As Christmas approaches, Merryvale Shopping Centre’s Santa’s Grotto is alive with festive cheer. Harold “Harry” Winterford, the centre’s beloved long-standing Santa, has spent the season handing out gifts, posing for photographs and bringing holiday magic to countless families.

But on Friday, 20th December 1996, that magic comes to an abrupt end. When the curtains are drawn back for the first grotto appearance of the day, the crowd expecting a jolly Santa Claus is instead met with a chilling sight: Harry slumped lifelessly in his sleigh.

Who would want Santa dead, and what happened behind the scenes of Merryvale’s picture-perfect Christmas?

The grotto may be full of tinsel and twinkling lights, but someone has definitely been naughty. It’s time to unwrap the mystery one clue at a time.