The Burning Room – Harry Bosch Series. Full Audiobook Part 1 of 2. Michael Connelly Crime Thriller

Harry Bosch, 17: The Burning Room – Michael Connelly – 2014

Detective Harry Bosch and his new partner investigate a recent murder where the trigger was pulled nine years earlier.

In the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit, not many murder victims die almost a decade after the crime. So when a man succumbs to complications from being shot by a stray bullet nine years earlier, Bosch catches a case in which the body is still fresh, but all other evidence is virtually nonexistent.

Now Bosch and rookie Detective Lucia Soto are tasked with solving what turns out to be a highly charged, politically sensitive case. Beginning with the bullet that’s been lodged for years in the victim’s spine, they must pull new leads from years-old information, which soon reveal that this shooting may have been anything but random.

By: Michael Connelly
Narrated by: Titus Welliver
Series: Harry Bosch, Book 17
Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 11-03-14
Language: English
Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Format: mp3 64/48 stereo

It seemed to BOS to be a form of torture heaped upon torture Corazon was hunched over the steel table her bloody and gloved hands deep inside the gutted torso working with forceps and a long-bladed instrument she called the butter knife corazone was not tall and she

Stood on her tiptoes to be able to reach down and end with her tools she braced her hip against the side of the autopsy table to gain Leverage What bothered Bosch about the Grizzly Tableau was that the body had already been so violated for so

Long both legs gone one arm taken at the shoulder the surgical scars old but somehow raw and red the man’s mouth was open in a Silent Scream his eyes were directed upward as if beseeching his God for Mercy deep down Bosch knew that the dead were the dead and they no longer

Suffered the cruelties of life but even so he felt like saying enough is enough asking when does it stop shouldn’t death be the relief from the tortures of life but he didn’t say anything he stood mute and just watched as he had hundreds of times before more important than his outrage and the

Desire to speak out against the continuing atrocity inflicted on Orlando mer said was Bosch’s need for the bullet corazone was trying to pry loose from the dead man’s spine corazone dropped back on her heels to rest she blew out her breath and temporarily fogged or spatter her Shield

She glanced at BOS through the steamed plastic almost there she said and I’ll tell you what they were right not to try to take it out back then they would have had to saw entirely through T12 Bosch just nodded knowing she was referring to one of the

Vertebrae she turned to the table where her instruments were spread out I need something else she said she put the butternut knife in a stainless steel sink where a running faucet kept the water level to the Overflow drain she then moved her hand to the left of the sink and across the display

Of sterilized tools until she chose a long slender pick she went back to work with her hands in the hollow of the victim’s torso all the organs and intestines had been removed weighed and bagged leaving just the husk formed by the upturned ribs she went up on her toes again and

Used her upper body body strength and the steel pick to finally pop the bullet loose from the spinal column BOS heard it rattle inside the rib cage got it she pulled her arms out of the hollow put down the pick and sprayed the forceps with the hose attached to the

Table she then held the instrument up to examine her find she tapped the floor button for the recorder with her foot and went on the record the projectile was removed from the anterior T12 vertebra it is is in damaged condition with severe flattening I will photograph

It and Mark it with my initials before turning it over to detective heronimus Bosch with the open unsolved unit of the Los Angeles Police Department she tapped the recorder button with her foot again and they were off the Record she smiled at him through her plastic screen sorry Harry you know me a

Stickler for formalities I didn’t think you’d even remember he and Corone had once had a brief romance but that was a long time ago and very few people knew his real full name of course I would she said in mock protest there was almost an aura of humility about Teresa corazone that had

Not been there in the past she had been a climber and had eventually gotten what she wanted the chief medical examiner’s post and all of its trappings including a reality television show but when one reaches the top of a public agency one becomes a politician and politicians

Fall out of favor her Teresa eventually fell hard and now she was back where she started a deputy coroner with a case load like anyone else in the office at least they’d let her keep her private autopsy suite for now she took the bullet over to the counter where she

Photographed it and then marked it with an indelible black pen boss was ready with a small plastic evidence bag and she dropped it in he then marked the bag with both of their initials a chain of custody routine he studied the misshaped projectile through the plastic despite the damage he believed

It was a 308 caliber bullet which would mean it had been fired by a rifle if so that would be a significant new piece of information in the case will you stay for the rest or was that all you wanted she asked it as if there was

Something else going on between them he held up the evidence bag I think I should probably get this going we got a lot of eyes on this case right well then I’ll just finish up by myself myself what happened to your partner anyway wasn’t she here with you in the hall she

Had to make a call oh I thought maybe she wanted us to have some alone time did you tell her about us she smiled and batted her eyes and Bosch looked away awkwardly no Teresa you know I don’t talk about stuff like that she nodded

You never did you’re a man who keeps his Secrets he looked back at her I try he said besides that was a long time ago and the Flame’s gone out hasn’t it he pushed things back on subject on the cause you’re not seeing anything different from what the

Hospital is reporting right coron shook her head able to move back as well no nothing different here sepsis blood poisoning to use the more common phrase put that in your press release and you have no trouble linking this back to the shooting you could testify to that she was nodding before

Bosch was finished speaking Mr mered died because of blood poisoning but I am listing cause of death as homicide this was a 10-year murder Harry and I will gladly testify to that I hope that bullet helps you find the killer Bosch nodded and closed his hand around the plastic bag

Containing the bullet I hope so too he said two Bosch took the elevator up up to the ground floor in the past few years the county had spent $30 million renovating the coroner’s office but the elevators moved just as slowly as ever he found Lucia stto on the back loading dock

Leaning against an empty gurnie and looking at her phone she was short well proportioned and 110 lb at the most she wore the kind of stylish suit that was in Vogue with female detectives it let her keep a gun in her hip instead of in a purse it it said

Power and authority in a way a dress could never say it this one was dark brown with a cream blouse it went well with her smooth brown skin she glanced up as botch approached and then stood up hurriedly like a kid who’d been caught doing something

Wrong got it posos said he held up the evidence bag containing the bullet Soto took it and studied the bullet through the plastic for a moment a couple of body movers came up behind her and pulled the empty gurny toward the door of what was known as the

Big Crypt it was a new addition to the complex a refrigerated space the size of a Mayfair Market where all the bodies that came in were stag before being scheduled for autopsy it’s big Soto said BOS nodded and long BOS said I’m thinking we’re looking for a

Rifle it looks like it’s in pretty bad shape Soto said mushroomed she handed the bag back and Bosch put it in his coat pocket there’s enough there for a comparison I think he said enough for us to get lucky the men behind SoDo opened the door of the big to wheel the gurnie

In cold air carrying a disagreeable chemical scent blasted across the loading dock stto turned in time to see a glimpse of the giant refrigerated room row after row of bodies stacked four high on a stainless steel scaffolding system the dead were wrapped in opaque plastic sheeting their feet exposed toe

Tags flapping in the breeze from the refrigerator a vents Soto quickly turned away her naturally brown face turning white you okay Bosch asked yes fine she said quickly that just grosses me out it’s actually a big Improvement the body’s used to be lined up in the hallways

