Chapter 12
Sol
What I really want to know” Sol said to Luke and Divya over lunch at an outdoor table of Casa Güell in Poble Nou that day, “is how much Isabel is going to get paid for this second run of the play.”
After the chaotic interview with director Isabel Teixidor, the detectives and their newly minted entertainment consultant had searched for sustenance—with Sol set on showing Divya as many areas of her hometown as possible.
Since they were the only ones seated at the restaurant’s outside space, they were brainstorming the case.
Sol didn’t even have to beg or try that hard, she soon convinced Divya and Luke to share with her everything they’d unearthed so far.
“Moon just texted.” Divya was checking her cell phone and scrolling through some messages as if looking for something. She couldn’t repress the smile and she blushed a bit. “Here. They sent the contact for Leonardo’s publicist. The family has chosen her as the point person.”
Sol let out a loud breath. “The publicist? We won’t get anything.”
“Moon says they got in touch with Leonardo’s agent but they were referred to the publicist. Her name is Penny Carr and apparently has been with Leonardo for a couple of years. She’s in Los Angeles.”
“It makes sense for the publicist to be the person of contact if I want to interview him.” Sol leaned forward on the table.
“But why have the detectives investigating Leonardo’s disappearance also get the sanitized version of events?
Unless there’s something to sanitize—” She was getting carried away by her hypothesis.
“I’m not sure we’re following,” Divya reminded her of the Bakshi & Contadino Agency’s lack of entertainment knowledge.
“I may be mistaken, but my guess is that there’s something potentially controversial in Leonardo’s history, and they want to make sure that—whatever it is—gets communicated following the strictest script,” Sol tried explaining.
Divya and Luke still returned blank expressions even if both were wearing sunglasses while taking advantage of the glorious mid-March day.
“Should we ring the publicist and see what happens?” Luke smiled. He was looking particularly dashing, a lock of waves falling rebelliously over his forehead. “We can have the call on speaker and you can let us know your take after.”
Sol checked the time. Technically it was barely eight in the morning in Los Angeles, but that should be adequate enough. Californians were early risers: workouts and walks were preferably dealt with early in the morning. Something Sol had never shared—or understood—during her decade living there.
Divya dialed the number and they all waited, looking fixedly at the cell phone on top of the table.
“Penny Carr speaking,” a strong New England accent answered after a few tones. The talker was a bit short of breath. “Forgive all the puffing and panting. I was just on my Peloton.” Sol suppressed a smirk.
“Penny, this is Luke Contadino and Divya Bakshi from the Bakshi & Contadino Agency,” Divya said. “We’re investigating Leonardo’s disappearance.”
“Are we calling it that?” It wasn’t that Penny sounded displeased but there was an edge of extreme efficiency in her voice.
“The disappearance you mean?” Divya said.
“We don’t know that he’s disappeared,” Penny decided. “The circumstances around Leonardo’s situation have been grossly exaggerated by the media.”
Sol looked at the two detectives, cocked her head, conveying an “I told you this was gonna get fun” with just her body language.
“Penny, this is Luke. Not to get technical with language choices, but since nobody seems to know where Leonardo is, I think we can safely say—at least in a private conversation such as this one—that he’s disappeared.
” There was nothing like a Brit dressing someone down.
“Or you have more information than we do and know where we can find him?”
“At present I don’t have more details than you do about Leonardo’s situation,” Penny said, and Divya almost choked trying to suppress some laughter. The publicist no longer sounded breathless but like the utmost media relations professional that she was.
“Can we ask you a couple of things that could help us in the investigation?” Luke continued.
Sol always liked to see him in the middle of things. She could tell he loved his job. Investigating suited him. If it was possible for him to look any sexier, she would say he did when he was doing his job.
“You can but I have to tell you that I am currently in California, where I’m based. This is a two-party consent state. You cannot record this call and use its content unless I give you express consent, and I am not doing that. And this conversation, of course, is completely off the record.”
A smile tugged at Sol’s lips. This was going to get so interesting.
