“The police have found nothing?” I asked. “They haven’t found any items pawned or so forth?”
“No, and they are extremely reluctant to assist me. ‘We have more important matters to concern ourselves,’ they told me! Which is why I have retained you. I want this to stop!”
“We will do what we can. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to find an inn for the evening.”
“No need. I already have the guest room ready for you.” Then she frowned. “You can share a room, I trust?”
Haig grinned. “We’ve done it before, lassie. No never mind to us.”
“Excellent!” She stood and we followed suit. “Let me show you the room. Then I have work to do. Breakfast will be at eight, if that is agreeable?”
“Indeed.” We followed her and soon found ourselves in a large and well-appointed bedroom. Fine mahogany furniture and I suspected the high-backed chair was a Morris. There was only one bed and she apologized but I told her Haig and I had often shared accommodations. That wasn’t a problem when he was in his leprechaun form; a drawer would be more than adequate. There was also a bottle of Irish whiskey sitting on a table, which pleased Haig no end.
“You’re bags are in the closet,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
“Yes, and thank you. Good night.” After the door closed, I looked at Haig. “A haunted house?”
“I don’t believe in spirits, lad. Except these, of course.” He had already poured himself a glass of whiskey.
“A leprechaun then? Did you sense a leprechaun?”
“If so, he isn’t here now.” His eyebrows furrowed. “We don’t leave a spore, you know. If a leprechaun is nearby, I’ll know it. But there isn’t one. Except for me, of course.”
I joined him in drink. “So what do we do?”
“Tomorrow we’ll find an excuse for me to leave. Tomorrow night I’ll examine her home. Glad I am she has no cats!”
Cats consider leprechauns a tasty snack. They had caused us difficulties more than once. “Good. That will give me time to chat further with Miss Grammet.”
“A comely lass. You will act more the gentleman with her than with the Harmes women I trust.” And he chuckled.
It was the ladies who had acted far from that, not me, but I saw no reason to discuss it. “I think your visit to the Colonies has had a negative effect on you.”
“Perhaps. Let us enjoy more of this fine beverage,” and he handed me his empty glass. Which we did, until the bottle was empty and it was time to sleep.
Miss Grammet was as good as her word. We were roused at 7:30 by a knock and a male voice telling us breakfast would be served shortly. We made our toilet, then went downstairs to find her already at the table, with plates of sausage and eggs waiting for Haig and I. “I trust this is satisfactory?” she asked.
“You are a most generous hostess,” Haig said. “There is no breakfast finer than this.”
Conversation was held until we had all finished. Then she looked at me. “So when do you begin?”
“I want to do a tour of your home if you don’t mind. Check out your safe and all. Mr. Haig has decided to spend several days in Brackfield proper.”
“Tour the pawn shops and such,” he added. “Visit the pubs in the evening. Criminals do talk, after all.”
“I see. If you think that’s best.”
“Tried and true,” Haig said.
“Then I will have Chester take you to the village.”
“I can walk. Exercise will do me good.” Haig rose. “I will return tomorrow morning. Sean, I expect you to work hard as well.”
“Of course.” I noticed Grammet stifle a chuckle. “Take care.”
“Always.” Haig nodded to each of us and left.
“So,” she said after she patted her mouth with her napkin and pushed her plate away, “where do we begin?”
“The safe.”
It was in her study, hidden behind a painting. It was a standard wall safe with a combination lock. For Haig, or any leprechaun, it would pose no difficulty. “Open it,” I told her, then turned my back so I couldn’t see the combination. The safe held a small collection of jewels, currency and several documents. “When was the last time you found something missing?” I asked after she closed it again.
“Just last week, actually,” she said. “A jade ring. Which is why I contacted you.”
“I see. And you are sure Chester does not have the combination?”
“Absolutely. I would trust him with my life.”
