Bringing Christmas Home (2023) Movie Script
1
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin, mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild.
Sleep at night
- Deb!
Well, that was fast.
So what if there's a long lost painting in
one of these boxes worth millions of dollars?
Don't get your hopes up.
My Aunt Sarah never met a garage sale she
didn't like.
And lucky me, I have inherited all her
bounty.
Yeah, so you're getting rid of everything?
Yep, I'm turning this into a studio for my
lime dancing class.
- That sounds fun.
- It is.
Well, thanks for giving me first dibs.
I'm thinking like 15 bucks a box.
Does that sound fair to you?
- More than fair, yes.
You sure you don't want
to go through with me and
make sure there's something
you don't want to keep?
No, no, no.
I gotta get my Christmas cards out before
my big sister.
Well, I'll just come in and settle up when
I'm done.
Yep, have fun.
Okay, all right.
You're a legend, Deb.
I know.
This is a good paper.
I think you can make it great.
You're one of my best students.
There's a book that I want you to read.
Hold on just one second.
Let me find it.
Right here.
So this is basically a psychology book,
but there's a chapter in there that talks
about how the men and women of our
military celebrated the holidays on the war front.
But my paper is on Operation Torch.
Right.
I'm not asking you to change your subject.
I just, I think it's going to help you think
outside the boundaries of weaponry and formations.
Because war is personal.
And I want you to take a personal approach
to your writing.
I want you to get inside the heads of our
soldiers and just know what even a small
piece of home can do for them.
You know, the heart of the battlefield is
not weapons.
It's people.
I understand.
You can use that.
Okay, all right.
I look forward to a second draft.
Thank you, professor.
You're welcome.
You can do this.
Hey.
Hey.
Morale seems high amongst the troops.
Major Upton.
Oh, good leader always brings out the best
in her soldier smear.
How you doing?
You look strong.
Hey, feeling strong.
Well, what do I owe this visit?
Well, university library received a
donation to some old war office reports,
and they asked archives to authenticate
them.
I figured I could wrap in a visit to my
favorite commanding officer.
Former commanding officer.
You know, I really can't get used to the
fact that I can't boss you around anymore.
It is the least favorite part about
retiring for me.
Yeah, I wonder who you're
gonna boss around when you're
off in Mary Olden and being
a fancy Sandringham scholar.
Well, I haven't heard back from the
committee yet, but they are supposed to
email the finalists for the fellowship
this week.
So, fingers crossed.
Well, I know how much this means to you.
I'm sure you get it.
You know, Major Caroline Upton, always
succeeds at her mission.
Well, in the meantime, why
don't you help me take my
mind off of it and let me
help you with these reports?
Yes, ma'am.
Hey, hey.
Hey, hey, big bro.
Most of these boxes I haven't even opened
yet.
Well, whatever we don't keep for the
store, we can just donate.
Hey, bro.
Yep.
Oh, come on.
Every time!
It's definitely for the donate pop.
Come look at this.
Wow.
This is a World War II jacket.
This soldier was heavily decorated.
Wow.
Look at that.
Some of the ribbons are missing.
Is there a name?
I don't know.
Let's look.
Sometimes it's on the inside of the jacket
or inside the pocket.
Let's see.
Yep, look at that.
O.
Newton.
What is... What is this?
Oh.
Oh, from Alice to my true love,
Orin.
Wow.
It's a love letter.
- Read it.
- Okay, okay.
Dearest Orin, without you, Christmas is
just a shell of a holiday.
Like one of those displays
that you see in the window
of the five and dime all
drippy with Christmas presents.
You can see the gifts, but you can't touch
them through the glass.
Oh, how I miss holding your hand.
Going to be a lonely season, but no matter
how many tears I shed while you're away,
it doesn't hold a candle
to your brave sacrifice.
I'll be thinking of you on Christmas day, waiting
underneath the mistletoe for you to return.
You're in my thoughts, my prayers,
and my heart.
You're always loving Alice.
That is so sweet.
Why don't people write letters like this
anymore?
This is history.
This should not be just jammed away in
some box somewhere.
We have to get this back to Orin and Alice.
Oh, this was so long ago.
Do you think they're even still alive?
It's possible, right?
I mean, the family, they would be
somewhere.
Maybe I could find a way to track them down.
Why don't we try searching his name?
Let's start there.
Okay.
Orin.
Newton.
Fingers crossed.
That didn't look so good.
I'm not seeing any Orin Newtons serving in
World War II.
I guess that would have been too easy.
Okay.
Let's bring in a professional then.
Here's a military forum.
Yeah.
Okay.
Recently found a World War II uniform.
I want to get it back to its rightful owner.
I'm near Bardwell.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Russell.
In!
Godspeed.
Yes.
Russell, I am a professor of military
history at Bardwell College.
Since you're local, I'd be happy to take a
look at the uniform to see if I can help.
Hi.
Are you Caroline?
Yes, you're Russell?
That's right.
Yeah, that's me.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, thanks so much for meeting me on
such short notice, I guess.
No problem.
Is this the uniform?
- This is it.
- Okay.
I'm trying to get it back to them
by Christmas, so it's...
Oh, all right.
Well, let's take a look.
Oh, I got you a coffee.
- Oh, thank you.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
So I looked everywhere online to try to
find Orin, but nothing.
Wow.
Oh, this is so cool.
It's actually in pretty good condition.
So here's what I can tell you
right off the bat.
It definitely is a dress uniform for an
army officer.
And you were right.
It's World War II.
Very good.
There's ribbons missing.
I'm assuming some patches.
However, this one is very important.
This is Orin's division patch.
So I think that's probably a good place
for us to start.
Great.
Oh, and this is the letter.
The letter...
So fragile.
Look at her.
She's beautiful.
Oh, Russell, I got to be honest with you.
Sometimes these young men, they didn't
make it back from the war.
This may not have a happy ending.
Well, it is a season of hope, right?
So here's hoping.
Yeah.
You know, I was stationed overseas, and...
I can tell you that any communication
with home, it's a lifeline.
I mean, sometimes the only thing
that keeps you going
is knowing that there's
someone at home waiting for you.
But I mean, now there's cell phones and
email and all of that.
But back then, think about it.
I mean, this fragile little piece of paper,
this had to cross oceans and war,
just to get to someone, you know?
It meant something.
It was special.
Shoot straight with me here.
Do we stand any chance to find this guy?
- It's hard to say right now.
- OK.
However, I would like to take this home,
take a closer look at it,
maybe take some pictures, if you're OK with that.
You're not some international vintage
uniform thief, are you?
I mean, how do I know that I can trust
you?
Would an untrustworthy person buy you coffee?
That's a pretty good point.
You bought.
I don't want to take up too much more of
your time.
Thank you.
Yeah, OK.
So you mentioned that you were a professor,
at Bardwell.
I am, yes.
You know, we are actually
on Christmas break right now, which...
makes it easy for me to go sleuthing with you.
Even so, it's Christmas.
It's a busy time with family and friends,
so I appreciate it.
Well, I just moved here this summer,
so I don't really have any friends yet.
I'll be your friend.
Where'd you move from?
All over, I guess.
I just retired from the military.
Ah, what'd you do there?
I was an MI officer.
What's that again?
Military intelligence.
Oh, OK.
And you were an officer?
- I was a major.
- Wow!
If you don't mind me asking,
what made you retire?
Did you get injured or...
Uh, hmm, I guess you could, um, you could
just say that not every wound requires stitches.
Right.
I'm sorry, I didn't, I didn't mean to pry.
No, no, no, no.
Look, it's fine.
The Army gave me far more than it ever
took for me.
Well, let's hope the Army gave you good
sleuthing skills, because we're going to need it.
Yes, we are.
All right, well, I'm going to take this home
and get started on it, and I'll call you tomorrow.
Sounds great.
Looking forward to it.
- It's nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Hey, Caroline.
Hey.
Hey, did you hear back about the
fellowship?
No, not yet.
But in the meantime, I have a little
project for you.
Bring on the challenge.
So I met this guy.
What do you need me to look up?
You want some...
driving records, you know,
employment history, blood type?
No, I'm not trying to spy on him.
I met him online.
You're finally trying online dating.
I told you there's nothing to be afraid
of.
In my military history forum.
He found this old uniform,
and he's asked me to help him
locate the soldier it belonged to.
Dang it.
I thought we might finally get you married off.
No such luck.
So listen, I'm gonna send you some
pictures of the uniform,
I want you to tell me everything that you can
find out about this soldier named Orin Newton.
Will do.
But hey, tell me more about this guy.
Did you meet in person?
Did you guys share any hobbies?
I'm hanging out the phone now.
Over there, batteries.
Okay.
Hi, welcome to Past Residence.
Can I help you find anything?
Hi, actually, I'm just gonna wait to speak
to Russell if that's okay.
Oh, you must be Caroline.
Yes.
I'm Russell's sister, Jules.
- Nice to meet you.
- You too.
Isn't that great?
I came up with that.
Russell has not stopped talking about you.
He's so thankful for your help.
I swear it never gets old.
- Hey, thanks for that.
- Hi, welcome.
Thanks so much for stopping by the store.
We get slammed around here at Christmas time.
Yeah, I see that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I wanted to come and give you an
update in person.
Right.
Excuse me, sorry.
I mean, of course, and bring this back to you.
There it is.
Also, he's very loud.
There we go.
Jules, could you do me a solid and just
handle the shop for a few minutes?
Yeah, sure thing.
I live in the loft.
In the back, it's quieter there.
- Okay.
- After you.
Oh, wow.
You really do Christmas, don't you?
Yeah, what do you think, too much?
No, no, not at all.
You have two Christmas trees.
I don't even have one.
I don't even have any ornaments either.
Well, you know, I do have a store,
and we could probably work out a deal.
Yeah, I'm not much of a decorator.
Let me show you something.
Oh, hey, buddy.
So, this is, uh, this is Brian.
This little guy is how I got started in
all of this.
Oh, well, Brian is ugly.
But, well, no, no, no, listen.
I don't know. In your world,
he might be a collector's item.
No, it's pretty much the ugliest thing
I've ever seen in my life.
And I think that you should borrow him.
Okay.
- Well, have a seat. Have a seat!
- Thank you.
- Can I make you a coffee or, uh...
- Uh, no, no, I'm fine. Thank you, though.
Okay.
So, you have an update?
Okay.
Well, uh, I reached out to an army buddy
friend of mine.
He works in historical records, and I
asked him to check out Orin's division.
And he was able to confirm that Orin was
in Europe at the time of Alice's letter.
Really?
That's great.
What else did he say?
He also said that Orin's platoon was on a
mission to go behind enemy lines on,
get this, on Christmas Eve of that year.
But records state that he was captured.
Then the trail goes stale after that.
Do you think this means he didn't make it
back home?
No, not necessarily.
MIA records of that time here were often
lost or just not updated after the war.
That's not looking very good, is it?
Well, I'm not gonna give up.
But can I ask you a question?
Yeah, sure.
Why is this so important to you?
Well, with this uniform, I have an opportunity
here to get something back to its original owner.
And that never happens.
That is rare.
Plus, I'm a little bit of a romantic.
I just love the way fate
ties everything together.
Well, I don't believe in fate much,
but I do love a good mystery.
Yeah, so do I.
I just love being a part of the whole
story.
Especially if it has a happy ending.
Yeah, I hope this has one.
We could use a little bit more of that in
the world right now.
That is for sure.
So what's next?
Well, I have a few errands to run first.
But, here's what I think we need to do.
Let's meet up at Bardwell University Library
because they have an extensive
military history archive.
Just do some more digging.
Let's say... around 2:30?
Okay.
Okay, great.
- But I have one condition now.
- What's that?
That you let me make you dinner.
Just to say thank you.
No, you don't have to do that.
No, I insist.
You're putting in all this time, it's...
the least I can do.
I mean, you did loan me Brian.
Please take good care of him.
Okay, see ya.
This is so stupid.
Could you clarify what "this" is?
Since I've been wearing a uniform
for 10 years, apparently it means
I don't know how to put together
an outfit on my own.
Oh, you're lucky I'm here then.
I just... I don't want you to freak out
or be weird.
Does it appear that I'm freaked out?
I'm having dinner with the uniform guy.
He's cooking for me.
- He's cooking for you...
See? There you go.
You're being weird.
I'm not. I'm not.
It's just friends, all right?
I just don't want to look like I'm getting
ready to teach a class.
That is true.
You do have to mark a cornet
on button downs and blazers.
Don't make fun of me.
I'm not.
Okay, what about the dress you wore to
Anderson's wedding?
No, no, no.
That's too much.
It's just dinner at his apartment.
First of all, there's no such thing.
And second of all, you look great in that
dress, and I know you feel great.
So just go feel great and let this guy
cook you some dinner.
Let's see the dress.
Okay.
Here it is.
I mean, that dinner might start as a friend thing,
but that is ending with sparks.
Okay, I knew you should have never
invited you over here.
You have to go.
- No, I just got here.
I know, but I have to meet him in 30 minutes.
Come on.
Okay.
Well, hey, I expect a full...
A full debrief!
