A Body to Spare (The Odelia Grey Mysteries) by Sue Ann Jaffarian

came to his senses,” Jolene said, “and remembered that he forgot to abuse us.”
    I looked at the display on my phone. “Nope, it’s Zee Washington. Could you guys shut my door when you leave? I need to take this.”
    “Didn’t you say her husband represented you yesterday?” asked Jolene.
    “Yes,” I answered, offering nothing more.
    As soon as they were gone and my door was securely shut, I answered the phone. “Hi,” I said to my best friend. “I’m surprised you waited this long to call.” It was true. I had expected Zee, upset with my latest body find, to be on the phone to me last night.
    “Seth ordered me to give you some time before I called,” Zee told me. “Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t call me first.” I could tell she was a bit hurt.
    “I just couldn’t talk about it anymore yesterday, Zee. I figured Seth would fill you in. In fact, it was Greg who called Seth last night with our latest finding.” It was true. After dinner, Greg had called Seth and told him about the missing Zach Finch. Seth had agreed with our theory that the cops probably already knew about it and that it was why the feds were involved.
    “Seth didn’t tell me much, Odelia,” Zee said, her voice running out of patience. “In fact, he didn’t tell me anything about meeting you at the police station yesterday until I saw the news with you and your car on it. There you were, plain as day, on your butt in the water in front of a body.” Zee and Seth must have watched the same newscast we did. “Then,” she continued, still miffed, “he reluctantly explained that he represented you in the questioning yesterday. He claimed attorney-client privilege.”
    “He’s right about that,” I said with caution. Steele might have had a change of cranky personality, but I wasn’t banking on Zee doing the same. I knew her too well. She was mad that she was in the dark about what was going on, hurt that I didn’t tell her myself, and worried about my safety. It was a trifecta of emotions that would be parlayed into an outpouring of motherly lecturing and loving hostility.
    “But it’s about you , Odelia,” she complained. “Since when do we have secrets?”
    “Since never, Zee,” I assured her. “But it wasn’t Seth’s place to tell you since he was involved with my representation. It was mine, and I just hadn’t gotten to it yet. I was going to call you this morning after getting to work, but I was waylaid by Jill and Jolene, who had both seen the news and recognized my car.” I paused. “So now that I have you on the phone, let’s talk about it.” I told her everything I’d just told Jill and Jolene, thinking I should have called Zee and conferenced her in to save time. The only difference in my narrative was that I did tell Zee about the police’s suspicion about Willie and Elaine.
    “The police have been crawling all over our garage and carport,” I told her. “They’re looking for evidence that points to the body being put in the trunk at the house—maybe in the middle of the night. They’ve also gone all through the house this morning looking for evidence that Zach was ever in our place. Nothing like having your home torn apart by cops to start your day. Thankfully, Cruz is there today putting everything back together, because I was about to lose my mind.” Cruz Valenz is our housekeeper—a woman in her sixties who brought order to our house on a weekly basis. She also worked for Steele and occasionally for my mother. Before I left for work, I’d slipped a little extra cash into Cruz’s weekly pay. Just thinking about the police and my encounter with them yesterday and this morning made me want to dive face-first into the basket of scones like I was in a county fair’s pie-eating contest.
    “But wouldn’t Wainwright have heard the creeps if they put the body in the trunk at night?” Zee asked.
    “You’d think,” I said, “but the dog is getting old. He’s pushing fifteen. According