Caught in the Act!

’Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse…  EXCEPT FOR A NAUGHTY ELF WHO WAS EATING THE COOKIES AND MILK LEFT OUT FOR SANTA!

Breaking news from the Yuletide Bureau:

Little did Tatiana – employed in the Siberian division of Santa Inc as an ‘elf’ on temporary assignment to assist during the busy Christmas period – know that Mr Claus had sent his crack SS (Secret Santa) troops out into Christmas Eve night, armed with infra red goggles and high-definition telescopic-lensed DSLRs that were able to spot a misbehaving employee from a very long way away.

They spotted her breaking and entering through the chimney of a small cottage in southern Bulgaria (under the ostensible reason of checking that the chimney’s dimensions would allow Mr Claus’ not inconsiderable girth to pass), and within moments of the perp’s entry had taken strategic positions in and around the cottage’s sitting room. And when they saw her flagrantly breaching her contract with Santa Inc., they were not slow in capturing firsthand evidence of her crime.

Caught in the glare of the flash, Ms Tatiana (as she calls herself, refusing to disclose a surname) could not deny she had indeed been sampling the milk and cookies left out for Santa. When questioned directly, she insisted that she was tasting the goods merely in order to ascertain the quantity of sugar in the cookies. “You know he’s diabetic?” she added in an ingenuous tone. “I couldn’t risk the possibility that Mr Claus might suffer a fatal attack on my watch.”

This was a serious allegation against Mr Claus, the CEO of a major global corporation, but no-one from the headquarters of Santa Inc could be reached for comment.

Ms Tatiana has been remanded in custody pending further investigation.

Merry Christmas.