Murder on 34th Street

     Twas the night before Christmas when they found the body of Kris Kringle slumped over his desk, shot point blank right between the eyes. Detective Chris Mastry arrived late to the scene at 34th Street, his hair unkempt and bags under his eyes. He straightened his tie as he entered Kringles office and surveyed the crime scene. The CSI crew had just finished their investigation and were heading out. He walked up to the lead investigator and friend, Holly, as she finished packing her supplies. Her short black curls were pulled back into a bun and her brown skin was glistening with sweat from the hard work she had been doing.

     "Hey Holly, what are we looking at here?" Chris asked.

     "It's pretty cut and dry I think. Someone came in, obviously someone he trusted as he didn't make any attempt to get away, and this person shot him. We recovered the bullet casing and we are going to run it through ballistics and see what comes up. Also this place was wiped clean before this person decided to decorate with Kringles brains. Not a spec of DNA anywhere, no fingerprints, hair, nothing. So either this was pre-meditated or the fat man was hiding something" holly smirked.

     "Oh I wouldn't doubt it, this guy was just about as crooked as they come" Chris said. The truth was the jolly old man in the red suit, his reindeer, the sleigh, it was all a scam. Something pretty to plaster on billboards to convince the kids to act right while the real Kris Kringle looked more like a classic mobster. Which in truth was pretty much what he had been. His pockets lined and bank accounts full from all that promotion money around the world made him just about the richest man alive. Kringle had fooled the children of the world into thinking he was generous with his gifts but most adults could see what was really going on. Kringle sat behind his desk and reaped the benefits while his horde of elves were practically under slave labor having signed their lives away to Kringles contracts which he always made sure to check twice for any loopholes. He had gotten away with it for hundreds of years without any hassle...so what changed?

     "Were there any witnesses? Any leads?" Chris asked as he pulled his notebook from his jacket pocket.

     "Nobody saw anything but his assistant was walking to her car when she heard the gun go off. She was pretty shaken by the whole thing so I had an officer escort her home but she said she'll come by the office tomorrow morning to give her statement. I also had someone notify Mrs. Kringle, she's very distraught" Holly said as she rubbed the back of her neck tiredly.

     "Alright. Listen Holls I can't thank you enough for making sure everything got done here. I promise I won't be late next time" Chris smiled. Holly looked at him disapprovingly.

     "That's what you said last time and the time before that, I swear Chris you are going to be late to your own funeral!....and you still owe me for missing out on dinner" Holly said sadly. The smile slipped from Chris's face.

     "I know...I'll make it up to you this Friday I promise. How about patty's at 8?" He asked hopefully. Holly cocked her head as she contemplated her answer.

     "Fine. But if you forget about me again it'll be your murder they'll be solving next" Holly said as she glared and poked her finger into his chest. Chris laughed again.

     "I think you'd get away with it" he said.They stared at each other for a long moment before she turned and started to walk away.

     "You bet your ass I would" she said as she left the office behind. Chris stared at the doorway and smiled again, him and Holly had been in this odd dating phase for a few months now. They both had such hectic work schedules that they hardly saw each other so their relationship hadn't progressed very much, but Chris hoped to change that soon if he could just manage to get that promotion he'd been working so hard for. Chris took one last look around the office for any evidence but Holly had already thoroughly inspected the place. It was true there wasn't anything out of place, it was eerily too clean just as Holly had said. Even his computer was squeaky clean of any files like it had just been bought. Something definitely wasn't right.