With festive shoppers crowding the store, Pat would have to be at the top of her game . . .
BY LIZ FILLEUL
Crime drama set in 1958
THAT’S splendid, Pat. Very festive.” “Thanks.” Pat Ellicott popped the angel on top of the Christmas tree and stepped back to admire her work.
The artificial tree stood on a table in the private detective agency window, resplendent with baubles and glistening tinsel.
While Pat had been busy decorating the tree, her boss, agency owner Jon Carew, had hung paper chains from the ceiling.
“Now that the office is all festive, I think we deserve a cup of tea and a mince pie, don’t you?” he said.
Pat grinned.
“I’ll get them,” she offered.
Soon Pat and Jon were seated at their desks, sipping tea and munching on delicious mince pies baked by Pat’s mother.
“What do you and your family do for Christmas, Pat?” Jon asked.
“Gran comes to stay at our house,” Pat replied. “And my aunt and uncle and cousins come over for Christmas dinner.”
“That sounds fun.”
“It is.” Pat was almost eighteen and two of her cousins were also in their late teens.
“What about you? Are you going away?”
“I’m having Christmas with my sister and her husband in Surrey,” Jon replied. “They have three small children, so it’s very lively.
“My brother and his wife will join us as well.”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
Jon ushered in a tall, thin man wearing glasses and a dark woollen overcoat.
“My name’s Arthur Wharton.” He handed Jon a business card. “I’m the general manager of Darnley’s department store in Kensington High Street.
“I’m hoping I can utilise your services.”
Soon, he was seated in the visitor’s chair next to Jon’s desk, a cup of tea and a mince pie in front of him.
Pat pulled her own chair across and prepared to take notes.
“We’re having a problem with theft at Darnley’s,” Mr Wharton told them. “Of course, this isn’t an unusual occurrence, especially at Christmastime.
“But this time we’re concerned that a gang of thieves is operating, aided by one of our employees.”
Mr Wharton paused to take a long slurp of tea.
“Every year at Christmas we employ someone to dress up as Santa Claus,” he continued. “We set up a grotto for children and their parents.
“Santa sits in a big chair at the end of it, with a sack full of presents. Every day, just after lunch, w