Sometimes stacked on top of one another after a busy weekend got pretty ripe around here she held a hand up to stop him from further description please are we done we’re done he started moving and Soto followed falling in a step behind him she tended to walk behind Bosch and he didn’t know

If it was some sort of differential thing to his age and rank or something else like a confidence issue he headed to the steps at the end of the dock it was a shortcut to the visitor parking lot where do we go she asked we get the slug over to Firearms Bosch said

Speaking of getting lucky it’s Walkin Wednesday then we go pick up the file and evidence at Holland back we take it from there okay they went down the steps and started crossing the employee parking lot the visitor lot was on the side of the building did you make your call Bosch

Asked what Soto asked confused you said you had to make a call oh yes I I did sorry about that no problem you get what you need yes thanks Bosch was guessing that there had been no call he said suspected that SoDo wanted to skip out on the autopsy

Because she had never seen a human body hollowed out before SoDo was new not only to the open unsolved unit but to homicide work as well this was the third case she had worked with Bosch and the only one with the death Fresh enough for an autopsy soda probably hadn’t been

Counting on live autopsies when she signed up to work cold cases the visuals in the oders were usually the most difficult things to get used to in homicide work cold cases usually eliminated both in recent years the crime rate in Los Angeles had decreased marketly across the board including and most

Dramatically the number of homicides this had spurred a shift within the lapd’s investigative priority in practice with fewer active murder cases the department increased its emphasis on clearing cold cases with more than 10,000 unsolved murders on the books in the past 50 years there was plenty of work to go

Around the open unsolved unit had nearly tripled in size over the course of the previous year and now had its own Command Staff including a captain and two lieutenants many seasoned detectives were brought in from homicide special and other elite units within the Robbery Homicide division also a class of young

Detectives with little of any investigative experience was brought in the philosophy handed down from the 10th floor ocp Office of the chief of police was that it was a new world out there with new tech Technologies and new ways to look at things while nothing beats investigative knowhow there is nothing

Wrong with combining it with new viewpoints and different life experiences these new detectives The Mod Squad as they were derisively called by some got the choice assignment to the open unsolved unit for a variety of reasons ranging from political connections to particular Acumen and skills to rewards for heroism in the

Line of duty one of the new detectives had worked in it for a hospital chain before becoming a cop and was instrumental in solving the murder of a patient through a computerized prescription delivery system another had studied chemistry as a road scholar there was even a detective who was formerly an

Investigator with the Haitian National Police soda was only 28 years old and had been on the force fewer than 5 years she was a slick sleeve not a stripe of rank on her uniform and made the jump to detective by being a twofer she was Mexican-American and spoke both English and Spanish

Fluently she also punched a more traditional ticket to the detective ranks when she became an overnight media sensation after a deadly shootout with armed robbers at a liquor store in Pico Union she and her partner engaged four gunmen her partner was fatally shot but Soto took down two of the robbers and

Held the second pair pinned in an alley until SWAT arrived and finished the capture the gunmen were members of 13th Street Street one of the most violent gangs operating in the city and Soto’s heroics were splashed across newspapers websites and television screens police chief Gregory malins later awarded her the Department’s medal

Of valor her partner received the award as well possumus Captain George Crowder the new commander of the open unsolved unit decided the best way to handle the influx of new blood into the unit was to split up all the existing Partnerships and pair every detective who had OU

Experience with a new detective who had none Bosch was the oldest man in the unit and had the most years on the job as such he was paired with the youngest SoDo Harry you’re The Old Pro Crowder had explained I want you watching over the rookie while BOS didn’t particularly

Care to be reminded of his age and standing he was nonetheless happy with the assignment he was entering what would be his last year with the Department as the Clock Was was ticking on his drop contract to him every day he had left on the job was golden the hours were like

Diamonds as valuable as anything on Earth he thought that it might be a good way to finish things training an inexperienced detective and passing on whatever it was he had to pass on when Crowder told him his new partner would be Lucia stto BOS was pleased like

Everybody else in the department he had heard of Soto’s exploits in the shootout BOS knew what it was like to kill someone in the line of duty as well as to lose a partner he understood the mixture of grief and guilt that would afflict SoDo he thought that he and Soto could

Work well together and that he might train her to be a solid investigator there was also a nice bonus for Bosch in being teen with SoDo because she was a female he would not have to share a hotel room when on the road on a case they would get their own

Rooms this was a big thing the travel component to a job on the Cold Case Squad was high often times those who think they have gotten away with murder leave town hoping that by putting physical distance between themselves and their crimes they are also outdistancing the reach of the

Police now Bosch looked forward to finishing his time in the department without having to share a bathroom or put up with the snoring or other emissions from a partner in a cramped double at a holiday in SoDo might not have been hesitant when pulling her gun while outnumbered in a bario alley but

Watching a live autopsy was something different she had seemed reluctant that morning when Bosch told her they had caught a live one and had to go to the coroner’s office for an autopsy Soto’s first question was whether it was required that both Partners in an investigative team attend

The disection of the body with most cold cases the body was long in the ground and the only dissection involved was the analysis of old records and evidence open unsolved allowed stto to work the most important cases murder ERS without having to view a live autopsy or for that matter a homicide

Scene or so it seemed until that morning when Bosch got the call at home from Crowder the captain asked Bosch if he had read the Los Angeles Times that morning and Bosch said he didn’t get the paper this was in keeping with the long-standing tradition of disdain that

Existed between the two institutions of law enforcement and the media the captain then proceeded to tell him about a story on the front page that morning that was the origin of a new assignment for for Bosch and stto as Bosch listened he opened his laptop and went to the newspapers website where the

Story was similarly receiving a lot of play the newspaper was reporting that Orlando Merced had died 10 years earlier Merced became famous in Los Angeles as a victim the unintended Target of a shooting at Mariachi Plaza in Bole Heights the bullet that struck merett in the abdomen had traveled across the

Plaza from the vicinity of Pleasant Avenue and was thought to have been a stray shot for from a gang confrontation the shooting occurred at 400 p.m. on a Saturday mered was 31 years old at the time and a member of a mariachi band for which he played the vuela the five string guitar-like

Instrument that is the Mainstay of the traditional Mexican folk sound he and his three bandmates were among several Mariachis waiting in the plaza for jobs a restaurant gig or a kinera party or maybe a last minute wedding mered was a large man thick and the middle and the bullet that seemingly

Came from nowhere splintered the mahogany facing of his instrument and then tore through his gut before lodging in his anterior spine Merced would have become just another victim in the city where the media hits and runs a 30second story on the English news channels a four paragraph report in the times a little

More longevity in the Spanish media but a simple twist of fate changed that Merced and his band Los Rees halisco had performed 3 months earlier at the wedding of city councilman Armando Zas and Zas was now ramping up a campaign for the mayor’s office mered lived the bullet damaged his spine and

