Christmas Killing (4 page)

Ray and his sergeant walked in through the main doors. He looked around, trying to decide who to tackle first.

‘I think maybe we should go to HR. Miss Pringle will sort out the various members of staff for us. Come on. Upstairs.’ He was looking around him as he went. There were large displays of decorations hanging down from the top of the stairs, huge balls in silver and gold with trails of something metallic between them.

‘Pretty, aren’t they?’ said Ted.

‘If you like that sort of thing. I’m happy with a small tree and a few fairy lights myself.’

‘Yer, but the kids expect a bit more don’t they?’

‘I suppose so. I don’t have any kids myself, thank the lord. Mind you, not having a wife helps.’ He looked away, remembering his wife who had died some years ago. Ted looked slightly awkward. He spoke again.

‘So what do you do with yourself at Christmas?’

‘Me? I usually settle down with a bottle of single malt and a good book. Unless I’m called out of course.’

‘How sad are you? I’ll have a word with the wife. Maybe you could join us for dinner at least.’

‘Kind of you but I don’t think so. Now, I think this is the office we want.’ He knocked at the door and opened it before he heard anyone say come in. ‘Miss Pringle? Good morning. Detective Chief Inspector Ray Jones. And this is my Detective Sergeant, Ted Wilkes.’

‘I know exactly who you are, thank you. How can I help?’ She looked nervous they both thought.

‘Do you have a complete list of all your staff? I really need to see it.’

‘Goodness me. It’s a huge list, if you include all the temporary staff, especially at this time of year. We take on lots of extra folk for the Christmas rush. I don’t think I actually have a list of the sort you’re wanting.’

‘I think you possibly do. If not, perhaps you could make me one. Meantime, I’ll go and speak to some of the staff. Is there somewhere I could use to interview people?’

‘You can use one of the offices. Leave it with me and I’ll find you somewhere. Come back later today and I’ll be ready for you.’

‘I’m sorry but I’m here now.’

‘Oh very well. Give me a minute and I’ll see what I can do. I’ll print off one of my lists but it won’t have everyone on there.’ She pressed various buttons on her machine and a printer buzzed into life and soon pushed out a string of sheets of paper. She picked up the phone and asked if someone was in today. ‘Thanks,’ she said into the phone. ‘Two policemen will be along soon.’ She sounded rather derogatory when she used the word policemen. She handed them the sheets from the printer and sent the two men along to the appointed office.

‘Are we seriously going to interview all this lot?’ asked Ted in horror.

‘I doubt it. I’ll get some more support here to help us. We’ll pick out some of them to make a start. I haven’t yet decided on the motive for someone to kill the girl. It might be jealousy. One of her flatmates for instance. Or maybe some else who wanted the job. Or someone who hated Julie. Difficult to know.’

‘Could be someone who hates Christmas,’ suggested Ted.

‘Or someone who hates Christmas. Quite right. Perhaps we should begin with the two girls who shared the flat. If you could go and fetch Marie and we’ll make a start. They’re in handbags and whatever else they sell down there.’

‘It’s going to be a long day.’

Ray looked down his list. The replacement elf wasn’t listed. That was one he needed to check on. The various departments were listed with the head of each at the top of the departmental lists. He decided to leave them till last. He was more interested in the staff at the lower end. He gave a small sigh. Perhaps it wasn’t anyone from the store in the first place. He wondered about the people who actually went to see Santa. Did they keep any records of them? He assumed not, unless they paid with a credit card, then at least they might have a name. But that was a bit of a long shot. They’d have kids with them, in any case. Ted arrived with Marie following him.

‘Come in and sit down love,’ he said in a friendly way. ‘Just a few more questions for you.’

‘Don’t know what you think I can tell you. I didn’t see her, Julie that is, after breakfast that morning. We came into work together but then she went to change to do her elf duties. We didn’t even meet up for lunch as we often do.’

‘How about Kevin? Did you see anything of him on Wednesday? Did he come into the store or anything?’

‘Don’t think so. I never saw him at all.’

‘Did you come up to see Julie working?’

‘Not on Wednesday. Nor yesterday. I have been up occasionally. I had a message for her once and came up then. Don’t think I’ve been up for ages. Too busy in our department at this time of year.’

‘You get extra help there, don’t you? When Julie’s doing her elf act.’

‘Sally from furnishing comes to help us. They’re not so busy at this time of year. Well, so they say anyway.’

