You are exactly right. But as an ex-LE he knew what he was smelling all right but also knew that CA had been in touch with KC so he knew it was not KC. That being said he was not going to call LE until he got to the bottom of what was going on. IMO CA said, "Go to work, I'll get in touch with KC and get to the bottom of it and make her bring me to Caylee tonight." GA did text LA with the message that KC was in big trouble. Any parent immediately goes into protective mode until they can make sense of what is going on. GA said himself that no one wants to believe that someone you love would do such a thing. I am not trying to excuse his actions only trying to explain how an ex-LE might think sometimes because of the way they have been conditioned. jmo
Putting myself in the same position, I doubt I would have done anything differently because, no matter how bad things were with her, I think that these people had no idea that their daughter was capable of murdering their granddaughter. Since they'd been in contact with her every day, they knew she was alive and assumed the baby was too. I could see myself driving the car home- determined at that point to, once and for all, find out what the heck was up, but thinking that someone had murdered someone without any time to investigate or process? That wouldn't be a concept most parents would be ready to bite right into. (For Cindy, it's three years and counting.) The Anthonys knew there were issues with Casey. She'd been acting in ways they didn't like. They knew something was going on and that they had to get to the bottom of it. Now, they REALLY knew that, but to imagine that the something was murder and/or their granddaughter's body had been in the trunk? No matter what the car smelled like, or what their occupations were, the initial reaction for most parents given these particular circumstances would be denial. I would have driven the car home and then done something ... just like they did. If I'd suspected my child might murder someone, or if I hadn't been in contact with my child, I would have almost certainly reacted differently, but under the same circumstances, I can see myself reacting in similar fashion.