‘Not even the local paper?’ Flick asked.
‘No, I promise. I agree the mystery of who it is makes this whole thing so much more special. I actually wantto ask whoever it is for a specific commission, well not for me but for Immy, so I definitely want to keep them on my side.’
Flick nodded. ‘OK, I trust you. You’ve never been one to spread gossip.’
‘Oh hell no, I hate gossip and I’d hate to be at the centre of it. If St Nick wants to keep his or her identity a secret, I’m guessing they probably don’t want to be the centre of attention either.’
‘OK, I think it’s Quinn,’ Flick said, quietly.
‘Quinn?’ Alex said, probably a bit too loudly.
‘Sshhh!’ Flick hissed, looking around, although no one was around this early.
‘Sorry,’ Alex whispered. ‘What makes you think it’s Quinn?’
‘If St Nick specifically painted this for us then it has to be one of a handful of people we told that we were pregnant, and only Quinn lives in Lovegrove Bay.’
‘It can’t be Quinn,’ said Alex. ‘He’s a metal artist, he’s not a painter.’
‘Can’t he be both?’ Flick said.
Alex weighed that up. Flick had a point, although she’d known him for four years and had never seen him paint anything.
‘See, I don’t think it was Quinn at all,’ Luke said. ‘It was Quinn who gave it to us, he said he found it outside so presumed it was for us. If he was St Nick, wouldn’t delivering the bauble by hand be a bit obvious? It’s more likely that St Nick heard that Rose has just had a new granddaughter or, knowing how many people comethrough here on a daily basis, maybe he left a generic baby-related bauble knowing that someone would have a new baby in the family somewhere and so it would find the right home anyway.’
‘See, that does make sense,’ Alex said. ‘There are probably several generic baubles that weren’t meant for a specific person at all but would fit several different people. Like painting a bauble with a chocolate bar on it – I bet there are hundreds of people in the town who love chocolate.’
‘I suppose,’ Flick said, obviously slightly deflated as Alex and Luke popped her bubble of excitement.
‘Is there any other evidence that it’s Quinn?’ Alex said.
‘Well, no, I suppose not.’
‘OK, so let’s put a pin in him for now. I’m not saying it’s not him, but let’s see what evidence we can gather, for and against,’ Alex said.
‘That’s probably very wise,’ Luke said, rubbing his wife’s back, consolingly.
‘And it is a beautiful bauble,’ Alex said. ‘You’re very lucky.’
Flick’s face lit up again. ‘It is beautiful, isn’t it. It will take pride of place on our tree.’
Alex smiled. ‘I was talking about the baubles this morning with Immy. Whoever it is has so much talent. This kind of thing would sell very well here in the studio, especially if people could buy custom baubles for their loved ones.’
‘We said the same,’ Luke said. ‘We’d love to get theperson on board here at the studios, even if they were only here as a pop-up from October onwards, although I think Christmas ornaments sell well all year round. But I’m not sure how we can find out who it is to offer them the opportunity and retain the mystery that’s so important to them at the same time.’
‘We could get an assistant to run the shop side for them so they were never visible to the public, but at least they would get some recognition and payment for their work,’ Flick said. ‘Or I could just sell the baubles in my gift shop.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ Alex said. ‘Although, if they are doing hiding them secretly rather than selling their baubles, they probably like the gifting side more than the money.’
Luke nodded. ‘True, but I’d still at least like to offer them a place here, they can decide whether to take it.’
Alex nodded. ‘Right, I better get to work.’
She waved goodbye and went upstairs to her studio, her mind whirling with all the possibilities of who it could be and whether it could be Quinn. A lot of people would know that Zara loved roller skating, but how many would know purple was her favourite colour? Not that many. Probably only Quinn, Immy, Quinn’s mum Violet and a handful of Zara’s friends. But still that was hardly conclusive evidence against Quinn. And when would Quinn have got the time to paint all these baubles? He was at the studio all day making his metal monsters and several of his evenings were taken up with social activities: rugby, his pub quiz night, even hiskayaking club that met every week in the winter to practise in the local pool. On his free nights he was mostly round her house, watching movies and cosy crime TV shows with her and Zara or playing board games. The baubles would take a lot of time. And they were so different from his metal work, such delicate paintings seemed a million miles away from bending and shaping metal. It couldn’t possibly be Quinn, could it?
But then if it wasn’t him, who was it?
Alex wrote occasional feel-good pieces for the local paper,The Lovegrove Lighthouse, and she had been intending to write an article about St Nick and his generous gifts. She could use her role to try and find out who it was, not to out him or her to the town but purely for her own satisfaction of solving a mystery. She and Quinn often watchedMidsomer Murdersand other cosy mysteries together and they loved trying to work out who committed the crime; this would be no different. Plus she wanted to be able to offer them the opportunity of working here and maybe persuade them to do a bauble for Immy.