‘Is that a fact?’

‘They say it is. Anything else you want to know?’

‘I don’t think so. Not for now at least. Perhaps you can ask Daphne to come up?’

‘Right you are. Thanks.’ She rose and looking relieved, left the office.

A few moments later, a red eyed Daphne arrived. She looked very nervous and was clearly upset. Ray gave her the same treatment as he had done with Marie. Had she been up to see Julie and had she seen her on the day she had died. She gave pretty much the same answers as Marie. Ray dismissed her in a similar mode too.

‘Right, let’s start with what do they call it? Goods Reception. There are about four of them work down there.’ After seeing one of them, Bert something or other, Ray sat thinking again. ‘That’s interesting. Bert’s daughter is the replacement elf. Apparently, he saw the notice put out by HR and suggested her.’

‘I wouldn’t like anyone I knew, sent over there. I’m assuming she didn’t work here?’

‘Don’t think so. Just another temp. I’ll see her later. Back to the long list of folk who do work here. Someone, somewhere is the person we need to discover.’

Chapter Four

At ten to six, a bell sounded, followed by an announcement on the tannoy.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, the store will be closing at six o’clock. In ten minutes, the store will be closing. Thank you.’

‘That’s telling us,’ remarked Ray. ‘Pretty fruitless afternoon, I must say. Did you get anything?’ Ted had found another office and also been busy interviewing, as had two more of the uniform branch who’d been called in.

‘Nah, nothing,’ he said. ‘Everyone seemed shocked. Those that had known the girl were all pretty positive and shared Santa’s ideas of
who
would
want
to
kill
an
elf
.’

‘I’d better get back to the station and tackle the wonderful Kevin again. Can’t say it’s a thought that appeals but I suppose it has to be done.’

‘You can always charge him for nicking mobile phones. I doubt you’ll want to keep him in custody though.’

‘True. Come on then. Let’s finish here before we get locked inside the store.’

They joined the stream of customers who were leaving, followed by staff. They saw Jimmy North, otherwise known to everyone as Santa.

‘Any news yet, sir?’ he asked, almost running to catch up with them.

‘Nothing definite, I’m afraid.’

‘Terrible business. I mean to say, who’d want to murder an elf?’ He wandered away muttering under his breath and shaking his head.

‘Poor old boy. Must have been a terrible shock to him,’ remarked Ted.

‘Indeed.’ The two drove back to the police station. ‘You can get off home if you want to Ted. Spend some time with the family.’

‘Well, thanks but don’t you want me to be in on the interview? Kevin, I mean?’

‘Up to you. I don’t think he’ll be kept in for much longer. I’ll put the fear of something or other into him and hope he’ll stop nicking phones. I assume his mates will also be let go.’

‘I’ll stay for a while then. Might even get home in time for dinner this evening. That’ll make a change. I might even call the wife and let her know.’

*

The interview with Kevin was soon over and done with. Ray told him in no uncertain terms he’d be hearing more about it later and possibly even getting a custodial sentence. He looked very subdued and left with his tail between his legs.

‘Sorry gov. I won’t do it again,’ he muttered as he left. ‘Not that I done it the first time.’

‘Just you make sure you stick to that. Thank your lucky stars I haven’t got you for murdering your ex-girlfriend.’

Soon, Ray was left alone in his office. Ted had gone home to see his family and he sat there, wondering how he’d managed to live all these years on his own. Somehow, he’d never found the time to look for a partner and now, he didn’t think he’d manage to live with anyone at all. With a sigh, he pulled out his notes from his interviews. The only person who interested him at all was the chap from goods reception or whatever it was they called it. Bert something or other. He’d immediately sent his daughter to see about the position as replacement elf. Not the sort of thing he’d have thought anyone would want. Even so, it was a pretty flimsy sort of reason. He couldn’t imagine anyone committing this horrible crime to get a couple of weeks work for his family. No, he thought. Scrub that. Which left him with precisely nothing. He might as well call it a day.

*

It was Saturday morning which was usually a hectic day in the grotto. Jimmy was up early and had his usual breakfast of cereal and toast. He made himself a cup of tea and sat with his morning paper as he drank it. At a quarter to nine, he put on his thick overcoat and set off for Foredyce’s. He didn’t really start his duties till nine-thirty but liked to get there in good time. He might even wangle an extra cup of something in the canteen if he played his cards right. He stopped off at the canteen and said good morning to the various ladies who worked there.