Goodbye, Al.
Bye!
Hi.
Have you been waiting long?
Nah, not at all.
Okay.
Well, follow me.
- Okay.
- I have a little in with the librarian.
She always gets things all set up for me.
Really?
You have an in with the librarian?
How much time do you spend here?
All right, it's right here.
Wow.
My librarian wouldn't do this for me.
She's actually quite mean.
Well, I may or may not have bribed her
with a little coffee and donuts.
Ah, is that one of your high level
negotiation tactics from the army?
Work smarter, not harder.
Right.
What?
This?
Well, it's just a dress I found in my closet.
And I...
Thank you.
All right.
Okay, here you go.
Start reading.
- Okay.
Okay, so this is interesting.
Yeah?
So there were a few ribbons left
on Orin's jacket.
Yep.
And I'm no World War II specialist, so I
didn't recognize the foreign decoration.
What's foreign decoration again?
A foreign decoration is a military award
bestowed by foreign government.
And this one right here, this is from
France.
This is the Croix de Guerre.
And it says it's awarded for heroism in combat.
So our man Orin was a true hero.
Yeah, and this commendation would have
been rare.
So, you know, I actually think we could
use that to our advantage.
What we should do is just research a list
of American recipients.
I actually think that might lead us to
what happened to Orin.
How'd you do that?
Do what?
What you just did, that was incredibly fast.
Well, I was just lucky that he had that award.
I'm impressed.
Well, I do know what I'm looking for.
I think we may have found our man.
Well, I think that we are definitely one
step closer, yes.
But we still have a lot of reading to do.
Yes.
Well, what I'd love to hear is one of your
Christmas stories when you're in the military.
Oh, this is so long ago.
Whoa, you made that?
Sure did, from scratch.
That is beautiful.
Thank you very much.
Raspberry panna cotta.
You didn't make that.
I made that.
That's very good.
Okay, back to your story.
I don't really want to talk about myself.
What about you?
I want to hear some of your favorite
Christmas memories.
That's easy.
It was our very first Christmas,
with our foster parents, who eventually
ended up adopting Jules and I.
It was a...
Dad brought home this rescue pup
named Marvin.
Marvin?
Yeah, just so that we would feel... welcome.
So you were adopted.
I was adopted, yes.
Oh.
- What?
- You're deflecting.
- I'm not!
You're making me talk about my story.
Okay, back to your Christmas story.
I mean, my story's in the desert.
It's not Evergreen and Holly.
That's okay.
I can handle it.
Well, you know, it's interesting how
different people celebrate the holidays.
There's the ones who try to make it as
close to home as possible.
And then others just try to forget it.
Which one are you?
Oh, I'm definitely the forget-it kind.
Oh, I forgot the coffee.
Oh, speaking of forgetting it.
You can't have dessert without coffee.
Thank you.
Here, come.
Okay, continue.
Let's see. Well, this Christmas in particular,
one of my guys got this big care package
full of all of this Christmas stuff.
There was a tree, there was lights, tinsel.
Anyway, we put it all up and we had
this little party.
And it was so simple.
Sat around, much like we're doing right
here, right now.
And we just talked about our families.
And some people laughed,
some people cried.
It was nice.
I'd have to say it was probably one of my
favorite Christmases.
That sounds nice.
I guess it doesn't take a lot to make magic
when all you're surrounded with is war.
And it's odd because I miss it sometimes.
I mean, not in the war,
but the sense of family.
Sense of a common purpose.
Because I'm telling you, you can come back
here and you don't know what your purpose is.
You don't even know how to be normal anymore.
And I struggle with that.
You know what? I just realized
that I have an early meeting.
- It's okay.
- Tomorrow morning.
I apologize, but I really should get going.
It's okay.
Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Hey, just at least let me walk you to your car.
Not necessary.
But hey, thank you for that dinner.
It was really good.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Everything okay?
- Yeah.
- Come in, it's freezing.
- Thanks.
I thought maybe I had given you food
poisoning or something.
No, your food was great, yeah.
And I didn't offend you or make you talk about
something you weren't quite ready to talk about yet.
No, no, you didn't offend me,
but thank you.
Okay, good, okay.
- I have something to tell you.
- Okay.
- We got a lead.
- No!
Yes, the Croix de Guerre.
It panned out.
So it just so happens that
there was another soldier
in Orin's platoon that was
awarded the same medal.
Here's the thing.
He lives not too far away from here.
He said he remembers Orin.
I told him the story.
He is willing to talk to us.
And he said we could come this afternoon.
I mean, if you can break away,
because I know that you're busy.
It's Christmas time.
Hold on to that thought.
Jules got a big lead.
You're in charge.
For now, because I'm the boss.
Oh, oh, one last thing.
Yep?
Driver gets to pick the tunes.
And if it's not Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole,
it doesn't really count as a Christmas song.
Perry Cuomo?
Dependable alternate, yes.
Okay.
Maybe we'll get along.
Just fine then.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Cordray,
for taking the time.
Well, time's about all I've got left to give...
these days.
So, you want to hear about Orrin Newton?
Yes.
Did you know him?
We served together for three years.
He's one of the cleverest fellows I ever knew.
Could fix anything.
And was always looking out for other people.
We've been trying to find out anything
about him that we could.
Yes, and here you are, just a couple hours away.
Well, God has a funny way of putting the
right people together, don't you think?
So, did Orrin ever talk about his
girlfriend, Alice?
Oh, yes.
He was sure smitten with her.
Always talking about how he was going to ask
her to marry him the minute he made it home.
None of us were sure we were going to
make it home at that point.
But I had this feeling Orrin and Alice
would see each other again.
Orrin got more letters than all the other boys.
That Alice was a big writer.
He was lucky.
Do you have any idea what happened to him?
Well... he and I got captured, on a mission.
We were separated almost immediately.
I never saw him again.
When I got rescued, they sent me home.
I just wanted to put the war behind me forever.
I did eventually look up Orrin a few times
over the years.
I never found him.
But that doesn't mean that he didn't survive.
Right.
Well, I don't blame you for not wanting to
talk about some of the things that you saw.
Well, I'm sorry I don't have any more
information for you two.
But I did dig this up.
That was us in better days.
Oh, well, you two were very handsome.
Well, I'll take the compliment.
Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you.
I have a friend named Silas.
He's a major World War II history buff.
He's got a mind like an encyclopedia.
And if there's something he doesn't know,
he'll know someone who does.
He's at the local VFW branch.
He's the fellow with all the pins on his vest.
I wrote down his info.
Oh, this is wonderful.
- It's great.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
Well, oh, uh... do you like your photo back?
Oh, no, please keep it.
- Are you sure?
- Oh, yes.
Okay.
Well, thank you for your service, sir.
Yeah.
- Bye, Frank.
- Thank you, Frank. Merry Christmas.
You know, better not let anyone
steal her away from you.
Oh, no, no, no, no, we're not...
We're just... Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Bye, Frank.
Bye-bye.
Well, it's still early.
Yeah?
So we could go by the VFW and see if
they're open.
I mean, if you want to, but I could always
just go by myself later.
No way, are you kidding me?
I'm totally digging this whole
mystery duo thing.
We're like Cagney and Lacey.
Starsky and Hutch, Sherlock and Watson.
Well, I'm definitely Sherlock and that duo.
Oh, to be determined.
Come on, let's go, Watson.
Thank you.
They must be having a fundraiser.
Ah, well, anything for a good cause...
Uh, two, please.
Here you go.
Thank you.
Thanks.
You look great.
It's like we step back into 1942.
It's so great they do this.
Oh, my, I feel very underdressed.
No, you look great.
Here...
For your hair.
There you go.
Thank you.
Well, I don't see a man with all the
buttons on his vest.
- You know we could always dance till he shows up.
- What? No!
Come on...
I'm not a dancer.
It doesn't matter.
No one's watching, my lady.
Oh, I can't do that.
You don't have to.
Neither can I.
- I'm gonna cinch you out.
- What?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
It's too fancy!
What am I doing?
You look beautiful.
It's the flower.
"It's the flower."
I think that's Silas.
Come on, come on.
Excuse me, sir.
Are you Silas?
I am.
My name is Caroline, and this is Russell.
Russell, hi.
And Frank Cordray gave us your name.
Oh, Frank.
How is he?
He hasn't been around in a while.
He's good. We just saw him.
He's, uh... says hello.
Well, why did he send you my way?
Well, we have a bit of a mystery we're
trying to unravel.
We are trying to locate the family of a
soldier who went MIA back in World War II.
His name is Orin Newton.
We have some personal effects that we want
to help get back to the family before Christmas.
Right.
Oh, and I also have this photo.
This is Orin and Frank, and it says on
the back it was taken in 1941.
This weapon here Orin is holding,
that's an M1 carbine.
Right.
And that would have been a standard issue,
correct?
Well, it had only just been approved in 1941.
They would have distributed this weapon to
those most in need of it first.
Maybe that could help you narrow your
search a little more.
Extremely helpful, thank you.
Well, I can do you one more.
I'm going to give you the name of a buddy of
mine who's a bit of a buff on World War II MIAs.
Here's the number.
The name is Peter Kitchenmaster.
That's a heck of a name.
Well, he's a heck of a fella.
Thank you, sir.
This is a big help.
Thank you.
I aim to be of service.
Thank you for yours.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Wow, this day was full of surprises.
It sure was.
Thanks for the lift back to my car.
That was fun.
Yeah.
I think if they ever have another dance,
we should probably go back and do it again.
I don't know about that.
All of my amazing dancing might have just
been beginner's luck.
Well, why don't we just take it
one step at a time?
Was that a joke?
Probably not, if you have to ask, but...
I think we made really great progress today.
Yeah, we did.
We did.
And I'm going to call Peter first thing
tomorrow morning.
Yeah, and then just give me a ring
straight after.
Okay, you got it.
Good night, Watson.
Come on, you know I'm Sherlock.
You look a little bit more like a Watson.
All Sherlock.
Good night.
Good night.
Watson.
She's going to text you.
Don't worry.
I'm not. I'm just... a little bit anxious,
trying to get any news, really.
How's that going?
I can't really tell because I think she likes me,
but then I make any sort of move
and I feel like I just scare her off.
I meant how's it going looking for Orin.
Orin, okay, um...
I still haven't found him,
but I've got some promising clues.
Well, hey, the longer it
takes for you to find Orin,
the longer you have to convince
Caroline not to be scared off.
I mean, I personally
believe in love at first sight,
but there's something
to be said for a slow burn.
I like the way you think.
Here you go.
I know.
Hey, sorry guys.
Parking was nuts.
No problem.
Um, why don't you guys grab a table and
I'll get some drinks?
- You know what I like?
- Devil Whip.
That's right.
Well, oh, there's Santa.
Imagine him trying to parallel park with
eight reindeer.
Now you've just got me thinking about his
sleigh beeping in reverse.
All those reindeer's taking up the spots.
Oh, maybe that's why you were late.
He's coming.
- What?
- Santa's com... right...
He's looking at you.
- Because you've been on the naughty list.
Hi. Are you Caroline?
Um, I don't know. It depends.
Are you the real Santa?
I am Santa.
Santa's helper.
My name's Peter Kitchenmaster.
I work at the mall at Christmas time.
I'm heading to work from here, so...
Well, um, Santa,
in that case, you can sit down.
Thank you.
I gotta admit, I really do
love seeing the looks on
people's faces when I'm
doing regular people's stuff.
Not dressed in this.
I'm Russ.
- Russ, hi.
- Thanks for coming here to meet us.
Russell found the uniform.
Oh, okay.
Okay, I got us hot chocolate.
- Thank you.
- Hi.
Santa.
This is my sister.
This is Jules.
He's Peter.
- Ah, I, uh...
- Oh, don't tell me.
Sometimes it's better not to know.
So, Caroline tells me you have some
important information that we need about Orin.
I do.
Uh, I ran down Orin's information through
my networks.
I found the relative that
received the telegram
that the government had sent informing
Orin's family he was MIA.
And was the relative still alive?
Unfortunately, no.
But I was able to trace them to Orin and
Alice's grandkids.
Oh, and I have, uh, an address
you can look into.
Oh, this is incredible.
Thank you so much.
This is great.
That is the best lead that we've had so far.
We might be able to get this uniform home
in time for Christmas after all.
Well, I hate to cut this short,
but Santa's work is never done.
Oh, thanks so much.
We really appreciate it.
- It was nice meeting you kids.
- Thank you.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you!
That was fun.
That was fun.
It's like a roller coaster.
You better sing it.
...he could fly.
Such a dad joke.
It is a dad joke.
He has a lot of those.
Don't you?
- It's all I have.
Excuse me, guys.
Hey.
Hey, did you meet the guy?
Yeah.
Yeah, it was all great info.
Okay.
Oh, hold on just one second.
Jules, can you hold this for a minute?
- Yeah.
Thank you.
I think...
Dude, I forgot my gloves.
I'll be right back.
- Oh, hey, your phone.
- I'll be right back.
- Okay.
Um... Oh.
Oh.
Hi.
I'm Jules.
Pleasure to meet you, Jules.
You too.
