The Christmas Thief (16 page)

B
y the time the day of the Christmas tree lighting arrived, Lem and Viddy were practically seasoned New Yorkers. Two days after Lem recovered their tree, they were in Rockefeller Center watching its ceremonious arrival and listening to the choir of schoolchildren sing a medley of songs as the tree was raised into place. The selections from
The Sound of Music
especially delighted Viddy.

Edelweiss, she thought. Our blue spruce is my edelweiss.

They had been invited back for the party that Opal’s fellow investors in the Patrick Noonan Shipping and Handling Company had thrown for her. The diamonds were valued at over seventy million dollars, so the investors would all recover at least two-thirds of their lost money.

Packy Noonan, Jo-Jo, and Benny were in prison awaiting trial and wouldn’t set foot on a beach in Brazil or anywhere else for a long, long time. Milo had escaped with a slap on the wrist because of all the incriminating evidence he promised to offer and Opal’s strong testimony that he had clearly been an unwilling participant who became entangled in a criminal web of deceit. Milo was now back in Greenwich Village, writing poems about betrayal. The $50,000 bonus the police found at the farmhouse was counterfeit. But he’d already won an award for a poem he wrote about a flatbed.

When the police had found Wayne Covel and his girlfriend Lorna tied up, Wayne tried to pretend he had no idea why Packy Noonan had done that to him. His testimony was shot down by the combined stories of Opal, Milo, Packy, Jo-Jo, and Benny. But as Wayne Covel then put it, “If it weren’t for me, Packy Noonan would be in Brazil now with all the investors’ money.” He pleaded guilty to destroying the branch of the tree and claimed that he was trying to figure out how to return the diamonds without admitting how he got them. That story raised a few eyebrows, but in his plea bargain he was sentenced to only twelve hours of community service. Some community service they’ll get out of that one, Viddy thought. His ex-girlfriend was back in Burlington, once again computer dating and looking for a kind and sensitive man. Lots of luck, Viddy thought.

The hardest pill Packy had to swallow was that he didn’t know blue spruces grew from the top. He needn’t have cut down the tree. His flask was the same distance from the ground as it had been when he tied it there. If he had known that, he and the twins could have just gone around to the back of the tree, found Wayne standing on the ladder, forced him off it, and cut the branch that held the flask.

Now Lem and Viddy were in the reserved section waiting for the tree to be lighted. Alvirah, Willy, Regan, Jack, Nora, Luke, Opal, Opal’s friend Herman Hicks, who Alvirah had told her was a recent lottery winner, and the three Grangers were with them. They’d all be heading back to Herman’s apartment after the ceremony. It was a beautiful cool night. Rockefeller Center was overflowing with people, and the streets surrounding it were all blocked off.

“Viddy, you and Lem did a great job on the
Today Show
this morning,” Regan said. “You’re both naturals.”

“You think so, Regan? Did my hair look all right?”

“It better have looked all right, with what it cost!” Lem observed.

“I loved having my makeup done,” Viddy admitted. “I told Lem I want to have it done again when we come back for your wedding.”

“Lord, help me,” Lem mumbled.

Opal and Bobby were sitting next to each other. He turned to her. “I’m really glad I was in that ski group with you,” he said.

“I am, too,” Opal said.

“’Cause otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

Opal laughed. “I wouldn’t be here or anywhere else!”

Herman took her hand. “Please don’t say that, Opal.”

“This is so beautiful,” Alvirah sighed as she admired the whole spectacle.

Willy nodded and smiled. “Something tells me we’ll be stopping by every night for the next month.”

“Alvirah, we never did get a look at your maple syrup tree,” Nora reminded her.

“Honey, we missed a lot of the excitement,” Luke drawled.

“I don’t need any more of that kind of excitement!” Opal protestd. “And believe me, from now on my money stays in a piggy bank. No more Packy Noonans in my life—the creep.”

Christmas carols were being sung. It was one minute to the moment.

It’s magical, Regan thought. Jack put his arm around her. That’s magical, too, she thought with a smile.

The crowd started the countdown. “Ten, nine, eight…”

Lem and Viddy held their breaths and entwined their hands. They watched as in a brilliant and breathtaking moment the tree they had loved for fifty years was suddenly ablaze with thousands of colored lights, and everyone in the gathered throng began to cheer.