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“That was Odelia,” said the Chief, getting up from behind his desk. “There’s been a murder, and the most likely suspect has an alibi. Only problem is: her alibi is her cat.”

“Oh, boy.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

He took his jacket from the coat rack and then they were off, but not before he alerted Abe Cornwall, the county coroner, to join them ASAP. And as they walked out of the precinct, he cast a quick glance in the direction of town hall, which was located across town square. Three young punks were indeed watering Mayor Butterwick’s flower beds with their own bodily fluids. His face set, he started marching over. He recognized two of them as having desecrated his own garage not all that long ago.

But a hand descended on his shoulder, and Chase said,“Better let me handle this one, Chief.”

“But…”

“I’ve got this, buddy,” Chase insisted, and stalked over to the three punks. Alec watched on as Chase told them in no uncertain terms what was what. Reluctantly the three kids jumped on their bikes and rode off.

And as Chase joined him again, the Chief asked,“What did you tell them?”

“That if they didn’t cut it out I was going to send the CCTV footage of their teensy tiny little weenies to their mothers. They didn’t like that.”

Alec smiled.“I would probably have grabbed them by the collar and smacked their bottoms.”

“You can’t do that in this day and age, Chief,” said Chase as they walked over to the Chief’s squad car. “Smacking bottoms is not done. Not politically correct.”

“And sending video of their pee-pees is?”

Chase grinned widely.“Who says I was going to send anything?”

The Chief shook his head. He had to admit that Chase’s solution had probably been more effective than his own. From a window on the second floor of town hall he could see Charlene Butterwick gazing out at them. And when he raised his hand in greeting, she waved back. And as an involuntarily smile crept up his face, he sensed that Chase was lookingat him and grinning again like a damn ape.

“She’s my boss!” he said as he buckled up. “I have to say hi.”

“Oh, I know.”

“I’m supposed to be nice to her.”

“Of course you are.”

“Stop grinning, will you?” he grunted, and then started up the car.

Chapter 10

The moment Odelia’s uncle arrived with Chase things became even livelier than they had been. Before long, the coroner also arrived and people in white coveralls were all over the place, examining the crime scene and the body.

Meanwhile Chase, Alec, Gran, Odelia and Scarlett had taken seats in the living room with Allison and Mia, the latter still looking groggy from whatever pills she’d taken.

“So tell us, Miss Gray,” said Uncle Alec, taking charge of the investigation. “Who could possibly have held such a grudge against Mr. Weaver to want the man killed?”

“Oh, I can think of several people,” said Allison, looking a little startled by all the attention she was suddenly subjected to. “There’s the man’s wife, of course. Or I should probably say ex-wife, even though they aren’t officially divorced yet.”

“I hardly think Kirk’s wife would want him dead, Auntie Allison,” said Mia, who was nursing a cup of strong coffee. The smell drifted toward Odelia and she relished in its delicious aroma.

Allison must have caught a whiff, too, for she suddenly said,“Oh, dear goodness me. I’m a terrible hostess. What can I get you, Miss Poole? And you, Chief Alec?”

When the orders were all taken care of, and Allison had relegated them to a member of her household staff, the interview continued.

“So tell me about this ex-wife,” said Chase. “Does she live around here?”

“I think she’s staying in town somewhere, in a hotel,” said Allison. “She should be at home in LA, but when she heard Kirk was here and intending to stay for a couple of weeks, she suddenly flew in and took a room in town, then started bombarding him with messages, and even showed up at thehouse once or twice, demanding to speak to him.”

“I know women like that,” said Scarlett. “Can’t let go.”

“Oh, it wasn’t like that,” said Allison. “She could let go well enough, but not of Kirk’s fortune. She vehemently contested the terms of the proposed divorce settlement and kept badgering Kirk for a bigger chunk of his fortune, and even his house in LA.”

“We’ll need to talk to the woman,” said Chief Alec as Chase made a note.

“So who else?” asked Odelia. “You said you could think of several people who’d mean Kirk harm?”

“Well…” Allison hesitated, and darted a look at her niece. “There is Kirk’s business partner. You met him once, didn’t you, honey?”

Mia looked up. She’d been gazing into the middle distance and blinked. “You mean that creepy little weasel? Yeah, Kirk and I met him in town last week. I didn’t like him.”

“Well, neither did Kirk, apparently,” said Allison with a nervous little laugh. “He called him a fraud and was trying to terminate their business relationship, which apparently was fraught with a long history of bad business decisions and disagreement.”

“So this business partner, do you have a name?” asked Uncle Alec.