Mattie usually enjoyed listening to Still Unfound Mysteries. The hosts were engaging without skimping on what details the audience needed to know. This episode was even more factual than normal with Dave giving a running commentary about what he remembered. They were both silent as they listened to the theft’s resolution.
“The Frost Creek Jewellers robbery has an interesting yet unsatisfactory ending. At first, the police didn’t know how thieves managed to disable the Moose Lodge Mall’s surveillance recordings and stay out of sight of the roving security guards. Fortunately for the authorities, the thieves were spotted on several closed circuit security feeds shot from cameras inside individual stores. After reviewing this footage, detectives from the Edmonton Police Service quickly identified their prime suspects. Cousins George Essex and Archie Loire were the night security guards at the Moose Lodge Mall. The pair simply walked out the door after their shift was over. It wasn’t until the next morning when jewellery store owner Simon Greyson arrived to open his store that the robbery was discovered. That footage, combined with police identifying fingerprints left inside the jewellery store, was enough to charge them. Additionally, the fact that some of the stolen items, specifically half a dozen designer watches and several eighteen-karat men’s wedding rings, were recovered from the homes of Loire and Essex was enough to convict the grinchy duo.”
Virginia’s podcast partner took over the narration. Mattie didn’t know Valentine O’Malley, although she had heard Valentine’s name around town. The woman’s voice sounded like it belonged to a radio announcer. “What makes this a case for Still Unfound Mysteries is the fact that a majority of the stolen jewellery was never recovered. Police reports say that the stolen engagement rings, as well as several necklaces, contained diamonds and other gems valued at over a quarter of a million dollars. Despite thorough searches of the suspects’ homes and vehicles, and a search of Moose Lodge Mall itself, almost all of the loot remains unfound. Hart North Insurance still has an open claim on the value of the missing gems and jewellery, but since the mall shut down the next year and was demolished two years after that, if Loire and Essex did stash their Christmas haul at the scene of the crime, it may never be recovered. Since they refused to talk, we may never know their hiding place.”
Mattie collapsed into the passenger seat. “That’s not so bad. They only mentioned the mall’s name three times,” she breathed in relief.
With the highway stretching out endlessly straight ahead, Dave took his eyes off the road long enough to give her a hard stare. “Why are you counting how many times they mentioned the mall?
Mattie gulped. She truly believed down to her soul that the Moose Lodge Mall Santa’s Village would be a perfect fit at Christmastown. It wasn’t their fault they had a criminal past.
“Reputation means absolutely everything to Christmastown. Before I found these decorations, I found another Santa’s Village that had appeared as a background in a horror movie. My boss freaked at the thought of them coming anywhere near the park. If she finds out the village I blew my entire budget on has a criminal past, she’s going to fire me for not doing my due diligence. These decorations cost more than my annual salary!”
“Do you think your boss will go to such extremes? True crime podcasts have a huge following, especially among women. The moms who visit Christmastown might get a kick out of it.”
It was sweet that Dave was trying to be supportive, but it wasn’t working. “Not at a family theme park! I can’t see any parents saying, ‘Come on, kiddies, let’s get a picture to match the police photos. Smile and pretend to be the bad guys who stole Christmas.’” She sighed. “At least it wasn’t murder.”
“That would be a very different kind of theme park,” Dave agreed. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea,” Mattie groaned. “Maybe I can convince Virginia to take down the podcast and never mention it again.”
“I suppose that’s one option.” Suddenly he pointed at a sign ahead of them. “Look! A gas station in two kilometres and Medicine Hat in another hundred and two. Civilization! That wasn’t so bad.”
“At least the company wasn’t,” Mattie agreed.
Once they were back on a more populous highway, their conversation became a little stilted as Dave had to concentrate more on ensuring people weren’t surprised by the trailer he was towing.
About half an hour from Medicine Hat, the traffic in front of them vanished and they had the road to themselves. When a baby blue Japanese mini truck that was parked on the shoulder came into view, it caught her eye. And if she had somehow overlooked it, the white-haired man beside it waving his arms demanded her attention. “I think we should stop.”
She felt the van jerk as Dave took his foot off the gas. Then she heard the whoop of a siren behind them. Mattie adjusted her side mirror and saw a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser behind them. “It looks like the RCMP are going to assist,” Dave said. “But it was a nice thought.”
Mattie and Dave had stopped at a grocery store the previous night to stock up on picnic supplies. They pulled over for lunch and a stretch break at the base of the Saamis Tepee. Mattie took a few extra minutes to walk around the massive steel frame to read the ten storyboards which detailed the history of the region’s native people and the settlers that came later. Then she took some rest-stop pictures to show that Santa’s Village was still on the move and making progress on its cross-Canada trip.
Before they got back on the TransCanada, Mattie picked her way along the edge of the trailer, examining the various pieces to ensure nothing had shifted in transit. “The plastic wrap that Mr. Hunniwell used to protect everything isn’t holding up well. I keep having to retape it.” She brushed one of the lampposts and grimaced. “These things are absolutely covered in squished bugs.”
“It’s a good thing that the mosquitos are hitting the plastic wrap. Otherwise, you’d be picking bug guts out of the icicle and frost ridges for months,” Dave noted.
“That would not be a merry Christmas at all. As it is, I’ll still have to clean all of these to get the barn dust off. Do we have time to rewrap a couple of the worst pieces?”
Dave took her hand as she jumped to the ground. “We’re ahead of schedule. We can spare a few minutes.”
The trailer made a stir with the other tourists who had taken a break at the twenty-story tepee. Two families asked for pictures with the snowman family and the tepee in the background. Mattie was happy to oblige. Ten minutes later, they were all packed up again.
“Are you ready for the second half of today’s leg?” Dave asked.
“You bet. Let’s get this magic-slash-Christmas show back on the road.”
Chapter 4
Dave
The easy travelling vibe Dave had been enjoying with Mattie was abandoned somewhere around hour five of his planned three-and-a-half-hour drive to Moose Jaw. Between multiple kilometre-long stretches of road repairs on the Trans-Canada Highway and two separate accident scenes, all eastbound traffic had ground to a crawl. Vehicles inched one by one past blocked lanes, emergency personnel, and construction crews.
To make the long drive even worse, the weather was beautiful. Dave had never considered that to be a bad thing before. Puffy, white clouds gently floated across the bright blue prairie sky. The problem was that the clear skies and slow-moving clouds meant the stifling August sun pounded straight down on everything. There wasn’t even a breeze to blow the hot air around. The camper van’s air conditioner couldn’t keep up, and the open windows provided little relief. Fortunately, his well-stocked cooler provided them with icy drinks to keep them from melting.
Mattie said it would be okay if she didn’t get a picture with Mac the Moose, but Dave was happy to pull over. The towering tourist trap was crowded with other travellers who also wanted a break from sitting behind the wheel. He angled the trailer so the massive moose was visible through the crystal arch. It was so hot, Mattie only took a dozen photos, saying she could fix anything later once she had a Wi-Fi connection and air conditioning.
Mattie’s phone buzzed with an incoming text just as they cleared the city limits. Even from the corner of his eye, Dave could see that she paled when she saw the name on the screen. “What’s wrong?” he asked as she slammed her phone screen against her thigh.
