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“I’ll be sure to tell her, Dooley,” I said.

“Well, you should, because if she keeps living like this, she’ll get liver deficiency, and then who knows what will happen.”

I gave my friend an odd look.“What do you care about Laney Basula’s liver?” I asked.

“Well, I saw this documentary yesterday on the Discovery Channel, and it was all about the liver. The liver is a vital organ, Max. And it’s important to keep it healthy.”

“I’ll make a note of that,” I said with a smile in my friend’s direction.

“What do you want?” asked Laney, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

The flat was just as rundown as the building containing it. Cigarette ashes were on the floor and not in their designated receptacles, and clothes were on the chairs, not in the hamper where they should be. In a corner of the room a television stood blaring away, showing a wrestling match where grown men were trying to slam each other in painful places. It hurt my insides just to watch them.

“Jay Green sent me,” Odelia said.

A flicker of recognition dawned in the young woman’s eyes, but then was replaced by a look of suspicion. She lit a cigarette and took a seat at a table that was laden with several Chinese food containers. “So?” she said finally.

“First off, I want to offer my condolences for Dylon’s passing,” said Odelia.

The girl waved an impatient hand.“Save it, lady. The police were already here, so just tell me what you want and get it over with.”

“Dylon stole a very valuable necklace last night, only it wasn’t on his person. So now Jay thinks…” She hesitated, and Laney rolled her eyes. Very expressive eyes they were, I have to admit, in spite of the bags.

“He thinks I might have something to do with his precious necklace going missing, is that it? Well, you can tell him from me he’s wrong. And next time when he wants to accuse me of something, he should tell it to my face.”

“So you weren’t working with Dylon last night?” asked Odelia.

“Oh, is that what he thinks? Well, the answer is no. No, I wasn’t working with Dylon. And no, I didn’t even know he was going to break into that place. He told me he was doing his modeling.”

“What else did he do for a living?” asked Odelia, as she carefully picked a pair of dirty underwear from a chair and lowered herself onto it.

“Dylon was an artist,” said the girl with a touch of bitterness, “even though he wasn’t really doing a lot with his art lately. He hadn’t been able to sell his work, and at some point bills have to be paid, so I told him to get a regular job or else.”

“Do you work?” asked Odelia.

“Yes, of course I work. What kind of a question is that? Who are you, anyway?”

“I’m a reporter, actually, but Jay and Laia asked me to sort out some trouble they’re having.”

“I didn’t take their necklace, and I don’t know what happened to it. Though if you ask me, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jay himself is behind this whole business.”

“Jay stole that necklace?”

Laney shrugged.“He and Dylon had been on the phone a lot these last couple of days, and I knew they were up to something, though of course Dylon refused to tell me what it was.”

“Jay had been in touch with Dylon?”

“All the time.”

“Odd,” I told Dooley. “Laia just told us that they hadn’t been in touch since they left school.”

“So either Jay was lying, or Laia was,” said my friend.

“Sounds like Jay was lying to Laia,” I said.

“Look, the police have already gone over this place with a fine-tooth comb,” said Laney, “which is why the place is such a mess. And they didn’t find anything. Or do you think I’d still be here if they had?” She now pointed to Odelia with her cigarette. “You talk to Jay Green. This whole thing smells like an insurance scam to me. And if it is, I hope he rots in jail for what he did to Dylon.”

The implication was a tough one, and told us everything we needed to know about what Laney thought really happened last night.

“Time to have a long talk with Jay,” I told Dooley.

“She really should take better care of her liver,” was my friend’s response. “And stop smoking!”

It is true, of course, that this human habit of inhaling smoke into their lungs is a very strange one. Then again, we all know that humans are among the weirdest species on the planet. I mean, who else thinks that watching cats paint is soothing? I certainly don’t. On the contrary, I think it’s a bad habit, probably up there with smoking and drinking. Can you imagine licking all of that paint from your paws? Paint not being part of the basic food groups it’s probably bad for your digestion. And possibly even the liver, but that’s Dooley’s area of expertise.

Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by Odelia’s phone belting out a pleasant tune.

“Laia?” asked Odelia, darting a glance to Laney, who frowned darkly at the mention of Jay’s fianc?e’s name. Odelia listened for a moment, then said, “I’ll be there in five.”

CHAPTER 19

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