11. Why Is Lucky Laughing

Chapter 11 Why Is Lucky Laughing? "You're awesome, Pal!" Nate said. "Let's give these to Officer Fallon!" Ben said. "And get Lucky out of jail!" Ralphie added. "Wait a second," Bradley said. "Let me think." A minute passed. "He's thinking," Brian said. Nate giggled. "Something is wrong here," Bradley said finally. "Don't you guys wonder how the leprechauns got from Lucky's closet to this storage room?"

"Maybe one of the cops found them and stuck them in here," Ben said. "Found them where?" Ralphie said. "They never came inside to look in Lucky's closet." "Besides, if a cop found the leprechauns, he'd have told Officer Fallon," Bradley said. "And he would have returned our leprechaun to us." "And he wouldn't keep Lucky locked up," Ralphie said. "You're right, Bradley," Lucy said. "Something weird is going on." Just then they heard someone laugh. Bradley turned around. "That came from Officer Fallon's office," he said. Bradley thought for another minute. He tiptoed over to Officer Fallon's door. The others followed. Six pairs of ears listened at the door. "Your move, Officer Fallon," someone said on the other side of the door. "That's Lucky's voice!" Ben whispered.

Very gently, Bradley turned the knob. He opened the door a few inches. Officer Fallon was sitting at his desk. Lucky sat opposite him. They were eating burgers and playing chess. Both had big smiles on their faces. I thought Lucky was in jail, Bradley said to himself. He heard Ralphie and Ben take in deep breaths. "How'd you happen to find the three leprechauns in your closet?" Officer Fallon asked Lucky. "My mom saw Ben and Ralphie come in with the leprechauns," Lucky said. "She heard them say they were going to blame me for it. So Mom and I decided to teach those two a lesson. That's why we brought the leprechauns here to you." Officer Fallon laughed. "Those poor kids," he said. "They think I really arrested you. When do you want to go back home?" "Mom says I should come back today," Lucky said. "I'll take the leprechauns with me and return

them." He moved a chess piece. "But first I have to beat you at this game!" The kids backed away from the office door. "Did you hear that?" Ben asked. "Lucky and Officer Fallon are playing a trick on us! Lucky's not in jail at all!" "And our mom knew about it, too!" Ralphie said. Then he and Ben looked at each other. "I guess we deserved this," Ben said. "We started the whole thing." "So what do we do now?" Ralphie asked. "I have an idea," Nate said.