Undead L.A. 1 (14 page)

Gary had heard of the place but never eaten there. From what he knew the food was as amazing as it was expensive, with celebrities clamoring to be served exotic fish at over two hundred dollars a plate.

“Did you think it was strange that he wasn't here?”

“
Not at all,” Miriam explained. “Leo is a free spirit. One time I came in and worked nearly four hours before he called to tell me that he had gone to Santa Barbara for the weekend.”

“
And you didn't think to call him?”

“
I had called to ask him about some of the changes on the double blue pages I'd gotten that didn't seem right, but it had gone to voice mail.”

“
I don't understand,” Gary admitted. “Can you explain that for me?”

“
Oh,” Miriam laughed. “I'm so used to dealing with Hollywood types. I didn't realize you wouldn't get the reference. When they make changes to a script they use different colored pages to keep from having to reprint the entire thing over and over. With Leo's movies, there were always lots of revisions. He usually started out on white, and then moved to pink, blue, yellow, and so on. This is for actual shoot scripts mind you, but by the time we were a month into production we were generally already doubling back over the colors. One time when he was working with McG, he actually hit triples. Can you believe that?”

Miriam looked up into Gary's eyes and touched his hand slightly as she spoke.

“So where was he?” Sandra jumped in, moving the story along as Gary broke eye contact and took down notes.

“
Excuse me?”

Gary saw a flash of annoyance in Miriam's eyes at having been interrupted. He smirked at the thought that other women found Wong as off-putting as he and his colleagues did.

“You said you lost track of him,” Sandra said, brushing off the dirty look Miriam gave her and pretending she didn't notice. “Where was he that time?”

“
I found out he'd been on a yacht with Roman Coppola and didn't have service,” Miriam explained, turning her attention and charm back to Gary. “It's not uncommon is what I am trying to tell you. He's even gone missing for days before, then turned up. I used to tease him that I wouldn't know who to call if something happened to him and that he ought to do a better job of keeping me informed. It's ironic that when something actually did happen, you called me.”

“
I'm not sure I would use the word ironic to define my boss being murdered in a gay sex club,” Sandra said, the words dripping with biting sarcasm. Miriam just glared at her. It was Gary's turn to jump in now before a catfight broke out. He'd never seen his partner act this way before, but he again chalked it up to something hormonal.

Maybe it's that time of the month,
he thought. He had shacked up with a woman once who went nuts every time she had her period. Later, after she'd started bleeding, they'd laugh about how erratic her mood swings were and how she liked to take hostages.
Shark Week. That's what she'd called it.

“
Can you describe a typical work day for us? What would you do while he was gone?”

“
There's plenty to keep me busy, Detective. Trust me. Between scheduling appointments and filing and transcribing script notes, I could keep working with him gone for months and months.”

“
How did you get hired to work for him? How did you meet?”

“
It's so stupid,” she laughed. “He put an ad on Craigslist for a personal assistant. I was desperate for a job so I was looking everywhere. I even brought my fiancé with me, like Leo was going to hit on me. I nearly blew the interview over it. I couldn't help but laugh at how obvious it was that I didn't need protection. If anything, my fiancé, Greg, did!”

“
So Leo made no secret of his sexual preferences?”

“
Not since I've known him,” Miriam said. “All of his friends knew about it as well. He wasn't ashamed, if that's what you mean.”

“
Forgive me if this seems insensitive,” Gary began, taking notes as he spoke, “but why do you think he would be in a gay movie theater if he was so open about his sexuality?”

“
Because he's a slut,” she shrugged. “Leo had a bawdy sense of humor. He was very kind, very funny, and very perverted. He never hid any of it. Leo loved sex and drugs and people. He had a wild streak in him. Everyone knew that about him.”

“
So why would he need a dark theater full of strangers to get off if he was so open and everyone loved him? Why not a gay bar or a private party?”

“
That was just Leo,” she shrugged. “He didn't try to hide it in the least. He loved doing kinky things and then telling people about it to get a reaction. I'd heard him mention going to a gay theater before but I never realized it was an actual movie theater. I thought maybe it was one of those back areas of an adult bookstore, like a peep show booth.”

“
Okay then,” Gary said, jotting down some more notes. “I appreciate your candor. I know this is difficult. Just a few more questions and we'll be out of your hair.”

“
I'm happy to answer any questions you have,” she said stoically. “Leonard was an amazing person and a great boss. He treated everyone with kindness and respect. He didn't act like he was better than others just because he had money and access to big players in Hollywood. He remembered growing up broke. He didn't deserve this and I really hope you find out who did it to him.”

“
We're going to do our best,” Gary said, trying to make sympathetic eyes for her. He started to reach his hand out to put it on hers as a gesture of comfort, but then saw the disturbed look his partner was giving him and thought better of it. “Can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Leo? Did he owe anyone money?”

“
Not that I'm aware of,” she shrugged, bringing the tissue back up to dab her eyes and nose dry. “Are you suggesting this was more than a hate crime?”

“
Just going down the list of possibilities. Any debts in Vegas? Loan sharks?”

“
Leo didn't gamble,” Miriam explained. “He said he didn't like losing money. I used to tease him that you had to spend money to make money, but he didn't agree with that either. And he hated Las Vegas itself, the city I mean. He said it brought out the worst in people. He also said that he could never sleep well there, that they pumped oxygen into the hotel rooms to keep you up and gambling – but I think his sleeping problem was because of his allergies.”

