The Christmas Flimflam: A Tony Crowne Christmas Mystery

By Peter Guy George

A Tony Crowne Christmas mystery just in time for the holidays.

Santa Claus is accused of a devious crime and hauled off to the local slammer. Santa refuses to defend himself and may spend Christmas in a lonely jail cell. The world's celebration of the Christmas holiday hangs by a thread. Will Tony Crowne and his friends free Santa in time to deliver presents?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hornbeck House
• Release date: Mar 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524267285

Peter Guy George

Peter hangs out somewhere in the lower 48 states and loves to read and write about sports, mysteries and adventures. He mainly writes books that appeal to the kid in all of us.

Book preview

The Christmas Flimflam

Peter Guy George

No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or

otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's

imagination or used fictitiously.

Published by: Hornbeck House

Copyright © 2015 Peter Guy George

All rights reserved.

ISBN:

ISBN-13:

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.

~ Dr. Seuss ~

Other Books in the Series:

Touchdown Tony Crowne and the Mystery of the Missing Cheerleader

The Tiny Heist

Hannah’s Monsters

The Christmas Flimflam

Visit http://peterguygeorge.com for news on new releases.

An important word from Peter:

Reviews of this story are welcomed and encouraged.

In today’s world, the lifeblood of any product on Amazon or any online store are the reviews left by customers. No need for a long and involved rehash of the story, just a simple sentence such as, I liked it or It was garbage and a star rating will do. The more reviews The Christmas Flimflam gets the more it will be noticed by other readers…like you.

Thank you.

CHAPTER ONE

An icy wind whipped the fine dusting of snow along the sidewalks of downtown Dersee with enough strength to make the late afternoon Christmas shoppers miserable as they trudged to their next destination.

Old Man Winter paid an early visit to Dersee the day after Halloween with a heavy snowstorm and the area had been in a deep chill ever since. Some of the old timers gathered around the pot-bellied stove at Weindorf’s hardware store claim this is the earliest and most brutal winter they’ve ever witnessed. Even Lake Haerr had completely frozen over a month before it usually did, they said.

None of this fazed the stocky fifth-grader as he marched toward Gerard’s department store which sat on the corner of Main and East Market Street. His father had sent him on a special mission and he wasn’t about to let a little cold weather prevent him from accomplishing it. Nope, he thought, only three days until Christmas and nothing was going to keep ol’ Judd Judson from buying his mother a gift. Especially since my dad thinks I’m old enough to do it on my own. Nope, ain’t nothing gonna keep me from doing my duty. I wonder what she wants? Maybe a football jersey or a helmet or some forearm pads…yeah, or even a tool set might come in handy for when she has to repair something…a vacuum cleaner? She might like that too…boy, there’s a lot of decision making that goes into this…maybe she’d like a new tv set…I wonder how much they cost?

As he approached the store, a swarm of people blocked the front entrance as a snappy rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer rang out through the air. Curious, Judd politely elbowed his way through the crowd until he ended up behind his much smaller fifth-grade schoolmates, the Hatzfelder twins: Tillie and Millie.

A portly man in a deep-red Santa Claus suit trimmed with white fur sang at the top of his lungs as he shook his handbell and danced a little jig around the black donation kettle which swung slightly in the wind. His dark eyebrows stood in stark contrast to his ultra-white hair and flowing beard which tumbled up and down as he put the finishing touches on his song.

When he sang the last note, he doffed his plush stocking cap and bowed graciously to the crowd. Everyone roared with approval, clapping and demonstrating their appreciation as they filed by him and tossed their extra cash into his black pot before heading into Gerard’s to shop or to go home to eat their evening meal.

Judd leaned toward the twins and said, Hey, I didn’t know Henry Peabody could sing like that. When I saw him last week, Mr. Peabody was bored stiff ringing that bell all day. Judd held his stomach, grinned and added, He could barely belt out a couple of ho, ho, ho’s without busting a gut.

Millie half-turned her head and looked up to Judd. That’s not Henry Peabody…

…that’s some other guy, Tillie said as she finished her sister’s sentence. We’ve been watching him for a long time...

…yeah, he’s the best Santa we’ve ever seen. Millie said as she turned to her sister, Shall we…

Tillie nodded and rubbed her mittens together. …go? Yes, I’m freezing. Good bye, Judd. We’ll…

…see you around. Merry Christmas. The twins giggled, waved to Judd and zipped down the sidewalk before he had a chance to say Merry Christmas back to them.

Naturally curious, Judd couldn’t help but introduce himself to the small rotund man. He walked up to him, stuck out his hand and said, Howdy, uh…sir.

A jolly voice boomed back to him, Hello-o-o, young man. How are we this brisk and fine afternoon? The man smiled broadly and inhaled a deep breath. He continued to ring his handbell in a jazzy fashion, slapped his chest with his free hand and said, Ah, nothing like a cool day in December to get your blood flowing. My favorite time of the year. What is your favorite time of the year, lad? His eyes twinkled as if he knew the answer to his question already.

Judd smiled back and said, Fall, sir. I like fall ‘cause that’s when it’s football season.

The man threw his head back, laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. Why, of course you do, Judd. You’ve loved football for a long time, haven’t you?

Judd shot back, Yes, sir. Ever since I was a young kid. All I ever wanted to do was to play football…hey, wait a minute. Judd scratched his blond, crew cut head and narrowed his eyes. His mind went into detective mode and he asked, How did you know I like football and how did you know my name?

The man’s face crinkled into a grin and said, Son, when you get as old as I am, you can figure out a few things just by looking at people. For instance, you’ve got a young face, but you’re several inches taller than I am. In a football crazy town like Dersee, it only makes sense that a big fellow like you would love to play the sport. The man lowered his voice and whispered, Besides all that, you’re wearing a jacket that says, ‘Dersee Bobcats Football’ with ‘Judd Judson’ inscribed below it. I might be many things, old buddy, but I’m not feeble-minded.

Judd’s face turned red as he looked down at his chest. He slapped his forehead with a gloved hand. Duh, I forgot I was wearing this coat. Sorry, mister. He thought for a second and