Don’t delude yourself. “Show me the rest of your home.” So for the next several hours we went from room to room, basement to attic. This was more for show than anything as Haig would do the real investigating that evening. Still I dutifully checked windows and exterior doors and such but found nothing that suggested a break-in and robbery.
At last we found ourselves in her library. The shelves were well-stocked, and most of the books appeared old. I idly perused some of the titles: Voices in the Shadows: a History of English Haunted Houses; The Faerie Folk of the British Isles; Clans and Totems; Spirits, Sprites and Other Magical Creatures; Folk Tales of Eire. “So you are interested in the spirit world,” I said, stepping back. “Is that why you choose to live in a haunted house?”
“Spirits, yes, but not from beyond. The spirits that live among us,” she said. “Elves, imps, fairies and the like.”
I raised my eyebrows as I sat across from her. “You believe in them?”
“I have a scientific curiosity. Don’t you?”
“I believe in what I can touch, taste, feel,” and I rapped on the nearby table for emphasis.
“I find the folklore most delightful. I just think it makes life more,” and she shrugged, “exciting to think that there are other fantastic creatures sharing our world.”
If you only knew. “That is your hobby then? Studying folk tales and mythology?”
“More than that. I have published several monographs. I even occasionally teach at the college in Liverpool. A fascinating subject, fascinating creatures.”
“Yes, I suppose they are.” I rose. “I’m going to poke around a bit outside, if you don’t mind. I’m sure the police have checked but one never knows.”
“The police did nothing. Try to be careful around my flower beds.”
“Of course.” So I went out into the hot mid-day sun and was soon sweating profusely as I wandered around her hedges, house and garden. None of the ground floor or basement windows showed any signs of being pried open and there were no footprints in the sod and loam except my own. After a thorough circumnavigation of her home, I was certain that the thief had to enter through one of the doors. Each had a dead bolt, and I knew from experience that those were effective in thwarting leprechauns. A standard lock would fall to Haig in seconds, but not a dead bolt. Maybe, I decided, it wasn’t a leprechaun after all. Which made me think more and more that Miss Grammet had much too much faith in her servant.
There was a small shed in the back next to the garden. The shed was locked so I peered in the window. Garden tools from what I could see, pots and bags of seed. I decided I would ask for the key later, just in case Chester might be hiding his stolen loot somewhere inside. Then I spent a few minutes admiring her garden. Grammet certainly had unusual tastes, I thought, as it was mostly herbs, with one large section devoted to clover and Queen Anne’s lace. I picked a sprig of clover and found a four-leaf one. Good, I need some luck, I decided and headed back.
Grammet was just sitting down to tea and biscuits and I joined her gratefully. “Find anything?” she asked as she poured.
“Not really. No signs anywhere of a break-in. I would like to look in your shed, if you don't mind. And your stables.”
“I’ll get you the key to the shed. The stables are down the street. Actually I rent the use of a hansom, since I don’t use it very often. A bit expensive, perhaps, but more reliable than waiting for a carriage to come by.”
“I’ll check it out anyway,”
I said, although I now doubted Chester would keep his stolen loot there since the stables were owned by another. “Tell me, do you have any regular delivery men come by? Iceman? Grocer? Acquaintances who visit frequently?”
“No,” and she gave a sarcastic laugh. “I guess I am far from a social butterfly. I prefer my solitude. The postman would be the most frequent, I suppose.”
“Well,” I said, finishing my tea. “Perhaps Mr. Haig will find something. May I have those keys?”
“Of course. Dinner will be at six.” And she handed me a key ring with perhaps twenty keys.
The rest of the afternoon I spent in the shed and the stables down the street. I couldn’t spend much time at the latter, but I didn’t consider it a prime prospect in any event. The shed was barren as well, although I would have Haig check it out just in case there was a hidden trapdoor or something similar. When I returned for dinner I was convinced we had to look in Chester’s room. I wasn’t sure if Grammet would cooperate or not, but if I asked him to take me to Liverpool on some foolish errand, Haig would have time to search it.
