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Dooley cast me a look of confusion, and I shot him back a look of commiseration. With Brutus and Harriet on board his little quiz show had just entered a new, more challenging era. That’s what you get when you hire talent as capricious and prone to temper tantrums and diva behavior as Harriet and Brutus.

Things get complicated. Very complicated indeed.

Chapter 10

Odelia had just started typing up the story of the latest farmer’s market to spring up in Hampton Cove, when her editor Dan Goory walked in, his white beard waggling excitedly and his eyes sparkling the way they always did when he was onto a good story.

“Stop the press,” he cried as he took a seat on the edge of her desk. “I’ve got tomorrow’s cover right here.”

He was holding his phone, and now handed it to her.

She frowned as her eyes adjusted to the small screen, then frowned even more when she recognized the people depicted in the picture on the screen. They were none other than her uncle Alec Lip, chief of police, and his girlfriend Charlene Butterwick, town mayor. They were locked in a tight embrace, gazing into each other’s eyes intently, the epitome of the loved-up couple.

Dan swiped through to the next picture, which showed the same couple, only now their eyes were closed and their lips were touching in a touching display of public affection—at least Odelia thought it was a public place.

“Where were these taken?” she asked immediately.

Dan didn’t respond, but merely swiped again. The next shot showed the couple’s surroundings: Caf? Baron, right in the heart of town, with patrons to the left of them and patrons to the right, all doing their darndest not to look too closely at the couple in their midst and failing miserably.

“I think it’s beautiful,” said Odelia. “They’re clearly very much in love, and I think it’s wonderful that they’re not afraid to show it to the world.”

“Yeah, but as the sender of these pictures rightly states, aren’t they supposed to be at work? These were taken yesterday afternoon at two o’clock, when by all accounts both the Mayor and the chief of police should have been at the office, doing whatever it is that a mayor and a chief of police are supposed to be doing at that time.”

Odelia leaned back and shook her head.“Don’t these people have anything better to do than to take pictures of my uncle and his girlfriend and send them to you?”

“It’s news, Odelia, and like it or not news is the business we’re in.”

“You’re not seriously considering printing these on the cover of the Gazette, are you?” she asked, horrified.

The editor shrugged his bony shoulders.“Like I said, it’s news, and people have a right to know what their civil servants are up to when they’re supposed to be working, earning their paycheck, paid for by your taxes and mine.”

“Oh, come on, Dan. It’s sweet! It’s romantic!”

“And I’m sure the majority of our readers will think so, too,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, no, they won’t. They’ll think my uncle and the mayor are playing hooky.”

“Then maybe they should be more careful next time,” said Dan as he got up, taking his phone from Odelia’s hands. “Look,” he added when he saw her expression, “I’m all for romance, and personally I think it’s pretty sweet, too. But you have to admit that when the mayor and the chief of police of a town like ours hook up, and don’t bother to hide their affection, it’s news. And if we don’t carry this story, I’m sure plenty of others will.”

Dan had a point, of course. Even if he didn’t print the story, it would still wend its way across the digital landscape and arrive in inboxes and social media pages around town.

“I better tell my uncle to be more careful next time,” she said, picking up her own phone.

“Yeah, you do that. And I’ll think up a nice headline to go with these pictures,” said her editor. “Something like… CHIEF OF MY HEART. Or… CAN I HAVE SOME MAYOR!”

Her uncle picked up at the first ring.“Odelia, honey, just the person I need. Your dad just called me and said Ida Baumgartner was robbed last night. Something about a Picasso. Could you go over there and talk to her?”

“Sure. But isn’t that something your officers should be doing?” She didn’t mind doing a bit of legwork for the local police department from time to time, but the citizenry didn’t always appreciate it when she did.

“I’m, um… a little busy right now,” said her uncle.

“Busy doing what?”

“Um… well, it’s a long story, but, um… Please be a dear and do this for me, will you?”

“But how about Sarah or Randal?” she asked, referring to two of her uncle’s officers.

“Both on holiday.”

“Or Chase?”

“Working a case.”

“Okay. Um, so what do I tell her?”