. We older folks can commit crimes just as easily as anyone else!”

  Once Gladys finished with a huff, Ross leaned forward on his desk.

  “Are you confessing to the crime, Gladys McGowan? Because if you are, it would save me a lot of paperwork.”

  “Stop it, you two,” I said like a mother scolding her bickering kids. “Obviously, Gladys did not take the ornament but her point still stands. I don’t think you should dismiss Murray as a suspect just because of his age.”

  Ross rubbed his temples and sighed.

  “Ladies, Murray Middleton is half-blind. He can’t drive at night… heck, I don’t think he can drive at all. And he certainly didn’t walk all the way from Wintervale Glen in the snow with his walker. I appreciate that you want to get that star back to Kit and Steve. I really do. I hate that this happened to them. But you have to leave it to the professionals.”

  I turned and looked out into the station again. Chuck was tipped so far back in his chair that it looked like he was going to tip over and Gwen was clearly texting someone. I made a mental note to ask Will if people actually train to become police officers in Wintervale because… I was starting to wonder.

  “Gladys, Meg, I’m sorry I can’t give you the answers you want, but I need to get to Mattie’s school,” Ross said as he stood up and grabbed his coat. “But please, I beg you. Do not bother Mr
. Middleton with anymore of this nonsense. He’s an old man who has made it very clear that he just wants to be left alone.”

  Gladys crossed her arms over her chest petulantly, but I nodded at Ross. If we kept pushing him, he was only going to get more annoyed with us and that wasn’t going to get us anywhere. We were going to have to take a different tack. And as much as I hated to do it, I had a phone call to make.

  “Go ahead, Ross. Thanks for seeing us,” I said as I gave him a hug. Before he could reach the door of the station, Gladys called after him.

  “Make sure you tell the kids to protect their Christmas trees! There is an ornament thief on the loose!”

  I smacked her on the arm, hoping she would stop antagonizing Ross before he tossed us both in a cell. Luckily, he was already half-way out the door and no one else in the station was paying any attention to us.

  “One of these days, Glady McGowan, you are going to get us arrested.”

  She waved a dismissive hand at me.

  “He obviously doesn’t take us seriously anyway. So, what are we going to do? We can’t just let it go or Kit is never going to get Ruthie’s star back. You can’t be happy to just let it go, either! Not the Meggie Harrison I know.”

  I rolled my eyes at her as I fished my cell phone out of my purse. Once we were outside I called Will, who, given the hour, was probably in his workshop. He built homemade wooden toys to hand out to the kids at the Christmas Eve festival, which just made him even more lovable. As I expected, he answered on the first ring.

  “What can I do for you today, Ms. Harrison?” he asked as the table saw shut off in the background.

  “I hate to bother you in the middle of the day but we’ve run into a bit of a roadblock here at the police station…”

  Will chuckled. “Ross being a pain in the rump again?”

  “Something like that. Do you think you could meet Gladys and me at Wintervale Glen? I think we’re going to need your help with something.”

  There was a long pause and for a moment, I thought he was going to tell me no. But then I heard him sigh.

  “Sure, I can meet you. But I have a lot of work to finish up before the festival so I can’t be away too long.”

  I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You got it, Santa. We’ll get you back to the workshop ASAP.”

  We said goodbye and when I looked back at Gladys, she was grinning.

  “WHAT?” I snapped.

  “Nothing. Your cheeks just get all rosy every time you talk to him.”

  This isn’t going to end until she sees us married, I thought as I stomped toward the car. And I’d never even considered the idea once…

  Well, maybe once… or twice.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It would be a lie to say that Murray Middleton was happy to see me or Gladys again when we got to Wintervale Glen. Bernadette led us to his room on the second floor of the assisted living facility where he had been watching TV with the volume so loud, we could hear it from down the hall. When she opened the door, Mr. Middleton scowled like he was Scrooge and we were looking for a donation to an orphan’s fund.

  “What are these two doing back here? I said ‘no visitors,’ Bernadette!” he shouted as he fiddled with the volume on his hearing aids. “I can’t hear anything with these dang things in! I don’t think they work.”

  “Clearly not,” Gladys mumbled under her breath until I glared at her to hush. Then I gave Will a gentle push forward.

  “Come on, friend. Surely, you can make an exception for an old poker buddy,” Will said holding out his hand to shake Murray’s. A huge smile spread across the old man’s face and it made him look ten years younger.

  “Will Slater, you old so and so! I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays!” Murray said as he looked down at Will’s hand. “Sorry, buddy, but I’m not much of a hand-shaker anymore. I’ve got arthritis something fierce in my fingers. I can barely hold on to this dang walker.”

  Gladys glanced over at me and I nodded that I heard him, too. He was having a hard time holding on to his walker. If he couldn’t even shake someone’s hand, how in the world could he lift his walker to smash a window and crawl inside the display?

