Black Cat Weekly #91

Chapter 6

byDetective Erin Murphy always enjoyed visiting her Aunt Mary, especially at this time of the year. Erin’s family had come to America from what they affectionately called the Old country, and while they had adopted their new home with enthusiasm, a part of the Emerald Isle remained in their blood. And no time was this love more apparent than around St. Patrick’s Day.

As Erin entered the kitchen, she was greeted by a wisp of a woman standing by a huge stove that had prepared so many delicious meals for both family and friends. “Ah, Erin me girl,” Aunt Mary said with the accent that always seemed to grow more pronounced around the holiday, “the saints surely aren’t smiling on your aunt today. She has been visited by the wee people.”

“What?”

A tear formed at the corner of Mary’s eye. “My emerald ring was taken last night.”

“And you think it was stolen by a leprechaun?”

“Years ago when your Uncle Shamus, bless his soul, gave me the ring, he joked that he had caught a wee one and taken the ring in return for setting him free.”

“Aunt Mary,” said Erin, placing her hand on Mary’s shoulder, “you can’t really believe—”

“Don’t be so quick to doubt,” said Mary. “You’ve heard the stories many times about how jealously the wee ones guard what is theirs.”

“Old folk tales,” said Erin. “Now tell me when you noticed the ring missing.”

“I had some people over last night to watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade on TV. I took off the ring while I was preparing snacks and placed it on the shelf near the sink. I guess I kind of forgot about it during the excitement of the parade, and when I looked for it this morning, it was gone.”

Erin’s investigative gene kicked in. “And you’re sure it didn’t fall off the shelf or that you didn’t leave it somewhere else?”

Mary furrowed her brow. “There’s nothing wrong with my memory.”

“Of course not,” said Erin as she examined the shelf and the surrounding area. “Who were your guests last night?”

“Your cousin Kevin stopped by right after work. And you know my friend Sadie Devlin. Then Virgil Stanton from down the street.”

“The Virgil Stanton?” Erin teased, rubbing some grit from the shelf between her fingers.

“Faith and begorrah, child,” protested Mary, a hint of red rising to her face.

Not quite ready to accept the existence of leprechauns, Erin reasoned that one of the three guests must have entered the kitchen and taken the ring. Assuring her aunt that she would get to the bottom of things, the detective headed out the door.

Erin found Sadie Devlin at her small apartment a couple of blocks from Mary’s. “Ms. Devlin,” she said as her aunt’s longtime friend opened the door, “I understand you were at Aunt Mary’s last night to watch the big parade.”

Stepping out onto the stoop, Sadie smiled. “I’m afraid I didn’t see much of the parade. My daughter called me with an emergency, and I had to leave even before Mary brought out her famous St. Patrick’s Benedictine sandwiches for snacks.”

Remembering that her aunt had taken off the ring to make the snacks, Erin eliminated Sadie as a suspect.

Erin caught up with Virgil Stanton at his hardware store. A successful businessman, Stanton seemed an unlikely suspect. Nonetheless, Erin explained the situation.

“Erin, my dear,” said Stanton, “for several years I’ve been trying to GIVE Mary a ring. I assure you I wouldn’t dream of taking one from her.”

A bit embarrassed to have broached the subject, Erin said her goodbyes and made her way to her cousin’s.

“Hey, cuz,” Kevin said, wiping his hands on a rag. “Just got home from work at the lumber yard and need to clean up before dinner.”

Looking at her own fingertips that had checked her aunt’s shelf, Erin said, “It looks like leprechauns can come in unexpected sizes.”

Seeing the grit from the lumber yard and remembering that Kevin had come to Mary’s “right after work,” the grit Erin found on the kitchen shelf told her Kevin had taken the ring. Confronted, her cousin confessed to the theft, saying he was desperate to pay several overdue bills. Knowing Kevin to be a basically honest person, Erin decided to return the ring and keep The Case of the Larcenous Leprechaun between her and her cousin.