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On the other hand, it now looked as if the murder of Joel Timperley was connected to the murders of his two bachelor friends, and even though Wilbur might have had a motive to kill Joel, I couldn’t see anything that connected him to Jona Morro or Dunc Hanover.

So Wilbur was off the hook.

At least for now.

But Wilbur wouldn’t be a small business owner if he didn’t have one parting shot to impart. He leaned in and fixed Chase with beady little eyes. “If you really want to find out who killed Joel Timperley I suggest you go and talk to Jeannie Beaton.”

“The mayor of Hampton Keys?”

Wilbur nodded ominously.“The Timperleys are in the middle of a rebranding operation. Joel told me they’re going to rename the Keystone Mall and call it Timpermall from now on, dropping the ‘Keys’ from the name. And I have it on good authority that that didn’t sit well with the Hampton Keys council. Not well at all.”

Chapter 23

Jeannie Beaton was a short woman of stocky build, with a rugged and ruddy face. She didn’t look like a mayor to me, but then there probably aren’t any requirements for a mayor’s outward appearance as far as I know. She certainly didn’t look as refined and pretty as Charlene Butterwick, our own mayor.

Mayor Beaton was seated behind a large desk that dwarfed her, and I had the impression she’d had to get an extra-high chair so she wouldn’t disappear from view.

“Poppycock,” she now said with an indulgent smile. “We’re still in negotiations with the Timperleys about the new name for the mall.”

“So there will be a new name?” asked Chase.

“Well, obviously, since they own the mall, they can name it whatever they want. But we as the town council also have a say in this. This is our town, after all, and we do have some leverage we can bring to bear on the business owners who want to operate a store on our territory.”

“In other words: if the Timperleys don’t want to play ball, you can cause trouble for them.”

“Not trouble, per se,” said the Mayor, weighing her words carefully. “But we do have some instruments in our arsenal that might convince them not to be rash when taking such a drastic decision.”

“So what was your suggestion?” asked Odelia. “That they keep the same name?”

“I actually talked to Joel last week, and I suggested that they name the mall Timpermall Hampton Keys. Or even Hampton Keys Timpermall. With or without a hyphen.”

“And was he amenable to your suggestion?” asked Odelia with a smile.

The Mayor returned the smile and added some wattage of her own.“I think he was starting to come round to our way of thinking. After all, the Keystone Mall has been an integral part of this town for the past fifty years, and I conveyed the message to Joel that we were hoping to keep hosting the mall on our territory for many years to come.”

“And what did he say?”

Her smile faltered a little.“That Hampton Cove was also interested in operating a mall on their territory, and so was Happy Bays. Then again,” she added, the smile fully in evidence again, “you don’t simply relocate an entire mall. It would have cost them a small fortune. So chances are that we’re going to win this battle, and soon we’ll be able to host the Timpermall Hampton Keys—the most likely compromise and one we can fully endorse.” She shrugged. “Between you and me, I never liked the name Keystone Mall. We aren’t the Keystone Cops, after all, and Keystone sounds so… Stone Age, don’t you think?”

Chase didn’t let on what he thought of the name, if he had an opinion about it at all. “I have to ask you this, Madam Mayor, but where were you last night between ten and midnight?”

“Goodness me,” said Mayor Beaton, bringing a hand to her chest. “Am I a suspect now?”

“Just routine,” Chase clarified. “This way we can eliminate you from our inquiries.”

“Eliminate me! I don’t know if I like that term,” the Mayor quipped, then turned serious. “Actually I was dining with a friend last night.”

“Do you have a name and phone number for me?” asked Chase, taking out his notebook.

“Of course. Charlene Butterwick,” she said, and gave a surprised-looking Chase a look of triumph. “Us small-town mayors like to stay in touch. United we stand and all that.”

“Were you by any chance discussing the rebranding?” asked Chase dryly.

“The topic might have come up,” said the Mayor. “And for your information, Charlene isn’t interested in a new mall on her territory any more than I am of losing one. So there goes your motive flying right out of the window!” And she laughed a hearty laugh.

Once outside, Chase placed a call to his boss, who placed a call to his girlfriend, and moments later we were in a conference call with Charlene Butterwick.

“Yes, I had Jeannie over for dinner last night,” Charlene confirmed. “And also Ted MacDonald, the mayor of Happy Bays. We thought it would be a good idea to join forces now that the Timperleys are trying to drive a wedge between us and use brute force to push through their ideas.”

“I see,” said Chase. “What ideas?”