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Tales from the Sangha

The Squatters (#7)

What do ancient meditation techniques and guessing a credit card pin number have in common? In part #7, the scale seems to tip towards Rick success, but as all we know, success might not last enough.

The Squatters (#6)

Rick can afford now to have Helena’s face repaired and to buy an expensive rug, two items that have potentially equal capacity for beauty. He’s unprepared for the Squatter’s next move.

The Squatters (#4/#5)

Rick’s trouble with the squatters and an “out for himself” lawyer take him deeper in the destructive quid pro quo battle. He quickly learns that a dog bite can be more lucrative than a gun shot. Rick puts his financial “smarts” to work and the action moves to a Mojave County casino. Things are reaching their saturation point.

The Squatters (#3)

The Squatters, like most people, do not regard an act of retribution against them as the second act. To them, the first was justified and stands alone; therefore an retribution is always a new, undeserved act. But Squatters lack moral proportion, and Rick gets more than he deserves.

The Squatters (#2)

Rick and Helena think that they can fight fire with fire, and do dirty tricks to their antagonists. In Part II of The Squatters, Ming Zhen Shakya shows how pitifully inadequate such actions are.

The Squatters (#1)

Rick (evil genius of The Money Lender) gets ‘his turn in the barrel’ when he tries to retreat to a house he owns and finds it filled with very nasty squatters. Rick thinks he knows how to fight fire with fire. But that remains to be seen.

A Prescription for Murder (#7)

Miguel doesn’t not see it yet, but Ruiz was right: his engagement to Constanza has cost him his honor. Tony proposes to Karen and she is furiously angry when she comes face to face with Juan. The pieces come together.

A Prescription for Murder (#6)

Juan has retreated to the tropical jungle. He harbors a subtle jealousy of Tony Celine and a bold disgust with people. He’s defeated and physically ill and doesn’t want to know anything about anyone. Karen gets answers to her questions – some good and some distressing. Her odyssey has come to an end.

A Prescription for Murder (#5)

Miguel is given a lesson in social politics. He thinks Ruiz was correct in his assertion that Miguel would lose everything he valued. He doesn’t know how even revenge would exact a terrible price. Karen is love and begins to see the obstacles she faces.

A Prescription for Murder (#4)

In Belize, Karen considers her situation. She now knows why Marc received such preferential treatment from the police, but the information doesn’t help her with the problems she faces. She needs someone to help her. For years, she had been without a serious man in her life, and little by little she is beginning to find herself attracted to two different men: both will need her help, but for wildly different reasons. She wants to solve one problem at a time; but time is not on her side.

A Prescription for Murder (#3)

There are old portraits in the hacienda’s attic that may explain some of the problem’s Karen is having. Getting into the attic is yet another problem. Ruiz, the police detective, says that he has information that will help her; but he is drunk and refuses to discuss what he has learned.

A Prescription for Murder (#2)

A day of enjoyable sailing ends with the bad news of Agnes Celine’s death and the worse news that Karen Breiton is suspected of having caused her death. Karen has stumbled into someone’s trap. But who or why or what the event will have on her professional reputation are questions only a Mexican police detective can answer.