Luke dragged a hand over his face, then looked at Sol from across the table. She was sure he was being reminded how much it was that he hated entertainment cases. “We understand.”
Both Luke and Divya took their notebooks.
Luke
“We’ve been told Leonardo’s situation could be attributed to his workload,” Divya tentatively said, and Luke was grateful her partner had taken over. He hoped she had more success with Penny than he had.
“I don’t follow,” Penny said, and of course she didn’t follow. But then again, the publicist had been the one to impose the use of euphemisms.
“From what we know, Leonardo’s been working back-to-back and may just be taking some time off,” Divya continued.
“I’m afraid I still don’t follow.”
Once they were back in London, Luke needed to buy Divya a beer or two—maybe even dinner.
Talking to Penny Carr was an art form. The only good thing about the whole situation was that Sol was having a blast. There was nothing the woman liked more than getting involved in one of his investigations and making fun of the extreme singularities of the people in the Hollywood industry.
If she could mix the two of them—she was ecstatic.
Divya breathed deeply. “Leonardo’s disappearance has been described to us as some sort of possible stunt so that he could get a couple of days off in between jobs.”
“Who told you that?” Penny’s voice rose.
“Penny, you’re not talking to the media here.
This conversation won’t leak. We’re just trying to find Leonardo,” Divya said.
If there was something Luke knew, it was that Divya would not give the publicist Moon’s name.
Plus the whole thing was a bit paradoxical considering Sol was listening in, but they could trust her.
She wasn’t there for the journalistic thrill, she was there for the mystery.
“Has Leonardo ever pulled a stunt like this before?”
“He’s never pulled any stunts.” Indignation crept into the publicist’s voice.
Sol scrawled something on a piece of paper and passed it to Divya. The detective read, then asked: “Could you tell us what happened last year during Leonardo’s performance of The Bath of Oedipus in London? There were reports of him skipping a couple of the nights because he was hungover.”
“Journalists are the worst conniving leeches!” For the first time during their chat, Penny’s words rang unfiltered. Her next words were back at her usual composure. “Please don’t tell them I said that! I still have to work with journalists.”
Luke’s smile was smug. He winked at Sol. “We won’t.”
“But Leonardo wasn’t hungover, he just had the flu,” Penny explained. “So of course he missed a couple of nights of performances. He’d have put the whole cast at risk, not to mention he was feeling utterly miserable.”
Sol’s gaze drifted upward. She scribbled something else, and passed the note again to Divya.
“What can you tell us about Bibliophilia?” Divya asked.
“For a couple of PIs, you guys sure read the trades,” Penny grumbled.
Luke chuckled. If only the publicist knew.
“Bibliophilia was supposed to be Leonardo’s next project.” A snap of frustration cut through the publicist’s words.
“But it isn’t?”
“Leonardo signed in for the project but writing and pre-production took a lot longer than we anticipated. They were supposed to start shooting a few months ago, but repeated postponements kept delaying things. They say they’re ready to start shooting now.
But Leonardo had to exit the project because he had previous engagements for the new shooting dates.
As I’m sure you know, because they hired you, he’s doing the Meshflixx show in London instead of Bibliophilia.
Listen, this happens all the time,” Penny said.
The two detectives looked at Sol. She nodded in agreement.
“Do you have any idea of where Leonardo could be?” It was Luke’s turn to ask.
“Even if I knew I probably wouldn’t tell you. But I’m afraid I have no idea—for real,” Penny said. She was obviously worried about Leonardo.
“Did he know anyone in Spain? A friend he could have wanted to spend a couple of days with perhaps?”
“As far as I know, he only knew the people at El bano de Edipo. But it’s not like he tells me everything. He’s quite the private person, understandably.”
“What do you mean?” Luke pressed.
“Stardom is a very lonely quality.” The publicist’s words seemed to carry more candidness than before.
“Even if I’ve worked with him for a couple of years, I can hardly know what he feels, can I?
I’m not chased for autographs and pictures everywhere I go—and fandom is certainly getting a bit intense around Leonardo.
People don’t obsess over my love life—or the apparent lack of it. But they do about his.”
