Murder on the Eightfold Path Read online

  “That would be lovely.” A.J. hoped she didn’t sound as lukewarm as she felt. She suspected, given the little glint of amusement in Mara’s eyes, that she wasn’t fooling anyone.

  “You’ve been so often on my mind, A.J.” Mara led them through a bright airy atrium where students rested quietly on their mats amidst the forest of potted trees.

  “Oh, really?” A.J. replied.

  “Your determination and enthusiasm to carry on for Diantha, despite your lack of training or experience is really . . . heartwarming.”

  “Thank you, but I’ve worked hard to get the training and experience I need.”

  “Of course you have.”

  Mara flashed her professional smile and led them past the steam room and then up the graceful staircase to the “Meditation Arbor.”

  “It’s my greatest joy to share the gift of yoga with my students so that we can bring our lives, bodies, and minds into balance.”

  A.J. smiled politely.

  “Of course, you know that,” Mara said. “I love the Sacred Balance philosophy. Just do it. It’s so . . . succinct.”

  “That’s Nike,” A.J. said. “Sacred Balance’s slogan is It could happen.”

  “Of course it could,” Mara said encouragingly. “And here is the massage lab. If we weren’t already booked into next week, I’d offer you both a complimentary Thai yoga massage.”

  By the time the gently condescending Mara had finished giving A.J. and Elysia their quick tour of the fabulous spa facilities, A.J. was struggling against uncharacteristic depression.

  “Pretentious cow,” Elysia said when they were once again outside the building and the soothing sound of flutes and running water had died away with the closing of the painted doors. “Remind me why we needed to subject ourselves to the sight of that many middle-aged bodies in leotards?”

  “I don’t know,” A.J. admitted. “I just thought maybe I should scope out the competition.”

  “You’re not worrying about Suze’s mystery phone calls?”

  “No. Yes. It’s too soon to know for sure. If Mara really was calling Sacred Balance to set up something like a charity benefit, why didn’t she mention talking to Lily?”

  “Because Lily has already taken care of whatever the matter was?”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “Probably.” Watching her, Elysia added shrewdly, “But never ignore your instincts, pet.”

  “Yes, but is it my instinct kicking in or my rampant paranoia?”

  “Paranoia is useful, too. Ms. Allen did seem a bit . . . smug.”

  A.J. smiled faintly at Elysia’s dead-on mockery of Mara’s deliberately timed digs. “She did, didn’t she?”

  They drove back to Starlight Farm and picked up Monster.

  Elysia wanted A.J. to stay overnight again. A.J. felt a little guilty about not keeping Elysia company, but as much as she loved her mother, it was not easy for them to be in each other’s company for long stretches without butting heads. Elysia’s legal woes were liable to continue for some time, and A.J. could not put her life on hold indefinitely. She would have to find a way to continue helping her mother while she got back to running her own life.

  “What you really mean is you want to see Jake,” Elysia said shortly.

  “I can’t not ever speak to him again, Mother.”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  A.J. said patiently, “Because I care for him.”

  Elysia sniffed. “You could do so much better than that flatfoot, Anna. I know that your experience with Andrew undermined your confidence, but there’s no need to throw yourself away on the first man who shows an interest.”

  And here it was. A perfect example of why she and her mother could not share airspace long without a collision. “My feelings for Jake have nothing to do with Andy. Things were going perfectly well between us before this murder charge cropped up. In fact—” A.J. stopped, realizing that admitting to Elysia her hopes for her relationship with Jake was tantamount to placing a loaded gun in her mother’s hands.

  Elysia looked unconvinced. “Well, I can’t help but feel it’s a little disloyal to keep seeing the man who’s determined to put me behind bars.”

  “Don’t do this,” A.J. said. Despite Elysia’s light tone, it was obvious that she was serious. “Jake is just doing his job. He’s already said he doesn’t believe you killed anyone.”

  “He has a funny way of showing it.”

  “Arresting you was not his choice.”

  “That’s easy to say.”

