Karma's a Killer by Tracy Weber Page A

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.
    â€œWhat makes you think you can count on me? You don’t know me.”
    â€œI 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?”
    â€œYou 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?”
    â€œYou 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.”
    â€œI 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.
    â€œYou 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.
    â€œI 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.”
    â€œWait a minute. Eleven o’clock at night? At Green Lake?” The park was always deserted after dark.
    â€œI 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.”
    â€œThat’s not good.”
    Dharma looked down and worried the skin at the edge of her thumbnail.
    â€œNo, 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