Chapter 32: Gathering

Monday morning, Ed awoke in his plush bedroom.

He did his morning routine, then he left for the family room.

Ellen met him there. They hugged.

“Good morning, dear. Our attorney will arrive in an hour.”

“Oh, very good. I have a plan ready.”

They sat on the sofa and enjoyed their coffee.

“With all the events in our lives, it makes these simple moments more precious,” said Ed.

Ellen leaned into him. “I agree. Whenever we get close, something happens. A ghost or a spirit turns up.”

“Well, I’m a magnet for that stuff. I don’t want to be.”

“I understand that, and I don’t hold it against you.”

Ed sipped his coffee.

“Whatever happens, these times are special to me.”

“Me too.”

John Wright, Ellen’s attorney, arrived on schedule. They met him in the boardroom.

“Good morning. I can confirm the assets of the former Dysnatech are now in our possession,” he said.

“Excellent work!” said Ellen.

John handed out copies of a document to Ed and Ellen. “I have the contact info for our new company here. The servers are running, and I’ve included the VPN details.”

Ed looked through the document. “Morgan Software?”

“Yes. Part of Morgan Industries,” said John.

Ellen looked at Ed. “You have the software company. I paid for the assets, and I pick the name.”

“Fair enough.” Ed shrugged.

“Ed, I’ll have our HR contact you later today. We need to hire personnel,” said John.

“Of course. I’ll review the information on the server and be ready.”

“Moving on to the next item on my list. This is a draft prenuptial agreement.” John handed out two thick documents to Ed and Ellen, with lots of sticky notes.

“Wow! This is significant,” said Ed.

“I’m representing Ellen Morgan in this case. You’ll need to hire another attorney to review the agreement. Here is a list of Seattle attorneys I recommend,” he said. John handed Ed a separate page.

“Of course. Is there a specific timeline?” asked Ed.

“The sooner you retain an attorney, the sooner you can set a date for your wedding. And may I say congratulations to you both!”

They all stood. John shook both their hands. Shortly, he left.

Ed looked at the documents in front of him. “Dear, I’m ready to sign whatever you ask me to. Our lives are already intertwined in multiple ways.”

“I agree, but I need you to review it. It details my assets. I want you to fully understand what you’re getting into.”

“Okay, dear. I’m going to be busy,” said Ed.

Ed fetched his laptop and returned to the boardroom. He connected via the VPN to the servers. Everything looked familiar, except he now had access to everything.

Soon, Ed pulled up a list of employees. He dumped it into a spreadsheet, and sorted by department. He cut most of management plus a few others. Each name had to have an objective: bringing the company online, signing up with clients, delivering existing commitments, etc.

Later, Ellen entered the room with two mugs of coffee. “I thought I’d find you here.”

“Thanks! I was preparing a list to review with HR. I don’t want to delay things.”

“Good. If you need help, I have many talented people you can make use of. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

“Understood, dear.”

Ellen reached around him in a hug and they kissed.

“Do you need help with finding an attorney? I can ask one of my assistants to do it,” asked Ellen.

“Okay, thanks.” Ed handed her the list. Ellen took the list and left.

Soon, two ghosts appeared. It was Sara and the poltergeist.

“Hello, Sara,” said Ed.

“Hello, Ed. I’d like to discuss the situation at the bar.”

“Okay. What’s on your mind?”

“We can help the police avoid a warrant. We should be in the basement when they visit. Our poltergeist here can make lots of noise. That gives them reasonable suspicion, allowing them to search without a warrant.”

“Sounds good to me. How can I help?” asked Ed.

“Can you call your police contact and arrange a time when they’ll visit the bar? During their visit, we’ll make lots of noise, and he can take it from there.”

“Okay. One moment.” Ed took out his phone and dialed Officer Ouray.

“Hello?”

“Officer Ouray, this is Ed. I’d like to discuss the bar?” asked Ed.

