Elle feels Sorrow
The workshops have been no stranger to theft, Elle has even had close encounters with one of the thieves before! Naturally security has been upgraded over time and the workshops are well protected now. Regardless, that didn't stop a particular incident that took place under Elle's reign as Santa.
An annual inspection was carried out and the inspectors were not satisfied in Storage Facility B. An accident had taken place there which affected the exterior wall. It didn't seem like anything serious but the inspectors thought otherwise.
"This is going to need fixing. That could come down at any moment and injure someone."
"Yes, I'd consider it a priority that this section of wall is rebuilt."
Elle, keen as always to please the inspectors, agreed to their requests.
About a fortnight later, a section of the storage unit was closed off to staff and the wall was being repaired. It was expected the job would take a couple of days at the most but on the first night, something tragic happened.
A car, very similar if not the same as one that brought the inspectors, had turned up in the staff carpark. Now the entrances are all guarded and vehicles have to pass a toll booth to get in, which meant either the car belonged to a member of staff or the elf manning the toll booth at the time knew something Elle didn't. The car remained on sight into the night shifts but didn't leave alone. Someone had climbed into Storage Facility B through the soon to be mended wall, used explosives to force open one of the doors and left with a lorry full of presents!
"We can have searches put up across the North pole but you might want to prepare for the possibility that we may not be able to find and return all of the stolen stock." explained a policeman the next afternoon.
Elle couldn't bear to look at the warehouse. She was trying to hold back tears and could barely muster the strength to respond to the policeman. The scale of this heist was large enough to set the company back by seven months, and it was May! So many children stood the risk of having their Christmas without a present from Santa, no matter how good they'd been. Elle took the responsibility personally and dared not to think of how many people could lose their faith in Santa.
About a week later, Elle was sorting out arrangements to make up for the loss of stock when she received a phone call.
"Hello, you're speaking to Santa. How can I help you?" Elle answered with a bit of forced jolly in her voice.
"Good afternoon, this is Chief Constable Sugarplum from the North Pole Police. I've got some news for you regarding the case of your stolen vehicle and goods."
"Yes?" Elle listened closely, though was prepared for the worst.
"We've managed to retrieve the vehicle and have brought the thieves in for questioning."
"Oh that's excellent! And what of the cargo?"
"Most of what you claimed to be stolen is still in the vehicle, though I would advise a quality control check be made. You'll be able to come down to collect the vehicle in a week's time once we've given it a proper assessment."
"Wonderful news! Thank you so much, Cheif Constable!" Elle was beyond relived! All of her worries were close to over, but she was determined to make sure no such incident could happen again.
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