Corpse Suzette

obviously wounded.
    “Don’t bother.” Abigail
turned to Savannah. “Do you have any of that fried chicken that you made last
night left over?” Savannah thought of the drumstick and thigh securely locked
away in a plastic bag in her refrigerator. “Nope,” she said. “We ate it all.
Nothing left. Your dinner’s there in front of you. Eat it or wear it.”
    Again, everyone at the
table froze.
    Abigail just glared at her
for a long moment, and even Savannah considered the wisdom of making a threat
that had always worked fine for Granny Reid, but...
    To everyone’s surprise,
Abigail picked up the sandwich and bit into it. After a moment of chewing, the
frown disappeared from her face and she attacked it with gusto.
    “So, Tammy,” Savannah said,
“how far did you get with that account number and password I gave you?”
    Tammy gave Abigail a wary
look, then replied, “Not far. Nothing yet. Sorry. I worked on it for hours, but
couldn’t get it to work with any of the online banking sites. I haven’t gotten
through the list yet. So I might find something.”
    Savannah turned to Dirk,
“And how’s your drive-by case?”
    “Wrapped it up,” he said
between chews. “Wasn’t hard. You lean on those wanna-be gangsters, and they
give each other up for a thin dime. No honor among punks.”
    “Good. Then you can get
back to business on this Du Bois case.”
    “What case? Is she still
missing?”
    “Yes, and it’s been 72
hours since Suzette Du Bois was last seen. And besides that...” Savannah
glanced over at Abigail, who was contentedly munching away.
    Abby stopped in mid-chew.
“What? You’re afraid to talk in front of the fat girl? You think I might have
killed that stupid doctor, just because she promotes the harassment,
degradation, and humiliation of people of size? You think I bumped her off the
other night when I said I was out shopping for souvenirs?” She stood and picked
up her plate from the table. “Fine. I’ll go out in the backyard so that you can
talk about me all you want.”
    “Oh, Abby,” Savannah said,
“sit yourself down there and eat your meal. I’m pretty sure I know who killed
Suzette Du Bois, and it wasn’t you. I just want you to keep anything you hear
at this table to yourself. Don’t go spreading it when you’re there at Emerge.”
    Tammy perked up. “You know
who killed her? You know that she’s been killed?”
    “I’m pretty sure she’s
dead,” Savannah said. “And I think Devon Wright, their publicist either did it
or had someone do it. She’s fooling around with Sir Sergio Full of Himself, and
Suzette caught them together. The gals got into a catfight and someone
overheard them arguing in the parking lot three nights ago... the night Suzette
was last seen.”
    “That’s not a lot to go
on,” Dirk said.
    “How about if Miss Devon
pawned a pair of Suzette’s earrings this morning?”
    “That’s better,” he said.
“You sure?”
    “Pretty darned sure. I told
Saul to hold onto them until you can get over there to look at them. And
there’s a picture of Suzette wearing them in her nightstand drawer.”
    He actually looked
interested... as interested as Dirk ever got. “That’s much better. As soon as
we’re finished eating here, let’s go get that picture.”
    “Don’t rush off,” Tammy
said. “I made dessert!”
    Savannah gasped. “You made
a dessert ? No way! Not with sugar or flour, I’ll bet.”
    “I made watermelon sorbet.
And don’t make a face, Savannah. It’s good, even without sugar or flour.”
    “I’m sure it’s delicious,”
Savannah said through only slightly gritted teeth. She had to be a good example
for Abigail... even if she would have much preferred a dish full of Ben and
Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream smothered with hot fudge.
    “Great! I’ll dish some up
now.” Tammy jumped up from the table and danced over to the refrigerator.
    A rude buzzing sound came
from Dirk’s shirt pocket. He reached in and took out his cell phone. “Coulter,”
he barked. “Yeah. Oh? Where? Okay.”
    He returned the phone to his
pocket and gave Savannah a loaded look across the table. “Gotta go,” he said.
“And you’re gonna wanna come with me.”
    “What is it?”
    “DB.”
    “Oh.”
    “What’s a DB?” Abby asked.
    Savannah swallowed hard. “A
dead body.” To Dirk she said, “Is it Suzette?”
    “Nope.”
    “Who then?”
    Dirk suddenly looked tired
and a little bewildered. “You gonna come with me or ask