"But Who Would Suspect Santa Claus?"

"A Slay Ride for Santa."
By Carl Memling (?-?).
First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, January 1949.
Short short story (9 pages).
Online at Pulpgen (HERE).

"I’m Sanny Claus," he said. "Gimme a gun."

Detective First Grade Joe Dixon, believing that Christmas is a time for peace on earth and goodwill to men, is moved to anger when two brutal murders happen on his watch, inciden-tally preventing him from playing Santa Claus at a local children's orphanage; but later, dur-ing that not so silent night, he'll experience real job satisfaction when (a) he gets to issue
an APB for Saint Nick, and (b) he has a chance to drop the hammer on the Jolly Old Elf—all
in the line of duty, of course . . .

Resource:
- FictionMags credits Carl Memling with thirteen stories over a brief period, 1948-50; it seems unlikely that this Carl Memling was the children's books author (1918-69), but you never can tell.

And that wraps up our one-time-only, never-to-be-repeated criminous Christmas binge (16 posts); now let's move on to New Year's . . .