“There’s no progress yet.”

“I understand your situation. I have a solution for you.”

“You do?”

“You’ll need to take a few officers to visit the bar. During that time, ghosts will make lots of noise in the basement. You’ll have reasonable suspicion and not need a warrant to investigate the noise.”

“That’ll work. I’ll have several officers there this afternoon around two.”

“Just a moment.” Ed turned to the ghosts. “Sara, he says they can be there this afternoon around two pm.”

“We’ll be ready. Thanks, Ed.” Sara and the poltergeist vanished.

“They said they’ll be ready. Good hunting!”

Ed ended the call.

The ghost of a dead villain hovered above the rooftops a few blocks away from police headquarters.

He knew the ghost known as Conner was likely to be there, but he was reluctant to approach police headquarters. As a thief, the last place he’d visit was police headquarters.

So, the ghost drifted along the rooftops. His former habits led him to the less savory parts of town. This was perfect for a thief. He could float above buildings and case potential targets.

Suddenly, he saw someone he recognized. It was another henchman in the boss’s service. It was the one person he’d been looking for. This was the man that killed him.

The ghost descended towards the henchman.

“I wish I could do something to him. I’d make him suffer for what he did to me,” he thought.

Now he found his killer, the ghost would not let him escape. He followed the henchman.

Around two pm, several police officers entered the downtown bar.

They approached the bartender, who didn’t appear too happy with their presence. Several bars were friendly to the police, but not this one.

Suddenly, bar music ceased. The bartender gave the stereo a tap to get it working again. It made a popping sound, and smoke came out of the top. Still no music.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. It was working fine...” he said to himself.

“Excuse me, are you the proprietor of this establishment? I’ve had reports of strange noises.”

“Noises? What noises?” asked the bartender.

Suddenly, there were smashing noises from a locked door behind the bar. A moment later, there was a distant shrieking sound.

“Something like that,” said the officer.

“That’s nothing. It’s probably just a TV nearby.”

“I suspect that someone’s in trouble on these premises. Hand me the key for this door. I believe it goes to the basement.”

“No, I lost it. You’re not allowed there without a warrant!”

“In this case, I don’t need a warrant. I’m within my rights to investigate a suspicious noise. Several officers heard it.”

To further support his argument, crashing noises came from behind the door, and a loud shriek.

“I must order you to move aside, unless you have a key,” said the officer.

The bartender grudgingly stepped back. Two burly officers broke down the door.

They entered the doorway and went downstairs to the basement. The bartender looked panicked and reached for his phone.

“I’ll caution you not to make any calls at this time, sir.” One officer had remained upstairs, standing nearby.

A few minutes passed, then an officer emerged from the doorway.

“We’ve found a body in a freezer downstairs. Summon the CSI team. Read this bartender his rights.”

Soon, the bartender was handcuffed and sitting in the back of a squad car.

Nobody saw the three ghosts floating in the basement.

“Stephanie, you’ll be okay now. He can’t hurt you,” said Sara.

“Thank you. This has been a nightmare.”

The poltergeist was having fun breaking bottles of spirits. Sara gestured at him to go.

Soon, two ghosts departed the basement, leaving the ghost of Stephanie looking over her remains.

Ed finished a call with the HR specialist assigned to Morgan Software. He’d provided a list of candidates to interview for positions in the new company.

During the call, he emailed his spreadsheet. It was off his plate.

Soon, his phone rang. Ed answered it. “Hello?”

“Ed, it’s Officer Ouray.”

“Hello. How did it go with the bar?”

“It went as we planned. We discovered a body in a freezer in the basement. We took the bartender into custody on suspicion of murder.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you again for the lead. Can you thank your special friends for their help?”

“Of course. I’ll let them know.”

“Okay. I’ll see you and Ellen at the gathering.”

“Yes. See you then.”

Ed ended the call. He closed his laptop and wandered in search of Ellen.

Ed met Ellen in the family room.