Inside, the Christmas decorations were even more pronounced than outside, and so were the crowds. We muscled our way through the milling throngs, and finally arrived at the Christmas village that had been set up in the toy section. A long line of kids stood waiting for a chance to say hi to Santa, who looked pretty juvenile, even with his white beard. I wondered if the kids were fooled.
A handsome woman with long dark hair stood watching nearby, dressed in the Thornton uniform of black slacks, white shirt and green vest, and I approached her.“Excuse me, Miss, but I’m looking for one of your previous Santas.” I showed her my press pass. “Hampton Cove Gazette. Our new Santa is rumored to be your old one. What can you tell me about him?”
She smiled.“Not much, I’m afraid. I haven’t been here all that long myself. All I know is that the previous Santa was let go because he was too old. Management wanted to hire a younger Santa this year, so they went with this one.”
We both stared at the new Santa, who was so young he should be the one dandling on Santa’s knee. “Isn’t he… a little too young?”
“He is pretty young,” the woman admitted. “But so far he’s doing a great job.”
Just then, the kid sitting on Santa’s knee slapped his face. “I want Iron Man! Not stupid Santa!”
“Well, you’re gonna get Santa, you snot-nosed little—” Then he caught sight of the parents watching on from the sidelines and he quickly corrected himself, lowering his voice to the Santa timbre. “Ho ho ho. Aren’t you a feisty one?”
The kid jumped from Santa’s lap and kicked his shin. “I wantIron Man!”
Santa winced.“And you will get Iron Man, unless you’re naughty.”
“I’m not naughty. I’m nice! I’m always nice! Everybody says so!”
Santa, having had enough, said in his regular voice,“I saw Iron Man on the second floor, buddy.”
The kid’s face lit up. “For real?”
“Sure. Now run along. He’s waiting for you.”
“Yay!”
“Go get him, tiger.”
The kid’s mother shook her head disgustedly and stalked off, her kid prancing happily by her side. “Mommy! Iron Man is on the second floor. Can we go—pleaaaaaaaase!”
“He lacks experience,” the woman said, after witnessing the scene. “But he’ll grow into it.”
“The previous Santa—the one that grew out of it—what was his name?”
She frowned.“Um… Kris something. I think.”
I crooked an eyebrow.“Kris Kringle.”
She pointed a finger at me.“That’s it. Kris Kringle.”
“Are you sure?”
She shrugged, losing interest.“Pretty much.”
Yeah, right.
“And? How did it go?” asked Chase as we left the department store.
“The name of Hampton Cove’s new Santa is Kris Kringle.”
He frowned.“Now why does that sound familiar?”
“You never sawMiracle on 34th Street?”
“Is that the new Leonardo DiCaprio? No, wait. You’re more a Tom Hanks fan, right?”
I hooked my arm through his.“You’ve got a lot to learn about Christmas, Mr. Scrooge.”
Chapter 7
Our next stop on this impromptu tour of New York was the soup kitchen where Chase’s grandpa volunteered. The charity was located in an old church on Ninth Avenue, and when we arrived, there was a long line outside, waiting to get in and be served. The Holy Emergency Soup Kitchen was one of the largest in the city, and made sure over a thousand people a day got a good meal in them. We entered the building and I was surprised to see round tables set up inside the church building itself, right where I would have expected rows of pews, parishioners kneeling to catch a sermon. Instead, hundreds of people sat eating quietly, a piano player tickling the ivories.
“This is amazing,” I said.
“Yeah, it is. And this isn’t the only soup kitchen in the city either. There are dozens.”
“The needs are certainly a lot greater than in Hampton Cove.”
“A lot of homeless and hungry people in the city. It’s a good thing these charities exist.”
“And these volunteers.”
I watched as dozens of volunteers moved around, replenishing drinks in plastic cups and manning the long line where food was served. The line ran very smoothly, and it was obvious the people taking their trays were grateful for this service.
“For many of them this is their only meal of the day,” said Chase.
I watched as a mother with two kids sat at one of the tables, the kids happily biting into thick slices of brown bread and ladling up their soup.“But they’re so young,” I said, choking up a little.
“Tough times,” Chase said softly, also clearly touched. “I actually used to volunteer here myself, along with my grandpa. He’s the one that got me involved. It’s a very special feeling to be able to help others. Grandpa taught me that lesson, and it’s one I’ll never forget.”
We walked up to the person in charge, a heavyset woman with a can-do, no-nonsense attitude who oversaw the whole setup. When she caught sight of Chase, the frown on her face instantly lifted and was replaced by a smile.“Chase Kingsley as I live and breathe. Where have you been, Detective?”
“I got transplanted to The Hamptons,” he said with a smile that matched hers in brightness.
She raised her eyebrows.“The Hamptons, huh? A lot of soup kitchens there, I imagine?”
“Not really,” he admitted.
“Well, I sure hope the powers that be had a reason for taking you away from us.”
Chase cut a quick glance to me.“I’m sure they did, Macey. So how have you been?”
“Busy, as you can see,” she said, gesturing around. “The lines keep increasing every day, Detective. It’s as if the world just keeps on getting a little poorer with each passing year.”
“At least the world has you to make sure these people are fed,” said Chase.
“Well, that’s for damn sure.”
I raised an eyebrow of my own. And here I always thought cussing in church was a big no-no. Obviously things were different here in the big city.
“And who is this?” asked Macey, directing a curious eye at me.
“This is Odelia Poole. We work together in Hampton Cove. She’s a civilian consultant.”
“Oh, is that what you kids call it these days?”
Chase had the good decency to blush, then cleared his throat.“What can you tell us about my grandpa, Macey? I’ve been trying to locate him but he seems to have vanished from the face of the earth.”
“Your grandpa, huh? Well, to be honest, I haven’t seen him in days. I think he came in last week, but he hasn’t been in since.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Nope. I just figured he was busy doing other stuff and he’d be back.”
“Did he… look different?”
Macey frowned.“Well, now that you mention it, he did seem pretty downcast last time I saw him. He wasn’t his usual cheerful self. Well, you know your grandfather. Always a joke and a kind word. But that last time he was here he was unusually quiet. He also left pretty quick. Didn’t stay to help with the cleanup like he usually does.” Her face had taken on a worried expression. “Do you think something happened to him?”
“I don’t know, Macey, but I’m starting to think something might have.” He told her about the well-dressed man his grandpa was seen arguing with, and the fact that he didn’t respond to his messages.
“Oh, dear,” said Macey, raising a hand to her cheek. “I do hope you find him, Chase. And that you find him just fine. He’s such a wonderful man, and he’s done so much for this community. I would hate for him to be in trouble and not reaching out when he needs help himself.”
“Yeah, that would be just like Granddad.”
Macey nodded, and fixed Chase with a keen look.“Sounds like someone else I know.”
When we were walking back to the car, I asked,“What did Macey mean by that?”
He shrugged.“Beats me.”
“She sounded like she was talking about you. Have you ever been in trouble and refused to reach out and ask for help?”