I'm Alton.
Hey, sorry.
Found them.
Uh, what's happening?
It's like I'm not even here.
Yeah, I studied at West Point.
That's great.
- Okay.
- Um, hi.
Hi. Back.
Listen, I have to get these
two back to their store, but...
I have a feeling there's
a little connection here.
Hold on just one second.
Do you want me to give him your number?
Yes.
- Okay.
- Absolutely.
Okay, I'm going to text you Jules' number
so you guys can finish your little conversation.
But for right now, I have to go.
So, say goodbye.
Uh, bye.
Goodbye, Jules.
Bye.
Bye.
Um, he's gorgeous.
Please tell me he's not fresh off a breakup
or has something weird, like
he hates puppies or something.
No, no, he loves puppies
and he has been vetted by me,
me and the United States
Army, so I think he's good.
- There you go.
- Oh, great.
So, so, so, a super sleuth and a matchmaker.
I'm a woman of many talents.
Hey, how's it going?
Yeah, so this address looks like it's only
about 30 minutes away from here.
You should go.
Like, today.
I mean, I think it's a little late to show
up on someone's doorstep.
Can't you call first?
No, no number.
Oh, come on.
Who wouldn't want a completely unexpected visit
from two total strangers during the holidays?
No one.
You know, what we could do is just bring a
little thank you gift to sweeten the deal.
Everybody loves presents.
Where are we going to get one of those?
Come with me. I've an idea.
This Santa is an original Corbin design.
The woman this belonged to, she had a collection
of every single one of these that was ever made.
This collector comes along, picks up the
whole lot, except, see that crack right there?
I guess the collector thought somehow that
the crack made it more fragile or...
less valuable in some way,
but I think that it's a crack
that proves just how strong
something can really be.
Russell, printer's jammed again.
I should probably go rescue her.
Yeah, I have to take off anyway.
Okay, so we'll go to the address tomorrow.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah...
You know what?
We should just make a whole day of it.
There's this incredible little place in
Marionville for this sweet lady.
She makes these German Christmas stollen,
and the outside of the place looks like
it's one of those little ornaments in a
Christmas globe.
Yeah.
Inside, they just go all out.
It looks like a movie in there.
Does that, uh... sound like fun?
Yeah, actually, yes.
- D'you want to go?
- Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Well, text me your address
and I will wrap up Santa.
Okay, goodbye.
Bye.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It doesn't get any more Christmassy than
this, does it?
Except for maybe in your apartment.
That's true.
Wait till you try the stollen.
Ingrid!
Zwei stollen, bitte!
And you speak German.
Ein klein bisschen.
Like two words.
Danke.
- Danke.
What's the other word?
- Right here?
- Yeah.
This place is lovely.
I've been coming here for years.
Oh, okay.
You get the first bite.
- All right, I just...
- Yes.
I'm gonna dig in.
Just dive right in.
Right?
Told you.
No, totally worth the detour.
Okay, so other than this, what's your
favorite Christmas confection?
- My what?
- Confection. Right.
Come on, you have to have some kind of
historical affection with confection.
I don't know.
I like a lot of things.
But I'm just asking for one.
No, I don't want to talk about myself.
What about you?
Let's talk about you.
Like... how did you get started with your
store?
My store?
When I was in college, my ex-girlfriend and I
had somehow gotten involved with these auctions.
You know when people abandoned
their storage units?
Yeah, yeah.
Did you ever find any lost treasure?
No, but I did find that I love things that
have a history.
So she would want to throw everything away.
And I found myself wanting to go through
every single box, every single envelope,
every single pocket.
Yeah, it didn't take us long to realize that
we weren't very good business partners.
But I started collecting things and got my
own storage locker.
When I had enough, I started an online
store.
And then Jules came and helped me after I
built it up a little bit and...
Here we are!
Nice.
So what happened to the girlfriend?
Is the ending of the business the ending
of true love?
True love?
No, I wouldn't call it true love.
I don't think I've ever actually had that
with anybody.
Well, do you want it?
True love?
Absolutely.
But I want the Alison Orin kind of love.
100% all in, forever and ever.
The good and bad, rain or shine.
And you think it's possible?
I do.
I definitely think it's possible.
So one of your relatives used to live
in this house?
No, we're not related.
It's actually kind of complicated to
explain.
But we're trying to track down a World War II
soldier who went MIA.
And he was related to the man that used to
live here.
Does Brad Newton... ring a bell?
We bought the house from one of his kids.
Oh!
They decided to move to Florida.
Did you have a name or an address or any
way we can get in touch with them?
I didn't keep up with them.
Okay.
Thank you.
But I might have some information in the
paperwork from when I bought the house.
I can just go drag it out.
You don't mind?
Sit down. I'll go get it.
- Thank you.
- Great!
Hi there.
Hi.
I don't know you.
No, no you don't, but your mother let us in.
We're just...
- Who's the present for?
This is for you all.
For you all.
Even my big brother?
- Yes.
- Yeah, of course.
He won't like it if it isn't a video game.
Oh, okay.
- There's probably no...
- Are you married?
- What?
- No, no.
You smile at each other like my mom and dad.
And they're married.
Do you have to be married in order to
smile at somebody?
Depends on the smile.
It's got to be in here somewhere.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I know this all can seem a little crazy.
And believe it or not, you're our
best lead so far.
We just really want to get this uniform
back to its family before Christmas if we can.
There!
No, this isn't Brad, it's his son Griffin.
And it's just an email.
And it was four years ago, so I don't know
if the info is still correct.
- I'll take it.
- Wow.
- Do you mind if I take it?
- Oh, sure.
Thank you so much.
Well, I guess we should probably get going.
Yeah, we don't want to take
up any more of your time, so...
- Can we get the present now?
- Oh, right! This...
Yes, there you are, Merry Christmas.
Well, good luck.
I hope you find who you're looking for.
Yeah, we do too.
Okay, thanks.
Merry Christmas.
- Bye -bye.
- Bye.
Bye.
It's definitely not a video game.
Thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
- Well...
- That was fun.
Yeah...
Oh, and thank you for letting me keep
all the leftovers.
Yeah, that's hard for me.
No, I had a really great time.
And I think we're one step closer to
finding Orin.
Yeah.
And I'm going to send that email,
bright and early tomorrow morning, okay?
Sounds great. Oh, and then just call me afterwards
with the results, if you want to, from it.
Or, even better yet, you could just swing
on by the store again.
That was nice.
I mean, I like...
Yeah, yeah, I could do that.
I could... do that.
So, um, just good night.
- Good night.
Thanks for driving.
Okay, bye.
Oh, snow.
Get home safe.
Bye.
Who is that?
This is Alice and Orin before the war.
Oh, they look so in love.
They've no idea what's coming.
Well, nobody knows how things are going to
turn out where love is concerned.
Okay, that said, I wonder if
they would have made different choices,
had they known they could avoid some of this pain.
No, that's not how love works.
If you don't dive in head first blind of
possibilities, then you aren't doing it right.
And you miss a lot of the good stuff.
Okay, all right, that may be true, but not every
woman just wants to dive in head first, Jules.
Well, love is cannonballs and belly flops, pal.
You gotta go for it.
I'm tired of talking to metaphors.
You know I'm talking about Caroline, right?
Yep.
So what are you waiting for?
I'm okay with taking my time.
She needs time and I can give her that.
I love you, big brother,
but if you know what makes you happy,
why wouldn't you want to be happy right now?
Yeah.
Speaking of being happy, excuse me while I
take this phone call.
Hey, Alton.
Come in.
Hey.
Hey.
Dinner's almost ready.
It is cold out there.
Yes, it is.
So, what's going on?
You said you wanna talk?
Yeah, I just, I got a little bit of a problem.
Well, hopefully I have a solution.
Shoot.
I think I like Russell.
That doesn't sound like a problem to me.
Well, I mean, it is if I go away, to London,
you know, if I get the fellowship.
Well, that's only 18 months.
What's the big deal?
I almost had a panic attack in front of him.
What happened?
I was telling him about that...
about that Christmas.
And it was the good part,
it wasn't even the bad part.
I didn't even tell him what happened afterwards.
Caroline.
Hey.
What?
Look at me.
It's okay.
We're both here.
We're both safe.
You know, I just want to do something normal.
I just want to go to dinner with somebody,
you know, but it seems like every time I go...
you know, and I start to like somebody,
I get this feeling that just...
creeps up on me and I almost fall apart.
But you came back from it
and you didn't fall apart.
And even if you did, I'm sure Russell
would have understood.
He's not gonna understand.
People won't understand what we've seen.
Russell deserves a chance to figure out
what he can and can't handle.
You got to stop pushing people away.
You deserve to be happy.
Oh, another dead end.
Maybe you don't want to be found, Orin.
Message received.
I'm not gonna give up yet.
- Come on, come on. Pick up.
- Hello?
Caroline, you have got
to get over here right away.
What have you found?
It's a Christmas miracle.
This is the last of its kind.
It's from Wichita, Kansas.
Just can't believe we still have this around.
Merry Christmas.
- You too.
- Thanks.
- Hi.
- Hey! Okay.
Where is it?
- Where's what?
- The jacket!
- Come, it's right here.
You got to tell me.
Oh, wow.
You were brilliant.
- Don't give him a big head.
- Too late.
So the symbol embedded in the patch in
Orin's jacket is hobo code.
Travelers, when they move through an area,
would mark the trees and the rocks to let
the next person coming along know what to
expect when they enter the area.
Now it's just sold as folk art.
I'm really impressed that you know that.
I know things.
Yes, you do.
Well, so this symbol means hold your tongue.
Oh, okay.
Still confused.
Okay. So the army used to
use this symbol in connection
with an elite unit called
the Special Service Force.
And basically they were responsible for
building all the code during World War II
to get all of the top secret information
across enemy lines.
So Orin was a secret coder.
Well, I mean, if he had that patch,
then he was most definitely from that unit.
Yeah.
But here's the thing. His cover could
have been so deep that even the other
members of his platoon
wouldn't have known about it.
I mean, the army never even fully
acknowledged the unit until after the war.
What does this mean?
Well, it means that when Orin went MIA,
he might actually been on a top secret
mission to infiltrate enemy lines and send
back coded intel.
Orin, you're in, you sly fox, you...
So I reached out to Alton and I asked him if we
could get onto the base into the records office.
And he said we could, tonight.
- I'm in.
- Figured that.
What about you?
Tonight...
Let me see.
Pretty busy...
Well, get our coats.
Please me.
- Hello?
- Miss Upton.
This is Charles Leith from the
Sandringham Scholar Program.
Yes, sir. Hello.
I just wanted to let you know that your
references have proven stellar.
And someone from my
office will be in touch via email
to schedule an online
interview in the coming days.
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Thank you so much, sir.
Good. I look forward to it.
Okay, then.
Bye-bye.
Ready to go?
Yeah, sure.
All right, spitter-patter.
Oh, probably shouldn't forget this.
This... Yeah, this looks good.
Hey.
Hi.
Nice to see you.
You too.
Oh, uh, hey.
Nice to meet you, Russell.
Alton, yeah, these two won't stop talking
about you.
It's all good stuff, of course.
Well, I'm glad.
So I assume you want to get to it?
Yeah, this way.
So I've got some relevant docs pulled off
of my computer if you want to take a look.
Top drawer of the file cabinets,
some documents as well.
Hey, Jules, do you want to go get some
snacks for everyone?
- Sure.
- Okay.
Uh, we'll be right back, just...
Don't set anything on fire, Caroline.
That was one time.
Well, once is enough.
- Fire?
- Don't ask.
Long story.
Okay, there's lots of declassified
information here.
How do you even read this?
I'm trained.
Oh, look at this.
What is it?
So Orin was on a top secret mission.
Even more importantly, he had a cohort.
Went for the name of S.L.
Okay, but who's S.L.?
I don't know what it doesn't say.
So what's the next step?
Well, that's it for this.
Let's check the...
- Okay.
Lots of info, right?
Classified, declassified.
Welcome to my world.
Spy stuff.
Let me get...
I got it!
Sorry.
Are you okay?
Oh, that was a nasty hit.
Oh, yeah.
- Look at me.
- Caroline?
- Stop.
- Caroline?
- Stop it.
- I hear you.
Well, I hope you like grape soda.
- Oh!
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Can you try not to knock yourself out on my watch?
Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no.
I was just, um, I was
looking for some declassified...
information on intelligence personnel,
and it's not in there.
Oh, yeah, we won't have any of that in
there.
But we do have some ledgers and archives I
could order in.
Okay.
How long will that take?
At least a week.
Okay, well, that's getting pretty close to
Christmas, but it's worth a shot.
Well, I think that's the next best step.
Well, in the meantime, it's
getting pretty close to dinner, so...
Should we go get something?
Technically, I'm still on duty,
but we could order something in.
Yeah, Davenport's?
Best burgers in town.
Oh, these eggnog milkshakes from
Davenport's.
That's one reason I know you still visit me.
You blackmailing me?
Fries are also very good.
Hey, you guys must have spent a lot of
Christmases together on duty.
- What was that like?
- Yeah, Caroline told me a little bit about it.
