“Now, now. The police prefer that the right villain go to prison for the crime,” Mr. Meagher remonstrated automatically. But he was clearly considering her words. “If new information has come to light-”
“Well, it must have, although I have no idea what it would be. Jake didn’t confide more than that to me.”
Mr. Meagher’s brows rose. He reached for a legal pad and began making notes. Unfortunately there wasn’t a great deal more that A.J. could tell him.
“I’ll talk to Jake Oberlin,” he assured A.J. “Put a wee bit of pressure on him.”
“Just make sure he understands that this was a line of investigation you were already pursuing,” A.J. said, remembering some uncomfortable moments in the past between her and Jake.
Elysia sniffed dismissively but withheld comment.
“What about gambling debts?” A.J. suggested suddenly. “Mother, did you tell Mr. Meagher about Dicky betting on horse racing?”
Mr. Meagher looked up. “He played the ponies? Did he indeed?”
“Yes,” Elysia said reluctantly. “But it really wasn’t the sort of thing you’re hoping for. Perfectly decent people do gamble for fun now and then. It doesn’t always lead to losing one’s home or having men named Guido turn up with baseball bats.”
“True,” A.J. conceded. “But Dicky wasn’t a perfectly decent person. He was a blackmailer and probably a thief and he took advantage of vulnerable old ladies.” Seeing her mother’s indignant expression, A.J. added, “As well as you.”
Elysia subsided, mollified.
A.J. stayed in town to have lunch with her mother-Mr. Meagher excusing himself on the grounds of a prior commitment-and then drove out to the studio. The lobby was relatively quiet as classes were in session. A.J. greeted Emma and went straight to her office.
She had switched on her laptop and was glancing through the morning mail when she realized Lily had followed her into her office.
Lily said, “So nice of you to join us.”
“I’m sorry?” This was a little bizarre when she had been trying all day yesterday to get Lily to schedule time with her.
Lily smiled a tight little smile. “You seem to be keeping banker’s hours these days. We had a problem with the upstairs restrooms this morning.”
What the-? Did A.J. look like Josephine the Plumber?
But no, that wasn’t fair. As co-manager, A.J. did have a responsibility to be at the studio at least as often as Lily.
“What was the problem with the upstairs restroom?”
“One of the toilets shattered.”
“One of the…” A.J.’s voice faded out. “The seat shattered?”
“The entire toilet. Base and all. There was water everywhere.”
A.J. nodded and kept nodding. She was very much afraid she might laugh. She said gravely, “And so you called a plumber, I assume?”
“That’s right. But it’s more serious than that. The toilet is a symptom not the disease. I believe we need to have a meeting with every overweight student and reevaluate the progress each has made since joining Sacred Balance.”
Uh…
A.J. said mildly, “Perhaps the toilet was defective?”
“The plumber didn’t believe that to be the case.”
Had Lily finally snapped or had she? It was very hard to believe they were having this conversation. Was Lily suggesting that students who broke their diets or missed their daily workouts shouldn’t be allowed to use the restroom? What was she suggesting-beyond the fact that A.J. was not pulling her weight?
“I see,” A.J. said. “Well, it happens that I agree with you that we should be monitoring the progress of those students who joined us with weight loss goals in mind.”
“Yes, we should.”
Ah. There it was. The accusation unveiled at last. “Lily, there is a lot going on in my life right now in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Yes, and very little of it seems to have to do with yoga or Sacred Balance.”
A.J. swallowed her ire. Lily was perfectly correct. Yoga was pretty much the last thing on her mind these days. “You’re right,” she said pleasantly. “But that’s a temporary state of affairs. Anything else?”
Lily seemed taken aback by A.J.’s calm response. After a stiff second, she said, “For example, this vacation you took last weekend. If you were well enough to be up and about, you should have been up and about here. Where we were short-staffed.”
Whatever A.J. had been expecting, it wasn’t this.
“Last weekend was hardly a vacation. My back wasn’t at the point where I could have conducted classes. You know that.”
“Aren’t you the one who told me your value to this organization went beyond teaching classes?”
A.J. felt herself redden. There was an element of unpleasant truth to Lily’s observation. Much of what Lily was saying was true. But it was only part of the truth and didn’t take into account the tireless and enthusiastic effort A.J. had put into Sacred Balance over the past year. She replied, trying not to sound as testy as she felt, “That’s true. I did choose to spend the weekend with my mother. This is a stressful time for her.”
“More stressful now, I’d say.” Before A.J. could respond to that, Lily said, “Why not be honest? You enjoy owning the studio, you don’t enjoy running it.”
A.J. managed to control her instinctive reaction, settling for a terse, “Not true.”
“Of course it is. You don’t have to work. Sacred Balance is just a hobby for you. You’re dabbling in managing the studio, and that’s not fair to the rest of us.”
“I don’t know where this is coming from because I’m at this studio working my tail off nearly every single day. I’m here more than any other staff member-and that includes you.”
“Maybe at first, but nowadays you’re more interested in playing amateur sleuth than teaching yoga.”
“You have zero idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not the only one to notice, A.J.”
“Really?” A.J. sat up very straight. “Well, if anyone else has concerns, they can address them to me directly.”
“You wouldn’t be so defensive if you didn’t recognize the truth of what I’m saying. Look, I know you care about the studio. I know you view it as some kind of spiritual trust left to you by Di, but if you really want what’s best for Sacred Balance, you’ll hear me out.”
Here it was. A.J. had known that Lily was angling toward a particular end. She braced herself for what was without a doubt going to be unpleasant.
“Go on.”
“Mara Allen of Yoga Meridian contacted me a few weeks ago. She and her investors are interested in making an offer for Sacred Balance.”
“Sacred Balance isn’t for sale.”
“That’s emotion talking, not reason. Mara is willing to pay a lot of money for Sacred Balance. Furthermore, she’s willing to let me continue as manager of the studio-I could keep on any instructor or staff member I chose. No one would have to lose their job.”
“No one has to lose their job now. Including me.”
Lily’s thin mouth twisted. “Yoga Meridian, and Mara, have a lot of money behind them. Her investors are willing to pay a more than fair price.”
“Lily, as you keep pointing out, I don’t need the money.”
“It’s not just about you, A.J. It’s about what’s right for the rest of us, too. What you don’t seem to understand is, if you’re going to be so blindly stubborn about this, we’re going to lose Sacred Balance completely. We can’t compete with Yoga Meridian. They’ve got everything we’ve got plus a day spa and hair salon. Every day we lose more customers to them.”
“That’s ridiculous. Yes, we’ve lost a few customers, but we’ve gained new customers, too. The turnover is normal. It balances out.”