The Mystery Before Christmas

Chapter 5

Gilda Frederickson lived in a lovely home on the south edge of town. When Mrs. Ewing lived in the house, she’d kept a lush garden, and I remembered that she always decorated for the holidays. I supposed the reason the house didn’t display the lights I remembered had more to do with the medical issues of the woman who lived there now than anything else. I also supposed that a cold and snowy mountain home wasn’t the best place for a woman in her late sixties or early seventies with a broken hip to winter. But knowing the residents of this small town, I was sure that Ms. Frederickson would have all the help she needed.

“Can I help you?” Asked a woman, who looked to be in her thirties, after answering the door.

“My name is Callie Collins. I’m here to see Gilda Frederickson.”

The woman stepped aside. “My name is Hallie. I’m Ms. Frederickson’s niece. She’s been expecting you.”

“Do you live here in town?” I asked.

“No. I’m just visiting. My mother sent me to check on Aunt Gilda. She was worried about her overall health after her fall, but she seems to be doing fine.” Hallie opened a door at the back of the house. “Ms. Collins is in here.”

Once Gilda acknowledged my presence, I handed her the muffins I’d brought. She thanked me, handed the muffins to Hallie with instructions to put them in the kitchen, and then Hallie left. “Thank you for meeting with me,” I said to the woman in the wheelchair, who looked younger and healthier than I’d expected. Hallie seemed to be right about her aunt bouncing back quickly. “As I mentioned on the phone, I am writing a feature story about Secret Santa and wanted to ask about the gift you received.”

“Of course. Please have a seat. I’ve read your column and have enjoyed it very much. I was particularly impressed that you managed to find the missing funds for the tree lighting. I think the whole town thanks you for that.”

I sat down on the chair the woman pointed to. “It took some digging, but I was glad I was able to find the funds in time to get the tree lighting back on track.”

“I understand that it was the town’s bookkeeper who embezzled the money.”

I nodded. “She never actually took the money, but she did move small amounts of money from a lot of different accounts into a new account within the system that only she had access to. She was pretty clever about the way she went about it. If not for the fact that she happened to take a larger than average percentage from the account that had been set aside for the town’s tree lighting ceremony, she might have gotten away with it.”

“Do you know why the woman did what she did?”

I crossed my legs and leaned forward just a bit. “I guess she’d been dealing with some medical issues and had gotten behind on her mortgage and several of her other bills. I suppose she might have felt desperate and decided to hide some money for future use if she needed it. I really don’t condone what she did, but I do feel bad that the poor thing might end up spending Christmas in jail.”

“Has she been arrested?”

“No. Not yet. The town has someone going over the books to confirm exactly how much she moved, and whether all of it is in the dummy account as she swears it is. I suppose it might help her case if the money is all there, and she is able to return it. Still, I doubt she’ll get out of this without consequences of some sort. When I set out to find the missing funds, I had only the best of intentions, but now I feel sort of bad about the way things worked out.”

“It is easier when the bad guys in our drama are actually bad and not simply desperate people making poor choices.”

“Exactly.” I smiled at the woman. “So about Secret Santa.”

She looked me in the eye. “Before we begin, tell me a bit about yourself. I understand you are Gracie Hollister’s niece.”

I nodded. “Great niece. Aunt Gracie raised me after my parents were killed in an auto accident, so I grew up here. I remember your mother. I didn’t know her well, but I do remember her lovely garden and her colorful holiday decorations.”

“Mama did love the holidays.” Her eyes softened. “She spent a lot of time and expended a lot of effort to make sure everything was just as it should be for each and every holiday and milestone when my sister and I were growing up. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her and remember how she seemed to understand the importance of fully embracing each moment.”

“That’s really beautiful.” It was times like this that I felt a little sad that I’d never have a daughter to remember me the way Gilda remembered her mother.

“I understand that you were a pianist before returning to Foxtail Lake,” she continued.

“Yes.” I flexed the fingers on my left hand. “I was injured in an accident and can no longer play at the level needed to continue with my career, so I decided to come home. To be honest, I hadn’t planned to stay at first, but I find I am settling in quite nicely. Gracie told me that you worked with Hope.”