So the lady and I--and Chester--enjoyed a leisurely meal and light conversation after. “I’m rather tired,” I excused myself around 9:00. “I’ll be going to my room if you don’t mind. Catch up on a little reading.”
“Not at all. I have some work to do myself. Sleep well, Mr. Doakes,” she said, looking up from her book. Chester, seated in the far corner, merely grunted.
I was pleased to find another decanter of whiskey waiting in my room. Haig would appreciate that, I knew. I opened the window and then turned off the gas lamp and went to bed. But not to sleep. I expected to have a visitor shortly.
I heard a slight knock at around midnight, but it wasn’t from the door. It was outside. I went to the window and looked down. Haig was standing there. “Give me your hand, laddie.”
I bent over and reached down. He grabbed it, then changed to his real form. Seconds later I was pulling the leprechaun into my room. “Learn anything?” I asked him after he returned to his real height.
“Fortunate this room is on the first floor, no? As for the thefts, not a whisper. And you?”
“I am certain Chester is our thief, despite her assurances otherwise. Tomorrow I think you’ll have to search his room.”
“Aye. And tonight?”
“Search the home. Especially the study. Look for hidden rooms, trap doors, the usual. I haven’t found anything but you might.”
“As good as done. But before that,” and Haig walked over to the decanter, “something to warm the heart.”
We talked quietly through a glass or two, then I went to the door and walked out as if searching for the loo. No one was around and Haig, once again a leprechaun, darted out behind me and into the shadows. Then I went back inside to wait.
I had planned to stay up until he was finished, but I suddenly felt extremely tired. From nosing around the hedges and such, I decided, and went to bed. When I awoke, the sun was high in the east, the birds singing loudly and my head was pounding. I looked at the clock and groaned; it was well past 11:00. “You must have drank too much last night, Sean,” I scolded myself, although it’s been a long time since two glasses of spirits affected me so.
I looked around the room, but Haig wasn’t there. Perhaps he’s already with Grammet, I thought and dressed hurriedly. No one was in the kitchen and it appeared no one had been there all morning. The library was empty as well, so I tried the study. And ran into Chester. “Good morning,” I said.
He was busy dusting the shelves and only grunted.
“Has my associate, Mr. Haig, arrived as yet? I was expecting him today.”
“No.”
“And Miss Grammet? Where is she?”
He turned. “She had to go on an errand this morning. She asked that I give you her apologies, but she expects to be gone several days. She told me you are allowed free run of her property while she is gone.” The way he said the last made it clear he didn’t agree with that.
That information surprised me. During our conversations, she had given me the impression she rarely left her grounds. “Did she say where she was going?”
“No. I merely took her to Liverpool as she ordered. She did say she expects you to remain and do... whatever it is you are doing.”
He doesn’t know. She never told him. Perhaps, I decided, she did suspect he was the thief. “I won’t trouble you then.” And I left him to his dusting.
I was troubled, however. I went to the kitchen and fixed myself some tea, then repaired to the library. Where was Haig? I could guess what had happened. He had investigated, returned to my room and, finding me asleep, went back out the window. That way he could present himself at the front door in the morning to corroborate the story we had fabricated. But he should be here by now.
The hot tea was clearing the dullness from my mind. Then I noticed a book sitting on a table, presumably one Grammet had been perusing the night before. It was Clans and Totems and I opened it idly, wondering what it was about. One page was dog-eared and I turned to it. The heading read “Leprechaun Clans of Ireland” and I felt a chill as I glanced down the short column of names. “Haig” was on that list.
Grammet’s fascination with folklore, her massive library; Could she know? My heart was sinking past my knees as I began searching through the titles on the shelves. There was a section devoted to books on leprechauns and I pulled an armful out to study. I was returning to my chair when I felt something break underfoot. Dropping the books on the chair, I reached down and picked up a small object, now hopelessly broken. I felt hopeless as well when I recognized it: it was Haig’s pipe. Then I noticed something else, a bit of green on the otherwise brown carpet. I retrieved that as well, and now there was no doubt. It was a piece of clover.
