I was finishing my dinner when Adonie got in.
Olive drew her off to show her something or to ask her something.
Olive had been dancing with it for hours.

"Where was Zora that day?" I asked as Adonie
crossed the kitchen threshold.

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She stopped abruptly, then set her hands into her pockets. "What?"
Gaining time? I felt like challenging her with that but with Adonie it wasn't necessary. She read my expressions and body language extremely well. "Where was Zora the day you called Molly out to certify Cella dead? And how did you get this house away from her?"
Adonie leaned against the jamb. "It was never hers."
"No? She didn't expect it to be?"
"I don't know what Zora expected."

"Do you know what she was after? Why? All anybody ever said when I was little was how devoted Zora was. Easy, of course, to be devoted to Cella, but Zora never failed. Were they all under Zora's thumb, spouting lies? What changed Zora? Was she always a lie? Everything she did all those years?"

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