Rendered him both a paraplegic and a cause as the mayoral campaign took shape Zas rolled him out in his wheelchair at all of his political rallies and speeches he used maret as a symbol of the neglect suffered by the communities of East Los Angeles crime was high and police

Attention low they had yet to catch mered shooter gang violence was unchecked basic city services and long planned projects like the extension of the Metro Gold Line were long delayed Zas promised to be the mayor who would changed that and he used mered in East LA to forge a base and strategy

That separated him from a crowded pack of contenders he made it to the runoff and then easily took the election all the way mared was by his side sitting in the wheelchair clad in his charot suit and sometimes even wearing the Blood Stained blouse he wore on the day of the

Shooting Zas served two terms East LA got new attention from the city and the police crime went down the Gold Line went through even including an underground stop at Mariachi Plaza and the mayor bassed in the glow of his successes but the person who shot Orlando mared was never caught and over

Time the bullet took a steady toll on his body infections led to numerous hospitalizations and surgeries first he lost one leg then the other adding insult to injury the arm that once strum the instrument to produce The rhythms of Mexican folk music was taken and finally Orlando

Merced had died the balls in our court now Crowder had said to Bosch I don’t care what the godamn newspaper says we have to decide if this is a homicide if his his death can be attributed medically to that shooting 10 years ago then we make a case and you and lucky

Lucy go back into it got it the autopsy’s got to say homicide or this whole thing dies with mer said got it Bosch never turned on A case because he knew he was running out of cases but he had to wonder why Crowder was giving the mered investigation to him and

SoDo he knew from the start that it was suspected that the bullet that had struck Merced had come from a gang gun this meant the new investigation would almost wholly Center on white fence and the other prominent East LA gangs that traversed boil Heights it was essentially going to be a

Spanish language case and while soda was obviously fluent BOS had limited skills in the language he could order off a taco truck and tell a suspect to Dro to his knees and put his hands behind his head but conducting careful interviews and even interrogations in Spanish was not in his

Skill set that would fall to stto and she in his estimation didn’t have the chops for it yet there were at least two other teams in the unit that had Spanish speakers with more investigative experience Crowder should have gone with one of them the fact that Crowder had

Not gone with the obvious and correct Choice made Bosch suspicious on one hand the director to put the Bosch stto team on the case could have come from the ocp it would be a media sensitive investigation and having SoDo the hero cop on the case might help mold a positive media

Response a darker alternative was that perhaps Crowder wanted the Bosch sto team to fail and very publicly undercut the police chief’s edict to break with tradition and experience when he formed the new open unsolved unit the chief’s jumping of several young and inexperienced officers over veteran detectives waiting for slots in

Rhd squads did not go over well with the rank and file maybe Crowder was out to embarrass the chief for doing it Bosch tried to push speculation about motives aside as they rounded the corner and entered the visitor parking lot he thought about the plan for the day and

Realized that they were probably less than a mile from Holland Beck station and even closer to Mariachi Plaza they could take Mission down to first and then go under the 101 10 minute stops he decided to reverse the order of stops that he had told stto they would make they were

Halfway through the lot to the car when BOS heard Soto’s name called from behind them he turned to see a woman crossing the employee lot holding a wireless microphone behind her a cameraman struggled to keep his camera up while he negotiated his way between cars Bosch said Bosch looked around to see if

There were others someone maybe corazone had tipped the media Bosch recognized the woman but he could not remember from which news show or press conference but he didn’t know her and she didn’t know know him she went right to soda with the microphone soda was the better known

Quantity when it came to the media at least in recent history detective stto ktie Ashton Channel 5 do you remember me uh I think has her lomer saids death officially been ruled a homicide not yet Bosch said quickly even though he was not on camera both the camera and the reporter turned

To him this was not what he wanted to be on the news but he did want to get a few steps ahead of the media on the case the coroner’s office is evaluating Mr merced’s medical records and we make a decision on that we hope to know something very soon will this restart

The investigation of Mr mered shooting the case is still open and that’s all we have to say at this time without further word Ashton turned 90° to her right and brought the microphone under Soto’s chin detective stto you were awarded the Department’s medal of valor for the Pico

Union shootout are you now gunning for whoever shot Orlando mer said Soto seemed momentarily nonplused then replied I am not gunning for anyone Bosch pushed past the videographer who had swung around to film over Ashton’s left shoulder he got to stto and turned her toward their car

That’s it he said no further comment call media relations if you want anything else they left the reporter and videographer there and walked quickly to the car Bosch got into the driver’s seat good answer he said as he turned the ignition what do you mean SoDo responded your answer to her about

Gunning for the Merced shooter oh they drove out onto Mission and headed south when they were a few blocks clear of the coroner’s office Bosch pulled to the curb and stopped he held out his hand to SoDo let me see your phone for a second he

Said what do you mean Soto asked let me see your phone he said you had to make a call when I went into the autopsy I want to see see if you called that reporter I can’t have a partner who’s feeding the media no Harry I didn’t call her good

Then let me see your phone Soto indignantly handed him her cell phone it was an iPhone same as Harry had he opened up the call record stto had not made a call since the previous evening and the last call she had received had been from Bosch that morning telling her

About the case they had just caught did you text her he opened the text app and saw the most recent text was to someone named Adriana it was in Spanish he held the phone up to his partner who’s this what’s it say it’s to my friend look I didn’t want to go into

That room okay Bosch looked at her what room what do you the autopsy I didn’t want to have to watch that so you lied to me I’m sorry Harry it’s embarrassing I don’t think I can take that BOS handed the phone back just don’t lie to me

Lucia he checked the side mirror and pulled away from the curb they were silent until they got down to First Street and Bosch moved into the left turn lane SoDo realized they were not heading to the regional crime lab with a bullet where are we going we’re in the

Neighborhood I thought we’d check out Mariachi Plaza for a few minutes then go to Hollenbeck for the murder book I see what about Firearms we’ll do it after is this related to the shoot out you’re not wanting to go to the autopsy no I mean I don’t know I just

Didn’t want to see that that’s all Bosch Let It Go for the time being 2 minutes later they were approaching Mariachi Plaza and Bosch saw two TV trucks parked at the curb with their transmitters cranked up for live reports they’re really jumping all over this he said we’ll come back later he

Drove on by a half mile later they came to the Holland Beck station brand new and modern with angled glass panels creating a facade that reflected the sun in multiple angles it looked more like some sort of corporate office than a police station BOS pulled into the visitor lot and killed the

Engine this is going to be pleasant he said what do you mean Soto asked you’ll see three Bosch never liked being on either end of the takeaway case when he worked Hollywood homicide the big cases were often grabbed by the elite Robbery Homicide division then when he worked rhd himself

He was on the other end of it often taking cases away from the smaller Regional squads in open unsolved that rarely happened because the cases were old and dusty but the Merced case though 10 years old was not housed in the Department’s archives it still belonged to the original two investigators who

Caught it on the day of the shooting until now BOS and Soto entered the station through the work door as the entrance off the black and white lot was called they followed a rear hallway into the detective Bureau and BOS knocked on the open door of the Lieutenant’s office Lieutenant

