Chapter 7
Luke
He needed for the day to be over and to find that bloody actor soon. But it looked as if that wouldn’t be the case. Not any time early enough.
Luke and his colleague at the Bakshi & Contadino Agency were back at the Casanova theater the day after Leonardo Pascual had mysteriously gone missing.
“I’ve learned so much from him. It’s been a joy to share the stage with him every night,” Pili Garcia, Leonardo’s costar in El bano de Edipo, was telling Divya and Luke.
They were interviewing the actress, who played the character of Jocasta, in the same dingy room the police had used the previous night to talk to Sol.
“He’s so talented. Of course you may be wondering: ‘But Pili, really? Sure you had to hate him. The guy was seven years older than you in real life yet in El bano de Edipo he’s your lover and son!
That’s ridiculous.’ And listen, I know. Showbusiness is a very sexist profession.
Leonardo will be playing the heartthrob for twenty more years at least. Whereas I’m thirty-eight and I’ve just become the woman who can only play mothers now.
But still. I absolutely loved every moment with him on the stage.
You know who is younger than me and would be a bit more believable as my son, right?
” Pili didn’t wait for them to offer an answer.
“Sandro Palau, of course. But Isabel thinks he’s not well-known enough. ”
Luke was confused. It was a feeling that had assailed him from early this morning—when he’d been still sleepy and had been ordered by Sol to put some clothes on.
Under normal circumstances, she’d have been happy to see him half naked—she’d have preferred to see him fully naked in fact.
She would have acted on it as well. But it appeared that things were not normal: he had a bloody new case in Barcelona and because of that they weren’t in London—and they weren’t having spontaneous sex on the kitchen island.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Pili Garcia would just not shut up. Divya and Luke were trying to talk to most of Leonardo’s colleagues from the play, but Luke didn’t think that would be possible at this pace. Not if all of them just started rambling after one question and didn’t stop.
“Theater is such a devoted profession.” Pili continued her monologue, and Luke wasn’t even aware how she’d gotten to that line of thought.
The short brunette had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a long, flowy, tunic-like dress. She was oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t on the stage at present and she could indeed just say nothing—or limit herself to answer the questions.
“I don’t think you can do theater well and also do movies or TV shows simultaneously.
Theater just needs the whole of you. People keep asking me why I don’t do television.
I don’t want to do television! I’m a theater actress.
I live for the stage. The stage takes all of my energy.
I cannot possibly do television and do it justice.
I mean, some actors do both. But do they really do a good job in both mediums? ” she continued babbling.
Divya cleared her throat next to him. Luke’s colleague must be as tired as he was of playing the patient listener to Pili Garcia.
“Ms. Garcia,” Divya tried interrupting the actress.
“Oh, please, call me Pili! I’m Pili. For everyone! No one calls me Ms. Garcia. Not even my assistant. I’d say Ms. Garcia is my mother but not even her. She’s just Concha. We’re a very down-to-earth family, you see?”
“Pili,” Divya took the opportunity, and Luke was thankful because his colleague was a much more patient person than he was. Pili was exhausting. “Did Leonardo seem different or odd to you these past few days?”
“Yes! Very odd!” Pili’s words finally managed to catch Luke’s attention.
“I mean he was obsessed with his new TV show. To the point where he was starting to be indifferent to what happened in the play. But you can’t do that in the theater.
” Pili pronounced that last word with an affectation that aggravated Luke.
“We’re live every night. Every representation of the play is a new beginning, a new birth, a new origin.
But he no longer cared for the rebirth. You can’t do theater on autopilot! Theater is alive!”
Divya blinked repeatedly. She’d been on an early flight from London that morning but it probably wasn’t sleep or tiredness that made her do so—it was a natural reaction to Pili’s outbursts. “How did he show that lack of interest in the play?” Divya finally asked.
“The other night he forgot a line of dialogue!”
“Isn’t that common?” Luke asked. He’d just assumed that happened at least once per night. Were actors really supposed to remember all those lines?
“Not if you’re living in the moment as the character instead of just playing it.” Pili was quite dismissive. Despite her having said she loved every moment on stage with Leonardo Pascual, Luke had serious doubts that was true.
…
“So, Pili clearly hated Leonardo,” Divya said while they were finally alone once the actress had tired of talking to them and left.
“And she had plenty of motive to want him gone: She’s jealous about his television career.
She’s resentful he’d moved on and was thinking about his next project when there’s no next project for her on the horizon,” Luke enumerated, counting with the fingers of his right hand, and checking on his phone the internet database Sol had recommended to see an actor’s upcoming work.
“And she didn’t like having been cast as someone older than him when she’s younger,” Divya finished his words and, as usual, he was glad to be working alongside her.
He checked the time on his phone. “Sandro Palau should be here in five minutes.”
“The understudy who should have played Leonardo’s character just because he’s younger than Pili?” Divya asked while she was going through some of her notes from the case.
“Same.”
“Are we feeling less grumpy today?” Divya teased Luke. It was a usual dynamic between the two work partners and friends—they enjoyed making fun of each other’s quirks.
“You basically told me I couldn’t get back to London!” Luke protested through gritted teeth.
“I know. I should have eased you into it. I reckon it was a bit much to take in all at once.” She rolled her eyes. “Spending a few more days with Sol in Barcelona! How’re you getting on with her?”
He shrugged. “We were great.”
Divya raised her face from her notes and arched an eyebrow. “Were?”
“Until we were forced to stay here…and then this morning she ordered me to get dressed.”
Divya’s arched eyebrow climbed even higher. An explanation was needed.
“She’s on deadline. Apparently, I don’t let her focus.”
“Ah.” Divya’s expression changed to understanding. “Perfectly reasonable explanation. The woman needs to work and she considers you too distracting.”
“I suppose but still. I wonder if this would have happened if we were back in London.”
The rolling of the eyes returned. “Of course you did!”
“How are things with Moon?”
“Perfectly fine, right up until Leonardo went missing and I was dispatched here tasked with finding him,” Divya admitted.
“It looks like we both have the same problem, then.”
“And that would be?”
“We need to find Leonardo quickly. Get paid. And be back in London. Our romantic well-being depends on it.”