Carlton's Christmas

Detective Sergeant Katherine River was one of the best junior officers on the force, but right now she was not. Right now, she was just plain Kate, enjoying her day off shopping, searching for a Christmas gift for her niece.

Detective Inspector Carlton, on the other hand, was not in such a good mood. He hated days off, as he was a sharp-minded and brilliant detective, but a very bad shopper.

"Oh, just buy these and get it over with," he snapped, holding up an appalling stripy pair of trousers. River giggled, as Carlton scowled. "I hate Christmas."

Suddenly, there was a shout from the other end of the shop. "It wasn't me!" A girl was shouting at an official looking man in uniform. "I'm not a thief!"

In an instant, Carlton had leapt over a display of Christmas trees and was at the side of the security guard. "Need a hand?"

The guard sighed. "A jumper has gone missing from the display over there, and these three girls were the only ones near it. I'm happy for them to give it back and let the matter go, but each one swears they don't have it."

"Show me what type of jumper it was," Carlton said, and then turned to the girls. "No-one move."

The guard led him over to the display and showed him a red jumper. "It was just like this one, but in a size Small," he explained. "And one of the girls must have taken it."

Carlton replaced the jumper and came back to the girls. "All right then, you each have one minute to give me your name, and tell me who took the jumper, or I'll have the lot of you arrested."

The tallest girl tossed her long blonde hair impatiently. "Hayley Jones," she drawled. "And I don't know who took that jumper, but it wasn't me. When these girls were over looking at the jumpers, I was looking at the scarves. See, I bought this one." She showed Carlton a green scarf in her bag. "I paid for it and everything. Like I said, I'm not a thief."

The girl with ginger curls scowled. "Well, it wasn't me either," she jumped in. "I'm Jackie Newman. I'm not a thief either, but if it was anyone I'd bet it was Hayley. She's always short on money, and last year she was cautioned for stealing a hat from -"

"That's not fair, Jackie!" shouted Hayley. "I didn't steal that jumper! And I've got money now I've started at my job, so I don't need to steal."

"Shut up, Hayley," the shortest girl said. "It's my turn. I'm Izzy Lucas, and I didn't steal the jumper either. See, I've already bought a jumper, from the shop across the road. And red isn't my colour!"

"Just cos your dad's a stylist," muttered Jackie.

Carlton sighed. "Just hand over the jumper, and you can go," he said.

But to which girl did he say it to?


Answer (highlight to read): It must have been Izzy Lucas. How did she know that the stolen jumper was red? Besides, as the shortest member of the group, the size Small would have been the most likely to fit her.