Read Online Death of the Swami Schwartz (A Kate Kennedy Mystery Book 2) by Noreen Wald - Free Book Online

going to see tomorrow? Such a posh and pretty place. Marlene couldn’t wait. But… would Harry turn out to be weird and spoil everything? How had they segued from Death Takes a Holiday to Tomorrow Is Forever ? Though tomorrow might be forever, if Death took a holiday.
    Trying to keep it light, and hoping for the best, she said, “Is your belief sort of like Annie singing about how things will be better tomorrow?”
    “Annie who?”
    How could a man who professed to love both Broadway shows and movie musicals not have known, immediately, that she’d been referring to Little Orphan Annie?
    “Never mind. Tell me more about your group of friends who’ll be sponsoring the Death Takes a Holiday discussion. Do they all believe tomorrow is forever?” Harry’s romance potential was dropping faster than her jaw line.
    “Yes. You’ll love them. And you’ll love learning and coming to accept the possibility of your own immortality.”
    “Immortality?”
    “Yes, my lovely, immortality for those who believe, those who are ready, and prepared to enjoy life everlasting where tomorrow is forever. Come to a meeting, you’ll see.”
    A religious zealot? Somehow she didn’t think so.
    “What’s the name of your group, Harry?”
    “The Lazarus Society.”

Fifteen

      
    Nick Carbone ordered Tiffani and Kate out of Swami’s office. Ballou nipped at his ankles, but the detective wasn’t in a playful mood. Paper was spewing out of the printer and, in a bold, large font, “Tantra Workshop” filled the computer’s monitor.
    Kate probably had “guilty” written across her forehead in equally big, bold letters. The only saving grace in this compromising situation was the reminder she’d stuffed a hard copy of the Life Preserver prospectus file into her sweatpants’ pocket.
    Standing there, with her straw hat in one hand and her sunglasses in the other, she hoped Nick Carbone had assumed even though he’d caught her snooping, she had nothing to show for her effort.
    God, she must look a fright. Strangely, she felt just as uncomfortable about Carbone catching her minus makeup, her hair uncombed, and her sweat suit looking every bit as grimy as she did.
    “Just a minute, Detective, this is my office too. I’m just doing my job.” Surprising Kate, Tiffani was barking back at Nick Carbone. “Why don’t you let me finish?”
    Snatching up one of the Tantra Workshop printouts, he glanced at it, then said, “Young lady, you are finished. Take Mrs. Kennedy and get out of here. Wait for me in Sanjay Patel’s office.”
    “But,” Tiffani protested.
    “Now.” Carbone’s face contorted, and a vein in his forehead appeared ready to pop.
    Without having said a word to Nick Carbone, not even a hello or a good-bye, Kate walked through Swami’s office to the door, with a still-muttering Tiffani trailing behind her.

      
    Twenty minutes later, Carbone was dropping Kate and Ballou off at Ocean Vista.
    Though he’d coldly chastised her in front of Sanjay Patel and Tiffani Cruz, telling her to mind her own business or he’d charge her with obstructing justice, there had been no conversation during the ride from the Yoga Institute, not even during the seemingly endless wait for the Neptune Boulevard Bridge to go down. And, worse, the detective had totally ignored Ballou’s obvious delight in seeing him again. Ballou’s droopy ears expressed his reaction to the neglect.
    Now, as a scowling Carbone drove up the driveway, lined on either side with fat azalea bushes and small palm trees, and braked at her front door, Kate panicked. Tiffani sat weeping softly next to her in the backseat, all bluster gone. Her next stop would be the police station.
    Back in the Yoga Institute’s reception area, Kate’s offer to accompany the waitress there had precipitated the detective’s tirade. Tiffani was on her own. Kate desperately wanted to comfort her, to whisper a word of motherly advice about her upcoming interview, but remained silent,