Chapter 26: Leprechaun

“And what would ye be meaning by that? Is that be some kind of insult?” asked the short gentleman.

Ed realized he was looking at a leprechaun. He searched his thoughts for information on leprechauns. One thing he recalled, to offend one is a serious mistake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean you personally. I’ve had some strange encounters while going out for lunch. I should have expected to meet you here.”

“You come to this pub not expecting to meet me? Now that’s grand. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“I’m so sorry. I’ve never been here before. My friend asked me to come and try it. I had no expectations of this place.”

“So you’re not after me pot o’ gold?”

“Heck no! I just came to fetch an extra chair. They only had one chair at the other table, and my friend took that.”

“I’m a wee bit tetchy on that matter. You surprised me. Most who discover me are after me gold, or at least three wishes.”

“Sir, I only came for a chair. You can keep all your gold and your wishes.”

“Well then. Ye’d best take a chair with you and be off. I’ll forgive ye yer impertinence this time.”

“Thank you, Sir,” said Ed.

He took the chair back to Blake.

“Ed, you sure took a long time finding a chair,” he said.

“Sorry, I got distracted.”

“Yes. It’s hard to take you to lunch.”

“I think working on all those bug fixes can mess with my brain. I can’t stop thinking about them, even after we leave the office,” said Ed, hoping his story would satisfy Blake.

Soon, they ordered their meal. Blake also ordered a Guinness. Ed avoided alcohol as he was driving.

Blake enjoyed his meal, especially the Guinness.

Occasionally, Ed glanced toward the table in the corner. The leprechaun sat there, smoking his pipe, and watched him with a glint in his eye. It made Ed nervous.

When Ed could stand it no more, he stood.

“Hey, Ed. Where are you going?” asked Blake.

“I’ll be right back.”

Ed went over to the bar and ordered a glass of their finest Irish whiskey. He carried it to the table in the corner.

“Excuse me, Sir. I believe we had a poor start. I’m really sorry, and I got this for you as a peace offering.”

He placed the glass of whiskey in front of the leprechaun.

The leprechaun looked up at Ed.

“Fair play. I accept yer peace offering.”

The leprechaun picked up the glass of whiskey and drunk it in one go. Ed looked around. If the leprechaun was invisible, he wondered how it looked to the other patrons.

“They can’t see anything unless I want them to, except for you. Yer the one person in this place I can’t control,” he said.

“Oh, okay. I didn’t know that.”

“How d’ya like the food?”

“It’s good, thank you.”

“G’wan, afore ye friend misses ye,” he said.

“Okay. It was nice meeting you, Sir.” Ed backed away and went back to Blake.

He deliberately didn’t look over toward the corner, not wanting to draw attention to the leprechaun or himself. He hoped the leprechaun would forget him and move on to other things.

Ed drove Blake back to work. They returned to their cubicles and resumed their respective work.

Ed focused on his software bug fixes. He wanted to improve his score, as he might have to leave work. It had happened multiple times recently.

So far, his outstanding performance with software bug fixes had earned him an understanding boss. He wanted that to continue.

At quitting time, Ed closed his computer and left for his car. He drove to Ellen’s mansion.

The security guard at the gate waved him through.

Ellen was outside already, talking with her security detail. Ed parked in front of the SUV and stepped out.

“Are you ready for our next assignment, a haunted classroom?” asked Ed.

“Sure.”

They got in Ed’s car and drove out, followed by the SUV.

About half an hour later, they parked in a parking lot at the Seattle Central College.

Ed and Ellen exited the car, as did the security detail. The entourage walked to the entrance, where they met Bob Wilkins, the deputy principal.

“Hello, Ed. Glad you could make it. I didn’t expect you’d bring a team,” said Bob.

“Oh, this is my partner, Ellen. These are her security detail. The security detail will keep out of our way, but remain close enough to protect Ellen.”

“Ah, please follow me. I’ll take you to the classroom.”