“
Leo was a celebrity,” Sandra said. “He must have had admirers and detractors. Did any of them stand out?”

Miriam thought for a moment with her tissue held up to her lips. Then her eyes came to life, as if a sudden recognition had taken place.

“Oh my God…Javier,” she said at last, pronouncing the name like she was Orson Welles in Citizen Kane saying
Rosebud
.

“
Who is Javier?”

“
He came up to work a party as a bartender one night last year,” Miriam said, her hands now shaking at the memory. “I don't remember his last name but I've got it here somewhere in the paperwork. Leo threw a big event trying to impress Balthazar.”

“
Balthazar?”

“
Getty,” Miriam said, looking annoyed again at Sandra. “It was around the end of August. He'd become obsessed with being seen as more than just an action movie guy. He began trying to cultivate a circle of friends interested in film and literature and art. Roman brought Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman, but they didn't stay long. He invited Jerry Stahl as well, but I'm not sure if he ever put in an appearance. Courtney Love showed up at one point; I remember that. I didn't recognize her at first. I was so embarrassed when I realized who she was. I must have listened to her first album a billion times when it came out. But all in all, the party was a flop and Leo was disappointed. He'd had me hire a full event staff and by the end of the night it was just he and his regular friends partying by the pool doing blow.”

“
Tell us more about Javier.”

“
Javier came from the event planning company – I think their name was Easy Party Staffing. Like I said, I have it written down and can find it for you. He kept referring to it as “sleazy” instead of easy. I remember that. He seemed to think it was pretty clever. As the evening wore on, and Leo's disappointment grew that it wasn't turning out how he thought it would, he began getting more out of control. Javier didn't just tend the bar. He brought a bunch of coke with him. I think he only took the job as a means to get into Hollywood events and peddle his wares. Leo liked him. He was cocky, and had his shirt open. By the end of the night he was hanging out alone with Leo, doing blow in the house. Leo told me later that he thought for sure he was going to score with him, but Javier turned out not to be gay. He said it was the first time his
gaydar
hadn't worked. The way he described it, Javier was very surprised when Leo made a move. He left shortly afterward, but he came by the house several times after that over the next few weeks.”

“
Are you saying he was providing illegal drugs to your boss?”

“
He never told me that,” Miriam said, raising her hands defensively at Sandra's direct line of questioning. “But I assume that's exactly what was going on. Leo never did drugs in front of me because he knew how uncomfortable it made me. I can tell you this though; he didn't think doing blow was a big deal, and neither did most of his friends. The higher up you go in Hollywood, the more drugs you see. It's just a fact of life. They close business deals and sign contracts, then celebrate by doing rails of white powder right off the conference table. I was definitely in the minority.”

“
We're not interested in making this about his personal drug habits,” Gary offered, hoping to set her at ease again. “Did Leo owe Javier money? Is that what they fought about?”

“
What would he owe him money for? I don't understand.”

“
For the drugs? It might be part of the reason he targeted him.”

“
Oh I see,” Miriam said, smiling as she shook her head. “That wasn't it. Javier gave Leo the drugs for free, as far as I know. He came by to be close to Leo, and he used the free party favors to get access to him.”

“
So if they were getting along so well why would Javier want to hurt Leo?”

“
Javier had a script he wanted to show Leo,” Miriam explained. “He was using the blow to butter him up in an attempt to get him to pitch the movie idea to one of the studios on his behalf. He needed access.”

“
So Leo told him no and Javier was mad?”

“
Leo didn't tell him no. That would have ruined the game for him. He just kept stringing him along, telling him he would get to it when he had more time. That way Javier would keep coming around.”

“
I don't understand. What game?”

“
Leo thought he could get Javier to sleep with him,” Miriam laughed. “He was convinced that eventually it would happen. For two weeks he was obsessed with screwing the straight guy. It was all he talked about.”

“
If Leo knew Javier was straight, why would he think he could talk him into having sex with him?”

“
They spent a lot of time alone in his bedroom doing drugs. I think he thought if Javier got comfortable he would finally give in, but as far as I know it never happened. I am pretty sure Leo would have told me. He would have wanted to brag. He got off on talking straight guys into fooling around. A lot of gay guys do. It's not uncommon.”

“
So how did it end?”

“
Eventually, Leo had to leave for Italy to help with rewrites on a show filming in Milan. I was relieved not to have to see Javier anymore. He kinda creeped me out. Leo was gone for three months, shooting and traveling in Europe. Javier called a bunch of times, then he just vanished. Leo never brought him up again. Then after the movie came out we started getting these angry calls.”

“
From Javier?”

“
Yes,” Miriam said. “He accused Leo of stealing ideas from his script, but I knew it wasn't true. Leo had never read the script. He'd left it at the house. The maid found it in his room and brought it to the office one day when she was cleaning. Besides, by the time Javier met Leo the movie was already in development. The script had been done for over two months.”

“
Did he ever threaten Leo?”

“
Every single day for months on end,” Miriam said. “Leo said the guy was just angry that he couldn't weasel his way into Hollywood. I remember he said ‘if he wanted to make it in Hollywood so bad he should have at least let me suck his dick when he had the chance.’ He also tried to come up to the house twice, but Leo had his security guys chase him off.”

“
Did you file a police report?”

“
No,” Miriam admitted. “Leo was concerned about getting the authorities involved, because of the coke.”