Secondhand Stiff by Sue Ann Jaffarian Page B

white Toyota sedan.
    â€œYou know something,” I heard Greg say. “Don’t you?”
    I turned to look at my incredibly patient husband. “I don’t know squat except that the woman who just drove away might be teamed up with Tom’s hoochie momma on something.”
    Greg looked around. “So where is this hoochie momma?”
    â€œShe took off before the police got here.”
    It was then I noticed Mom hadn’t followed Renee over to where we greeted Greg, nor was she seated on a folding chair by the office. I scanned the small area where the remaining people were still being processed by the police and spotted her. She was cozying up to Buck Goodwin. It looked like they were having a friendly chat, which made me shiver with worry. Who knew what the old gal was saying to him, and I couldn’t read lips. Maybe she was apologizing for smacking him with her handbag, but I doubted it.
    â€œThere you go again, Odelia,” I heard Greg say. “Lost in space.”
    â€œI’m sorry, honey. I was just keeping an eye on my mother.”
I pointed over to where Mom stood with Buck. “That guy seems to be a friend of Ina’s, but he and Mom had a small scuffle earlier.”
    â€œGrace knocked his phone out of his hand while he was taking pictures of poor Tom’s body,” Renee explained to Greg with disgust.
    Greg laughed. “Sounds like something you would do, Odelia.”
    I cocked an eyebrow at my husband, warning him not to make any more comparisons. He read my silence with accuracy and only laughed more.
    â€œBy the way,” he said, once he was over having a chuckle at my expense. “Was that Detective Fehring I saw when I arrived? You know, Dev’s partner?”
    â€œYes, but she’s not his partner any longer. She’s with the Long Beach Police Department now.” I knitted my brow. “Do you recall Dev saying anything about getting a new partner recently?”
    â€œNot a word, but you know how Dev is. He doesn’t like to talk shop when he’s out socially, and he’s had no reason to see us professionally—although who knows if that will change, considering this mess.”
    â€œThis is out of his jurisdiction,” I reminded my hubs.
    Dev had had bypass surgery in March. After that, he had returned to work, but at a desk. He’d hated it, preferring homicide investigations to pushing paper. His doctor finally released him to return to his detective duties a few months ago.
    â€œFehring said she joined Long Beach a few months ago,” I told Greg. “That would have been right after Dev returned to the field.”
    â€œMaybe she was sticking around to cover while they were short-handed?”
    â€œYou two know the detective?” Renee asked, her voice filled with cautious hope. “Maybe that will be good for Ina.”
    Greg turned his wheelchair to get a look at Fehring, who was talking to Kim Pawlak. “Hard to say, Mom. She and Odelia don’t exactly exchange cookie recipes.”
    â€œHey,” I protested, “we managed to patch things up at the end.”
    â€œWas she involved with that little girl’s case?”
    â€œYes, Renee,” I answered. “She used to be the partner of our friend Dev Frye.”
    Renee took a deep breath. “That still might be a good thing.” She hesitated. “Providing Ina’s innocent.”
    â€œMom.” Greg swiveled around to face his mother. “Is there any reason why you might think Ina killed Tom? If so, we’d like to hear it, like right this minute.”
    Renee adjusted her shoulder bag and looked down at the ground, as if ashamed of her thoughts. “It’s just that if those bruises on Ina’s arms were made by Tom, maybe he was abusing her regularly.” She took a deep breath and looked up at Greg. “You always hear stories about abused women snapping and killing their