Karma's a Killer (9 page)

“Why don't you call your boyfriend Eduardo?”

I was fishing, of course. I suspected that Eduardo and Dharma were a couple, but I didn't know for sure.

Dharma's lips thinned. “How do you know Eduardo?”

I didn't lie, but I didn't tell her the whole truth, either. “I don't. He chatted up someone I know after the protest. She was staffing the pet food booth. Evidently, he made quite an impression.”

Dharma sighed. “Eduardo and I broke up on Saturday night. I found out that he's been cheating on me with Raven. For months.”

She leaned up to the plastic partition, as if being closer provided her the illusion of privacy. “Kate, I don't know who to trust anymore. One of my friends from HEAT is likely the killer. And anyone who
didn't
kill Raven probably thinks I did. I need someone I can count on.”

I stared at Dharma, not sure that I fully believed her story or that I wanted to get involved, even if did. I flashed on
The Yoga Sutras
again. Some days I hated Patanjali.

“What makes you think you can count on me? You don't know me.”

“I know you better than you think, and I knew your father better than you'll ever understand. You won't let me down. You can't. You weren't raised that way.”

She was right.

I sighed. “Okay. I'll do it.”

Dharma smiled.

I held up my index finger. “On one condition.”

Dharma closed her eyes, whether in relief or resignation, I couldn't tell. “What's that?”

“You have to be straight with me. Why do the police think you killed Raven? Is it because of the fight you had with her Saturday morning?”

Dharma's face paled. “How do you know about that?”

“You two weren't nearly as stealthy as you thought.”

She shook her head. “I don't want you involved in all of this ugliness, Kate. That's what my attorney is for.”

“I mean it, Dharma. That's my condition. If you want my help, you have to answer my questions. I already know that you and Raven had an argument less than twenty-four hours before she was murdered, and you admitted that she was sleeping with your boyfriend. You definitely have motive, but the police need more than motive to make an arrest.”

Dharma swallowed. “They have other evidence.”

I remained quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“You might not know it to look at me, but I have a pretty bad temper.”

I frowned. That was the second thing Dharma and I had in common. Dad always said that I got my short fuse from Mom. He must not have been joking after all.

“I confronted Eduardo after my argument with Raven, and he admitted that they'd been having an affair.” Her lips tightened. “I was furious. I mean, I'm not stupid. The man was almost twenty years younger than me. I never expected exclusivity. But with
Raven
? She'd been acting crazy lately. Eduardo was more fed up with her than I was. I decided to have it out with her once and for all, so I called her and told her we needed to talk. She said to meet her at eleven back at Green Lake, on the dock near the paddleboats.”

“Wait a minute. Eleven o'clock at night? At Green Lake?” The park was always deserted after dark.

“I know, it surprised me, too. But Raven had been acting strangely the last few weeks. I figured skulking around in the dark must be part of her new anarchist image. I met her where she asked, but when I told her to leave Eduardo and me alone, she laughed. She called me a miserable old has-been.” Dharma's face flushed. “We had a bit of a scuffle, and my billfold must have fallen out of my jacket pocket. The police found it on the dock, near Raven's body.”

“That's not good.”

Dharma looked down and worried the skin at the edge of her
thumbnail.

“No, it's not. But that's not the worst of it.”

My stomach churned. “What
is
the worst of it?”

Dharma rolled up her sleeve. A long, red welt bisected her forearm. “When I got home, I noticed this scratch. Raven probably has my skin underneath her fingernails.” She lowered her arm and looked down at her lap. “And she might have bumped her head when I pushed her.”

“You pushed her?” My voice came out louder than I intended.

“Yes, but she was still alive when I left, I swear!”

I reached up my hand to rub my forehead. This wasn't good. Not good at all. Hopefully Dharma hadn't blabbed this whole story to the police. I was no lawyer, but—

Oh no.

I dropped my hand back to my lap and gaped at the handset in horror. Dharma's lawyer had warned her not to talk about the case on the phone. Did that include the handset in the visitors' area?

“Dharma, you need to stop talking.”

Either she didn't hear me, or she chose not to listen. “Kate, you have to believe me. I wouldn't kill anyone. Not even Raven. She drowned. Some poor fisherman found her floating by the dock. She smashed her head when she fell, but—”

“Dharma, be quiet!”

The whole room froze in echoing silence.

I lowered my voice and whispered into the handset. “Listen to me. I heard you.” I gestured with my eyes toward the guard. “But you have to stop talking. Now.”

