“Will somebody please tell me what is going on?” Mattie demanded. “Why are you prying beads out of my lamppost?”
“It’s not a bead, and it doesn’t belong on your lamppost,” Dave said, motioning for Virginia to pass the crystal to Mattie. “I’m almost positive that’s a diamond. I think we just discovered why none of the jewels from the Frost Creek Jewellers heist were recovered. They never left the Moose Lodge Mall. They were hidden in plain sight. George Essex and Archie Loire were arrested before they could recover them.”
“Are you saying that I bought stolen property? Does this make me an accessory after the fact?” Mattie gasped. She sucked in air and bent at the waist. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“You didn’t buy stolen property. You recovered it,” Dave said, although he had to admit that it didn’t look like his distinction made Mattie feel any better.
“I’m going to be arrested. Worse, I’m going to be fired! Mei Chen isn’t even going to let me back onto the property. What have I done? ‘Come to Christmastown! Sing carols, eat gingerbread, commit felonies.’”
The man on the ground opened his mouth to speak, but Dave raised a single finger in warning. “You are not in trouble, Mattie. Mr. Essex, however, is a different story.”
“Listen, this is all a mistake. Take back your decoration that found its way into my truck. I’ll go my way, and you can go yours,” Mr. Essex pleaded.
“I don’t think so. The police are going to want to talk to all of us,” Virginia said. “And look, they’re here.”
A siren whooped behind them, and a RCMP cruiser drove up, stopping beside the out-of-place Japanese import. A tall, brown-haired woman in uniform stepped out. “Hi, folks. I’m Constable Claire King. What’s going on here? I got a call about an attempted robbery?”
Mattie raised her hand. “That was me. Or at least, I told people to call the police. My name is Matilda Appleton. That man”—she pointed—“tried to steal my Christmas ornament.”
“Your… You called the police about a Christmas ornament?”
Mattie gestured for her to look in the truck bed, then pointed at the trailer still visible half a field away. The matching lampposts and the rest of the massive decorations shone brightly in the summer sunshine. The officer nodded slowing in dawning understanding.
“Okay, Christmas ornament. Sir, what is your name?” Constable King asked the man sitting in the dirt.
“My name is George. This is all a minor misunderstanding.”
Constable King looked up from her notebook at the two trucks and the van parked in the middle of the field. “This looks like a pretty big misunderstanding to me. Can someone tell me what is going on?”
Dave stepped forward. “I’m Dave Magnusson. These are Mattie Appleton and Virginia Rye. The man on the ground is George Essex,” Dave said.
Mattie took over. “We just got back from the festival where Dave is performing. I found a stranger on my trailer looking at the Santa’s Village decorations that we’re driving to December for the Christmastown theme park. He offered to buy them. I said no, so he left. When George was driving away, Dave noticed that one of the lampposts was missing. I chased after Mr. Essex—I didn’t know his name then—and when I saw my lamppost in the back of his truck, I jumped in the back to stop him.”
“Are you sure he took it deliberately?” Constable King asked.
“It’s seventy-five pounds, and it was strapped to the trailer. It didn’t get there by accident. Also, Mr. Essex has a record tied to the history of these decorations. He was arrested about ten years ago for robbing a jewellery story.”
Mattie stared at Mr. Essex. She fought through her fading fear and took a good look. “I think…I’m certain that’s the same man who was at the diner outside Regina where we had lunch the other day. I thought that he was being friendly trying to rewrap the lamppost because it was so windy.” Then she spoke to him directly. “But you weren’t trying to rewrap it, were you? You were unwrapping it.”
The man on the ground stayed silent.
“Why would he do that?” the officer asked.
Mattie stepped forward, her hand out. She carefully placed the crystal into the constable’s palm. “That jewellery store robbery that Dave said Mr. Essex was arrested for? The gems were never recovered. We just found this hidden in the lamppost in the back of the truck. The lamppost was part of the Christmas decorations in the mall where the store was located.”
“If you examine it closely, you’ll probably find more diamonds. About a quarter of a million dollars’ worth more,” Dave added.
“I think that my commanding officer is going to have questions for all of you. In the meantime, will you be pressing charges against Mr. Essex for stealing your Christmas decoration?”
“Definitely,” Dave said.
Mattie looked up at him. “I think I have to say that. But yes, definitely,” she told the officer. She gestured at the lamppost, then pointed at the trailer that was still visible on the far side of the barbed wire fence. “These are thousands of dollars’ worth of Christmastown property.” She thought for a moment. “You don’t have to take them all into evidence, do you?”
“I need to call for backup. In the meantime, I wouldn’t plan on them going anywhere for a while, Ms. Appleton. If these are evidence of a crime, they’ll all have to be examined thoroughly. If you put together an inventory, that would be very helpful.”
Virginia patted Mattie’s arm. “I’ll handle this. Do you need to get checked out by a doctor? I was quite far away, but I saw you getting bounced around.”
“I’ll make sure she’s okay,” Dave said.
