BREAKING: Missing present case cracked

Sticky situation ends in surprise.

LIVE UPDATE: The mystery gripping last night’s festive gathering has just reached a joyful conclusion. Reporting from the scene, Live News Correspondent Amuseables Happy Boiled Egg breaks down events as they unfolded...

The alarm was raised when Timmy Turtle realised one gift from the Secret Santa pile – his very own, no less, intended for his partner-in-grumble Ricky Rain Frog – had vanished.

“It’s happening again,” said Ricky in a recorded call to his personal hotline, set up when his alarm clock vanished in November. Decorated detective Jolly Gingerbread Fred arrived moments later to take statements.

“I counted the pile twice,” stressed Timmy, “and if there’s one thing I know like the back of my shell, it’s counting.”

After that, Fred narrowed the list of suspects to three:

Suspect one: Amuseables Raclette. Suspiciously keen to slip away from the party. However, was later spotted in the kitchen looking for bread. (“I was hungry!”)

Suspect two: Amuseables Snow Globe. Visibly shaken during interview. Promptly cleared of all suspicion.

Suspect three: Amuseables Peanut. Giggled when questioned. Brought in for cross-examination.

He proved a hard nut to crack, even for a detective of Fred’s calibre. Character references were called in:

“On the one hand,” said Amuseables Mitten, “given Peanut’s previous antics, he’s a shoo-in for primary suspect. But in my opinion, mischievery rarely means thievery.”

"He's innocent," agreed Bashful Bunny. "Peanut spent the first five minutes – and three rolls of sticky tape – on his unwrapped present... and the rest of the party picking glitter and bits of tape off his head. I saw it with my own eyes. "

Then, early this morning – a breakthrough!

After hrmmphing all night about his lumpy armchair, Timmy finally decided to stand and plump the pillows... only for the entire room to point excitedly toward the missing present, stuck to his shell in a ball of discarded sticky tape.

Ricky hurriedly unwrapped it to discover a brand-new (waterproof) alarm clock. “What a timely gift!” he said. “I’ll make sure this one stays close by.”

Case cracked. Christmas spirits restored.