CAN you help solve they mystery of a Christmas card and gift which never reached its intended recipient?

There’s £40 riding on it and the story goes a little something like this.

It was a few days before Christmas when Mrs Yvonne Robertson of Mardy’s Poplars Close received her post on a frosty yet sunny December morning.

She was delighted to see what looked like a yuletide greeting card sitting pretty on her doormat.

Mrs Robertson explained, “Not only was it close to Christmas, both my husband and I share December birthdays, so as you can imagine, I’m like an excited child at that time of year when something unexpected and promising falls through my letterbox.”

Rushing to the front door in giddy anticipation, Mrs Roberston picked up the envelope and without even looking at who it was addressed to, tore it open in a festive frenzy.

She found a Christmas card with two small envelopes inside.

The only problem was the card read, “To Mam and Jocelyne. Have a lovely Christmas, Best wishes from Deb, Paul, and all.”

Mrs Robertson told the Chronicle, “I have no idea who, Mam, Jocelyne, Deb or Paul are, but I don’t think they live anywhere near me. Upon reading the card it quickly dawned on me that it had fallen into the wrong hands.”

Choosing to venture further down the rabbit hole, the baffled Mardy resident scanned the envelope for a clue and saw it was addressed to “Mrs I. Robinson, 44 Mardy, Abergavenny, Mon.”

Mrs Robertson said, “I wished I had looked at the envelope beforehand and I would never have opened it. Why it was sent to me I have no idea. My street number on Poplars Close is completely different and 44 Mardy is not an address. As we all know there’s a lot of houses in the Mardy and they are all built on separate streets. It’d be like sending a card to London with the address 104 London.”

Mrs Robertson added, “I suppose Mrs I. Robinson is similar to Mrs Y. Robertson, but still…..”

The two smaller envelopes nestled inside the card were addressed to ‘Man’ and ‘Jocelyne’ respectively from what looks like someone calling themselves ‘Blaina’.

To compound matters, when Mrs Robertson held them to the light she saw each one contained a £20 note.

Because the card had already been opened, Mrs Robertson was unable to take Elvis Presley’s timeless advice and ‘return to sender, address unknown,’ but she was determined that the card and the gifts would reach the people they were intended for.

For the past five months, Mrs Robertson has been calling on postmasters, postmen, local residents, and has been searching all corners of the Mardy to help solve they mystery of the maddening rogue Christmas card.

All has been in vain.

The envelopes lie unopened, the message of goodwill lies unread, and the mystery gathers dust, unsolved and patient, like a Monmouthshire Gordian Knot awaiting its Alexander.

At her wit’s end and with all other avenues of enquiry exhausted, Mrs Robertson, as so many people are prone to do as a last resort, contacted the Chronicle, to see if we could use all the invaluable tools at our disposal to help solve the mystery.

Here’s where you step in folks!

In the cynical and materialistic times we find ourselves, so many people would have binned the card, kept the money, and smugly justified it to themselves by cackling Scrooge-like, “Finders keepers, losers weepers.”

Not Mrs Robertson. Her honesty is refreshing. So if anyone out there can help her keep the Christmas spirit alive and spread a little wintery goodwill in the heart of flaming June, then get in touch if you know who Mrs I. Robinson is. Or for that matter Jocelyne, Deb, or Paul.

Answers on a postcard please to the following address. On second thoughts, scratch that. They might get lost.

If you can help solve the mystery, just email Tim Butters on [email protected].