‘How are you Mrs Thomas?’

‘I’m fine thanks Jimmy. And I’ve told you, my name’s Madge. Would you like a cuppa?’

‘That would be very welcome. It’s a chilly old morning.’ She poured him a cup and he stood close to the counter to drink it. There were a number of people there, eating breakfast and drinking cups of tea and coffee. It was usually the early morning staff and the one or two who had been working overnight who were in at this time of day.

‘So, how’s it going up there?’ asked Madge.

‘You heard about that awful business on Wednesday? Well Thursday it really kicked off.’

‘Terrible it was. What a shock for you too. But I hear young Matti’s taken over now?’

‘Yes. Bert’s daughter. She seems to doing all right. Terrible thing though. I mean to say, who’d want to kill an elf?’

‘Awful. Well, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to get the lunches started or there’ll be nothing for anyone to eat.’

‘Yes of course. Thanks again for tea. I’d best get up to the grotto and get ready for my customers.’

‘Cheers then Jimmy. Come down at lunchtime and I’ll have something put on one side for you.’ She knew he needed a spot of TLC and was willing to provide some food for him. She never charged him for it, thinking he didn’t have much spare cash.

‘Bye, bye then Madge. There, see I remembered what to call you!’ She smiled and waved as he went.

Jimmy went up to his changing room and took out his Santa outfit. He hung his coat in the locker and donned the heavy red suit. He pulled on his boots and reached for his beard. He hooked it on with the glasses style frames and peered at himself in the small mirror.

‘Oh, hallo there,’ he said in surprise. ‘Whatever are you doing here?’ he said, seeing the person reflected in the mirror.

‘It’s time to say goodbye Grandad.’ The person pulled out a slim knife and stabbed him in the chest, making sure it was close to his heart.

‘What are you doing? I mean how come you’re doing this to me.’ He was stabbed again and again. He fell to the ground and struggled for breath. ‘How could ...’ he murmured as his life drained away. He was an old man and had very little strength in his body. The perpetrator looked at him and gave him a shove with a foot. The knife was wiped across the red velvet of his suit, to make it clean enough to carry away.

‘Bye, bye old man,’ and left him lying there and disappeared.

A little later Matti came in and saw him lying on the ground. She didn’t realise he was actually dead and once she did, she gave a scream and ran out.

‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ she screamed. ‘Someone’s killed Santa. Poor old Jimmy’s lying on the floor in there. Oh my god.’ She was shaking like a leaf and began to sob. Some of the staff from the children’s department came along to see what the fuss was about and then various other people joined the growing crowd.

‘I’ll phone the police shall I?’ said someone.

‘Yes, do it. I’ll go and tell HR what’s going on. I say, do you think they’ll close the store?’

‘Doubt it. Too near the big festive event.’

‘Whatever’s Christmas without Santa?’

‘I think we’re about to find out.’

*

It was at ten o’clock when D C I Jones received a phone call.

‘Hallo. Is that Chief Inspector Jones?’ said a voice that seemed to tremble somewhat.

‘Yes indeed. How can I help you?’

‘It’s Miss Pringle calling. From Foredyce’s. Something terrible’s happened. Oh dear.’ She broke off, obviously trying to regain control of her voice.

‘Miss Pringle. What is wrong?’

‘It’s Jimmy North. The man who plays Santa. I believe he’s been stabbed. Well that’s what I’ve been told.’

‘Stabbed? Good lord. We’ll come over right away. Please don’t touch anything. We’ll be there very soon.’ He put the phone down and called out for Ted. ‘Come on. There’s been another killing at Foredyce’s.’

‘Heavens. Do you want to go in my car?’

‘Whatever’s quickest. I’ll call SOCO to attend, as we go. It’s Santa himself this time.’

The two men rushed down to Ted’s car and Ray was on the phone as Ted drove. He soon organised the whole team to attend.

At the store, it seemed that everyone had heard the news and staff were all milling around the entrance to the changing room. They raced up the stairs, anxious in case anyone was touching anything.

‘Who could have done such a terrible thing?’ asked one of the girls.

‘Did anyone see anything?’ As expected, he was met with a series of shaking heads. ‘ Is Miss Pringle anywhere around?’

‘She’ll be in her office,’ someone replied.

