Page 39 of Scripted for Love and Poison
“No, you didn’t. You were mad and felt insecure because she hadn’t told you she was going to see Jason Zit. Guess what? You kept telling her to stay away from the case, so she decided not to tell you that she was tired of being told what to do!”
“I didn’t tell her what to do!” Luke said.
“Yes, you did, Mr. Flawed Feminist. But not happy with that, you then went and never bothered asking her about the visit to Jason’s house as you would have done with a regular person involved in the case.”
“She’s not involved in the case!”
“Stop grinding your teeth! Your blood pressure must be through the roof. I don’t care if you like it or not, sheisinvolved,” Divya told him in a serious tone that took no exceptions. “The last time she was involved in one of your cases, you missed clues, ignored common-sense rules, and lost your job. Can you at least try and keep your cool this time? We’re in LA, mate. This might be the capital of mindfulness and tree-hugger vibes. Let’s hope some of that rubs off on us, eh?”
“Tell me what Sol told you about her visit to Jason Zit’s place, then.”
“Only if you promise to bloody calm down,” Divya said.
“Fine, I swear I’ll bloody calm down, alright?” Luke conceded. “What did Sol tell you?”
“That a box of chocolates with Jason’s name on it had just been delivered when she was there the day he died. She saw it on her way out. My guess? Jason Zit had a sweet tooth, saw the chocolates, and couldn’t help himself—probably scoffed a couple of them before heading out of the house and smashing his car outside a bloody cinema, of all places. Victor Lago could have easily sent those chocolates, lacing them with a fatal amount of cyanide.”
“Why didn’t she tell the police about the chocolates? Why didn’t she tellme?” Luke asked.
“I don’t know, mate. Did either the police or you bother to ask?”
22
“Why is he seething?”Sol asked Divya as she drove her and Luke to Victor Lago’s home in the Hollywood Hills.
“I’m not seething,” Luke grumbled from the back seat.
“He’s still not over the fact that you went to see Jason Zitanddidn’t think of telling him about the box of chocolates,” Divya explained, and Sol had the feeling the detective was starting to get tired of playing couples therapist.
“I didn’t even remember about the stupid chocolates!” Sol protested. “I only recalled them because you’re an excellent interviewer.”
“And I am not?” Luke sounded offended.
“Enough!” Divya managed to say. “You two are extremely tiresome. I’m jet-lagged, and I want to wrap this thing up and maybe enjoy LA for a little bit before we can make Luke happy and go back to London. Can you please barter a truce of some sort until then?”
“Hestarted it,” Sol said, referring to Luke’s foul mood of the last two days.
“No, no, no, cara. You started it when you lied to me.”
“Don’t call me cara if you don’t mean it!”
“What do you mean, I don’t mean it?”
“No truce then, I guess,” muttered Divya.
They arrived at their destination a couple of minutes after that. A charged silence had taken hold of the car, and its occupants entertained themselves by admiring the house in front of them. The French Provençal-style mansion Victor Lago shared with his partner, showrunner Abbie Domingo, was perched over the Hollywood Hills. It had a swimming pool perfect for laps. It boasted views of the Hollywood Sign, the Griffith Observatory, and Downtown. And there was a For Sale sign in front of it.
“Don’t want to get into nobody’s business,” Sol said as Luke and Divya were about to get out of the car.
“Really?” asked Luke, but Sol ignored him.
“Luke, mate. You’re starting to annoy not only Sol, but me as well. And you promised you’d calm down,” Divya complained. “What did you want to tell us, Sol?”
“I’d say based on location, amenities, and size, this house must be worth around nine or ten million. You may want to ask Victor and his partner how come it is for sale.”
“Maybe they got tired of Los Angeles,” Luke quipped.
“Maybe they need the money because someone’s movie flopped,” said Divya.