Dharma's mouth dropped open, but she said nothing. Her complexion turned stone gray.

I peered into Dharma's eyes. I tried to find guilt. I tried to find subterfuge. I tried to find
anything
I could use as an excuse to leave this whole nightmare behind. All I saw was confusion. And isolation. And fear.

“This attorney of yours. Is he any good?”

Dharma hesitated. “I assume so. I only spoke to him for about fifteen minutes. He was assigned to me by the court.”

“Your attorney is a public defender?”

“Kate, I'm an activist, not part of the social elite. I don't have money to hire my own attorney.” She tried to smile, but her lips never made it past a grimace. “He's young, but they wouldn't have given him a murder case if he weren't adequate.” She swallowed. “He says I should consider taking a deal.”

Officer Chuckles interrupted. “That's it, everyone. Your thirty minutes are up. The next visiting hours are on Thursday.”

Dharma got out one more thought before they made her hang up the phone. “Kate, when you pick up my belongings, make sure you get the wooden box. It's important to me.”

I laid my palm against the plastic that separated us and smiled, trying to give her some form of comfort. “I will. I promise.”

And I would. But first, I had to hire her a better attorney.

Ten

I barely recognized the
man who pulled into the studio's parking lot five hours later, but I would have known that rattletrap orange Plymouth pickup anywhere. Dale's feet barely touched the ground before I wrapped him in a huge, heartfelt hug.

“Dale, I'm so glad you're still in town. Thank you for agreeing to meet with Dharma. It means the world to me.” I stepped back and took in his new outfit. “Look at you, all dressed up like that. You look like a real lawyer.”

I wasn't kidding, either. The Dale I'd had for an attorney wore flannel shirts, suspenders, and goat-dung-encrusted work boots. This Dale wore a dark blue power suit, a yellow-dotted navy tie, and black dress shoes so shiny I could have used to them to touch up my makeup. His beard—which was usually scraggly, unkempt, and littered with straw—had been trimmed short and looked so clean that I almost didn't get nauseated looking at it. He looked, in a word, powerful.

A single thing marred his impeccable appearance: the fine, white dog hair covering his suit jacket. I pointed to a particularly large clump in the crease of his right elbow. “I see you brought Bandit with you.”

Dale's lips lifted in a huge grin. “Of course I brought Bandit. I can't go anywhere without that little monster.” His words sounded cranky, but his voice held nothing but affection.

As if he knew we were talking about him, Bandit jumped on the pickup's dashboard and began scratching at the windshield. White fur puffed around him, creating an indoor fur blizzard. His brown eyes flashed with pure mischief.

“Let me grab him and we'll go inside to talk.”

Dale continued talking as he clipped a leash on Bandit's collar. “We're lucky the boys are on break this week and can look after the rescue. I was planning to hang around Seattle for a couple more days anyway. Checking in on your momma's case will give me an excuse to visit my old stomping grounds.”

I flinched at his easy use of the word “momma.”

“Her name's Dharma.”

“Fine, Dharma then. But where I come from, young'uns don't call their parents by their first names. Seems a might disrespectful.”

Dale stopped, suddenly serious, and placed his hand on my forearm. “Kate, you know I'll do whatever I can to help, but I need to know something. Are you sure Dharma is innocent?”

I paused before answering. The question was important. Dale acted like a country bumpkin most of the time, but it was just that—an act. Before Dale had traded in his briefcase for a farmer's cap and work boots, he'd been one of Seattle's most formidable defense attorneys. He gave up criminal law after one of his clients murdered a woman—three days after Dale got him out of jail for assaulting her.

My arrest last fall was the first criminal case Dale had taken in almost seven years. I knew he'd worked on other criminal cases since then, but like Perry Mason, Dale made it a point to fight for the
innocent.

I flashed back to my visit with Dharma that morning and what I'd felt in her energy. “I can't guarantee anything, Dale. I don't know her well enough. But yes, I think she's innocent.”

He responded with a single nod. “Good enough. Let's go talk inside.”

We walked across the parking lot toward the studio. I still couldn't believe Dale's transformation.

“Where'd you get the fancy clothes? I almost didn't recognize you.”

“It's like I told you before, Kate. Things work differently in Seattle than they do on Orcas. If I'm going to play big-city attorney again, I need to dress the part.” He grinned. “I bought the monkey suit at Northgate on the way over. I don't look half bad, do I?”

“You look great.”

I opened the studio's front door, flipped the sign from
Open
to
Closed
, and told the teacher staffing the desk that she could take the rest of the day off. Dale sat on the bench in the reception area and gestured for me to sit beside him.