You always seemed to make the best of it.
Yeah... well, it wasn't always the best.
Oh, no, it wasn't.
Yeah, there was this one Christmas Eve where
we were having this little Christmas celebration.
I was telling you a little bit about it.
Yeah.
And we had to go on patrol that night.
Wait, you had to do that on Christmas Eve?
Mm-hmm.
Every night?
Yeah, every night.
But this particular night, we were in a
convoy, and, um, and let's, uh,
let's just say it wasn't a good place to be.
And we were in the same vehicle.
And, uh,
you know what, I'm gonna
spare you guys the details.
Let's just say it was a rough night.
I will tell you this, though.
This woman, she pulled me out of the wreckage.
She saved my life.
Wow... you're a true hero.
Yeah, they gave her the Silver Star.
Excuse me, I'll be right back.
Is there anything I can do to help her?
She doesn't need help, she just needs you
to be patient with her.
Yeah.
I can do that.
Hi, Deb, what's up?
Yeah, look, I found something I think you
might be interested in.
You want to come by?
- I'll be right over.
Okay, bye.
Hey, Deb.
Oh, hey, Russell.
What'd you got for me?
Well, I was just finishing up the clean-out,
and I think I found something.
It's just a garbage bag, but I looked
inside because you can never be sure.
- That's right.
- Ends up it's a whole bag of letters.
You're kidding me.
Letters?
Well, I know you can't sell them,
but I couldn't throw them away.
I know.
Does it say who they're from?
Well, I opened a few of them.
It seems to be a bunch of love letters
between a couple named Alice and Orin.
This is great, Deb.
Oh, you're the best.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Here, take them!
- Okay.
Well, good luck with this engine.
Thanks.
All right.
Here you go.
Stay.
Stay.
Okay.
It's gonna have to do.
You need decorations.
You need decorations.
I don't have any decorations.
Yes, I do.
Hi, Brian.
There you go, buddy.
You've reached Caroline.
Leave a message after the tone.
Hi, it's Russell.
Leave a message after the beep.
- Hey, Jules.
- Hey.
Is Russell here?
Russell left a little bit ago.
And he said he was going to your house.
My house?
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Oh, sorry.
Excuse me.
Hey.
- I called you.
- I called you.
Yeah...
No, I just wanted to tell you something.
Ladies first.
Well, I just had this wild hair and I got
a Christmas tree.
But the thing is, I don't have a tree
stand or ornaments or anything really.
So I just thought that maybe
you could come over and help me
make my house look a
little less like a Grinch's cave.
If you're not busy.
Did you want to say...
- I... Are you kidding me?
Yes.
Help you deGrinch your house?
That's... yes.
But, I just had a really big breakthrough
in our little mystery.
- Yeah?
- Yes. Like really big.
All this stuff is in the store.
Come with me.
We're going to get you some ornaments
and we're going to kill two birds with one stone.
Okay.
Okay, there's coffee.
Thank you.
So... all of Orin and Alice's letters cover
the entire war.
Right?
But the Christmas card is 1944.
And after that, all correspondence stops.
Hey, come here.
Look at this.
Show me.
So, look at the handwriting in both of
their letters.
It's very stylized, right?
And I mean, at first, I just thought it
was the penmanship of the time period.
But if you look closely, see the slants in
the lines?
You see that?
It's creating shapes within the letters.
Repeating... shapes.
What do you think that means?
I think it means they were communicating
in code.
What if Alice is SL?
Russell, if that's the case, then this
could be a massive discovery,
because that would mean that all of these letters
contain military intelligence.
This could be huge!
Whoa...
We need headquarters.
Okay.
Oh, that's a V.
- Yeah, which makes this a P.
- Now, why is that now?
That's just a guess.
This is kind of like a puzzle, you know?
Oh, one second.
Oh, we thought you could use some coffee.
And company.
Yes, please, come on in.
Thank you.
I thought you were on duty.
Well, I told my commanding officer that my
old army buddy needed some help.
So he let me take a couple days leave.
Well, thank you for doing that,
because clearly we can use it.
Yeah, wow.
Is this how you run your station, Major?
I know, I've become lax in my civilian life.
That's why I'm here.
Okay, well, let me walk you through this.
From the little bit that I can gather,
I think that Orin was passing on
enemy intelligence to Alice and then Alice
was passing it to the American government.
So does that mean their whole relationship
was a cover?
It could have been, but I don't think so.
This is different.
You know, all of this personal romantic
information, it's so detailed,
it's so woven through these letters.
Just, I don't know.
I think it's different with these two.
Yeah.
You know, this intel would have been
incredible help for the Allies.
For sure.
This code is so intricate.
But from what I can gather with Alice's
last letter, I actually think that she was
trying to signal him and tell him that he
was going to be extracted on Christmas Eve.
But the question remains whether or not
the extraction was successful.
Yes.
And we still don't know whether or not
they were ever reunited.
Well, the ledgers we've been waiting on
should arrive in the next few days.
I sure hope they bring some good news,
because Christmas is sneaking up on us
and I just can't stop thinking about Orin's family
getting this jacket sometime before Christmas.
Hmm.
Oh, well, I'm going to be of no use if I
don't get a shower and a nap.
Should we just rendez-vous tomorrow,
bright and early?
Yes, it's a great idea.
Well, see you guys tomorrow.
Can I walk you to your car?
Oh, uh, no.
Jules can let me out.
Thank you.
Caroline.
Yeah.
I can be patient.
And if our friends Alice
and Orin taught us anything,
it's that if two people are
meant to be together, they will be.
Yeah.
I just need to make some decisions.
Yeah, like I said, not going to push.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Okay.
Get some sleep.
You get some sleep.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Good night.
Hello?
Miss Upton, this is Charles Leith.
Professor Leith?
Oh, it suddenly occurs to me that with the
time difference, it might be quite late for you.
Oh, no, don't worry about it, sir.
I'm still awake.
Oh, well, I just wanted to inform you that, uh,
that we would like to offer you the fellowship.
You'll be starting in the New Year.
Are you... are you serious?
I... I don't know what to say.
Thank you so much.
I'm honored.
Well, the board was particularly
moved by your decision
to focus on the importance
of the west front in wartime.
We are very much looking forward to what
you will discover.
Well, I am very much on my way in that
regard, sir.
Good to hear.
Well, I'll let you go.
We'll send you along an email
with further information.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate this call.
And Merry Christmas.
Happy Christmas.
Before we go inside, I have some news.
So, what's the intel?
Well, I, uh, I got the fellowship.
What? That's great!
Yeah, yeah.
But, uh, I didn't tell Russell.
You didn't tell him?
No.
I didn't think I would need to.
So basically, you chickened out.
I didn't chicken out.
I did not chicken out, okay?
Think about it.
Why would I start a new relationship right now?
I'm getting ready to leave town.
Once again, 18 months isn't forever.
I'm not buying your excuses.
I'm not making excuses.
Caroline.
What?
You're making excuses.
I hate when you're right.
Yeah, I am making excuses.
You wanna know why?
Because I don't feel like a whole person,
you know?
And I really like this guy.
I do.
I didn't think I was gonna meet anybody like him.
And to be honest with you, I think he
deserves better.
Russell cares about you.
Everything about you.
The good and the bad.
And you know what?
That stuff isn't even bad.
It's just part of us.
- But it's easier for you.
- It's not.
It's scary.
And I have no idea what's gonna happen.
But believe me, the benefits outweigh the risk.
You're not doing a proper risk assessment,
soldier.
Okay.
Well, listen, can you just keep this
between us for right now?
Please.
Well, you're lucky.
The ledgers are in.
My assistant went through them.
She's gonna send through what she found.
So, we have plenty of other stuff to talk
about.
Thank you.
You can't avoid it forever.
Oh, yeah, it should be here.
- Here, set it up right here.
- Okay.
It is go time.
Oh, holding my breath.
Is that the email?
Has she said what she found?
Only that we'll be surprised.
Based on the documentation, it looks like
Orin was extracted in 1944.
Okay, good.
But his team was forced into hiding while
trying to escape back into allied territory.
Did he make it back?
Orin was listed as missing in action for
several months.
Please don't tell me that means he's...
But they did make it back to the safe zone
sometime in 1945.
And Orin was allowed to return to the US
where he spent the remainder of the war...
working in intelligence.
There we go!
Does it say anything about him marrying Alice?
I don't know.
I can't see any other records of either an Orin
Newton or an Alice Tilbury once the war ended.
I don't understand.
What does that mean?
It's like they ceased to exist.
- Where are those letters?
- In the back.
- Show me.
- Follow me.
Okay.
Hey, can you grab me that coder?
- This one?
- Yeah.
What do you see?
Thank you.
Pen?
Pencil?
Hold on.
Just give me a second.
What'd you find?
There's a second code.
What?
There's a second code.
Alice and Orin were trying to make plans
without anybody knowing.
Plans for what?
I mean, I don't know.
I'd have to spend a little bit more time
with these, but I think that they were
trying to make plans to disappear after
the war to protect themselves and their
families due to the dangerous nature of
their mission.
Like a witness protection.
Right, but then the question is,
who did Orin and Alice become?
It's gotta be in here somewhere.
Oh, this could be tricky.
Can you grab me that photo that you found?
Yeah.
This one?
- Yeah.
Swanson's Lodge...
That's Al.
Yeah, it's Alice coding Marcel.
Swanson's Lodge.
Hey, does anyone have a cell phone I could borrow?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Swanson's Lodge.
Okay, it is an hour away from here.
And it says it was run by a couple named
Gerald and Doris Wheaton,
who bought the camp from its original owner
shortly after World War II.
Gerald and Doris passed away in 2013.
However, the Wheaton family still owns it.
It's them.
It's them?
What?
That's them?
You... did it!
You did it!
- You did it.
- We did it.
Yeah, we did.
And they literally lived happily ever after.
Yeah, get out.
Yes!
Team work.
Wow.
Yeah, serious.
Come on.
That's them, huh?
That is them right there.
This might seem a little bit forward,
but it's one who might consider having...
Christmas with us.
You know, Jules, me, and, you know, Alton.
He'd come?
Yeah, I have to go.
Yeah, yeah.
I know it's been a big day, it's...
We can just talk about it tomorrow.
No problem.
No, I have to go, meaning...
I have to leave the country.
What?
Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.
I just, uh...
I wasn't sure that...
Because I just... I didn't know
what was going to happen here.
But, um...
I've been offered the
Sandringham Scholar Fellowship.
And it's very prestigious.
And... it's in London.
And... I'm gonna go.
I'm so happy for you.
That is...
Wow, that's a big deal.
Thank you.
And I'm happy that we found
Alice and Orin, and you were
able to give that family a
really great Christmas gift.
Because I know that's really important to you.
It's important to you, too.
I couldn't have done any of this without you.
You can move your flight
to the day after Christmas.
It's easy.
Look, I really do want to be here.
I do.
You can.
But this is a very fast-paced program,
and I need to hit the ground running.
Yeah.
I understand.
Hey, but we had fun, right?
Running around the town like a couple of
teenagers, looking for clues.
Like we were in our little fairy tale.
But I'm a realist.
And... I know that the longer I stay here,
the harder it's going to be for me to leave.
So... I'm gonna go.
So this is Merry Christmas and goodbye.
Merry Christmas.
Wow, this is it.
I sure wish Caroline was here.
So do I, but hey, look on the bright side,
at least I could fast-track
the declassification of these letters so we
could bring them home to Orin's family, huh?
- That's true.
- Hey, and we'll take lots of pictures.
I know, but she would have loved this.
Welcome.
- Thank you.
- Hi!
Sure see the resemblance.
Thank you.
Angel, hi.
Nice to meet you.
- I'm Russ.
- Thanks so much for coming.
We're so excited.
Come on in.
- Okay.
Welcome.
Wow.
This is beautiful.
It's all Nana's things.
Grandpap built it with his own hands.
Wow.
Orin, Gerald, I don't know
what to call him anymore.
We just called him grandpap.
Well, grandpap was man of many talents.
I know.
We've been learning all about him and
Nana's secret code.
Sorry, what?
The secret code?
You don't have any letters yet.
I've been telling them.
Caroline... what are you doing here?
You're meant to be on a plane to London.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
I just decided to move my flight until after
Christmas because I wanted to be here for this.
And I, I wanted to speak with you.
But... I thought you didn't want to.
What's changed?
Look... I come with a lot of bumps and bruises.
And some of them you can't see.
And I was just afraid that you couldn't handle it.
I thought I was going to scare you away.
There's nothing about you or your past
that scares me at all.
Orin's uniform wasn't placed in my hands
by chance.
I didn't find you by chance.
This was a gift from God.
This was meant to be.
I fell for you the very minute that I saw
you in that cafe.
You did?
I did.
I've never been more certain about
anything in my life, but this,
this is what true love feels like.
So I don't know what to do, but we'll just
figure this out.
But I'm all in.
It'd be more fun if you were also all in.
I'm all in.
You know, this uniform's waited an awfully
long time for its reunion.
Yeah.
I think we should go.
- Yeah.
Go ahead.
