Romeow and Juliet by Kathi Daley

can be filled by any means necessary in order to meet the needs of the council. Technically, they can simply appoint someone to fill Keith’s position, which is what a couple of the members wanted to do, but there wasn’t consensus on who should be appointed, thus the special election.”
    “Doesn’t this all seem just a bit too coincidental?” I asked.
    “How so?” Irma asked.
    “Keith dies just prior to the vote, opening the door for not one but two pro development council members to be elected.”
    “You think someone killed Keith to sway the vote?” Irma asked.
    “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
    “Personally, I would take a look at Keith’s personal life over his role as a member of the island council,” Doris commented.
    “His personal life?” I asked.
    “There’s a rumor that Keith had been having an affair. Popular opinion is that he planned to leave his wife for this other woman.”
    “Keith has been having an affair? Where have I been?”
    “That’s the scuttlebutt,” Doris confirmed.
    I frowned. If Doris’s piece of news was true, perhaps his wife had been the one to kill him. The thing was, if his wife was the killer, why do the deed in the old cannery? I knew Doris’s tidbits could sometimes be nothing more than idle gossip, so I decided to remain focused on Keith’s role in the upcoming vote and the impact his death would have on the outcome.
    “Have you heard from Maggie?” Marley asked after she completed the transaction she’d been involved in when I’d come in and wandered across the store to join us.
    “Not yet. I know Siobhan planned to take her to the doctor today. I hope one of them will call me when they know something, but if they don’t, I’ll call Siobhan at the apartment tonight.”
    Aunt Maggie refused to carry a cell phone, so calling her directly was impossible.
    “I do hope they can figure out what’s wrong,” Marley fretted. “It’s not like her to be down for so long.”
    “It seems like her symptoms began around the same time she decided to run for the island council,” Doris said. “Do you think it could be stress that’s making her ill? She’s taken on a lot as of late.”
    “Maybe,” the group agreed.
    “What do you know about the new district manager for the bank?” I asked them. If anyone had the scoop on Camden Bradford, it would be this group.
    “I know he isn’t really a banker,” Doris commented.
    “What do you mean, he isn’t really a banker?” I asked.
    “Six months ago his brother-in-law was in a serious automobile accident,” Doris shared. I had no idea where she got her information, but she generally tended to offer interesting tidbits. “The brother-in-law was the district manager at the bank before his accident, and although it appears he’s going to be fine, his recovery has been slow. The bank was willing to keep his job open for a short time, but they were clear that if his injuries resulted in a prolonged absence they’d need to replace him. I guess Camden Bradford was some sort of high-profile investment banker before he quit and disappeared. The bank agreed to hold his brother-in-law’s job indefinitely as long as he agreed to sub for him.”
    “What do you mean, he disappeared?” I asked.
    Doris shrugged. “I’m not sure what he was doing, but it appears he quit his job a couple of years ago without any apparent reason, sold his penthouse apartment, and simply faded from society. He didn’t reappear until after the accident.”
    “Why would the bank agree to let him fill in?” I wondered.
    “I imagine they realized they were never going to get anyone even half as qualified as he is for the money they were offering,” Doris theorized.
    “I heard that Bradford’s brother-in-law is close to returning to work,” Ruth offered. “So Camden Bradford will probably disappear from the island as abruptly as he appeared.”
    My phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. “It’s Siobhan,” I commented