  A.J. took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I don’t want to argue with you about this. You’re my mother and I love you—and you obviously have my support or I wouldn’t have risked my neck breaking and entering Dicky Massri’s apartment with you today.”

  “Just entering.” Elysia corrected.

  “It’s not funny, Mother. I also care for Jake. A lot. So don’t ask me to choose because that is not a fair or loving thing to do to me.”

  Elysia made an exasperated sound. “Very well. But don’t be surprised if he tries to force the issue.”

  The rest of the drive to Deer Hollow was completed in silence filled only by Tom Jones’s 24 Hours.

  A cottontail rabbit darted out from the lush flower bed as A.J. let Monster out of the Land Rover, and the dog took off after it with unexpected energy. A.J. walked up the porch steps. A graceful statue of Kwan Yin stood amidst the purple and yellow irises lining the house. The sweet smells of evening drifted across the sunset-gilded meadow.

  Inside the house A.J. played her messages while Elysia put the kettle on, but there was nothing from Jake. Nothing on A.J.’s cell either.

  Well, he would be busy with the investigation, after all. And she was the one who had said it was an impossible situation and that they should take things slowly.

  Her and her big mouth.

  Elysia, watching her, said suddenly, “I’ve been thinking that perhaps I ought to contact Maddie.”

  For a moment A.J. couldn’t remember who Maddie was, her own problems temporarily outweighing her mother’s. Then it came back to her: Medea Sutherland. Her mother’s wacko friend who was apparently up to her bushy eyebrows in this murder investigation. It was indeed a small world.

  She sighed. “I think we should try to find a way to tell the police exactly what we discovered in Dicky’s apartment and leave it to them from here on out.”

  “Oh, I’m sure the police already know about Maddie.”

  “Then what’s the point of contacting her?”

  Elysia looked vague. “This must be a distressing time for her. As her friend—”

  “You don’t even know for sure that she’s Dicky’s Medea.”

  “Trust me, pumpkin. I’ve one of my hunches on this.”

  One of her hunches? Next she was going to be referring to her little gray cells and twirling her imaginary mustache. A.J. managed to swallow several unproductive comments without choking, and said, “Mother, my relationship with Jake is complicated enough without this.”

  “I didn’t say you had to be involved,” Elysia said tartly. “I said I would contact my old friend and offer my condolences.”

  A.J.’s back was hurting. She was tired and she was disappointed that Jake had not called her—yes, despite the way they had left things the evening before. She missed him. A lot.

  “If you think that’s a wise idea,” she managed to say evenly. She was proud of herself for not saying what she thought of the idea.

  “Are you going to be all right?”

  A.J. nodded. “I can manage. The shot helped.” It would probably have helped a lot more if she hadn’t tried diving out a window, but she managed to bite that comment back, too. Her mother hadn’t kidnapped her; A.J. had been a willing—if not enthusiastic—party to the insanity.

  Elysia patted her cheek sharply. “I’ll call you in the morning, lovie. Don’t worry about anything.” And she was gone in a waft of mingled cigarette and Opium scent. The Land R
over roared into life in the front yard and then silence fell.

  A.J. fixed dinner for herself and Monster. “It’s just you and me tonight, big boy,” she said.

  Monster wagged his tail.

  After dinner A.J. sat down with her aunt’s manuscript.

  What would Diantha have thought about the choices A.J. had met since inheriting Sacred Balance and the new life that had come with it?

  Safe to say many of her choices would not have been her aunt’s.

  Life is loss. If we allow ourselves to care, to love, we must accept the pain that inevitably follows. Nothing lasts forever however much we wish otherwise. Yoga teaches us to concentrate on the here and now, on living within the moment. We focus on each breath we draw, and as we focus we become present and grounded in our bodies. Breath is the bridge between what is now and what is not. Grief is part of what is not, and when we are truly living in the moment we are releasing our grief and concentrating only what is now.

