by Linnea West
“Santa, we were going to wait to tell you until we had a plan,” Cordelia said. “But since you are here, you may as well know the whole story.”
Cordelia spun the tale of the entire day, from the beginning of the day up until the minute Santa walked into the room. Nick listened to the entire story, nodding along as he took in all of the facts of the case. At the end, he looked at each elf again. His blue eyes twinkled at each of them and it was like everyone instantly relaxed. The presence of Santa always was a calming factor, although Cordelia had never really felt it in such a high-stress situation before.
“Ah, now I understand why everyone keeps ducking me and shooing me away,” Nick said. He laughed a great belly laugh that made all of the elves laugh along. “I wish you would have told me at the beginning so that I could be of some help.”
“Santa, if I may say something,” Clarence said.
He stepped forward, his pointer finger in the air. Cordelia knew what he was going to say, but she didn’t stop him. At this point, it was the only thing they could do to settle things once and for all.
“There are security cameras here in the List Room,” Clarence said, pointing at a few as he spoke. “There is video footage from this morning that shows exactly who was in here and I’m sure it will show who did this to the List.”
“Fantastic,” Santa said. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, smiling a broad smile. “Let’s watch the footage.”
“That’s the problem,” Clarence said, butting in before anyone else could speak. “Leon here is so concerned about the safety of the List Room that he doesn’t want anyone else to see the security footage. Apparently, that is much more important to him than remembering to lock the door when he leaves.”
Robin stepped forward and away from Leon, her hands balled into fists at her sides. The appearance of Santa had given her the nerve to finally speak up.
“Would you just stop?” Robin asked. “Leon doesn’t want to show you the security footage. Instead of bullying us, maybe you should figure out a way to help put the List back together.”
Robin’s face turned red as she spoke, the anger rising to her cheeks as she pointed her finger toward Clarence’s chest. Clarence’s eyebrows flew up as the elf wasn’t able to cover his surprise in time. The short, plump bakery elf was almost always smiling and usually, she was carrying a tray of delicious baked goods. Seeing her not only out of her element, but also angry felt like an affront to nature.
The bakery elf turned to face Santa. Her hands were folded in front of her as she begged, her face strained and red.
“Santa, please don’t make Leon do that,” Robin said. “He doesn't want to show everyone the security tape. Please don’t make him.”
“I don’t understand,” Santa said, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Is there something he is trying to hide?”
Leon’s eyes widened as he realized how his defiance appeared to everyone. Cordelia figured he had just been trying to hide his relationship with Robin, but maybe there was something else there that he was covering up. She cared more about getting the List back together, but her curiosity was piqued and she had to admit that she also wanted to watch the security tape.
Robin glanced at Leon and it was obvious that they were communicating without words. Cordelia watched their eyes flick around in the way that only two very close people can communicate. There was something on the tape that they wanted to hide, but what was so bad that they didn’t want people to see?
“I’m afraid that it’s just a bit embarrassing,” Leon said. He paused for a moment. “It has nothing to do with Robin or anyone else. It’s something I just don’t want people to watch.”
Clarence harrumphed from his place behind the desk and Cordelia shot him a look. This was not the time to try and weasel in to prove he was right. Now was the time to put this entire mess to bed. She just had to get Leon to show them the tape.
Cordelia looked at Nick. They had been together for so long that they could also have entire conversations without talking. Nodding toward the security center computer that was still out and then toward Leon, Cordelia pressed her lips together, flattening them out. She was trying to tell Santa that they had to watch the tape, no matter how much they didn’t want to.
Nick nodded at her, staring at her for a moment more than necessary before he flashed her a quick wink. He forgave her for not telling him the whole truth. Cordelia could feel relief start to rush in, but it didn’t get far because this entire mess still wasn’t cleaned up. But it was good to know that Nick understood.
“Leon, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to insist that you show us the tape,” Santa said, turning back to face the defeated looking elf. “Now, I don’t want to force you, but I feel like we have to watch it to get all of this behind us and move on.”
Leon sagged down, his shoulders drooping so far down that Cordelia thought he looked like he was melting. Robin moved toward him, putting her arms around him before he drooped any lower. Leon looked at Robin appreciatively and once again, they were communicating without talking.
Seeing the lovebirds together, Cordelia longed to give Nick a hug or hold his hand. But as Santa and Mrs. Claus, the amount of public affection they could show was limited and now was certainly not an appropriate time to show any. But when she glanced at her husband, he winked at her once more along with a sly smile. She flashed a smile back to him. They were both thinking the same thing. After so long together, that happened more often than not.
“Fine, I will show you the tape,” Leon said. “But please, don’t think less of me when I do.”
Clarence started to grumble, but this time both Santa and Cordelia shot him a look and he instantly clamped his mouth shut. Judging by his furrowed eyebrows though, Clarence was not a happy camper. Cordelia didn’t care. She was glad he wasn’t getting to be a party pooper. It was good to put him in his place sometimes. But Cordelia knew that soon enough, they would make up from their little tiff and be back to best friends.
