Page 52 of For Better or for Ransom

There was a reaction in Luke’s face, his eyebrows rose. He and Divya exchanged one of their wordless looks. The Mancunian then said: “And you think this one could also be a decoy so that we don’t see something?”

“Maybe?” Sol had no clue—she’d never felt more like an amateur sleuth, completely out of her depth, than in that moment.

Yet, for some reason, Luke and Divya didn’t seem to have the same reservations Sol had.

“We were contemplating the possibility of Leonardo being kidnapped again,” Divya explained. “Because of something in the note. But we’ve talked to the client again. There’s still no demand for ransom.”

Sol narrowed her eyes. She had the impression the detectives were as lost as she was. “So you’re contemplating other possibilities?”

“Can we show you a couple of videos?” Luke asked Sol, scooting closer to her on the sofa and taking his cell phone out of his pocket even before she said yes. The proximity hit her with his musky lavender scent. She almost inhaled it.

“We recorded some videos in Leonardo’s hotel room—just in case,” Divya supplied, also getting closer to her on the other side.

“In case we were missing something other than the note,” Luke added. “It was clear that after the note was found, the police would probably not let us set foot in that room again.”

Sol extended her hand, made a curling movement with her fingers. “Give me.”

Luke handed her the phone. She hit play and the three of them watched the video together in silence.

“We had to try,” Divya said after they finished watching the two recordings they had made that day.

“It was worth it,” Luke agreed. Sol didn’t know what they were talking about. “But there’s nothing there.”

“What do you mean there’s nothing?” She lifted her face from the phone, turned first to her left to look at Luke, then turned to her right to look at Divya. Had she been so distracted by Luke’s heady, delicious smell that she’d seen the wrong thing? “Let me rewatch it.”

The eyes of the two detectives were on her as she was going over the video again that detailed the contents in Leonardo’s room. Sol lifted her eyes from the cell phone, looking again for the detectives’ eyes. First Divya, then Luke. Could it be that only she was realizing the obvious?

“Why are there no clothes?” she finally asked them.

“What do you mean, there are no clothes?” Defensiveness crept into Luke’s voice. “I counted at least a pair of jeans, two or three T-shirts, some tracksuit bottoms, and a jumper!”

Oh my god, these two!

Sol sighed. Let’s explain to them what they are obviously missing. “Leonardo has been in Spain for a few months. He’s gone to parties, lunches, several shopping trips around Madrid and Barcelona. He told me during our interview how even though he travels a lot for work, he’s a terrible packer, he simply brings too much stuff everywhere—and then gets stuff wherever he goes. He loves clothes. And that’s the only garments in the whole room? Where’s the rest? Where are the dressy pants, the fancy shirts, the stylish jackets, the sexy party outfits, the pajamas?”

Luke and Divya exchanged another one of their wordless stares. It was Divya who talked next: “So you think someone went to Leonardo’s room and took most of his stuff?”

“Obviously.” She then doubted herself and her deductions again. Perhaps it wasn’t that obvious after all. “But, how come the police didn’t realize? My guess is the clothes were taken when the note was left in the room, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Luke had the sort of mischievous expression in his eyes Sol knew only showed when he was enjoying an investigation. Was it possible that she’d been right in her realizations about Leonardo’s clothes? And why was that making her all giddy? Not only because she was right about the investigation but also because Luke was thoroughly enjoying her being good at his own job. “Maybe whoever took the clothes when Leonardo disappeared, then decided to go back to the hotel to leave the note to make sure it wouldn’t appear too suspicious, aware that not only the police would have a look but also private investigators… Maybe the police didn’t realize that the first time there were more clothes than now…”

There was something about that whole affair—Leonardo Pascual mysteriously disappearing, his beauty products gone from his dressing room, now his clothes also gone, the notes—that wasn’t sitting well with Sol.

“I know we all agree that Sandro is in a lot of pain and could not have done anything to harm Leonardo—” Sol started.

“Do we all agree?” Luke teased. Divya and Sol just glared at him.

“Let Sol finish her thoughts, mate.” Divya warned Luke.

“But could it be that Leonardo wasn’t that much into Sandro? Could he just have decided to take a few days off and disappear without telling his lover?”

“But making sure nothing that would make his life more comfortable was missing…” Divya followed Sol’s words.

“Uh-huh,” Sol agreed.

“That would explain a lot of things,” Luke said. Sol’s heart rate picked up, but not only because he still smelled delicious. Was she good at this detective thing? “But I still don’t think he just left.”

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