He handed me a paper bag. “I brought a few more of those cookies for Bella, since the crows got most of the first batch.”

I opened the bag and inhaled the pungent aroma of goat cheese. “Keep baking these and you might convince me to stop being vegetarian.”

I filled Dale in on everything I'd learned during my jail visit with Dharma while he plucked fine white dog hairs off his suit jacket. At the end, I admitted that the conversation might have been a mistake.

“You two talked about all of that in front of the guards? Are you nuts?”

The answer was undoubtedly yes, we were both certifiable. But I suspected Dale already knew that.

“I don't know what we were thinking. Dharma's attorney warned her not to talk about the case. I guess we got carried away.”

“She's already hired an attorney?”

“If you can call it that. She met with a public defender. A young one. I'm afraid he might be in over his head.”

“Wouldn't surprise me. I certainly was when I started out at the PD's office. What makes you so sure she wants to hire someone different?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I'm not, but I have to try. She's going to need better than some overworked kid who just passed the bar exam.” I bit my lower lip. “Dale, you should know—Dharma doesn't have any money.”

He smirked. “Seems to be a family trait.”

I couldn't come up with a snappy retort, so I reached down and rubbed Bandit's ears.

Dale slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “We can work out the money issues later. First, we need to figure out which lawyer's going to be alpha. I'll head downtown and make a few phone calls. Maybe I can finagle that young pup who's representing Dharma into getting me a visit.” He squeezed my upper arm and dropped the red-necked façade. “Don't worry, Kate. If she wants my help, she'll get it.”

He stood up and handed me Bandit's leash. “Now, I shouldn't be gone longer than a few hours, so you entertain Bandit. I'll pick him up and fill you in later this evening.”

I looked in the cute pirate-dog's beady brown eyes and saw nothing but trouble. “You're not taking him with you?”

“Kate! You should know better than that. I can't possibly leave him alone in the truck.”

I looked outside at the overcast rainy day. “It's cool outside, and you can park in one of the downtown parking garages. He'll be perfectly safe.”

“Bandit would be safe enough all right. But what about my truck? The last time I left him alone, he ripped a hole clean through the upholstery. That truck's a classic! Besides, Bandit would much rather spend time with you.”

As if plotting his future misconduct, Bandit cocked his head, scratched his left ear, and sniffed at the carpet. I could only hope that he wasn't planning to lift his leg on the statue of Ganesh that guarded the yoga room's entrance.

Dale's smile didn't look sincere. “Bandit won't be any trouble at all.” He paused. “As long as you don't leave him alone. Or let him get bored.” He backed toward the door and looked at me with what I swore was an expression of sympathy. “Have a great time, you two!” He jogged across the parking lot, jumped into his truck, and sped off.

Bandit sniffed every square inch of the lobby, not seeming worried in the slightest that his human had abandoned him. I glanced at the desk clock, then down at the wiggling monster. “Okay, kid. Looks like it's you and me until my class starts at six. Think you can behave and let me get some work done for the next couple of hours?”

Bandit chose not to commit.

I tied his leash to my desk and returned the first of the studio's long list of phone messages. Bandit busied himself by sharpening his teeth on my desk. No problem, I could deal with that. I opened the drawer, pulled out one of Bella's favorite chew toys, and firmly gave the command “sit.” Bandit remained standing, at least in the seconds his feet touched the floor. The rest of the time he levitated, yipping at full volume and trying to snatch the toy from my hand.

“Fine, you win.” I handed him the toy, which of course ruined the game. He started digging in the carpet, obviously determined to bury the toy somewhere in China, or at least far out of the reach of any yoga teacher stupid enough to try and reclaim it.

Perhaps ignoring him would do the trick. I looked away from the little he-devil, dialed the second number, and tried, unsuccessfully, to speak loudly enough to be heard over the barking. No problem there, either. I could always spend the next hour responding to the day's deluge of emails. Bandit might be more stubborn than I was, but I was smarter. I could outthink any canine. Well, any canine except Bella.

Or so I thought.

Forty-five migraine-inducing, suicide-ideation-causing minutes later, I gave up, grabbed the little monster, and carried him down the sidewalk for a visit with Uncle Michael at Pete's Pets.

The sucker (oops, I mean, my amazing life partner) actually looked happy to see the little black-eye-patched demon. I felt bad for not giving Michael adequate warning, but these were extenuating circumstances: the students of my Yoga for Healthy Backs class would start arriving in fifty-five minutes, Bella needed a bathroom break, and my head was about to explode. Besides, Michael was already mad at me. What did I have to lose?