Welcome home.
Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
- Sure.
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin, mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild.
Sleep at night
- Deb!
Well, that was fast.
So what if there's a long lost painting in
one of these boxes worth millions of dollars?
Don't get your hopes up.
My Aunt Sarah never met a garage sale she
didn't like.
And lucky me, I have inherited all her
bounty.
Yeah, so you're getting rid of everything?
Yep, I'm turning this into a studio for my
lime dancing class.
- That sounds fun.
- It is.
Well, thanks for giving me first dibs.
I'm thinking like 15 bucks a box.
Does that sound fair to you?
- More than fair, yes.
You sure you don't want
to go through with me and
make sure there's something
you don't want to keep?
No, no, no.
I gotta get my Christmas cards out before
my big sister.
Well, I'll just come in and settle up when
I'm done.
Yep, have fun.
Okay, all right.
You're a legend, Deb.
I know.
This is a good paper.
I think you can make it great.
You're one of my best students.
There's a book that I want you to read.
Hold on just one second.
Let me find it.
Right here.
So this is basically a psychology book,
but there's a chapter in there that talks
about how the men and women of our
military celebrated the holidays on the war front.
But my paper is on Operation Torch.
Right.
I'm not asking you to change your subject.
I just, I think it's going to help you think
outside the boundaries of weaponry and formations.
Because war is personal.
And I want you to take a personal approach
to your writing.
I want you to get inside the heads of our
soldiers and just know what even a small
piece of home can do for them.
You know, the heart of the battlefield is
not weapons.
It's people.
I understand.
You can use that.
Okay, all right.
I look forward to a second draft.
Thank you, professor.
You're welcome.
You can do this.
Hey.
Hey.
Morale seems high amongst the troops.
Major Upton.
Oh, good leader always brings out the best
in her soldier smear.
How you doing?
You look strong.
Hey, feeling strong.
Well, what do I owe this visit?
Well, university library received a
donation to some old war office reports,
and they asked archives to authenticate
them.
I figured I could wrap in a visit to my
favorite commanding officer.
Former commanding officer.
You know, I really can't get used to the
fact that I can't boss you around anymore.
It is the least favorite part about
retiring for me.
Yeah, I wonder who you're
gonna boss around when you're
off in Mary Olden and being
a fancy Sandringham scholar.
Well, I haven't heard back from the
committee yet, but they are supposed to
email the finalists for the fellowship
this week.
So, fingers crossed.
Well, I know how much this means to you.
I'm sure you get it.
You know, Major Caroline Upton, always
succeeds at her mission.
Well, in the meantime, why
don't you help me take my
mind off of it and let me
help you with these reports?
Yes, ma'am.
Hey, hey.
Hey, hey, big bro.
Most of these boxes I haven't even opened
yet.
Well, whatever we don't keep for the
store, we can just donate.
Hey, bro.
Yep.
Oh, come on.
Every time!
It's definitely for the donate pop.
Come look at this.
Wow.
This is a World War II jacket.
This soldier was heavily decorated.
Wow.
Look at that.
Some of the ribbons are missing.
Is there a name?
I don't know.
Let's look.
Sometimes it's on the inside of the jacket
or inside the pocket.
Let's see.
Yep, look at that.
O.
Newton.
What is... What is this?
Oh.
Oh, from Alice to my true love,
Orin.
Wow.
It's a love letter.
- Read it.
- Okay, okay.
Dearest Orin, without you, Christmas is
just a shell of a holiday.
Like one of those displays
that you see in the window
of the five and dime all
drippy with Christmas presents.
You can see the gifts, but you can't touch
them through the glass.
Oh, how I miss holding your hand.
Going to be a lonely season, but no matter
how many tears I shed while you're away,
it doesn't hold a candle
to your brave sacrifice.
I'll be thinking of you on Christmas day, waiting
underneath the mistletoe for you to return.
You're in my thoughts, my prayers,
and my heart.
You're always loving Alice.
That is so sweet.
Why don't people write letters like this
anymore?
This is history.
This should not be just jammed away in
some box somewhere.
We have to get this back to Orin and Alice.
Oh, this was so long ago.
Do you think they're even still alive?
It's possible, right?
I mean, the family, they would be
somewhere.
Maybe I could find a way to track them down.
Why don't we try searching his name?
Let's start there.
Okay.
Orin.
Newton.
Fingers crossed.
That didn't look so good.
I'm not seeing any Orin Newtons serving in
World War II.
I guess that would have been too easy.
Okay.
Let's bring in a professional then.
Here's a military forum.
Yeah.
Okay.
Recently found a World War II uniform.
I want to get it back to its rightful owner.
I'm near Bardwell.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Russell.
In!
Godspeed.
Yes.
Russell, I am a professor of military
history at Bardwell College.
Since you're local, I'd be happy to take a
look at the uniform to see if I can help.
Hi.
Are you Caroline?
Yes, you're Russell?
That's right.
Yeah, that's me.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, thanks so much for meeting me on
such short notice, I guess.
No problem.
Is this the uniform?
- This is it.
- Okay.
I'm trying to get it back to them
by Christmas, so it's...
Oh, all right.
Well, let's take a look.
Oh, I got you a coffee.
- Oh, thank you.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
So I looked everywhere online to try to
find Orin, but nothing.
Wow.
Oh, this is so cool.
It's actually in pretty good condition.
So here's what I can tell you
right off the bat.
It definitely is a dress uniform for an
army officer.
And you were right.
It's World War II.
Very good.
There's ribbons missing.
I'm assuming some patches.
However, this one is very important.
This is Orin's division patch.
So I think that's probably a good place
for us to start.
Great.
Oh, and this is the letter.
The letter...
So fragile.
Look at her.
She's beautiful.
Oh, Russell, I got to be honest with you.
Sometimes these young men, they didn't
make it back from the war.
This may not have a happy ending.
Well, it is a season of hope, right?
So here's hoping.
Yeah.
You know, I was stationed overseas, and...
I can tell you that any communication
with home, it's a lifeline.
I mean, sometimes the only thing
that keeps you going
is knowing that there's
someone at home waiting for you.
But I mean, now there's cell phones and
email and all of that.
But back then, think about it.
I mean, this fragile little piece of paper,
this had to cross oceans and war,
just to get to someone, you know?
It meant something.
It was special.
Shoot straight with me here.
Do we stand any chance to find this guy?
- It's hard to say right now.
- OK.
However, I would like to take this home,
take a closer look at it,
maybe take some pictures, if you're OK with that.
You're not some international vintage
uniform thief, are you?
I mean, how do I know that I can trust
you?
Would an untrustworthy person buy you coffee?
That's a pretty good point.
You bought.
I don't want to take up too much more of
your time.
Thank you.
Yeah, OK.
So you mentioned that you were a professor,
at Bardwell.
I am, yes.
You know, we are actually
on Christmas break right now, which...
makes it easy for me to go sleuthing with you.
Even so, it's Christmas.
It's a busy time with family and friends,
so I appreciate it.
Well, I just moved here this summer,
so I don't really have any friends yet.
I'll be your friend.
Where'd you move from?
All over, I guess.
I just retired from the military.
Ah, what'd you do there?
I was an MI officer.
What's that again?
Military intelligence.
Oh, OK.
And you were an officer?
- I was a major.
- Wow!
If you don't mind me asking,
what made you retire?
Did you get injured or...
Uh, hmm, I guess you could, um, you could
just say that not every wound requires stitches.
Right.
I'm sorry, I didn't, I didn't mean to pry.
No, no, no, no.
Look, it's fine.
The Army gave me far more than it ever
took for me.
Well, let's hope the Army gave you good
sleuthing skills, because we're going to need it.
Yes, we are.
All right, well, I'm going to take this home
and get started on it, and I'll call you tomorrow.
Sounds great.
Looking forward to it.
- It's nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Hey, Caroline.
Hey.
Hey, did you hear back about the
fellowship?
No, not yet.
But in the meantime, I have a little
project for you.
Bring on the challenge.
So I met this guy.
What do you need me to look up?
You want some...
driving records, you know,
employment history, blood type?
No, I'm not trying to spy on him.
I met him online.
You're finally trying online dating.
I told you there's nothing to be afraid
of.
In my military history forum.
He found this old uniform,
and he's asked me to help him
locate the soldier it belonged to.
Dang it.
I thought we might finally get you married off.
No such luck.
So listen, I'm gonna send you some
pictures of the uniform,
I want you to tell me everything that you can
find out about this soldier named Orin Newton.
Will do.
But hey, tell me more about this guy.
Did you meet in person?
Did you guys share any hobbies?
I'm hanging out the phone now.
Over there, batteries.
Okay.
Hi, welcome to Past Residence.
Can I help you find anything?
Hi, actually, I'm just gonna wait to speak
to Russell if that's okay.
Oh, you must be Caroline.
Yes.
I'm Russell's sister, Jules.
- Nice to meet you.
- You too.
Isn't that great?
I came up with that.
Russell has not stopped talking about you.
He's so thankful for your help.
I swear it never gets old.
- Hey, thanks for that.
- Hi, welcome.
Thanks so much for stopping by the store.
We get slammed around here at Christmas time.
Yeah, I see that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I wanted to come and give you an
update in person.
Right.
Excuse me, sorry.
I mean, of course, and bring this back to you.
There it is.
Also, he's very loud.
There we go.
Jules, could you do me a solid and just
handle the shop for a few minutes?
Yeah, sure thing.
I live in the loft.
In the back, it's quieter there.
- Okay.
- After you.
Oh, wow.
You really do Christmas, don't you?
Yeah, what do you think, too much?
No, no, not at all.
You have two Christmas trees.
I don't even have one.
I don't even have any ornaments either.
Well, you know, I do have a store,
and we could probably work out a deal.
Yeah, I'm not much of a decorator.
Let me show you something.
Oh, hey, buddy.
So, this is, uh, this is Brian.
This little guy is how I got started in
all of this.
Oh, well, Brian is ugly.
But, well, no, no, no, listen.
I don't know. In your world,
he might be a collector's item.
No, it's pretty much the ugliest thing
I've ever seen in my life.
And I think that you should borrow him.
Okay.
- Well, have a seat. Have a seat!
- Thank you.
- Can I make you a coffee or, uh...
- Uh, no, no, I'm fine. Thank you, though.
Okay.
So, you have an update?
Okay.
Well, uh, I reached out to an army buddy
friend of mine.
He works in historical records, and I
asked him to check out Orin's division.
And he was able to confirm that Orin was
in Europe at the time of Alice's letter.
Really?
That's great.
What else did he say?
He also said that Orin's platoon was on a
mission to go behind enemy lines on,
get this, on Christmas Eve of that year.
But records state that he was captured.
Then the trail goes stale after that.
Do you think this means he didn't make it
back home?
No, not necessarily.
MIA records of that time here were often
lost or just not updated after the war.
That's not looking very good, is it?
Well, I'm not gonna give up.
But can I ask you a question?
Yeah, sure.
Why is this so important to you?
Well, with this uniform, I have an opportunity
here to get something back to its original owner.
And that never happens.
That is rare.
Plus, I'm a little bit of a romantic.
I just love the way fate
ties everything together.
Well, I don't believe in fate much,
but I do love a good mystery.
Yeah, so do I.
I just love being a part of the whole
story.
Especially if it has a happy ending.
Yeah, I hope this has one.
We could use a little bit more of that in
the world right now.
That is for sure.
So what's next?
Well, I have a few errands to run first.
But, here's what I think we need to do.
Let's meet up at Bardwell University Library
because they have an extensive
military history archive.
Just do some more digging.
Let's say... around 2:30?
Okay.
Okay, great.
- But I have one condition now.
- What's that?
That you let me make you dinner.
Just to say thank you.
No, you don't have to do that.
No, I insist.
You're putting in all this time, it's...
the least I can do.
I mean, you did loan me Brian.
Please take good care of him.
Okay, see ya.
This is so stupid.
Could you clarify what "this" is?
Since I've been wearing a uniform
for 10 years, apparently it means
I don't know how to put together
an outfit on my own.
Oh, you're lucky I'm here then.
I just... I don't want you to freak out
or be weird.
Does it appear that I'm freaked out?
I'm having dinner with the uniform guy.
He's cooking for me.
- He's cooking for you...
See? There you go.
You're being weird.
I'm not. I'm not.
It's just friends, all right?
I just don't want to look like I'm getting
ready to teach a class.
That is true.
You do have to mark a cornet
on button downs and blazers.
Don't make fun of me.
I'm not.
Okay, what about the dress you wore to
Anderson's wedding?
No, no, no.
That's too much.
It's just dinner at his apartment.
First of all, there's no such thing.
And second of all, you look great in that
dress, and I know you feel great.
So just go feel great and let this guy
cook you some dinner.
Let's see the dress.
Okay.
Here it is.
I mean, that dinner might start as a friend thing,
but that is ending with sparks.
Okay, I knew you should have never
invited you over here.
You have to go.
- No, I just got here.
I know, but I have to meet him in 30 minutes.
Come on.
Okay.
Well, hey, I expect a full...
A full debrief!
Goodbye, Al.
Bye!