Nick and Cordelia walked across the room to the security station. As they went around the corner of the desk, Nick ushered Cordelia around by putting his hand on the small of her back and guiding her. She turned and flashed him a smile, glad to have even the smallest bit of physical contact with her love.
Once they were next to the computer, they turned back. Leon and Robin still hadn’t moved from their spot. Cordelia put on her most pleasant face, trying to make the tense room feel as comfortable as she could. Leon was obviously uncomfortable, but Mrs. Claus wanted to show that she was as welcoming as she could be. No matter what she saw on that tape, she was ready to accept Leon for it.
For what seemed like an eternity, they all stood in their places, waiting for Leon and Robin to make their move. Tinny Christmas music floated through the air, not enough to completely break the tension, but hopefully enough to ease things the smallest bit.
Leon turned and looked at Robin, whose eyes were searching his face. He nodded slightly and Robin took his arm, guiding him around the desk to the security computer center. Leon put his hands over the keyboard and paused, as though he were still trying to decide what to do. The 3D words ‘North Pole List Room’ were bouncing around the screen, changing colors each time it hit the side of the screen. Cordelia watched it, wondering if it would hit in the corner of the screen before Leon decided to actually unlock the computer terminal.
“Please don’t judge me,” Leon said again.
“What is this all about?” Santa asked. “Did you mess up the List? Do you just not want to admit it?”
“Well, I’m not actually sure,” Leon said. He took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll just show you and then you can see.”
Leon wiggled the computer mouse, waking up the computer. A box popped up and Leon typed in the password, glancing around furtively as though they were scrutinizing his finger strokes to figure out what the password was. Hitting the enter button, the screen came to life with a list of video files, on
e for each day.
The mouse was moving so slowly across the screen that it almost seemed like slow motion. Cordelia looked at Leon to make sure he was alright. His face was pale and it looked so downtrodden that his facial features seemed to be sagging. He was such a handsome elf, but right now he seemed old and tired.
Sighing one more time, Leon moved the mouse over and clicked on today’s video file. Cordelia wasn’t sure what the big deal was, but she steeled herself for the worst. No matter what, after watching the video they would know what had happened to the List.
Chapter Seventeen
The tape started at midnight the night before. Hitting a button on the computer, the video started to move in triple time. For a while, nothing happened. The room was dark and even though the camera had night vision, nothing happened in the room.
Then the door from the hallway opened and Leon came in. Hitting a button on the keyboard, Leon slowed the video down to double time. The Leon on the screen shuffled around the room, working away. He seemed to be moving in a jerky and shaky way that seemed unnatural.
“Hold on Leon, can you slow this down a bit?” Cordelia asked.
There was something about the way he was moving on the video that seemed odd, but she couldn’t tell when it was going so fast. Leon sighed and hit another button. The Leon on the screen moved in regular time, but he walked out the door.
“No, no, back it up again,” Cordelia said.
Leon looked at her. His brown eyes seemed to be pained, asking her not to make him do it. But she held his gaze. They had come too far to not figure it out now. Leon hit another button and rewound the video until he walked backward out the door. Hitting the play button, they watched Leon in real-time.
He came in the door and shut it behind him. But as he moved across the room to his desk, he tripped over some dark blob of an object on the floor. Then he walked around the desk to sit down and work. But each time Leon got up from behind his desk to do something, he tripped and stumbled his way around the room.
Robin leaned forward and hit the pause button. A sniffle came from Leon, whose face was so low that it was almost tucked into his chest. For a moment, Cordelia let the moment breath before she asked him about the video.
“Leon, what was going on?” she asked. “Why were you stumbling around so much?”
As he mumbled something that they couldn’t hear in reply, she thought back to that morning when she and Clarence had watched him run right into the wall in the hallway. Was all of this somehow connected?
“You walked into the wall this morning also,” Clarence said, speaking up from behind them before Cordelia could. “What’s wrong Leon?”
Clarence’s tone had softened considerably after watching the tape and Cordelia flashed him a small smile. The Head Elf, smiled back, just enough to let Cordelia know that they were mostly back on good terms.
Leon didn’t answer either of them. His head bent low, he mumbled something else, but no one could understand what he was saying. Robin put her arm around him and bent down so that their faces were almost touching. She started to whisper to him, trying to comfort him.
He put his head up and turned around to face Cordelia, Clarence, and Nick. Leon had tears in his eyes as he took a few shaky breaths in and out. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Do you want me to say it?” Robin asked.
Leon looked gratefully at the pretty elf and nodded, smiling at her as a tear rolled down his cheek. Robin turned and face the three elves, her arm looped through Leon’s.
“Leon has had a hard time seeing recently,” Robin said. “That’s why he keeps stumbling around and falling down.”
“Why don’t you just get glasses?” Clarence asked. His tone was restrained with just a hint of sarcasm.
His face turning red, Leon looked down at the floor. He mumbled something again before taking a deep breath and looking up at the group.