I recalled our encounter with the murderous leprechaun some time back. Haig had bound him with a cord woven from four-leaf clovers, a bond he was unable to break. And Grammet has clover growing in her garden.
I didn’t need to read the books now. Everything was a sham, I realized. There had been no thefts. It was all a ruse to get us--specifically Haig--to Brackfield. Her entire plan had worked flawlessly. The drugged whiskey from the night previous had put me out for hours; Haig, in his leprechaun form, would have succumbed even more rapidly. No doubt she had found him unconscious in the library, bound him with the clover cord. And they could be going to only one place.
Did Chester know? I would find out soon enough. He was completing his housemaid’s duties when I entered the study. “I need you to take me to Liverpool,” I told him. “There are some things I need to investigate, items in the press. I cannot do that here.”
He frowned, apparently his favorite expression. “Miss Grammet wants you to remain here.”
“No, Miss Grammet wants me to satisfy my contract. I can, but I need to do some research in Liverpool.”
“Why didn’t you just go with us this morning?”
Because I was drugged. “I had been working late the night before. I had no idea she was planning a trip today. She did tell you to assist me in any way, correct?”
He sighed. “Yes. After lunch I will take you to Liverpool.”
I wasn’t going to get him to move any faster, but it was necessary I maintain the charade. So we ate and a little after two we were in Liverpool. “Should I wait for you?” he asked.
“No. In fact I might have to spend the night. I can get a hansom back in the morning.”
He nodded, obviously relieved, and left me in front of the newspaper office. Which I had no interest in. I hailed another driver and was soon at the docks. There was only one place Grammet and her prisoner could be going: Corlewegh. The ancestral home of my family, the place where we had first found Haig.
The place where he kept his pot of gold.
I found passage on a steamer to Dublin and spent the entire voyage cursing my stupidity. Our names were well-known because of our product and our occasional appearances in the p
ress. She knew of the power of a clover cord, doubtless from one of her books. She knew about the pot of gold. Once she had that, Haig would be totally in her power. Meanwhile I had been totally blinded by her fabrication and my desire to fulfill our contract.
In Dublin I stopped only long enough to obtain a pistol, then it was on the first train heading west. They had a substantial head start and I had no idea if Haig would be able to resist her. I had to go on the assumption he could not.
So I arrived in Corlewegh the following afternoon. The mount I had rented at Goodwin, the nearest train stop to Corlewegh, was exhausted from the ride and I was stiff and sore as well. I have never done much horseback riding and I had almost fallen more than once. But it was the fastest way. I didn’t waste any time in the village proper; instead I went directly to the rocky outcroppings and caves that ringed the village. My ancestors had lived in one of the caves and that was where Haig still hid his pot of gold. I had to hope I would arrive before they did, else it could be too late.
I did not. I found a carriage waiting outside my original homeland. Perhaps they had just arrived, perhaps Grammet had not forced Haig to unearth his treasure. But the relaxed breathing of the horse convinced me that was not the case. Still I entered the cave, gun drawn.
I could not make a dramatic entrance, being forced to crawl inside and all. In fact, Grammet was laughing when I finally entered the chamber. Beside her stood Haig, in human form. He did not appear to be a happy leprechaun. “Good afternoon, Mr. Doakes. I see you are not one to follow instructions. I wanted you to remain in Brackfield.”
“Perhaps I would have if I had drank more of your drugged whiskey. Let Haig go.”
“I can’t do that,” and she held up a small pot proudly. I had seen one before, courtesy of former client Aloysius Leek. He had been a leprechaun and had given Haig his pot of gold. Now Grammet had Haig’s.
“You have no need for that.”
“On the contrary. Oh, I admit there is very little wealth to be had. But then,” and she patted Haig on the back, “I now have the services of your friend for as long as I see fit.”
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