Hi.
Have you been waiting long?
Nah, not at all.
Okay.
Well, follow me.
- Okay.
- I have a little in with the librarian.
She always gets things all set up for me.
Really?
You have an in with the librarian?
How much time do you spend here?
All right, it's right here.
Wow.
My librarian wouldn't do this for me.
She's actually quite mean.
Well, I may or may not have bribed her
with a little coffee and donuts.
Ah, is that one of your high level
negotiation tactics from the army?
Work smarter, not harder.
Right.
What?
This?
Well, it's just a dress I found in my closet.
And I...
Thank you.
All right.
Okay, here you go.
Start reading.
- Okay.
Okay, so this is interesting.
Yeah?
So there were a few ribbons left
on Orin's jacket.
Yep.
And I'm no World War II specialist, so I
didn't recognize the foreign decoration.
What's foreign decoration again?
A foreign decoration is a military award
bestowed by foreign government.
And this one right here, this is from
France.
This is the Croix de Guerre.
And it says it's awarded for heroism in combat.
So our man Orin was a true hero.
Yeah, and this commendation would have
been rare.
So, you know, I actually think we could
use that to our advantage.
What we should do is just research a list
of American recipients.
I actually think that might lead us to
what happened to Orin.
How'd you do that?
Do what?
What you just did, that was incredibly fast.
Well, I was just lucky that he had that award.
I'm impressed.
Well, I do know what I'm looking for.
I think we may have found our man.
Well, I think that we are definitely one
step closer, yes.
But we still have a lot of reading to do.
Yes.
Well, what I'd love to hear is one of your
Christmas stories when you're in the military.
Oh, this is so long ago.
Whoa, you made that?
Sure did, from scratch.
That is beautiful.
Thank you very much.
Raspberry panna cotta.
You didn't make that.
I made that.
That's very good.
Okay, back to your story.
I don't really want to talk about myself.
What about you?
I want to hear some of your favorite
Christmas memories.
That's easy.
It was our very first Christmas,
with our foster parents, who eventually
ended up adopting Jules and I.
It was a...
Dad brought home this rescue pup
named Marvin.
Marvin?
Yeah, just so that we would feel... welcome.
So you were adopted.
I was adopted, yes.
Oh.
- What?
- You're deflecting.
- I'm not!
You're making me talk about my story.
Okay, back to your Christmas story.
I mean, my story's in the desert.
It's not Evergreen and Holly.
That's okay.
I can handle it.
Well, you know, it's interesting how
different people celebrate the holidays.
There's the ones who try to make it as
close to home as possible.
And then others just try to forget it.
Which one are you?
Oh, I'm definitely the forget-it kind.
Oh, I forgot the coffee.
Oh, speaking of forgetting it.
You can't have dessert without coffee.
Thank you.
Here, come.
Okay, continue.
Let's see. Well, this Christmas in particular,
one of my guys got this big care package
full of all of this Christmas stuff.
There was a tree, there was lights, tinsel.
Anyway, we put it all up and we had
this little party.
And it was so simple.
Sat around, much like we're doing right
here, right now.
And we just talked about our families.
And some people laughed,
some people cried.
It was nice.
I'd have to say it was probably one of my
favorite Christmases.
That sounds nice.
I guess it doesn't take a lot to make magic
when all you're surrounded with is war.
And it's odd because I miss it sometimes.
I mean, not in the war,
but the sense of family.
Sense of a common purpose.
Because I'm telling you, you can come back
here and you don't know what your purpose is.
You don't even know how to be normal anymore.
And I struggle with that.
You know what? I just realized
that I have an early meeting.
- It's okay.
- Tomorrow morning.
I apologize, but I really should get going.
It's okay.
Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Hey, just at least let me walk you to your car.
Not necessary.
But hey, thank you for that dinner.
It was really good.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Everything okay?
- Yeah.
- Come in, it's freezing.
- Thanks.
I thought maybe I had given you food
poisoning or something.
No, your food was great, yeah.
And I didn't offend you or make you talk about
something you weren't quite ready to talk about yet.
No, no, you didn't offend me,
but thank you.
Okay, good, okay.
- I have something to tell you.
- Okay.
- We got a lead.
- No!
Yes, the Croix de Guerre.
It panned out.
So it just so happens that
there was another soldier
in Orin's platoon that was
awarded the same medal.
Here's the thing.
He lives not too far away from here.
He said he remembers Orin.
I told him the story.
He is willing to talk to us.
And he said we could come this afternoon.
I mean, if you can break away,
because I know that you're busy.
It's Christmas time.
Hold on to that thought.
Jules got a big lead.
You're in charge.
For now, because I'm the boss.
Oh, oh, one last thing.
Yep?
Driver gets to pick the tunes.
And if it's not Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole,
it doesn't really count as a Christmas song.
Perry Cuomo?
Dependable alternate, yes.
Okay.
Maybe we'll get along.
Just fine then.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Cordray,
for taking the time.
Well, time's about all I've got left to give...
these days.
So, you want to hear about Orrin Newton?
Yes.
Did you know him?
We served together for three years.
He's one of the cleverest fellows I ever knew.
Could fix anything.
And was always looking out for other people.
We've been trying to find out anything
about him that we could.
Yes, and here you are, just a couple hours away.
Well, God has a funny way of putting the
right people together, don't you think?
So, did Orrin ever talk about his
girlfriend, Alice?
Oh, yes.
He was sure smitten with her.
Always talking about how he was going to ask
her to marry him the minute he made it home.
None of us were sure we were going to
make it home at that point.
But I had this feeling Orrin and Alice
would see each other again.
Orrin got more letters than all the other boys.
That Alice was a big writer.
He was lucky.
Do you have any idea what happened to him?
Well... he and I got captured, on a mission.
We were separated almost immediately.
I never saw him again.
When I got rescued, they sent me home.
I just wanted to put the war behind me forever.
I did eventually look up Orrin a few times
over the years.
I never found him.
But that doesn't mean that he didn't survive.
Right.
Well, I don't blame you for not wanting to
talk about some of the things that you saw.
Well, I'm sorry I don't have any more
information for you two.
But I did dig this up.
That was us in better days.
Oh, well, you two were very handsome.
Well, I'll take the compliment.
Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you.
I have a friend named Silas.
He's a major World War II history buff.
He's got a mind like an encyclopedia.
And if there's something he doesn't know,
he'll know someone who does.
He's at the local VFW branch.
He's the fellow with all the pins on his vest.
I wrote down his info.
Oh, this is wonderful.
- It's great.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
Well, oh, uh... do you like your photo back?
Oh, no, please keep it.
- Are you sure?
- Oh, yes.
Okay.
Well, thank you for your service, sir.
Yeah.
- Bye, Frank.
- Thank you, Frank. Merry Christmas.
You know, better not let anyone
steal her away from you.
Oh, no, no, no, no, we're not...
We're just... Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Bye, Frank.
Bye-bye.
Well, it's still early.
Yeah?
So we could go by the VFW and see if
they're open.
I mean, if you want to, but I could always
just go by myself later.
No way, are you kidding me?
I'm totally digging this whole
mystery duo thing.
We're like Cagney and Lacey.
Starsky and Hutch, Sherlock and Watson.
Well, I'm definitely Sherlock and that duo.
Oh, to be determined.
Come on, let's go, Watson.
Thank you.
They must be having a fundraiser.
Ah, well, anything for a good cause...
Uh, two, please.
Here you go.
Thank you.
Thanks.
You look great.
It's like we step back into 1942.
It's so great they do this.
Oh, my, I feel very underdressed.
No, you look great.
Here...
For your hair.
There you go.
Thank you.
Well, I don't see a man with all the
buttons on his vest.
- You know we could always dance till he shows up.
- What? No!
Come on...
I'm not a dancer.
It doesn't matter.
No one's watching, my lady.
Oh, I can't do that.
You don't have to.
Neither can I.
- I'm gonna cinch you out.
- What?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
It's too fancy!
What am I doing?
You look beautiful.
It's the flower.
"It's the flower."
I think that's Silas.
Come on, come on.
Excuse me, sir.
Are you Silas?
I am.
My name is Caroline, and this is Russell.
Russell, hi.
And Frank Cordray gave us your name.
Oh, Frank.
How is he?
He hasn't been around in a while.
He's good. We just saw him.
He's, uh... says hello.
Well, why did he send you my way?
Well, we have a bit of a mystery we're
trying to unravel.
We are trying to locate the family of a
soldier who went MIA back in World War II.
His name is Orin Newton.
We have some personal effects that we want
to help get back to the family before Christmas.
Right.
Oh, and I also have this photo.
This is Orin and Frank, and it says on
the back it was taken in 1941.
This weapon here Orin is holding,
that's an M1 carbine.
Right.
And that would have been a standard issue,
correct?
Well, it had only just been approved in 1941.
They would have distributed this weapon to
those most in need of it first.
Maybe that could help you narrow your
search a little more.
Extremely helpful, thank you.
Well, I can do you one more.
I'm going to give you the name of a buddy of
mine who's a bit of a buff on World War II MIAs.
Here's the number.
The name is Peter Kitchenmaster.
That's a heck of a name.
Well, he's a heck of a fella.
Thank you, sir.
This is a big help.
Thank you.
I aim to be of service.
Thank you for yours.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Wow, this day was full of surprises.
It sure was.
Thanks for the lift back to my car.
That was fun.
Yeah.
I think if they ever have another dance,
we should probably go back and do it again.
I don't know about that.
All of my amazing dancing might have just
been beginner's luck.
Well, why don't we just take it
one step at a time?
Was that a joke?
Probably not, if you have to ask, but...
I think we made really great progress today.
Yeah, we did.
We did.
And I'm going to call Peter first thing
tomorrow morning.
Yeah, and then just give me a ring
straight after.
Okay, you got it.
Good night, Watson.
Come on, you know I'm Sherlock.
You look a little bit more like a Watson.
All Sherlock.
Good night.
Good night.
Watson.
She's going to text you.
Don't worry.
I'm not. I'm just... a little bit anxious,
trying to get any news, really.
How's that going?
I can't really tell because I think she likes me,
but then I make any sort of move
and I feel like I just scare her off.
I meant how's it going looking for Orin.
Orin, okay, um...
I still haven't found him,
but I've got some promising clues.
Well, hey, the longer it
takes for you to find Orin,
the longer you have to convince
Caroline not to be scared off.
I mean, I personally
believe in love at first sight,
but there's something
to be said for a slow burn.
I like the way you think.
Here you go.
I know.
Hey, sorry guys.
Parking was nuts.
No problem.
Um, why don't you guys grab a table and
I'll get some drinks?
- You know what I like?
- Devil Whip.
That's right.
Well, oh, there's Santa.
Imagine him trying to parallel park with
eight reindeer.
Now you've just got me thinking about his
sleigh beeping in reverse.
All those reindeer's taking up the spots.
Oh, maybe that's why you were late.
He's coming.
- What?
- Santa's com... right...
He's looking at you.
- Because you've been on the naughty list.
Hi. Are you Caroline?
Um, I don't know. It depends.
Are you the real Santa?
I am Santa.
Santa's helper.
My name's Peter Kitchenmaster.
I work at the mall at Christmas time.
I'm heading to work from here, so...
Well, um, Santa,
in that case, you can sit down.
Thank you.
I gotta admit, I really do
love seeing the looks on
people's faces when I'm
doing regular people's stuff.
Not dressed in this.
I'm Russ.
- Russ, hi.
- Thanks for coming here to meet us.
Russell found the uniform.
Oh, okay.
Okay, I got us hot chocolate.
- Thank you.
- Hi.
Santa.
This is my sister.
This is Jules.
He's Peter.
- Ah, I, uh...
- Oh, don't tell me.
Sometimes it's better not to know.
So, Caroline tells me you have some
important information that we need about Orin.
I do.
Uh, I ran down Orin's information through
my networks.
I found the relative that
received the telegram
that the government had sent informing
Orin's family he was MIA.
And was the relative still alive?
Unfortunately, no.
But I was able to trace them to Orin and
Alice's grandkids.
Oh, and I have, uh, an address
you can look into.
Oh, this is incredible.
Thank you so much.
This is great.
That is the best lead that we've had so far.
We might be able to get this uniform home
in time for Christmas after all.
Well, I hate to cut this short,
but Santa's work is never done.
Oh, thanks so much.
We really appreciate it.
- It was nice meeting you kids.
- Thank you.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you!
That was fun.
That was fun.
It's like a roller coaster.
You better sing it.
...he could fly.
Such a dad joke.
It is a dad joke.
He has a lot of those.
Don't you?
- It's all I have.
Excuse me, guys.
Hey.
Hey, did you meet the guy?
Yeah.
Yeah, it was all great info.
Okay.
Oh, hold on just one second.
Jules, can you hold this for a minute?
- Yeah.
Thank you.
I think...
Dude, I forgot my gloves.
I'll be right back.
- Oh, hey, your phone.
- I'll be right back.
- Okay.
Um... Oh.
Oh.
Hi.
I'm Jules.
Pleasure to meet you, Jules.
You too.
I'm Alton.
Hey, sorry.