They met the elf looking very pale and terribly upset, as she was standing near the entrance to the grotto.

‘He’s in the changing room. He’d gone in there to get ready I assume. I went in to get my costume and he was there, lying on the floor. I didn’t realise he was dead. God it’s awful. I think I’m going to give in my notice. I can’t be doing with all this.’

‘Go and get a cup of tea or something. Don’t leave the premises for a while.’

There were several staff standing around, waiting for something to happen. They were all whispering to each other and looking very shocked.

‘Poor old Jimmy. He was such a nice bloke. Can’t imagine him hurting anyone.’ One of the female staff was speaking.

‘I take it he’s in here,’ said Ray going into the small changing room. He didn’t quite know what to expect, except a dead body but nevertheless, he was shocked to see him lying there, for all the world as though he was lying down for a rest. On closer inspection, he saw that there was a large patch of blood staining his already red costume. His beard was also stained red towards the base, where the blood had flowed freely. The poor bloke had definitely been stabbed. It couldn’t have been long since he was murdered as it was early in the day and he would only have come into work recently. It must be someone close by, perhaps even someone standing around outside this room.

‘Good lord,’ Ted said in a subdued voice. ‘Poor old boy. Any sign of a knife?’

‘Can’t see anything. I’ll wait till the pathologist comes in. He’ll give us all the info eventually. I doubt this will do the store much good at all. Terrible thing to happen at this time of year. We’d better start processing these folk out here.’ He turned and left the grim little room. Many of the crowd outside had disappeared but there were still a few standing around. He saw Miss Pringle approaching.

‘This is a terrible business,’ she flustered. ‘Terrible. Following on from the elf getting murdered, what on earth am I supposed to do? I mean, how can I ask anyone else to play the role?’

‘If that is your main concern, Madam, then it’s up to you.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m just in a dreadful muddle. I didn’t mean anything by my comments. It’s just that I’ll have to answer to the Board. I don’t really know what they’ll expect. I have customers queuing up to see Father Christmas and he’s no longer with us. All the work that’s gone into the grotto and surrounding display too. I’m so sorry. I’m not unsympathetic to Mr North but I think I know what is expected of me by the Board members.’

A group of people clad in white suits approached, along with a group of uniformed officers. The SOCOS paused for a word and went into the changing room.

‘We went in there to see what was going on and the elf has also been in. Think that’s all. Needless to say, we didn’t touch anything.’ Ray was brief in his description of what had happened.

Clad in his white paper suit and covers over his shoes, the pathologist, Rob Bryce, went in to do his work. Ray watched from outside the room. He saw one of his white clad accomplices taking photographs at Rob’s request. He turned away and saw Miss Pringle was still standing behind him.

‘I’ll come and speak to you later, if you want to go back to your office. This area will have to be kept closed for possibly a couple of days. I’m sorry but it’s essential till we’ve thoroughly searched the place. Perhaps then, you could move the Grotto to another part of the store.’

‘Oh dear me, no. It took weeks to set it all up. There’s so much stuff involved. All the animals and elves and everything. They’re all moving you know. It will just have to be closed for a while. I just hope we can get it all working again in time for Christmas, to make it worthwhile. There are only two more Saturdays before Christmas is here. This is one of them too. Oh dear me,’ she repeated to herself. ‘I expect they’ll want to call a Board meeting. How on earth we can fit it all in, I just don’t know.’

‘We shall probably need to use the offices we used yesterday. Perhaps you could arrange that for us?’ She immediately looked happier with something positive to do.

‘Certainly. Yes indeed. I’ll go and make sure they are free.’ She scuttled away to do as she was asked. She was certainly beyond suspicion, thought Ted, listening to the conversation. She was simply concerned about keeping the grotto open.

‘So, where do we start sir,’ asked Ted. ‘Interviewing anyone and everyone again?’

‘I simply don’t know. Let’s see what Rob makes of it all first.’ He stepped forward and looked into the changing room. ‘Can you tell us anything, Rob?’

‘Obviously, he was stabbed. Three times it seems. About a couple of hours or so ago. No sign of the instrument used. But it was a narrow blade. Possibly a letter opener or similar? A few more minutes and I think we’re actually done here. We’ll take him back to the mortuary now. Can you get them to bring the box up?’ he asked one of his colleagues. He meant the mobile coffin they used to transport the victims remains back to the mortuary. ‘I’ll let you know when there’s any more information.’