Garcia that’s me Bosch stepped into the tiny office and Soto followed I’m Bosch and this is Soto we’re from open unsolved here to pick up the stuff on mer said we looking for Rodriguez and roas Garcia nodded he looked like a CL classic LAPD administrator white shirt

Bland tie jacket hooked over the back of his seat he had on cufflinks that were tiny little police badges no cop would wear cufflinks out on the street too Gody too easy to lose in a scuffle yes we were alerted by command they’re ready for you caps is back

Around the corner past the milking room thanks Lieutenant Bosch turned to go and almost banged in to soda who didn’t realize they were finished with the lieutenant she awkwardly stepped back and turned to leave uh detectives Garcia said BOS turned back to him do me one favor if

You clear it don’t forget about my guys he was talking about the credit that would go along with solving a high-profile case the trouble with the takeaway was that often the divisional detectives did a lot of the groundwork and then the big shots from downtown

Came in and scooped the case and with it all the glory that followed an arrest having been on both sides of takeaway cases BOS understood what Garcia was asking we won’t he said in fact if you can spare them we’ll use them when the time is right Bosch was talking about making an

Arrest if they reached the point that they had a suspect and BOS was putting together a warrant or an arrest team he would Circle back for Rodriguez and Rojas good deal garciaa said they left the office and found the cp’s table in an Al Cove past the station lack ation

Room the city had recently mandated that all public facilities have a family room where employees or citizen visitors could have privacy while breastfeeding their babies none of the 19 police stations in the city were designed to include a lactation room so the edict went out that one of the interview rooms in each

Detective Bureau be transformed into a space that met City requirements the rooms were repainted in soothing pastel tones and cartoon stickers were added as well sometimes an overcrowded situations the rooms were used during investigations the unwitting suspects being interrogated in front of the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Kermit the

Frog the Holland Beck CIP Squad consisted of five deaths pushed together in such a way that two pairs of detectives faced each other and the squad Leader’s desk was located at one end of the desks there were only two men sitting at this configuration under the crimes against person sign and Bosch

Assumed they were Oscar Rodriguez and Bonito Rojas there was a stack of three blue binders on the desk in front of one of the men Bosch could read the name mered on the spine of two of them the third just said tips also on the desk was a cardboard box sealed with red

Evidence tape leaning next to the desk was a black carrying case for what Bosch assumed was Orlando merced’s instrument there were bumper stickers festooning the case announcing its travel to many towns and regions through the Southwest in Mexico hey guys BOS said we’re from open unsolved of course you are said one of

The men the big shots have arrived Bosch nodded he had been the same way in the past when a case was taken away from him he held out his hand to the angry detective Harry Bosch and this is Lucia stto are you Oscar or Bonito the man reluctantly shook Bosch’s

Hand Ben good to meet you and I’m sorry about this we both are nobody really likes this from either side a takeaway I know you’ve done a lot of work and it’s not really fair but it is what it is we all do what the Geniuses and command

Tell us to do the speech seemed to Plate Roos Rodriguez looked impassive just take the stuff Rodriguez said good luck guy actually I don’t just want to take the stuff Bosch said we’d like your help I’d like to ask you about the case now and later as we get into it

You two are the Brain Trust since day one I’d be shooting myself in the foot if I didn’t ask for your help did they get the bullet out Rodriguez asked they did Bosch said we just came from the autopsy Bosch reached into his pocket and pulled out the bullet he handed the

Bag to Rodriguez and then watched his reaction he turned and handed it to his partner holy roas said this looks like a 308 Bosch nodded as he took the bag back think so our next stop is the bullet Lab at Regional you guys never

Had it as a rifle did you why would we Rodriguez said we never had the goddamn bullet did you look at x-rays from the hospital Soto asked the two Hollenbeck detectives looked at her like she was out of line questioning their work Bosch could ask because he had the experience but not

Her yeah we looked at x-rays Rodriguez said an annoyed tone in his voice the angle was bad all we got was the mushroom couldn’t tell dick from that stto nodded BOS tried to get the focus off of her hey if you guys aren’t too busy right

Now we’d like to buy you a cup of coffee and talk about what’s in those books BOS could tell by the reaction on Rodriguez’s face that he had made a misstep 10 years on a case and we get a cup of coffee he said you very much

But I don’t need any coffee rodrigus pointed his chin at Soto besides you got Hero pistola on your team man lucky Lucy you don’t need us Bosch realized that it wasn’t just the losing of the case that bothered Rodriguez he was in sense that he was still working in a divisional detective

Squad while stto had been elevated with zero experience to open unsolved Harry saw that the situation could not be helped at the moment and decided to get out of the station before things went further south he noted that Roos had not joined his partner in deriding SoDo or the reassignment of the

Case he would be the one boss would come back to you when they were ready okay we’ll just take the stuff then BOS moved forward and put the three binders on top of the evidence box and picked it all up Lucia get the guitar case he said it’s a fella bro Rodriguez

Said better get it right for the press conference right BOS said thanks he straightened up with his burden and checked the desk to see if there was anything he’d missed okay guys thanks for the cooperation we’ll be in touch he headed out of the ALCO with stto

Following you do that Rodriguez said to their backs bring coffee they were out in the parking lot before either of them spoke I’m sorry Harry Soto said I really shouldn’t be on this case or even in this unit don’t listen to them Lucia you’ll do fine and I’m going to need you

Like crazy on this case you’ll be very important what is a translator it’s not detective work I feel like I’ve been given something I don’t deserve I felt this way since they gave me my choice of detective assignments I should have taken burglary Bosch put the box in the

Binders down on the hood of the car so he could get out the keys he popped the trunk and going to the back of the car they barely fit the instrument case and the box and binders into the trunk once it was all in place Bosch flipped the latches on the case and

Opened it he looked at the vua without removing it a single Bullet Hole splintered the polished facing of the instrument he closed and latched the case he then turned and finally responded to his partner listen to me Lucia you would have been wasting your time in burglary

I’ve only worked with you a few weeks but I know you’re a good cop and you’re going to be a very good detective stop undercutting yourself as you just experiened there will always be people out there to do it for you you just have to block them out they want what you

Have and you can’t help that SoDo nodded thank you please call me Lucy when you call me Lucia I feel like we’ll never be real Partners Lucy then you’ve got to remember something here this kind of a case is a takeaway a swoop and scoop nobody likes it when the rhd comes in

And bigfoots a case people say things but they get past it those guys before this is over they’ll be very helpful to us you watch she looked unconvinced I don’t know about Rodriguez he’s got a major board up his ass she said but at the end of the the day he’s

A detective and he’ll do what’s right let’s go okay they got back in the car and drove out first past the Chinese cemetery and over to the 10 freeway from there it was a 2-minute cruise up to the exit for Cal State where the regional crime laboratory was

Located the crime lab was a five-story structure that stood in the middle of Campus it had been built as a partnership between the LAPD and the LA County Sheriff’s Department a logical decision since both a agencies together handled more than a third of the crimes that occurred in the state of California