  A.J. undressed and washed, climbing into the bed that had once been her aunt’s. She listened to the sounds of the house settling down for the night, the crickets outside the window, the owl in the peach tree out back inquiring after his supper.

  She wondered what Jake was doing.

  Nine

  The parking lot was full and classes were in session by the time A.J. arrived at Sacred Balance on Thursday morning. It appeared to be business as usual at the studio. She was glad of that, of course, but there was a tiny insecure part of her that wished things weren’t running quite so smoothly without her.

  She was moving slowly, but she was moving, and that was the good news. The bad news was there was no possible way she was going to be able to conduct her classes. That morning’s attempt at Sun Salutation had made that much clear.

  In a spirit of optimism A.J. had unfolded her yoga mat in the front room with its picture window view of the sun-flushed meadow. It was still a little too chilly these spring mornings to use the back patio as she did in the summer. A.J. sat down on her mat, breathing quietly.

  Soft inhalations.

  Soft exhalations.

  She gathered herself to rise, and her back immediately spasmed. It was all A.J. could do not to cry. Why was this happening to her?

  She struggled with her emotions for a few seconds and then was forced to admit that walking up the long staircase at Yoga Meridian had probably not been a good idea, and diving out the window of Dicky Masrai’s apartment had probably been an even worse one.

  Once again she was fighting the very tenets of yoga by trying to force her body to do as she wished rather than what was sensible.

  Accordingly she arrived at the studio in a somewhat chastened frame of mind.

  “Howdy there, stranger!” Emma greeted her from behind the front desk when A.J. pushed through the glass doors. “We weren’t expecting you.”

  Emma was a short, slender, sixty-something black woman. Originally, concerned that Emma would not have the necessary energy or attitude for manning the front desk in a yoga studio, A.J. had been a little hesitant to hire her. It had turned out to be one of the best decisions she’d made. She was especially conscious of this as she remembered her visit to Yoga Meridian where every instructor and employee seemed to be under thirty and genetically airbrushed.

  “I thought I’d try to catch up on some paperwork. I’m not really here,” A.J. replied.

  “Very metaphysical,” Emma said. “Do I hold your calls?”

  “No. Put them through.”

  There were not many calls, however, and A.J. was able to drink her tea and go through her e-mail in relative peace.

  The harmonious sounds of cheerful voices and laughter in the main lobby informed her when the first sessions of the morning ended. She glanced up as someone—Lily—tapped on her door.

  Ignoring that inward sinking feeling, A.J. smiled. “Come in,” she invited. “How are things going?”

  “Smoothly. Never better, as a matter of fact,” Lily said with her usual tact. Belatedly, she asked, “How’s your back?”

  “It’s getting there.”

  Lily’s dark eyes appraised A.J. shrewdly. “I’m a little surprised to see you here, frankly. Are you sure this is a wise decision?”

  “I won’t be able to teach my courses, obviously, but there’s no reason for me not to catch up on the administrative side of things.”

  Lily nodded, a little frown between her black eyebrows.

  “Is there a problem?” A.J. asked, knowing it was a tactical mistake even as the words left her lips.

  Lily drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. “Since you’ve brought it up, yes,” she said at last. “Don’t you think it’s a little absurd for someone with a bad back to be running a yoga studio? You’re not exactly a great advertisement for us.”

  A.J. stared at the other woman in disbelief. “‘Absurd’?”

  Lily inclined her head.

  “First of all, my back is much better these days, thanks to yoga, which should be some of the best advertisement around. Secondly, there’s a lot more to the Sacred Balance philosophy than physical fitness.”

  “But that’s my point,” Lily said in the patient tone of one instructing a not-too-bright student. “Diantha left an entire business empire. I don’t see why you feel it’s necessary for you to focus the majority of your attention on the studio when there are so many other divisions that could keep you entertained.”

  “Keep me entertained?”