Found them.
Uh, what's happening?
It's like I'm not even here.
Yeah, I studied at West Point.
That's great.
- Okay.
- Um, hi.
Hi. Back.
Listen, I have to get these
two back to their store, but...
I have a feeling there's
a little connection here.
Hold on just one second.
Do you want me to give him your number?
Yes.
- Okay.
- Absolutely.
Okay, I'm going to text you Jules' number
so you guys can finish your little conversation.
But for right now, I have to go.
So, say goodbye.
Uh, bye.
Goodbye, Jules.
Bye.
Bye.
Um, he's gorgeous.
Please tell me he's not fresh off a breakup
or has something weird, like
he hates puppies or something.
No, no, he loves puppies
and he has been vetted by me,
me and the United States
Army, so I think he's good.
- There you go.
- Oh, great.
So, so, so, a super sleuth and a matchmaker.
I'm a woman of many talents.
Hey, how's it going?
Yeah, so this address looks like it's only
about 30 minutes away from here.
You should go.
Like, today.
I mean, I think it's a little late to show
up on someone's doorstep.
Can't you call first?
No, no number.
Oh, come on.
Who wouldn't want a completely unexpected visit
from two total strangers during the holidays?
No one.
You know, what we could do is just bring a
little thank you gift to sweeten the deal.
Everybody loves presents.
Where are we going to get one of those?
Come with me. I've an idea.
This Santa is an original Corbin design.
The woman this belonged to, she had a collection
of every single one of these that was ever made.
This collector comes along, picks up the
whole lot, except, see that crack right there?
I guess the collector thought somehow that
the crack made it more fragile or...
less valuable in some way,
but I think that it's a crack
that proves just how strong
something can really be.
Russell, printer's jammed again.
I should probably go rescue her.
Yeah, I have to take off anyway.
Okay, so we'll go to the address tomorrow.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah...
You know what?
We should just make a whole day of it.
There's this incredible little place in
Marionville for this sweet lady.
She makes these German Christmas stollen,
and the outside of the place looks like
it's one of those little ornaments in a
Christmas globe.
Yeah.
Inside, they just go all out.
It looks like a movie in there.
Does that, uh... sound like fun?
Yeah, actually, yes.
- D'you want to go?
- Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Well, text me your address
and I will wrap up Santa.
Okay, goodbye.
Bye.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It doesn't get any more Christmassy than
this, does it?
Except for maybe in your apartment.
That's true.
Wait till you try the stollen.
Ingrid!
Zwei stollen, bitte!
And you speak German.
Ein klein bisschen.
Like two words.
Danke.
- Danke.
What's the other word?
- Right here?
- Yeah.
This place is lovely.
I've been coming here for years.
Oh, okay.
You get the first bite.
- All right, I just...
- Yes.
I'm gonna dig in.
Just dive right in.
Right?
Told you.
No, totally worth the detour.
Okay, so other than this, what's your
favorite Christmas confection?
- My what?
- Confection. Right.
Come on, you have to have some kind of
historical affection with confection.
I don't know.
I like a lot of things.
But I'm just asking for one.
No, I don't want to talk about myself.
What about you?
Let's talk about you.
Like... how did you get started with your
store?
My store?
When I was in college, my ex-girlfriend and I
had somehow gotten involved with these auctions.
You know when people abandoned
their storage units?
Yeah, yeah.
Did you ever find any lost treasure?
No, but I did find that I love things that
have a history.
So she would want to throw everything away.
And I found myself wanting to go through
every single box, every single envelope,
every single pocket.
Yeah, it didn't take us long to realize that
we weren't very good business partners.
But I started collecting things and got my
own storage locker.
When I had enough, I started an online
store.
And then Jules came and helped me after I
built it up a little bit and...
Here we are!
Nice.
So what happened to the girlfriend?
Is the ending of the business the ending
of true love?
True love?
No, I wouldn't call it true love.
I don't think I've ever actually had that
with anybody.
Well, do you want it?
True love?
Absolutely.
But I want the Alison Orin kind of love.
100% all in, forever and ever.
The good and bad, rain or shine.
And you think it's possible?
I do.
I definitely think it's possible.
So one of your relatives used to live
in this house?
No, we're not related.
It's actually kind of complicated to
explain.
But we're trying to track down a World War II
soldier who went MIA.
And he was related to the man that used to
live here.
Does Brad Newton... ring a bell?
We bought the house from one of his kids.
Oh!
They decided to move to Florida.
Did you have a name or an address or any
way we can get in touch with them?
I didn't keep up with them.
Okay.
Thank you.
But I might have some information in the
paperwork from when I bought the house.
I can just go drag it out.
You don't mind?
Sit down. I'll go get it.
- Thank you.
- Great!
Hi there.
Hi.
I don't know you.
No, no you don't, but your mother let us in.
We're just...
- Who's the present for?
This is for you all.
For you all.
Even my big brother?
- Yes.
- Yeah, of course.
He won't like it if it isn't a video game.
Oh, okay.
- There's probably no...
- Are you married?
- What?
- No, no.
You smile at each other like my mom and dad.
And they're married.
Do you have to be married in order to
smile at somebody?
Depends on the smile.
It's got to be in here somewhere.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I know this all can seem a little crazy.
And believe it or not, you're our
best lead so far.
We just really want to get this uniform
back to its family before Christmas if we can.
There!
No, this isn't Brad, it's his son Griffin.
And it's just an email.
And it was four years ago, so I don't know
if the info is still correct.
- I'll take it.
- Wow.
- Do you mind if I take it?
- Oh, sure.
Thank you so much.
Well, I guess we should probably get going.
Yeah, we don't want to take
up any more of your time, so...
- Can we get the present now?
- Oh, right! This...
Yes, there you are, Merry Christmas.
Well, good luck.
I hope you find who you're looking for.
Yeah, we do too.
Okay, thanks.
Merry Christmas.
- Bye -bye.
- Bye.
Bye.
It's definitely not a video game.
Thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
- Well...
- That was fun.
Yeah...
Oh, and thank you for letting me keep
all the leftovers.
Yeah, that's hard for me.
No, I had a really great time.
And I think we're one step closer to
finding Orin.
Yeah.
And I'm going to send that email,
bright and early tomorrow morning, okay?
Sounds great. Oh, and then just call me afterwards
with the results, if you want to, from it.
Or, even better yet, you could just swing
on by the store again.
That was nice.
I mean, I like...
Yeah, yeah, I could do that.
I could... do that.
So, um, just good night.
- Good night.
Thanks for driving.
Okay, bye.
Oh, snow.
Get home safe.
Bye.
Who is that?
This is Alice and Orin before the war.
Oh, they look so in love.
They've no idea what's coming.
Well, nobody knows how things are going to
turn out where love is concerned.
Okay, that said, I wonder if
they would have made different choices,
had they known they could avoid some of this pain.
No, that's not how love works.
If you don't dive in head first blind of
possibilities, then you aren't doing it right.
And you miss a lot of the good stuff.
Okay, all right, that may be true, but not every
woman just wants to dive in head first, Jules.
Well, love is cannonballs and belly flops, pal.
You gotta go for it.
I'm tired of talking to metaphors.
You know I'm talking about Caroline, right?
Yep.
So what are you waiting for?
I'm okay with taking my time.
She needs time and I can give her that.
I love you, big brother,
but if you know what makes you happy,
why wouldn't you want to be happy right now?
Yeah.
Speaking of being happy, excuse me while I
take this phone call.
Hey, Alton.
Come in.
Hey.
Hey.
Dinner's almost ready.
It is cold out there.
Yes, it is.
So, what's going on?
You said you wanna talk?
Yeah, I just, I got a little bit of a problem.
Well, hopefully I have a solution.
Shoot.
I think I like Russell.
That doesn't sound like a problem to me.
Well, I mean, it is if I go away, to London,
you know, if I get the fellowship.
Well, that's only 18 months.
What's the big deal?
I almost had a panic attack in front of him.
What happened?
I was telling him about that...
about that Christmas.
And it was the good part,
it wasn't even the bad part.
I didn't even tell him what happened afterwards.
Caroline.
Hey.
What?
Look at me.
It's okay.
We're both here.
We're both safe.
You know, I just want to do something normal.
I just want to go to dinner with somebody,
you know, but it seems like every time I go...
you know, and I start to like somebody,
I get this feeling that just...
creeps up on me and I almost fall apart.
But you came back from it
and you didn't fall apart.
And even if you did, I'm sure Russell
would have understood.
He's not gonna understand.
People won't understand what we've seen.
Russell deserves a chance to figure out
what he can and can't handle.
You got to stop pushing people away.
You deserve to be happy.
Oh, another dead end.
Maybe you don't want to be found, Orin.
Message received.
I'm not gonna give up yet.
- Come on, come on. Pick up.
- Hello?
Caroline, you have got
to get over here right away.
What have you found?
It's a Christmas miracle.
This is the last of its kind.
It's from Wichita, Kansas.
Just can't believe we still have this around.
Merry Christmas.
- You too.
- Thanks.
- Hi.
- Hey! Okay.
Where is it?
- Where's what?
- The jacket!
- Come, it's right here.
You got to tell me.
Oh, wow.
You were brilliant.
- Don't give him a big head.
- Too late.
So the symbol embedded in the patch in
Orin's jacket is hobo code.
Travelers, when they move through an area,
would mark the trees and the rocks to let
the next person coming along know what to
expect when they enter the area.
Now it's just sold as folk art.
I'm really impressed that you know that.
I know things.
Yes, you do.
Well, so this symbol means hold your tongue.
Oh, okay.
Still confused.
Okay. So the army used to
use this symbol in connection
with an elite unit called
the Special Service Force.
And basically they were responsible for
building all the code during World War II
to get all of the top secret information
across enemy lines.
So Orin was a secret coder.
Well, I mean, if he had that patch,
then he was most definitely from that unit.
Yeah.
But here's the thing. His cover could
have been so deep that even the other
members of his platoon
wouldn't have known about it.
I mean, the army never even fully
acknowledged the unit until after the war.
What does this mean?
Well, it means that when Orin went MIA,
he might actually been on a top secret
mission to infiltrate enemy lines and send
back coded intel.
Orin, you're in, you sly fox, you...
So I reached out to Alton and I asked him if we
could get onto the base into the records office.
And he said we could, tonight.
- I'm in.
- Figured that.
What about you?
Tonight...
Let me see.
Pretty busy...
Well, get our coats.
Please me.
- Hello?
- Miss Upton.
This is Charles Leith from the
Sandringham Scholar Program.
Yes, sir. Hello.
I just wanted to let you know that your
references have proven stellar.
And someone from my
office will be in touch via email
to schedule an online
interview in the coming days.
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Thank you so much, sir.
Good. I look forward to it.
Okay, then.
Bye-bye.
Ready to go?
Yeah, sure.
All right, spitter-patter.
Oh, probably shouldn't forget this.
This... Yeah, this looks good.
Hey.
Hi.
Nice to see you.
You too.
Oh, uh, hey.
Nice to meet you, Russell.
Alton, yeah, these two won't stop talking
about you.
It's all good stuff, of course.
Well, I'm glad.
So I assume you want to get to it?
Yeah, this way.
So I've got some relevant docs pulled off
of my computer if you want to take a look.
Top drawer of the file cabinets,
some documents as well.
Hey, Jules, do you want to go get some
snacks for everyone?
- Sure.
- Okay.
Uh, we'll be right back, just...
Don't set anything on fire, Caroline.
That was one time.
Well, once is enough.
- Fire?
- Don't ask.
Long story.
Okay, there's lots of declassified
information here.
How do you even read this?
I'm trained.
Oh, look at this.
What is it?
So Orin was on a top secret mission.
Even more importantly, he had a cohort.
Went for the name of S.L.
Okay, but who's S.L.?
I don't know what it doesn't say.
So what's the next step?
Well, that's it for this.
Let's check the...
- Okay.
Lots of info, right?
Classified, declassified.
Welcome to my world.
Spy stuff.
Let me get...
I got it!
Sorry.
Are you okay?
Oh, that was a nasty hit.
Oh, yeah.
- Look at me.
- Caroline?
- Stop.
- Caroline?
- Stop it.
- I hear you.
Well, I hope you like grape soda.
- Oh!
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Can you try not to knock yourself out on my watch?
Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no.
I was just, um, I was
looking for some declassified...
information on intelligence personnel,
and it's not in there.
Oh, yeah, we won't have any of that in
there.
But we do have some ledgers and archives I
could order in.
Okay.
How long will that take?
At least a week.
Okay, well, that's getting pretty close to
Christmas, but it's worth a shot.
Well, I think that's the next best step.
Well, in the meantime, it's
getting pretty close to dinner, so...
Should we go get something?
Technically, I'm still on duty,
but we could order something in.
Yeah, Davenport's?
Best burgers in town.
Oh, these eggnog milkshakes from
Davenport's.
That's one reason I know you still visit me.
You blackmailing me?
Fries are also very good.
Hey, you guys must have spent a lot of
Christmases together on duty.
- What was that like?
- Yeah, Caroline told me a little bit about it.