And many of those crimes overlap their jurisdictions however inside the lab the Departments maintained many separate facilities one of these was the lapd’s Firearms analysis unit which included the so-called bullet lab where technicians worked in a low light room using lasers and computers to attempt to match bullets from one case to

Another this was where the hope of the Merced case lay the investigation conducted by Rodriguez and Roos may have been thorough 10 years before but they never found a bullet shell from the shooting and the slug had remained inside merced’s body until now the chances were slim but if the bullet

Removed from the victim’s spine during the autopsy could be matched to any other crime then a whole new Avenue of Investigation would open for Bosch and SoDo the normal protocol the was to submit a bullet or shell casing for analysis and wait in the backlog sometimes for weeks before getting an

Answer and a report but on walk-in Wednesday bullet cases could be walked in and handled on a first come first served basis Bosch checked in with the bullet lab supervisor and was assigned to a technician appropriately named gun Chung Bosch had worked with him before

And knew that gun was the name on his birth certificate and not a nickname gun how’s it going very well Harry what have you brought me today first of all this is my new partner Lucy stto and second I brought you a tough one for today he handed Chung the evidence bag

With a bullet slug in it Chung used a pair of scissors to open the bag and remov the slug he hefted it in his hand almost as if to weigh it and then held it under a lighted magnifier that he pulled over by its mechanical arm it’s a Remington 308

Soft nose gives you maximum mushrooming a round like this is primarily used for long range shooting you mean like a sniper rifle more likely a hunting rifle Bosch nodded so can you do anything with it Bosch was asking whether the condition of the slug would prude it from comparative

Analysis the slug had gone through the front and back wood panels of Orlando merceds vuela and then penetrated his body mass before lodging against the 12th vertebrae of his spine the bullet had mushroomed during these impacts leaving very little of its shaft intact the shaft was where striations

From the barrel of the gun the the bullet had been fired from would create a unique pattern allowing it to be compared to other projectiles in the bullet tracks database with the bullet Bosch had just handed to Chung there was no more than a quar inch of undamaged form Chung looked

Closely at it through the magnifier and seemed to be taking his time deciding if the slug was a candidate for ballistic profiling Bosch did his best to Lobby him while he looked 10-year-old case he said the coroner just took that out of the victim’s spine I think this might be

Our only chance to move things along Chung nodded it’s a two-step process Harry he said first I have to see if there’s enough to work with here and second even if we put it in the data Bank there is no guarantee of a match the database on rifle projectiles is

Limited most of our bullet crimes involve handguns understood Bosch said so what do you think enough there Chung pulled back from the magnifier and looked up at Bosch and soda I think we can try he said perfect Bosch said what kind of time are we looking at

It’s a slow day I’ll work it up right now and we’ll see what happens thanks gun should we leave you alone or hang out either way there’s a cafeteria on the first floor if you want to go get coffee sounds like a plan Bosch and stto

Had no sooner sat down in the cafeteria Bosch with black coffee and soda with a DI of coke and Harry’s phone buzzed it was Crowder back at the bab Harry where are you at Regional with the bullet anything good not yet we’re waiting to run through the database all

Right well I need you to get back here right away why what is it we got the mered family here and the media and the press conference is in 25 minutes what press conference we don’t have doesn’t matter Harry the number of reporters here hit critical mass and the

Chief called a press conference the Emy already put out that they’re ruling at a homicide BOS almost cursed corazon’s name out loud the chief wants you and Soto standing with him Crowder said so get back over here now Bosch didn’t answer for a moment Harry did you hear me

Crowder said I heard Bosch said we’re on our way four there was a large media room used for press conferences on the second floor down the hall from media relations BOS and so phot were being held in a small staging room next door where a lieutenant from media relations

Named D Simone told them how the press conference would be choreographed Chief Malin would speak first and would introduce Orlando merced’s family then the microphone would be turned over to Bosch and SoDo since most reporters in attendance would be representing Spanish language media SoDo would be made available for

Interviews in Spanish after the main press conference BOS cut D Simone off in mid explanation to ask him what exactly was being being announced at the press conference we’re going to talk about the case and how Mr merced’s death yesterday has rebooted the investigation D Simone said BOS hated words like

Rebooted well that takes about 5 seconds he responded do we really need a press conference detective D Simone cut in by 10:00 this morning my office had already received 18 requests for a briefing on this case call to slow news day if you want but this has caught the media BEAST’s attention

It’s reached a point that we believe a press conference is the best way to go you summarize the case tell them the results of the autopsy they already know it’s been ruled a homicide and go from there you say the bullet that has been in the victim’s body for 10 years is now

Being compared to thousands of others in the National data banks then you answer a few questions 15 minutes in and out and you’re back on the case I don’t like press conferences BOS said you ask me they never never add anything they only complicate things D Simone looked at him and smiled guess

What I’m not asking you I’m telling you we’re doing a press conference Bosch glanced at SoDo he hoped she was learning something so when do we do this the media’s already in the room and waiting we go in with the chief so as soon as he

Comes down we go Bosch felt his phone vibrating in his pocket he stepped away from D Simone and answered the call it was gun Chung make my day gun he said please sorry Harry no can do there’s no match on bullet tracks BOS caught Soto’s eye again and shook his head you there

Harry yeah gun I’m here anything else yes I think I’ve identified your weapon that EAS some of Bosch’s disappointment what have you got he asked six grooves right twist at 121 I think what you have here is a Kimber model 84 it was called the Montana in the

Catalog the grooves and twists were aspects of the Interior rifling of the Gun Barrel they allowed Chung to identify the model if not match the bullet to a unique weapon it was better than nothing and Bosch was pleased that new information had come from the autopsy does it help Chong asked every

Piece of information helps BOS said is it an expensive gun not cheap but you can get them used Bosch nodded thanks gun anytime you want to pick this up or want me to hold it here I need to pick it up and take it to property you got it and

Remember Harry you get me a shell casing and we’ve got a whole different story there are more casings in the database than slugs you get me a casing and then we might be in business Bosch knew that wasn’t going to happen it was not like he could find a

Shell casing from a shooting 10 years old okay gun thanks BOS put the phone phone away and walked back to D Simone that was the bullet lab he said the slug we took out of mered has no match on the computer we’re back to square one cancel the

Press conference there’s nothing to say d Simone shook his head no we don’t cancel you just don’t mention the bullet make it a request for public help on the case there was a tremendous outpouring of support 10 years ago and you need it again now you can do this Bosch besides

You don’t want to announce the bullet is a dead end you want the shooter to think you might have something Bosch didn’t like the Department’s media guy telling him his own business it was the reason he had not mentioned that gun Chang attentively identify the model of the

Rifle that had been used in the shooting he thought about simply turning and walking away rather than staying for the charade of the press conference but that would leave stto alone and forced into something she probably didn’t understand it would probably also result in Bosch’s being pulled off the

Case just then D Simone’s radio squawked and he was told the chief was on the elevator coming down okay let’s do this they stepped into the hallway and waited for the elevator to arrive from 10 when the doors open the chief stepped out followed by a man BOS immediately