  “Mr. Middleton, may they come in?” Bernadette asked again. But this time, we got a totally different reception.

  “Sure, come on in. I just heated up the tea kettle if anyone is interested?” he asked like he was the world’s best host.

  “We’d love some tea, Murray. Thanks. So, tell me friend. How long have you been living here at The Glen?” Will began his part of the plan, which was distracting Mr. Middleton with friendly banter while we tried to get a look around his small apartment. There wasn’t much to see, though. There wasn’t any artwork on the walls, no holiday decorations of any kind, and no family photos. There was just a single picture of Ruthie taken at the Christmas Festival when she was a little girl. Gladys noticed it too, because I saw her tear up.

  I was just about to comfort her when she tapped my arm and pointed.

  “Meggie, look at his walker,” she whispered. Mr. Middleton was just making his way over to join Will at the little dining table when they both caught sight of Murray’s walker. All four of the tennis balls at the bottom of the legs were there… none of them were missing.

  “He could have replaced one…” I thought aloud. “But no.”

  Gladys had the same thought I did.

  “They’re all equally worn. A new tennis ball would stand out like a sore thumb. There is no way that ball at Golden Oldies belonged to him.”

  “Darn it!” I said a little too loudly, this time drawing the gentlemen’s attention in our direction. “I’m sorry, I was just remembering something I forgot to do. What are you two rascals up to over there?”

  Will waved at me to join them at the table.

  “Murray here was just telling me a few things about that ornament that was stolen from Kit’s shop. Why don’t you tell the ladies what you were just telling me?” Will asked softly. Murray looked suspicious for a minute and then nodded.

  “Well… you lot were probably just kids when it happened. When I was fourteen, my mum married the latest in a series of bums, but this one was the biggest bum of the lot. That ornament was one of the few family heirlooms we Middletons had and he up and sold it to the museum curator, Bertram Norton, another bum. My mum was beside herself when she couldn’t find it.”

  “That’s awful,” Gladys and I said in unison, which happened more often than not.

  “You’re darn right, it was awful. So, one night when my lousy stepfather was up at The Middle Road Inn, drinking away our grocery money… I got the star back.”

  I suddenly felt like a bum myself for judging Murray Middleton before we had a chance to talk to him.

  “And they let you keep the star even though you stole it?” Gladys asked, fascinated.

  “Well, I had to do some community service and such, but the star wasn’t my stepfather’s to sell, so we got it back. I tell ya, that museum curator was none-too-pleased when the police told him he wasn’t getting the star or his money back. After that, we eventually gave it to Ruthie to keep safe. And you know the rest of the story from there…” he trailed off.

  Gladys reached out and set her hand gently on Mr. Middleton’s so she didn’t hurt him.

  “We are going to get that star back for you Mr. Middleton. I don’t know how, but we’re going to figure this thing out, I promise you. Thank you for seeing us today. You’ve really given us a lot of information that could help.”

  A little bit of a blush crept up into Murray’s cheeks and he smiled again.

  “I’m sorry I was so rude to you ladies the first time you came to see me. I guess I’m not used to having a lot of visitors,” he said wistfully. I caught Will’s eye and could already tell what he was thinking.

  “Murray, what do you say to picking up our old poker game again? I know a few guys around town would be interested in a little penny ante poker a couple of
times a month. Would you be interested in hosting?”

  For a second, I thought I saw Murray Middleton sit up even straighter, his shoulders squared in pride.

  “Well, sure! I think I could rearrange my schedule for that. You just call me and let me know, Will!”

  Will and Murray made their initial plans while Gladys and I headed for the door.

  “Okay, we can cross Murray Middleton off the list for sure. But what do we do now?” Gladys asked as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. I let out a long sigh and looked at my watch.

  “We could go to Bean There for cocoa and a brownie while we figure out our next steps?”

  Gladys nodded seriously.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  Sometimes, it was really helpful solving crimes with your best friend.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Even though Molly Lewis sold the best cocoa in town at her coffee shop, Bean There, Done That, all I could do was swirl around my cup and watch the marshmallows bob in the dark chocolate. Gladys and I had been sitting at our usual table by the front door for almost two hours and we couldn’t seem to come to any conclusions. We’d focused too much on Murray Middleton as our only suspect and now we were back at square one with no one to take his place.

  “Could it have really just been a random robbery?” Gladys asked as she took a bite of her brownie. “It seems impossible but maybe someone was passing through town, saw the gold in the window, and just thought it was worth something?”

  I shook my head.

  “They had the window covered, remember? Who ever smashed that glass did it because they knew the star was back there. There has to be someone obvious we are overlooking. But I can’t think of anyone else who has a stake in that ornament that is still around Wintervale…” I trailed off as I considered every possible suspect.

  I was lost in thought when Gladys groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “What?” I asked when I finally looked up.