  Lily had the grace to look chagrined. “Maybe I didn’t put that as diplomatically as I could, but we both know that the reality is—thanks to your inheritance—unlike the rest of us, you no longer have to work. So doesn’t it make more sense for you to concentrate on some aspect of Diantha’s empire that you’re better suited for? Your background is marketing. Wouldn’t it be better for all concerned if you used those skills to develop and market our sportswear and other merchandise lines—or the plans for organic foods? Those things have all been completely neglected since Di’s passing.”

  “It was Aunt Di’s wish that we co-manage. That we work together in the studio.”

  Lily was shaking her head, repudiating this. “I loved Di, but there’s no question she was eccentric. And leaving you Sacred Balance had to be one of the most eccentric decisions of her life. In fact I firmly believe that if Di had lived—”

  “If I were you, I’d stop there.”

  Lily said coolly, “Why? We both know you can’t fire me. We’re stuck with each other. Until one of us quits.”

  “I’ve offered to buy out your interest in the studio.”

  “I’m not going to sell out. This studio is my life.”

  “Then I’m not sure what it is you want.”

  The intercom buzzed and Emma said, “A.J., your momma’s on line one.”

  “Thanks, Emma.” A.J. continued to wait for Lily to state the true purpose of her visit, but Lily said nothing, simply staring at her in silent challenge.

  The call rang through. After the second ring, A.J. said, “I have to take this.”

  Still weirdly, defiantly mute, Lily rose and left the office. She closed the door with a little bang.

  A.J. realized her hands were shaking. Lily got under her skin like no one else on the planet, and A.J. wasn’t even sure exactly why. She gave herself a moment and then picked up the phone.

  Before she could speak, Elysia said, “Maddie has invited us to stay the weekend.”

  Her thoughts still on the argument with Lily, it took A.J. a few moments to register what her mother was saying. “Medea Sutherland has—Mother, what did you tell her?”

  “Nothing any reasonable person could possibly object to,” Elysia protested. “I merely said she’d been on my mind lately, which is perfectly true. She popped out with the invitation with nary a nudge from me. I think she’s lonely.”

  Be careful what you wish for, Maddie, thought A.J.

  “What did she say about Dicky?”

  “Nothing. I
didn’t ask, and she didn’t volunteer any information.”

  “But that’s strange. Is it possible the police don’t know about her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  A.J. gnawed uneasily on her lip. “Have you heard from Mr. Meagher?”

  “No. I was thinking we could drive down tomorrow—Friday afternoon.”

  A.J. was shaking her head, rejecting this idea instantly. “I can’t just take off for the weekend.”

  “I don’t see why not. You can’t be much use at the studio right now.”

  A.J. controlled her instinctive response. “Thank you, Mother. I don’t just conduct classes, you know.”

  “But your minions are so well-trained, pumpkin. And it’s nice for them to be out from under your iron fist once in a while.”

  “My what?”

  Elysia chuckled.

  Who wouldn’t be looking forward to a weekend of this? And under the roof of a potential murderess, to boot. “Mother, I don’t think you’ve thought this through. I know she’s an old friend, but what if Medea did kill Dicky?”

  Clearly amused, Elysia returned, “You don’t remember Maddie very well, do you?”

  “I don’t remember her at all. I’ve seen her movies, though.”

  “Then you’ll have to take my word for it. Maddie is no more a murderess than I am. But keeping me safe gives you an added incentive to come on this little jaunt, yes?”

  As dearly as A.J. longed to say no, Elysia had a point, and unfortunately it seemed only too apparent that A.J. was not necessary to the smooth operation of Sacred Balance.

  “What time tomorrow?” she grumbled.

  “Let’s say eleven. I’ll treat you to lunch and we can discuss our strategy.” Elysia was ever gracious in victory.

  A.J. agreed morosely, hung up, and went to find Lily. She found that the other woman had left the studio for an early break, and thwarted once again, A.J. returned to her own office.

  There had to be more she could do even if she was sitting on the sidelines. A.J. opened her laptop again and went into her mail program hunting for the e-mails her mother had sent while on vacation in Egypt. She found them without too much difficulty and read over them, curiously inspecting the attached photos with new attention.