I left Bandit with Michael, gave Bella her bio break, and still had time to stock the bathroom supply cabinet with the month's inventory of hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue. When the clock rolled around to five forty-five, I greeted my students with a virtuous smile and a self-satisfied sigh. In one day, I'd helped a long-lost relative, managed the studio's inventory, given an old friend a new job, and proven to the world once and for all that I was an incompetent babysitter. Some days, life was good.

I checked in the final student, locked the front door, and joined the fourteen yogis already seated in the practice space. I asked them to lie on their backs with their knees bent and their feet flat on the floor—a comfortable position for most back pain sufferers—and rang the Tibetan chimes three times.

“Take a moment to check in with your bodies. Start by noticing any areas of tightness or discomfort. Imagine a heat lamp warming those areas, melting away all muscle tension.”

After a few minutes, I asked my students to change how they breathed in order to strengthen their core. “With each inhale, allow your belly to relax and your low back to rock gently away from the earth. With each exhale, contract your abdominal muscles, as if you were closing the zipper on a pair of too-tight jeans. You should feel your low back flatten toward the floor.” This exercise strengthened the deepest core muscles that stabilized the lumbar spine and pelvis.

I'd taught Yoga for Healthy Backs often enough that I could do it practically without thinking. Normally, I would have kept my mind focused anyway, as if I were teaching the class for the first time. Tonight, I allowed my mind to wander.

Over two hours had passed since Dale left for the courthouse, and I hadn't received a single voicemail message. Was he at the jail gathering intel from Dharma or in a bar tossing back cold ones with his lawyer buddies?

The heavy-set man in front of me twitched and started to snore. The students around him giggled and fidgeted. Time to get them all moving. I guided them in Apanasana—Knees-to-Chest Pose. “Place your palms on your kneecaps, with your fingers pointing toward your toes.” This deceptively simple yet powerful pose warmed up the muscles of the lumbar spine. “On inhale, rock your knees away until your arms are straight. Notice how your lower back gently arches away from the floor. On exhale … ” My voice continued speaking on autopilot. My mind wandered to suspects, means, motive, and opportunity. What did I already know?

Frustratingly little, and yet more than I thought.

I mentally outlined what I'd observed the morning of DogMa's fundraiser.

First odd factoid: Dharma and her buddies at HEAT had traveled over seven hundred miles from Sacramento to Seattle to protest a well-regarded animal shelter. That act by itself seemed unusual. Was there something I didn't know about DogMa that had made it a target, or had the day's protest merely been a pretense for something else?

I moved the class to their stomachs and guided them through several repetitions of Cobra Pose to strengthen their backs. “Place your palms on the floor under your shoulders and … ”

Come to think of it, Sally and Maggie had seemed upset, but not exactly floored, to learn that HEAT was going to protest the event. When Maggie saw the picket line, she'd said, “I can't believe she's actually going through with this.” Dharma and Goth Girl were both mysteriously missing at that time. Was Raven the “she” Maggie referred to? And if so, how did they know each other?

A student to my right lay on his belly with his forehead resting on his forearms. The face of the young woman next to him was turning bright pink. Perhaps I should give the class a break. “When you finish your next repetition, press your hips back to your heels and let your forehead rest on the floor in Child's Pose. Imagine that you can breathe warmth into your low back muscles.”

Warmth. The fire. Raven had said to Dharma that someone was going to burn. Could she have known about the impending arson? Setting a dumpster on fire wasn't the same as drowning someone, but it was still an act of violence. Hanging out with violent criminals was a good way to wind up dead.

I brought the class to standing for several repetitions of Uttanasana, or Head-to-Knees Pose, a posture I'd specifically adapted to safely stretch the lower back. “On inhale, raise your arms over your head. On exhale, bend your knees and fold forward, bringing your fingertips toward the earth.” A man near the back of the room ogled the bent-over bottom of the woman in front of him, then quickly averted his gaze and smiled sheepishly at his wife.

Which reminded me of love triangles, like the one between Raven, Eduardo, and Dharma. What was going on there, anyway? On the surface, Eduardo and Raven weren't all that surprising a couple. Physically, they were a good match: both in their thirties, both attractive, both interested in the same social causes. Dharma, though beautiful, was old enough to be Eduardo's mother, yet she seemed genuinely surprised to learn that he was having an affair with Raven. Did Raven have some hold over Eduardo that Dharma wasn't aware of?