Death of the Swami Schwartz (A Kate Kennedy Mystery Book 2) by Noreen Wald Page B

diet tomorrow.”
    “You’re going up to Boca Raton tomorrow. Why put yourself in the path of temptation? I’m sure the Lazarus Society will serve sustenance after the movie.” Kate crossed the room and retrieved the Life Preserver prospectus from the top drawer of a desk near the door to the balcony. “Never start a diet on a Sunday.”
    “Is that like one of the Ten Commandments?”
    “Yes. Number three.” Kate sat down next to Marlene. Ballou sighed, obviously delighted to be in such close company with the two women he loved best.
    “Does he have to go out again?” Marlene asked.
    “No, he’d be sleeping if you weren’t here spoiling him.”
    “Okay, hand me the prospectus.”
    While Marlene read aloud, Kate’s mind wandered.
    Funny how random ideas—seemingly unconnected—often waltzed together through her subconscious. Maybe talking about Marlene’s viewing of Death Takes a Holiday set her strange but orderly dance sequence into motion: An image of a company up in Palm Beach that had been shut down by the city council segued to the funeral of a famous football player, then to the dead football star scoring a touchdown in Dallas Dalton’s huge freezer, as a “perfectly preserved” Thistle cheered.
    “Oh my God!” Kate heard her voice crack.
    “What’s wrong?” Marlene jumped.
    The doorbell rang.
    Flustered and a little frightened at where her subconscious dance had led her, Kate went to let Tiffani in.
    “I can’t stay, Mrs. Kennedy,” Tiffani said, by way of greeting. Then she actually blushed. “I have plans to meet Sanjay.” She nodded at Marlene. “Hi, Ms. Friedman.”
    “I gather you’re feeling better, Tiffani.” Kate sounded almost as miff ed as she felt, And didn’t Sanjay Patel get around? Private yoga lessons with Dallas Dalton at six thirty. Now a date with Tiffani Cruz. Reaching into her pocket, Kate pulled out the slip of paper Herb Wagner had given her. “There are three names here. Since Mr. Wagner has assured me these are the best attorneys in Broward County, Marlene and I were going to suggest drawing one of the three out of a hat.”
    Tiffani put the piece of paper in her pocket. Not an easy task. Her jeans were so tight, she could barely slide it in. “Thanks, Mrs. Kennedy, though I might not be needing any of them. Sanjay’s kind of like advising me. And he knows a really good lawyer.”
    She gave a little wave, pirouetted, and was out the door before Kate could think of a reply.
    “Still think Tiffani’s innocent?”
    Kate said, “Annoying, yes. Guilty, no.” Her mind was on the file in Marlene’s hand.
    “I can’t say I understood most of this.” Marlene held up the four-page prospectus. “Harry didn’t seem bright enough to be part of such sophisticated research. What’s all this scientific stuff about perfectly preserved patients?”
    “Cryonics.”
    “I’ve heard that word before, but can’t recall what it means. Cry-on-ics.” She enunciated as if she were in a spelling bee. “So what does Life Preserver actually do?”
    “Freeze dead people.”

Twenty-Four

      
    Kate might need post-life support herself if she couldn’t calm down.
    “Marlene, do you remember a company—I think it was called New Horizons—that opened up near Boca Raton last year?” Sounding as if she were on speed, Kate didn’t wait for an answer. “Some sort of a life extension lab that froze dead people and then, sometime in the future when medical science found the cure for whatever had killed them, would defrost the patients and bring them back to life. Perfectly preserved. Perfectly healthy. But the town, or maybe Palm Beach County, decided the lab had violated some zoning or planning regulations and shut it down. I wonder who owned New Horizons? Not Dr. Gallagher—I’d remember that. Unless he’d been a silent partner. God! Could Jack Gallagher have changed the company’s name to Life Preserver and moved his cryonics business to Palmetto