She shifted her leg slightly and then answered. “I do, or at least I did before I ended up in this blasted contraption.” She glared at the wheelchair. “I worked as a librarian before coming to Foxtail Lake to help my mother. After she recovered from her surgery, I went to work part-time for the local library. Eventually, I decided to retire, but I continued to volunteer at the library as well as other places around town. Of course, now that I am stuck in this chair, I guess I am stuck in the house as well. But you aren’t here to listen to me complain. You want to hear about Secret Santa.”

I wasn’t sure what to say at this point. It was true that I was here to talk about Secret Santa, and I did have a schedule to adhere to, but it seemed rude to point that out when the woman wanted to chat. Making the decision to jump in now that I had an opening, I asked about the way the woman’s Secret Santa gift had been delivered.

“I found a gift card for Smitty’s Snow Removal in my purse. The gift card entitles me to unlimited snow removal for the entire season. Initially, I figured that Smitty had somehow slipped the gift card into my purse, but I asked him about it, and he said he hadn’t. He told me that the gift card had been purchased by an anonymous source. Then I heard about the other folks in town who’d received Secret Santa gifts and figured that my benefactor was actually the jolly man in red.”

“Do you know how the gift card got into your purse?”

She shook her head. “No idea. I figure that someone must have slipped it in when I was at church. Hallie has been helping with the shopping and other errands since she has been here, so I really don’t have a reason to get out much, which is a good thing given my current circumstances, but I do have a neighbor who picks me up and takes me to church every Sunday.”

“Was your purse out of your sight during services?” I asked.

“Briefly. I’d left my coat and purse in the pew during communion. I wasn’t worried about it since I was in a church. I didn’t think anyone would bother my personal possessions.”

“So someone who was also at church on the day the gift card was delivered is most likely Secret Santa.”

She shrugged. “I would imagine that to be a true statement.”

I paused and considered the situation. “Did you ask anyone in the area if they’d seen who’d slipped the gift card into your purse?”

“No. I didn’t even notice it until after I got home. I really have no idea who might have gifted me the snow removal, but I will say that I am extremely grateful that they did. There was no way I was going to be able to handle it myself.”

I narrowed my gaze. “Had you handled it yourself in the past?” The woman looked to have been in good health before her fall, but she still seemed much too old to have shoveled her own snow even last year when she had two good hips.

“I’ve always shoveled my own walk. I have a service that does the driveway. I suppose if I hadn’t been gifted the snow removal this season, I would have found a way to cut costs to pay for it myself, but now I can have clear walks and keep my cable for the winter. I’m very grateful for that.”

“It was a thoughtful gesture,” I agreed. “I don’t suppose you have any idea who Secret Santa actually is?”

“Not really.”

“But you must be curious.”

“I guess I am curious, but I figure that if the person behind the gifts wanted to be identified, they would have left a card. I actually think the mystery as to Secret Santa’s identity makes the whole thing a bit more magical. I mean, even as a kid, wasn’t it the fact that Santa was a secret to wonder about but never to know that really drew you in?”

I supposed it was. I also supposed that it made sense that if Secret Santa had purchased the gift card from Smitty, then Smitty must know who Santa was. Maybe it made sense to add the individuals who had sold the goods to Secret Santa to my list of people to talk to.

“So of all the people in town that Secret Santa could have chosen to give a gift to, any idea why he chose you?”

She tilted her head slightly. “You think Secret Santa is someone I know. A friend, perhaps.”

“It makes sense. Not only did he choose you to receive a gift, but he seemed to know exactly what gift you would appreciate the most.”

“I guess you make a good point. But I know a lot of people in town, so I’m not sure that really narrows things down for you.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t.”

“What I do know is that I was feeling sort of down and sorry for myself after my accident. I guess I let my bad mood affect me more than I should have, and I suppose I might have been letting that bad mood affect others. But then someone I may not even know did something wonderful. The gift of snow removal might seem small to some, but for me, it was a sign that there was still hope and goodness in the world. It meant someone was thinking of me and cared about my happiness. Until you are in the position of needing to rely on others, you really can’t know how much a simple act of kindness can mean. Secret Santa gave me more than a gift card. He reminded me of the joy of the season, and for that more than anything, I am eternally grateful.”