You always seemed to make the best of it.
Yeah... well, it wasn't always the best.
Oh, no, it wasn't.
Yeah, there was this one Christmas Eve where
we were having this little Christmas celebration.
I was telling you a little bit about it.
Yeah.
And we had to go on patrol that night.
Wait, you had to do that on Christmas Eve?
Mm-hmm.
Every night?
Yeah, every night.
But this particular night, we were in a
convoy, and, um, and let's, uh,
let's just say it wasn't a good place to be.
And we were in the same vehicle.
And, uh,
you know what, I'm gonna
spare you guys the details.
Let's just say it was a rough night.
I will tell you this, though.
This woman, she pulled me out of the wreckage.
She saved my life.
Wow... you're a true hero.
Yeah, they gave her the Silver Star.
Excuse me, I'll be right back.
Is there anything I can do to help her?
She doesn't need help, she just needs you
to be patient with her.
Yeah.
I can do that.
Hi, Deb, what's up?
Yeah, look, I found something I think you
might be interested in.
You want to come by?
- I'll be right over.
Okay, bye.
Hey, Deb.
Oh, hey, Russell.
What'd you got for me?
Well, I was just finishing up the clean-out,
and I think I found something.
It's just a garbage bag, but I looked
inside because you can never be sure.
- That's right.
- Ends up it's a whole bag of letters.
You're kidding me.
Letters?
Well, I know you can't sell them,
but I couldn't throw them away.
I know.
Does it say who they're from?
Well, I opened a few of them.
It seems to be a bunch of love letters
between a couple named Alice and Orin.
This is great, Deb.
Oh, you're the best.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Here, take them!
- Okay.
Well, good luck with this engine.
Thanks.
All right.
Here you go.
Stay.
Stay.
Okay.
It's gonna have to do.
You need decorations.
You need decorations.
I don't have any decorations.
Yes, I do.
Hi, Brian.
There you go, buddy.
You've reached Caroline.
Leave a message after the tone.
Hi, it's Russell.
Leave a message after the beep.
- Hey, Jules.
- Hey.
Is Russell here?
Russell left a little bit ago.
And he said he was going to your house.
My house?
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Oh, sorry.
Excuse me.
Hey.
- I called you.
- I called you.
Yeah...
No, I just wanted to tell you something.
Ladies first.
Well, I just had this wild hair and I got
a Christmas tree.
But the thing is, I don't have a tree
stand or ornaments or anything really.
So I just thought that maybe
you could come over and help me
make my house look a
little less like a Grinch's cave.
If you're not busy.
Did you want to say...
- I... Are you kidding me?
Yes.
Help you deGrinch your house?
That's... yes.
But, I just had a really big breakthrough
in our little mystery.
- Yeah?
- Yes. Like really big.
All this stuff is in the store.
Come with me.
We're going to get you some ornaments
and we're going to kill two birds with one stone.
Okay.
Okay, there's coffee.
Thank you.
So... all of Orin and Alice's letters cover
the entire war.
Right?
But the Christmas card is 1944.
And after that, all correspondence stops.
Hey, come here.
Look at this.
Show me.
So, look at the handwriting in both of
their letters.
It's very stylized, right?
And I mean, at first, I just thought it
was the penmanship of the time period.
But if you look closely, see the slants in
the lines?
You see that?
It's creating shapes within the letters.
Repeating... shapes.
What do you think that means?
I think it means they were communicating
in code.
What if Alice is SL?
Russell, if that's the case, then this
could be a massive discovery,
because that would mean that all of these letters
contain military intelligence.
This could be huge!
Whoa...
We need headquarters.
Okay.
Oh, that's a V.
- Yeah, which makes this a P.
- Now, why is that now?
That's just a guess.
This is kind of like a puzzle, you know?
Oh, one second.
Oh, we thought you could use some coffee.
And company.
Yes, please, come on in.
Thank you.
I thought you were on duty.
Well, I told my commanding officer that my
old army buddy needed some help.
So he let me take a couple days leave.
Well, thank you for doing that,
because clearly we can use it.
Yeah, wow.
Is this how you run your station, Major?
I know, I've become lax in my civilian life.
That's why I'm here.
Okay, well, let me walk you through this.
From the little bit that I can gather,
I think that Orin was passing on
enemy intelligence to Alice and then Alice
was passing it to the American government.
So does that mean their whole relationship
was a cover?
It could have been, but I don't think so.
This is different.
You know, all of this personal romantic
information, it's so detailed,
it's so woven through these letters.
Just, I don't know.
I think it's different with these two.
Yeah.
You know, this intel would have been
incredible help for the Allies.
For sure.
This code is so intricate.
But from what I can gather with Alice's
last letter, I actually think that she was
trying to signal him and tell him that he
was going to be extracted on Christmas Eve.
But the question remains whether or not
the extraction was successful.
Yes.
And we still don't know whether or not
they were ever reunited.
Well, the ledgers we've been waiting on
should arrive in the next few days.
I sure hope they bring some good news,
because Christmas is sneaking up on us
and I just can't stop thinking about Orin's family
getting this jacket sometime before Christmas.
Hmm.
Oh, well, I'm going to be of no use if I
don't get a shower and a nap.
Should we just rendez-vous tomorrow,
bright and early?
Yes, it's a great idea.
Well, see you guys tomorrow.
Can I walk you to your car?
Oh, uh, no.
Jules can let me out.
Thank you.
Caroline.
Yeah.
I can be patient.
And if our friends Alice
and Orin taught us anything,
it's that if two people are
meant to be together, they will be.
Yeah.
I just need to make some decisions.
Yeah, like I said, not going to push.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Okay.
Get some sleep.
You get some sleep.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Good night.
Hello?
Miss Upton, this is Charles Leith.
Professor Leith?
Oh, it suddenly occurs to me that with the
time difference, it might be quite late for you.
Oh, no, don't worry about it, sir.
I'm still awake.
Oh, well, I just wanted to inform you that, uh,
that we would like to offer you the fellowship.
You'll be starting in the New Year.
Are you... are you serious?
I... I don't know what to say.
Thank you so much.
I'm honored.
Well, the board was particularly
moved by your decision
to focus on the importance
of the west front in wartime.
We are very much looking forward to what
you will discover.
Well, I am very much on my way in that
regard, sir.
Good to hear.
Well, I'll let you go.
We'll send you along an email
with further information.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate this call.
And Merry Christmas.
Happy Christmas.
Before we go inside, I have some news.
So, what's the intel?
Well, I, uh, I got the fellowship.
What? That's great!
Yeah, yeah.
But, uh, I didn't tell Russell.
You didn't tell him?
No.
I didn't think I would need to.
So basically, you chickened out.
I didn't chicken out.
I did not chicken out, okay?
Think about it.
Why would I start a new relationship right now?
I'm getting ready to leave town.
Once again, 18 months isn't forever.
I'm not buying your excuses.
I'm not making excuses.
Caroline.
What?
You're making excuses.
I hate when you're right.
Yeah, I am making excuses.
You wanna know why?
Because I don't feel like a whole person,
you know?
And I really like this guy.
I do.
I didn't think I was gonna meet anybody like him.
And to be honest with you, I think he
deserves better.
Russell cares about you.
Everything about you.
The good and the bad.
And you know what?
That stuff isn't even bad.
It's just part of us.
- But it's easier for you.
- It's not.
It's scary.
And I have no idea what's gonna happen.
But believe me, the benefits outweigh the risk.
You're not doing a proper risk assessment,
soldier.
Okay.
Well, listen, can you just keep this
between us for right now?
Please.
Well, you're lucky.
The ledgers are in.
My assistant went through them.
She's gonna send through what she found.
So, we have plenty of other stuff to talk
about.
Thank you.
You can't avoid it forever.
Oh, yeah, it should be here.
- Here, set it up right here.
- Okay.
It is go time.
Oh, holding my breath.
Is that the email?
Has she said what she found?
Only that we'll be surprised.
Based on the documentation, it looks like
Orin was extracted in 1944.
Okay, good.
But his team was forced into hiding while
trying to escape back into allied territory.
Did he make it back?
Orin was listed as missing in action for
several months.
Please don't tell me that means he's...
But they did make it back to the safe zone
sometime in 1945.
And Orin was allowed to return to the US
where he spent the remainder of the war...
working in intelligence.
There we go!
Does it say anything about him marrying Alice?
I don't know.
I can't see any other records of either an Orin
Newton or an Alice Tilbury once the war ended.
I don't understand.
What does that mean?
It's like they ceased to exist.
- Where are those letters?
- In the back.
- Show me.
- Follow me.
Okay.
Hey, can you grab me that coder?
- This one?
- Yeah.
What do you see?
Thank you.
Pen?
Pencil?
Hold on.
Just give me a second.
What'd you find?
There's a second code.
What?
There's a second code.
Alice and Orin were trying to make plans
without anybody knowing.
Plans for what?
I mean, I don't know.
I'd have to spend a little bit more time
with these, but I think that they were
trying to make plans to disappear after
the war to protect themselves and their
families due to the dangerous nature of
their mission.
Like a witness protection.
Right, but then the question is,
who did Orin and Alice become?
It's gotta be in here somewhere.
Oh, this could be tricky.
Can you grab me that photo that you found?
Yeah.
This one?
- Yeah.
Swanson's Lodge...
That's Al.
Yeah, it's Alice coding Marcel.
Swanson's Lodge.
Hey, does anyone have a cell phone I could borrow?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Swanson's Lodge.
Okay, it is an hour away from here.
And it says it was run by a couple named
Gerald and Doris Wheaton,
who bought the camp from its original owner
shortly after World War II.
Gerald and Doris passed away in 2013.
However, the Wheaton family still owns it.
It's them.
It's them?
What?
That's them?
You... did it!
You did it!
- You did it.
- We did it.
Yeah, we did.
And they literally lived happily ever after.
Yeah, get out.
Yes!
Team work.
Wow.
Yeah, serious.
Come on.
That's them, huh?
That is them right there.
This might seem a little bit forward,
but it's one who might consider having...
Christmas with us.
You know, Jules, me, and, you know, Alton.
He'd come?
Yeah, I have to go.
Yeah, yeah.
I know it's been a big day, it's...
We can just talk about it tomorrow.
No problem.
No, I have to go, meaning...
I have to leave the country.
What?
Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.
I just, uh...
I wasn't sure that...
Because I just... I didn't know
what was going to happen here.
But, um...
I've been offered the
Sandringham Scholar Fellowship.
And it's very prestigious.
And... it's in London.
And... I'm gonna go.
I'm so happy for you.
That is...
Wow, that's a big deal.
Thank you.
And I'm happy that we found
Alice and Orin, and you were
able to give that family a
really great Christmas gift.
Because I know that's really important to you.
It's important to you, too.
I couldn't have done any of this without you.
You can move your flight
to the day after Christmas.
It's easy.
Look, I really do want to be here.
I do.
You can.
But this is a very fast-paced program,
and I need to hit the ground running.
Yeah.
I understand.
Hey, but we had fun, right?
Running around the town like a couple of
teenagers, looking for clues.
Like we were in our little fairy tale.
But I'm a realist.
And... I know that the longer I stay here,
the harder it's going to be for me to leave.
So... I'm gonna go.
So this is Merry Christmas and goodbye.
Merry Christmas.
Wow, this is it.
I sure wish Caroline was here.
So do I, but hey, look on the bright side,
at least I could fast-track
the declassification of these letters so we
could bring them home to Orin's family, huh?
- That's true.
- Hey, and we'll take lots of pictures.
I know, but she would have loved this.
Welcome.
- Thank you.
- Hi!
Sure see the resemblance.
Thank you.
Angel, hi.
Nice to meet you.
- I'm Russ.
- Thanks so much for coming.
We're so excited.
Come on in.
- Okay.
Welcome.
Wow.
This is beautiful.
It's all Nana's things.
Grandpap built it with his own hands.
Wow.
Orin, Gerald, I don't know
what to call him anymore.
We just called him grandpap.
Well, grandpap was man of many talents.
I know.
We've been learning all about him and
Nana's secret code.
Sorry, what?
The secret code?
You don't have any letters yet.
I've been telling them.
Caroline... what are you doing here?
You're meant to be on a plane to London.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
I just decided to move my flight until after
Christmas because I wanted to be here for this.
And I, I wanted to speak with you.
But... I thought you didn't want to.
What's changed?
Look... I come with a lot of bumps and bruises.
And some of them you can't see.
And I was just afraid that you couldn't handle it.
I thought I was going to scare you away.
There's nothing about you or your past
that scares me at all.
Orin's uniform wasn't placed in my hands
by chance.
I didn't find you by chance.
This was a gift from God.
This was meant to be.
I fell for you the very minute that I saw
you in that cafe.
You did?
I did.
I've never been more certain about
anything in my life, but this,
this is what true love feels like.
So I don't know what to do, but we'll just
figure this out.
But I'm all in.
It'd be more fun if you were also all in.
I'm all in.
You know, this uniform's waited an awfully
long time for its reunion.
Yeah.
I think we should go.
- Yeah.
Go ahead.
Welcome home.
Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
- Sure.