“Do you think he may have been tired of stardom and perhaps is seeking some alone time away from the spotlight?” Divya asked exactly what Luke was wondering.
Penny sighed at the other end of the line.
“See, this is why I prefer to give vague answers. The moment you give someone a more concrete one, you guys invariably latch on to that. No, I don’t think he was feeling any pressure and is now on some island sipping margaritas and lounging by the pool, if that’s what you were implying.
Leonardo has been working extremely hard toward this his whole life.
He’s finally able to choose his projects and do things that truly inspire him.
He’s not going to throw everything away just because he felt overwhelmed! ”
“What can you tell us about Leonardo’s family?” Luke asked. It was always delicate to inquire about someone’s family when they were missing. But then again, they needed to cover all the angles if they wanted to find the missing actor.
“His mom and dad are devastated.” Penny said.
“Of course,” Divya said. “Where is it again that they live?”
“San Antonio, Texas. That’s where Leonardo grew up.”
“Really? He’s not a Brit! He had me fooled!” Divya said. There was surprise in her features.
“It’s normally the other way around, right? British actor who everyone believes to be from New York or Baltimore,” Penny said. “But he went to college in London, basically spent his whole adult life there.”
“So the parents are in Texas now?” Luke tried reconducting the interview.
“Yes.” Penny’s answer allowed no more curiosity on the subject.
“Any siblings? Cousins? Aunts and uncles who may know where he is?”
“He’s an only child and the Pascuals are quite the small—and private—family.”
Sol took Luke’s notebook from him, stole his pen from his fingers, and scrawled something before returning both objects to him. He read, checked again, looked at her for confirmation. When her eyes told him to ask the publicist that, he finally said: “Right, Penny, what are you not telling us?”
“I don’t know what you can possibly mean.” Penny was back at her most professional tone.
“Why are you the point of contact and not Leonardo’s manager or agent?” Luke continued asking, based on Sol’s notes. “What are you worried about?”
“We can't find and help Leonardo if we don’t know everything,” Divya added.
There was silence and everyone around the table started looking at the others. Luke was convinced Penny would not say anything else. He was ready to thank her for her time and hang up.
But the publicist broke the silence, after all. “Leonardo was seeing someone.”
Luke thought he understood Penny’s words but he still needed to make sure. “Seeing?”
“He’d been having a relationship.” Penny’s voice sounded as if she was gritting her teeth and talking against her will.
“A romantic relationship?” Luke double-checked.
“Yes.”
“Do you know who it was that he was seeing?” When it came to romantic partners, there was a long-established tradition in mystery novels and even real-world crime investigations: they were always the main and most obvious suspects.
Luke had never been a great believer in that particular doctrine—and perhaps because of that, he’d taken longer than necessary in deciphering the case that had kept him in Los Angeles for longer than he’d wanted—but if Leonardo Pascual was seeing someone, they needed to talk to them.
“Not a single clue. Leonardo is an extremely private person,” Penny said.
“But you know he was seeing someone…”
“He told the parents,” Penny said.
Sol had jotted something else in Luke’s notebook. He read it and was about to ask Penny about it, but the publicist volunteered the information before he had to ask. “Leonardo hasn’t been linked to anyone in more than a decade.”
“Were the parents surprised he was with someone now?”
“They are.” The line went silent for a few long seconds and Luke could almost picture Penny choosing her following words. “Extremely.”
He was afraid he already knew what her next answer would be, but he asked her anyway. “Do they know who it was that he was seeing? Do they have a name?”
“I know this may sound like I’m still being evasive, but I’m not. They know nothing.” Her voice rang true.
“Any chance they’d talk to us?”
“I’ll ask. Can’t promise anything. They’re devastated.”
“We understand,” Divya said. “Still. It would help us.”
“Pinging them as we speak.”
“Penny, what do you think may have happened to Leonardo?” Divya asked.
“I have literally no idea,” Penny said, sincerity tingeing her tone again. And, as a waiter started bringing dishes for the detectives and Sol, she added: “And that’s making me anxious.”