Recognized as Armand o Zas the former mayor who had championed Orlando merced’s cause 10 years before the chief had brought him back in for the press conference or perhaps Zas had pushed his way back in it was said that he was readying a run for governor Now using

Merced’s case had helped him politically once before why not again for Bosch such cynical thoughts came easily he’d been around the block a few times but he noticed Soto’s eyes light up when she saw Zas he was a true hero in the Latin Community he was a Trailblazer Zas and the chief were

Trailed by a man Bosch also recognized he was Connor SPAC Chief political strategist for the former mayor it looked like he was along for the ride with Zas in The Not So secret plan to win the governor’s mansion in the next election D Simone stepped up to the

Chief and whispered in his ear Malin nodded once and came over to Bosch they had known each other for decades roughly the same age each had taken a similar trajectory through the department patrol Hollywood Station detectives Robbery Homicide division while BOS had found his home at rhd Malin had Ambitions Beyond solving

Murders he went into Administration and quickly moved up the ranks of the Command Staff finally being appointed to the top slot by the police commission he was nearing the end of his first 5-year term and would soon come up for reappointment it was believed that his second term was a foregone

Conclusion Harry Bosch he said cordially I hear you are having trouble with the notion of a press conference Bosch nodded the one lead we had the bullet slug isn’t panning out Chief I don’t know what there is to say Malin nodded but disagreed with Bosch’s assessment there’s plenty to say we need to

Reassure the people of this city that Orlando mer said will not be forgotten that we are still looking for whoever did this and that we will find them that message is more important than anything else including a piece of lead Bosch held back on what he really

Thought if you say so he said the chief nodded I do everybody counts or nobody counts isn’t that what you told me once Bosch nodded I like that Za said everybody counts or nobody counts that’s good Bosch couldn’t hide his look of horror and Za’s mouth had sounded like a campaign

Slogan the chief looked past Bosch at SoDo who was standing her usual two steps behind he reached around Bosch to offer his hand detective SoDo how are they treating you in Robbery Homicide Soto shook the chief’s hand very well sir I’m learning from the best she nodded toward BOS the chief smiled she

Had given him an opening this guy he said he’s a silver back Soto learn all you can from him yes sir Soto said eagerly I’m learning every day she beamed the chief beamed everybody was happy and BOS realized it had been the chief’s plan to put him with SoDo

Crowder had only been following orders okay DeSimone said letun go the mered family is already in the conference room sitting in the first row Chief malins will take the podium first and introduce them then the former mayor will say a few words words and then detective Bosch will discuss why don’t

We go with Detective SoDo the chief said she knows everything detective Bosch knows on the case correct yes letun do that you don’t mind do you Harry the chief looked at Bosch Harry shook his head I don’t mind he said it’s your show the group moved down the hallway

One of D Simone’s underlings was standing outside the open door to the media room he stepped inside to give the get ready signal to those waiting lights cameras and Recorders were switched on stto came up close to Bosch and whispered Harry I’ve never done this what do I

Say you’re a deimon just keep it short say we’re reviewing the case and could use the help of the community anybody who remembers something or know something about the case call the tip line or call open unsolved directly don’t mention the rifle want to keep that for ourselves okay just remember keep it

Short the politicians will talk long don’t be like them got it the group moved into the room there was a stage with a Podium at its Center and three rows of tables for reporters in front of it behind the tables was another stage where video cameras were set up to shoot over the

Heads of the reporters Bosch and Soto followed the chief and the former mayor onto the stage and stood behind the podium Bosch glanced at the first row in front of the reporters there were four people three women and a man but Bosch didn’t know how they were related to Orlando

Mered he was so new to the case that he had not met any family members yet that was another thing that bothered him about the whole setup thank you for being here D Simone said into the podiums microphone I will now introduce the chief of police Gregory malins and he will speak

Followed by former mayor Armando Zas and then detective Lucia stto Chief the chief took the position in front of the microphone and spoke without the use of notes he was fully accustomed to being in front of reporters and cameras 10 years ago Orlando Merced was hit by a stray bullet in Mariachi Plaza

Mr Merced was paralyzed by the injury and struggled mightily to recover and to lead a productive life yesterday morning he lost the fight and we are here today to say he will not be forgotten my department’s open unsolved unit has taken over the case as of today and will be vigorously pursuing the

Investigation until we determine who shot Orlando mered his death has been ruled a homicide and we will not end this investigation until we arrest the person responsible on a charge of murder he paused there for a moment perhaps to let the print reporters feverishly taking notes catch up with us

Here today are members of Orlando’s family his father Hector and mother Irma his sister Adelita and his wife candalaria we pledge to them that we will not forget about Orlando and that our investigation will be vigorous and complete now former mayor Armando Zas a personal friend of Mr mered and his families will

Say a few words the chief stepped back and Zas took his place it was through Orlando mer said that I learned the pain of crime and violence when it is visited on our community he began I also learned much more from this man who became a friend I learned perseverance I learned

Compassion I learned what it is to make do with the cards you are dealt I saw firsthand the resilience of the human Spirit Orlando never asked why me he just asked what’s next he was a hero to me because he took what life gave him and made the best of

It in many ways that was more beautiful than the music he once made with his instrument I pledged to offer my help with this investigation in any way I can I may no longer be M but I love this community and its people it is times like this that we pull ourselves

Together and truly become the City of Angels it is times like this that we understand that in our city and in our society everybody counts or nobody counts thank you D Simone stepped back to the mic and told the audience that the case was now in the hands of BOS and

SoDo he said SoDo would provide the update and would be available to repeat it in Spanish Lucy tened ly stepped to the mic and lowered it so it was at the level of her mouth uh we’re now pursuing all avenues of investigation and asked for the community’s help 10 years ago there was

An outpouring of help from the public many people called and offered help and tips we ask that anybody with information about this shooting please make contact with us you can call anonymously to the Department’s tip line or call the open unsolved unit directly even if you have information that you

Think we we already know please call us Soto turned and glanced back at Bosch as if to ask whether there was anything else to say Zas took the moment to move back to the podium he gently put one hand on Soto’s back and used the other to pull the microphone over to his

Mouth I just want to say that 10 years ago I stood before the media and personally pledged $25,000 to anyone who provides information that solves this crime no one ever collected that reward and the pledge remains in place except that now I double it to $50,000 additionally I will work with my

Former colleagues on the city council and seek a matching amount from the city thank you BOS almost groaned out loud putting a financial bounty on the case would change the complexion of the calls that came in the reward pretty much guaranteed that he and SoDo would be sifting through dozens of worthless

Calls people taking wild shots in the dark in hopes of getting some money in return the former mayor’s reward offer just changed everything D Simone moved up next to stto and asked the reporters if there were any questions many of them called out at once and D Simone had to handle

Choosing the first reporter a guy BOS recognized from the times asked what the exact cause of death was and how merced’s death 10 years after the shooting could be classified as a homicide stto glanced back at Bosch Unsure how to answer Bosch stepped up and pulled the microphone over the aop y

