Oola Lada

PIs Chuck Paladino and Elvyra Prezly are invited to a performance given by jazz singer Oola Lada at the Rio Grande Theater in Las Cruces. After the show, Chuck accompanies his best friend Devonne Kimbrell backstage to have Oola autograph his FBI notebook. Chuck gives Ms. Lada his business card. Oola and the quartet's keyboardist, Anton Marquis, spend several days together but when she prepares to leave for The Meadowlark in Denver without him, he takes her to a rundown shack in La Union, outside of El Paso, ties her to a chair and photographs her. She convinces him to drive her to the airport then summons the police. She links to Elvyra and Chuck and asks them to find the photos he took of her. When police detective Matt Donal arrives, she describes Anton as having a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality. Anton shows up at the Denver hotel where Oola is staying but eludes the police. Chuck and Elvyra fly to Denver to protect her. They assist an FBI agent in arresting him during Oola's performance. He claims they arrested the wrong person. Is he Anton Marquis, the musician, or, as his driver's license says, "Sonny Chambliss"—a stalker, wanted in Memphis for fleeing a sentence of community service and counseling? Chuck and Elvyra dig deep into both backgrounds. Oola identifies Anton in a lineup and leaves for a performance in Las Vegas. A new agent heavily promotes her and adds venues in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Oola's audience grows. A few months later, she signs a recording contract and is now on the cusp of stardom. But on the way to a return engagement at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco, Oola is hit in the crosswalk by an autonomous-driving car which ran a red light. She has brain damage and broken bones. Will she ever sing again? What becomes of Anton Marquis? What roles do Elvyra and Chuck play in Oola's recovery? And why does Elvyra suddenly want to retire after seventeen years as a PI? Resilience, resolve, and the power of love, propel this case to a surprising conclusion.