Jane eyed Levi with her usual suspicion, keeping her distance from the elf as he looked around Santa's Equipment Storage Facility.
"There," he pointed to a small smudge on the floor. "That's where they got it."
Jane moved closer but saw nothing. "You mean how you got in?"
"Me? I didn't do this."
"Yeah, right," Jane said. "As soon as I heard about it, I thought of you. No other elf ever caused so much trouble up here. I know it was you."
"Look, I may not be like you but I do know about things like this and I'm telling you that's where they came in."
"But there's a solid wall there," Jane said. "We have magic here but not that can pass through solid walls."
Levi moved to the side of the storage cabinet, moved a footlocker someone placed against the wall, and pointed to a hole in the wall. It was clear the hole was too small for even an elf-like Levi to fit through it.
"You think I made it through there?" he said, the anger in his voice echoing into the hall.
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells…" the words of the popular song erupted as a service elf arrived with hot chocolate right on cue.
Levi reached for the chocolate and then handed it to Joy. She took it, and her face relaxed a bit. The chorus of Jingle Bells faded down the hall.
"Look, if we're gonna work together, we gotta learn to trust each other. This is not my business; it's yours, but if Santa wants me to do this, I will do it, okay? I didn't take the list, so if you have any suggestions on how to find out who did it, I am all ears." As the words came out, his rather enormous ears began to wiggle and dance, giving him an even funnier appearance.
Jane couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, I'll give you a chance to prove me wrong."
"Gee, thanks. I appreciate your…"
As Levi spoke, Jane suddenly put down her hot chocolate and pushed past him. She got down on her hands and knees and looked at the hole in the wall. Reaching into her pocket, she brought out a small black case, opened it, and pulled out a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers.
Taking the tweezers, she tugged at a small piece of cloth caught on the rough edge of the wall. She stood up, then held the magnifying glass over the fabric, studying it.
"Come here, Levi, look at this."
Levi came up next to her and leaned in. The cloth was the darkest black he had ever seen. It almost seemed to absorb the light.
"What's that?" he asked.
"You mean who?"
"I do?" he asked, turning his head to the side as he looked at her.
"Yeah, I know who took the list, and it is worse than even I suspected."
"Well, you suspected me," Levi pointed out. "Am I off the hook now?"
Jane nodded, placing the cloth into a small plastic case. "You are, but believe me, once you find out who we have to go after, you'll wish you had taken it."
"That bad?" he said, now missing shoveling the reindeer stalls more than ever.
"That bad," she said. "Let's go tell Mrs. Claus."
"Shouldn't we tell Santa, too?" Levi said, a bit confused.
Jane laughed. "Look, Santa is great as the face of Christmas. He does a wonderful job delivering presents and making children smile. But with operations, Mrs. Claus runs the show. We tell her first, then she can decide who needs to know." Jane glanced around the room, listening for any sounds from others.
"Until Mrs. Claus decides who should know, we say nothing about this, okay?"
"That will be easy since I don't know," Levi grinned.
Jane put her hands on his shoulders. "Enjoy your blissful ignorance, my friend. After today, our lives may never be the same…"
Tomorrow: The Heart of Darkness
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