They all followed Bob Wilkins along corridors until they reached the door to the classroom. Bob used a key to open the door.

“I kept the room locked, as I don’t want trouble.”

“Understood. I’ll go in and look first. Ellen, can you wait here?”

“Sure,” said Ellen.

Ed opened the door and stepped inside. He switched on the light and scanned the room.

“Hello, my name is Ed,” he said.

Ed stood and waited.

Soon, the spectral form of a young woman appeared in front of a storage cabinet.

Ed faced her. “Hello. My name is Ed. I’m here to help you.”

“Hello. You can see me?” she asked.

“Yes. I’m a medicine man. I can see ghosts.”

The ghost floated towards Ed.

“I don’t recall what happened to me. I was a student attending this college.”

“Okay. Is there some reason you’re here?”

“I don’t know. It looks familiar.”

“Are you able to leave the room?”

“No.”

“Okay. That tells me something. Do you know what’s inside that cabinet?” asked Ed.

“No, I don’t know.”

Ed walked towards the storage cabinet. He noticed the cabinet had more than one padlock on it.

“Could you please look inside the cabinet? It’s important.”

The ghost floated towards the cabinet and stuck her head through the door. A moment later, she pulled back with a look of horror showing.

“My body is inside!”

“That explains why you can’t leave this room. We need to give your body a proper funeral. Then you’ll be free.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll step outside and talk to someone. I promise you, things will improve.”

Ed turned and left the room. He closed the door behind him.

“Mr. Wilkins, please, can you lock this door again?”

“Sure.” Bob locked the classroom door.

“This room is now a crime scene. I need you to call the police. Someone hid the remains of a female student inside a locked storage cabinet. That suggests a murder was committed here.”

“Oh wow! Let’s go to my office. We can make the call there.”

They followed Bob Wilkins to his office. He made the call.

“Ellen, please go home with your security detail. You didn’t enter the classroom and you don’t need to get involved,” said Ed.

“Sure. That’s a good idea. Come on guys,” she said to her security detail.

Ellen and her security detail left, leaving Ed with Bob.

Ed took out his phone and called Officer Ouray.

“Hello, Ed.”

“Are you anywhere near Seattle Central College? We’ve discovered a crime scene, with a murdered female student. I asked the vice principal to call the police, but I doubt they’ll understand things. I need you to vouch for me,” said Ed.

“Sure. I’ll be there soon.”

The call ended.

Ed turned to Bob. “I called a police officer who knows me and can vouch for me.”

“Okay, well, the police will arrive soon.”

“This will take a while. Do you have some bolt cutters? We’ll need to remove the padlocks once the police arrive.”

“Sure. I’ll get them from the janitor. Please wait here.”

Ed sat in the vice principals office.

Bob Wilkins, the deputy principal, returned after about five minutes with bolt cutters.

“Now, we wait for the police. Should we meet them at the main entrance?” asked Ed.

“Good idea.”

Ed and Bob left his office for the main entrance. Bob carried the bolt cutters.

Ten minutes later, the police arrived, including Officer Ouray.

Ed shook hands with his friend.

Soon, Bob led the way. Ed and the police followed. They stopped outside the classroom door.

“So, the body of a dead student is inside?” asked a police officer.

“Yes. It’s locked inside a storage cabinet in the corner,” said Ed.

“I brought the bolt cutters so you can remove the padlocks,” said Bob.

The police officer put on rubber gloves as Bob unlocked the door. Ed stood near Officer Ouray and waited.

The police officer took the bolt cutters and entered the classroom.

A few minutes later, he returned to the corridor.

“Yeah, there’s a dead body in the cabinet. Lock down this area. I’ll call in the detectives and CSI techs.”

More waiting.

The police officer approached Ed. “Mr. Tanner, you said you were the first to discover the body? But the cabinet was locked?”

“Yes. I talked to the ghost of the deceased, who helped locate her remains,” said Ed.