“I thought I would look stupid,” Leon said. His cheeks burned a deep, dark shade of red. “And I didn’t think I was doing too badly at getting around, although watching the tape now, I feel incredibly idiotic. All of my life, I’ve been the handsome elf and I guess I was more than a little vain about it. I thought glasses would hide my good looks and I was worried about it. But now look at what’s happened.”
Cordelia wanted to laugh, but Leon’s face was showing just how devastated he was. This was not a laughing matter for him. He was completely serious about it, although now he was seeing the error of his ways.
“And now you’re afraid that you are the one that caused the mess with the List because of your sight problems,” Nick said quietly. “That’s why you didn't want us to see the tape.”
“Yes, I’ve been getting more and more certain throughout the day that I was the one who did it, but I was scared,” Leon said. “When we saw Nate on the tape, I was so relieved because that meant I was off the hook. But then he turned out to be innocent and then Robin got all wrapped up in everything and I just couldn't let that happen. But I was still scared. I didn’t want to lose my job just because I refused to get glasses.”
Now that Leon was putting it all out in the open, it all seemed to make a lot more sense to Cordelia. Leon’s caginess wasn’t just because he didn't want to make his relationship with Robin public, but also because he had realized what a problem his vanity had become. Robin had just become his cover for it.
“We need to watch the rest of the tape,” Nick said. “We need to see if you were the one who accidentally messed with the List.”
Leon nodded, but his hand hesitated over the play button. He seemed to understand but was still having a hard time. Cordelia stepped toward him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Leon, I understand how you are feeling,” Cordelia said. “But we do need to know. If you were the cause of this, we need to know so that we can fix it. I think I speak for the rest of us when I say that we won’t remove you from your position as Keeper of the List.”
“As long as you agree to get glasses,” Clarence said, spitting the words out from his position at the back of the group.
Leon swallowed back a giggle as he wiped a tear off of his cheek. It seemed to be the permission everyone else in the room needed to laugh. The tension burst and flowed out of the room as though someone had broken down the dam. Suddenly everyone seemed to be on the same page. Cordelia couldn’t stop giggling.
“Okay, everyone ready to watch me bumble around?” Leon asked once he regained his composure.
Pushing the play button, Leon let the video start again from the beginning of his day. As he came in and went about his day, the Leon on the screen kept bumbling around, tripping on things on the floor and, at one point, walking straight into the side of his desk.
Cordelia was trying as hard as she could to keep her laughter inside, but once she heard Clarence snicker behind her, she was done for. A guffaw of laughter shot out of her and she doubled over, laughing as she tried to apologize to Leon for laughing at him. But she had merely been the one to break the ice. Once she laughed, everyone else couldn’t help but watch the security tape like it was a slapstick comedy routine. Every time Leon fell or walked into something, the entire group burst out in laughter.
But as they got closer to real-time in the video, suddenly Leon left and Robin came in with a tray of cookies. Looking around, she set a few down on the desk and another plate of cookies on the side table. She started to leave before she doubled back and looked at the List on the table. When Leon left without locking the door, he had also left the List open on the desk.
The Robin on the video looked around and when she didn’t see anyone there to stop her, she very carefully took hold of the corner of the book, flipping the page. Unlike Nate’s debacle, the page Robin flipped to didn’t tumble out and startle her.
As the real Robin watched the video, she hid her pretty face in her hands. She couldn't bear to watch probably the only moment in her life that she had decided to be disobedien
t. Cordelia leaned forward and took hold of Robin’s hand, squeezing it once when Robin looked back at her.
Once she turned the page, Robin had apparently decided that was enough misbehavior. She picked up the rest of her cookies and left the office. Cordelia had to figure that was when she and Clarence had passed by Robin in the hallway, right before Leon ran into the wall.
Next, Nate came in. Cordelia had already seen this part. Nate came in, accidentally messed with the List, got it put back together and left in a rush. No matter how guilty he looked, they knew he hadn’t done it. Nate on the video left and for a little bit, no one came in. Then Leon appeared once again. From here until Cordelia and Clarence came had to be the point in time that the List was messed with.
“Can you slow it down a little?” Cordelia asked. “At some point soon, the List will get messed up. We need to make sure that we see it so that we don't have to waste time watching it over and over.”
Leon nodded at her and hit a few buttons. If slowed down enough that it was easier to see what was happening, although it was still a bit faster than real-time. Hopefully out of the five of them, one would be watching close enough to see when the List was messed up.
The Leon on the tape was bustling around the office, still bumping into things. Now it wasn’t so funny though. When it was further back in the morning, the tripping had been funny. But now every trip could precede the event they were watching for. It wasn’t as funny now.
“Wait, did you see that?” Robin suddenly shouted. “Go back a little.”
Cordelia looked at Clarence, who looked just as confused as she was. Nick had his hands clasped over his stomach, squinting at the screen through his moon-shaped glasses. Leon hit another button and the tape rewound a few minutes.