Was conducted just this morning so nothing is yet officially recorded but the coroner’s office believes that Mr meed’s death will be directly traced to the shooting that occurred 10 years ago The Unofficial cause of death is blood poisoning which is directly linked to the wounds Mr Merced suffered in the

Shooting we’re therefore handling the investigation as a homicide in a quick followup the reporter asked if the bullet had been recovered from the body and whether it would be useful in the investigation Bosch kept the microphone he was aware that the reporter was speaking clinically about the body of a

Man much loved by the four people in the room’s front row yes the bullet was recovered and taken to the regional crime lab for analysis and matching we believe the bullet will be very useful in our investigation has any match been made to the bullet another reporter called out D

Simone quickly moved in on the podium from the other side of SoDo and pulled the microphone away from Bosch we’re not going to get into that right now he said the investigation is active and ongoing and we’re going to leave it at that for now why is a very inexperienced

Investigator assigned to the case the times guy called out there was a silent pause as it was unclear who should answer or if anyone should answer at all since D Simone had just closed the press conference D Simone finally started to speak as I said we’re going to leave it

The chief stepped up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder D Simone stepped back and the Chief took over detective stto may be short on chronological experience but she is long on Street Experience and knowing what it means to be a police officer in this

City we have teamed her with one of the most experienced detectives currently serving in the department no one has investigated more homicides in this city than detective Bosch I have no worries about who is conducting this investigation we will get the job done the chief then stepped back and D Simone

Once again said no more questions this time the edict stuck reporters started getting up and the cameramen started breaking down their equipment BOS stepped off the stage and went to the front row where he shook hands and introduced himself to the four members of the mared family he quickly realized they

Understood very little of what he was saying he signaled Soto over and asked her to set up an appointment with them for as soon as it would be convenient Bosch wanted to talk to them but not under the focus of the media Bosch stepped back and watched

Soto go to work D Simone stepped up to him then and said the chief wanted to speak to him in his office Bosch left the media room and walked down to the elevators hoping to catch up with the chief in his Entourage he was too late

He took the next elevator up to the 10th floor and entered the ocp where he was quickly ushered into the inner sanctum Malin was behind his desk waiting there was no sign of Zas or his front man sorry Harry for putting you out there I know you never like dog and pon Pony

Shows it’s okay I guess it had to be done we really need this one do your best every time that’s why I told Crowder to call you Bosch nodded unsure if he was supposed to say thank you for being paired with the homicide rookie on a Case fraught with political

Implications and the potential of failure anything else I should know chief chief looked away for a moment and studied his blot he picked up a business card and held it out to Harry across the desk BOS took it and read it it had Connor spacs name and number on it that’s the mayor’s

Man keep them in the loop as your investigation progresses you mean the former mayor don’t you Malin gave him an I don’t have time for this look just keep them in the loop he said Bosch put the card in his shirt pocket he knew he would tell speac

As little as possible about the investigation the chief probably knew this as well so so he said you think I’m an old gorilla the chief smiled don’t take offense Harry it’s a compliment the Silverback is the one that knows the most in the troop has all the experience

I saw a show on National Geographic that’s how I know you call a group of corillas a troop Bosch nodded good to know five they convene in Captain Crowder’s office after the press conference Bosch Soto Crowder and Lieutenant Winslow Samuels the second in command of the open unsolved unit BOS updated them on

The findings from the bullet lab notably that Merced had been shot with a rifle a fact here to for unknown during 10 years of Investigation Bosch explained that for the time being he wanted to keep this piece of information out of the media and Crowder and Samuels

Agreed so where do you go with it from here Crowder asked rifle Changes Things by said driveby with a rifle come on unlikely straight Bullet From the neighborhood maybe but the rifle still gives us something new well it’s definitely outside our units protocol Samuel said no magic

Bullet no case it should be flipped over to homicide special let them deal with it the open unsolved unit followed a protocol when it came to reinvestigating Coal cases it relied upon new evidence as the criteria for re-engagement that new evidence usually came from the application of recent

Advances in forensic Sciences to Old cases and the establishment of national databases to track criminals through DNA ballistics and fingerprints these were the big three the Magic Bullets without a hit on one of these databases a case would be considered not viable and routinely returned to the archives following this protocol the

Mered case would normally be returned to archives the bullet recovered from the victim’s body body found no match in the National ballistics database while a type and model of weapon had been identified it normally would not be enough to pursue but because of the media attention and politics surrounding this case not to

Mention the interest from the ocp there was no doubt that the case would be pursued what Samuels was saying was that it should be done by someone other than Bosch and stto and the open unsolved unit the lieutenant was the squad whip responsible for the units statistics and

Justifying its cost in terms of cases cleared he didn’t want to see one of his teams get bogged down in a Sho leather case I want to keep it Bosch said looking at Crowder the chief gave it to us we keep it you’ve got 16 open files last time I counted Bosch samles

Interjected all of them waiting on lab results we’ve got something going on this case the rifle is the First new lead in 10 years let’s run with it something comes back from the lab on one of the other cases will handle it besides we just did the press conference

Soto quickly added how’s it going to look if we’re on the case today and off tomorrow Crowder nodded thoughtfully BOS like SOS add to the argument though she probably didn’t realize that she was crossing the tube walking in front of a shotgun held by Samuels she might pay for that later for

Now we leave things as they are Crowder said you two work this thing and let’s meet again in 48 hours I’ll update the ocp from there and decide whether we keep it it’s not a Cold Case Samuel said the guy died yesterday we’ll talk in 48 Crowder said ending the

Discussion Bosch nodded that was the first thing he had wanted to hear that he and soda were keeping the case at least for another two days but it wasn’t the only thing he wanted what about when the phone starts ringing with calls for the reward the former mayor’s putting up Bosch asked

Can we get any help with that that was just a publicity stunt Crowder said he’s running for governor doesn’t matter BOS said we’re still going to get calls and we can’t be stuck on the phone all day Crowder looked at Samuels who shook his head everybody’s got Active cases Samuel

Said referring to the other teams in the squad and now you two are dropping out of the mix I can’t see dedicating another body to it losing Bosch and stto for an unknown amount of time was only barely palatable to Samuels giving up additional detectives to answer tip calls was not something he

Was even remotely willing to entertain Bosch had expected the request to be rejected but it might be useful to mention later if he and SoDo asked for something else and another thing Samuel said was this guy Merced even a citizen Bosch looked at him for a moment before

Answering Soto jumped in ahead of him why she asked does it matter she got to the point if Samuels was suggesting that extra hands not be put on the case because the victim was not a citizen then she wanted that out in the open open Bosch liked that she

Had asked the question but before Samuels answered Crowder cut off the issue let me see what I can do Crowder said maybe one of those ladies in the ocp can come down here and answer calls for a few days I’ve been thinking about asking the chief for help with all the

Call-ins we get on a daily basis anyway I’ll let you know I got to say after the Zas gave this department I really wouldn’t mind seeing him stroke out a check for 50 Grand Roger that BOS said it was true Zas had been no friend to the department

