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“Not everyone,” admitted Corney, her mouth a grim line.
“Listen, Corney, anything you share with me is off the record. Think of me as a friend, not a reporter.” She paused, noticing Corney’s skeptical expression. “I really mean it. We girls have to stick together.”
Corney’s expression softened, and Lucy pressed on. “You’re not in danger of getting, um, replaced, are you?”
“Not yet, but there’s a faction who are very unhappy, they say the Chamber is not supporting them. That the old way of doing business isn’t working for them.”
“So who are these crazy radicals?” asked Lucy, attempting to inject some humor into the conversation. “Not Bert at the bank, or Tony at the IGA.”
“No, they’re part of the old guard. Established businesses that are part of the town’s fabric. You can add Randy Lewis at Reliable Insurance, Nate at Macdonald’s Farm Store, and Dave Forrest at Cove Jewelry. I can always count on those guys to support the Chamber, they’re front and center whenever we need, well, anything. Not just cash but they’ll volunteer time, too. They’re the first to sign up whether it’s delivering canned goods to the food pantry or collecting trash at the Coastal Cleanup.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s the newcomers, the new kids on the block. They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm, a fresh outlook that I truly value, but they want things the Chamber really can’t deliver.”
“Like what?”
“Well, Des Jasper is a good example. He runs a property management company, you know, takes care of second homes. He provides maintenance, he’ll arrange seasonal rentals, provide cleaning and trash services, all the stuff absentee owners need.”
“Wish I’d thought of that, I bet it’s really profitable.”
“Not according to Des. He’s having a hard time finding workers. He used to be able to get folks from overseas on temporary work visas but the government is limiting the number of visas, I guess they think the program takes jobs away from Americans. He wants the Chamber to go to bat for him, but this is a national problem, not something we can do much about. I have written letters to our congressional reps, and they’re sympathetic, but they say the votes just aren’t there to grant more visas.”
“He’s got a point, I’ve never seen so many ‘help wanted’ signs.”
“I know. We definitely need more workers, especially in summer. And then there’s Mallory Monaco, she’s got that really cute lingerie shop, Sweet Nothings. She wants to see more online advertising and shoulder season ads.”
“You’ve always had a pretty robust shoulder season ad program,” said Lucy, thinking of ads she’d seen in the Boston Globe and New York Times.
“Mallory says we need to redirect away from paper media, which she says is dying, to social media, but before I go throwing money around I need to get a handle on these outfits. Twitter? Instagram? TikTok? Which ones should I use? I would really need to hire a consultant to figure this out and we don’t have the budget, not now.”
“That’s only two dissenters,” observed Lucy. “You ought to be able to handle them.”
“I saved the best, or rather the worst, for last. You’ve noticed the vape shop?”
Lucy definitely had noticed and didn’t like what she saw. “Oh, of course. It’s awful. Everybody hates that gadget he’s got out front that puffs smoke.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of complaints, but Zach Starr, he’s the owner . . .”
“The guy with the motorcycle?” asked Lucy, who objected to the ear-splitting roar of Zach’s engine, not to mention the loud heavy metal music that often accompanied his sorties around town.
“The very same.”
“What’s his beef?” asked Lucy, thinking that people who behaved in uncivil ways really couldn’t criticize others.
“Pretty much everything. As far as I can tell, he likes playing devil’s advocate.” Corney lowered her voice. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he often wears a Yankees T-shirt.”
“He’s a Yankees fan?” Lucy knew this was something most, if not all, New Englanders considered to be absolutely unacceptable. While they tolerated Pirates or Orioles fans, they drew the line at Yankees fans.
“You simply can’t talk to the man,” declared Corney. “He’s like a little kid who covers his ears and goes blah-blah-blah when you try to discuss anything with him. He’s not serious, he doesn’t care what other people think.”
“So you think he might have taken the egg? To make mischief?” asked Lucy.
“Not so much to make mischief as to make a point. To make the Chamber look foolish and ineffectual.”
“You might be right,” said Lucy. “I know the little egg is valuable, but it’s hard to see how anyone could cash it in. It’s instantly recognizable and even if you had a passion for the thing you couldn’t display it, you’d have to admire it in secret.”
“So how are you going to approach the story?” asked Corney, furrowing her brow.
