The Greek Who Stole Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

Please welcome … Minerva!”
    Everyone clapped and cheered.
    “Thank you. Thank you so very much!” Minerva’s voice echoed after the Mayor’s. “I’m so thrilled to be here, at Christmas. It’s such a wonderful time of the year – the birth of baby Jesus and of course my new CD is about to be released. So Happy Christmas to everyone, and here goes…”
    She lifted her finger.
    And that was when it happened.
    There were two gunshots. They sounded incredibly close and there could be no doubt that Minerva was the target. At once the entire atmosphere changed. There was a single second of frozen silence and then screams as the crowd panicked and began to scatter, people pushing each other to get out of the way. The band was swept away in the stampede. I saw someone fall into the big drum. The cymbal player was knocked off her feet with a final crash. On the platform, the Mayor had been the first to dive for cover. Minerva hadn’t moved, as if unsure what to do. I couldn’t see if she had been hit or not. With that bright red dress, it was hard to tell.
    Then Tim leapt into action. I have to hand it to him – at least he was braver than the Mayor, who had curled into a ball in the corner of the platform with his head buried in his hands. Tim had been hired to protect Minerva and that was what he was going to do – even if the shots had already been fired. Even if she was already dead.
    “Get down!” he shouted.
    He lunged forward and I guessed that he meant to throw himself on top of Minerva – which, I had to admit, was quite an attractive idea. Unfortunately, Minerva had already stepped aside. Tim missed and landed, with his arms outstretched, on the red button.
    At once, ten thousand light bulbs burst into multi-coloured life. This year the Regent Street lights had been sponsored by McDonald’s. They depicted stars and Christmas trees decorated with twinkling hamburgers and fries. At the same time, a specially arranged Christmas carol – “We Wish You a McMerry Christmas” – boomed out of the speakers.
    The Mayor opened one eye. “You idiot!” he screamed. “You’ve turned on the Christmas lights instead of Minerva!”
    I’m not sure what would have happened next. Perhaps Tim would have ended up being murdered himself. But then Harold Chase stepped forward and pointed. “There!” he yelled. “There he is!”
    He was pointing at the rooftops and now, with all the extra bulbs burning below, the darkness had become a sea of red and blue and yellow and white. And sure enough, high above one of the department stores, I could make out a short, plump figure half hidden behind a chimney stack. He was staring down at us and, although I couldn’t see what it was from this distance, there was definitely something in his hand. A gun? He certainly would have had a clear shot at Minerva from where he was standing – but not any more. Half a dozen policemen had already reached the platform and they had all grabbed a piece of her. Jake and Harold were also grabbing at her. Tim had crawled off the red button and was trying to climb on top. The entire platform looked like a training session for the All Blacks with Minerva in the middle of the scrum.
    The figure on the roof didn’t seem to be moving and that was when I decided to take action. I didn’t really know what I was doing. Part of me was asking questions. Why hadn’t I seen the sniper earlier? Why hadn’t he made a faster escape – or at least tried to fire off a few more shots? Was that a gun in his hand? And part of me knew that I wouldn’t find the answers hanging around on Regent Street. I had to go and look for them myself.
    I leapt down from the platform, pushed my way through what was left of the crowd and plunged into the nearest shop. It was a huge place selling clothes that I couldn’t possibly afford and – one glance told me – that I wouldn’t want to buy if I could. Blue blazers and red cravats have never been my style. There was