While he was in the mayor’s office he had the allegiance of a ccil majority that adhered to his policies and granted his requests over the eight years they had control of city government they had repeatedly slashed the Department’s overtime budget and taken a hard line on even minimal pay increases for the

City’s 9,000 sworn officers Bosch knew the meeting was over he stood up and stto followed suit Samuel stayed seated he was going to discuss things with the captain after they left 48 hours and let’s talk Harry Crowder said you got it Bosch and SoDo returned to their cubicle where their

Desks were pushed to the right and left half walls and they worked with their backs to each other this was a hold over from the way the Pod had been set up with his previous partner Dave Chu it had worked well because Chu was a veteran investigator and didn’t need

Bosch watching over him from across the desk but Soto was not even close to veteran status and Bosch had requested that city services come out and reconfigure the space so that the two desks faced each other he had made that request the week stto had started in the unit and was still

Waiting on Bosch’s desk was the instrument case along with the evidence box and the binders they had dropped off before heading to the press conference Vos had been waiting since they had left Hollenbeck to open the box and get his hands into the case he remained standing and used a pen

Knife to cut the red tape on the box there was no chain of evidence sticker on the box so he had no idea how long ago Roos and Rodriguez had sealed it I like what you said in there Bosch said about us keeping the case it was a

No-brainer Soto said why do you think Samuels asked if Merced was a citizen because he’s a pencil Pusher he cares about statistics and keeping the most people work in the most cases because that leads to better statistics you’d like us to forget about Merced and

Move on to an easy one meaning that if Merced wasn’t a citizen he wouldn’t count and we could move on to the next one Bosch looked up from the box at her politics he said welcome to homicide he opened the box and was surprised to find it contained very

Little he took out two stacks of DVD cases held together with rubber bands he put them aside and then lifted out individually bagged pieces of bloody clothing it was the Mariachi outfit Merced had been wearing when he was shot son of a Bosch said what Soto

Asked he held up the brown paper bag containing a white blouse with dried blood on it this is merced’s shirt he said he was wearing it when he got shot he handed the bag to her and she held it with both hands as she looked

Into it okay Soto said and well I don’t know a lot about the case yet because we haven’t looked at the books but I do remember when Zas was running for May back then he kept rolling Merced out in a wheelchair at all his rallies and sometimes he was supposedly wearing the

Bloody shirt he had on that day at the plaza Soto’s face revealed shock that Zas her hero would stoop so low as to Stage a fraud for the public to gather sympathy and votes that’s so sad that he would do this Bosch had long been cynical about all

Politicians but he felt bad delivering the lesson to stto hell he probably didn’t even know he said you know that guy SPAC who works for him and was there at the press conference he’s been around City politic ics for as long as I can remember he’s

The kind of guy who could cook this up and not bother his candidate with the details he’s a pure mercenary Soto handed the bag shirt back to Bosch without a word he put it on his desk with the other articles of clothing and looked back into the box there was a

Stack of 8×10 crime scene photos on the bottom and that was it he was disappointed that the case had resulted in so little in the way of physical evidence that’s it he said this is all they came up with I’m sorry Soto said what are you sorry

About it’s not your fault he picked up one of the DVD stacks and snapped off the rubber band there were six different plastic cases and they were marked with names dates and events all but one having occurred before the day of the shooting at Mariachi Plaza four were weddings and two were birthday

Celebrations these must be videos of merced’s band performing at weddings and stuff he said he took the band off the next stack and found different markings on each of the three cases First Street Bridge Mariachi supplies and music poito Pedro poito Pedro Bosch read out loud little Peter Soo said Bosch looked at

Her sorry she said I guess you knew that stop saying you’re sorry every 5 minutes I think these are camera views of the plaza pakito Pedro is a restaurant a half block down the street from in the plaza I saw it today when we went by and

They put cameras on the First Street Bridge back then to try to stop the suicides what Suicides about 10 or 12 years ago a girl jumped off the bridge into the riverbed then there were a bunch of copycats other kids weird like suicide was contagious or something so calr put up cameras so

They could monitor the bridge at the Comm Center where they have cameras on popular suicide sites you know so if it looks like somebody’s getting their courage up to jump they can send somebody out to try to stop them Soto nodded we’ll have to look at these BOS

Said now Soto asked when we get to them we have to read through the books that’s always the starting point how do you want to split them up I don’t we both need to familiarize ourselves with all aspects of the case we both read through everything even the tip binder but if we

Send them out to get a second copy we’ll lose a week waiting so why don’t you go first and I’ll go back to the lab and pick up the slug and chun’s report by the time I get back you’ll probably be on to the second book and I’ll take the

First no maybe you should start I have my meeting at 1 today I could go back to the lab now then go grab lunch before hitting Chinatown by the time I get back you’ll be on the second book Bosch nodded you like the idea of being able

To dive into the murder books right away by my meeting Soto me her weekly visit to a department shrink at the Behavioral Sciences Center in Chinatown because she had been involved in a shooting involving fatalities in this case her partner and two gunmen it was required that she have continuing psychological evaluation and

Post-traumatic stress therapy for a year after the incident sounds good he put the two DVD Stacks to the side of his desk and put the package clothing back into the evidence box he then moved the box to the floor behind his chair and focused on the instrument case before opening it

He studied all the stickers covering its front panel it showed Merced had been a traveling musician with stops all across the Central Valley up to Sacramento and South through all parts of Mexico there were stickers from US border towns in Arizona New Mexico and Texas as well BOS opened the case and

Studied the fua the compartment it was set in was lined with purple velvet he gingerly lifted the instrument out and held it up by its neck he turned it so he could see the exit hole made by the bullet in the back it was larger than the entry hole

In the front because the bullet had mushroomed during the first impact he now held it to his body like a musician checking where the Bullet Hole would line up with his own torso Stairway to Heaven Harry Bosch looked into the next module the request had been called out by Tim Marcia the

Squad jokester not my style Bosch said according to the time account he had read that morning Merced had been sitting on a picnic table bench when struck by the bullet Bosch sat down on his desk chair and propped the instrument on his thigh he strummed its five strings once and checked the

Alignment of the Bullet Hole again after you pick up the stuff from Chung go over to ballistics and see if you can get someone to meet us at Mariachi Plaza tomorrow with a trajectory kit stto nodded I will what’s a trajectory kit tubes and lasers BOS

Drum the fua again we’ve got two holes in this and then we have where the bullet ended up in mered if we can make an approximation of his location and position we may be able to get a line on where the bullet came from now that we

Know it was a rifle I think we’re looking for a perch you don’t think roas and Rodriguez already did this not if they thought it was a handgun or a driveby like I told the captain the rifle changes everything means it’s probably wasn’t random it probably wasn’t a driveby and

It might not even be Gang Related we’re starting from scratch and the first thing we have to do is figure out where the bullet came from got it good see you after Chinatown six BOS could always tell a lot about detectives and how they worked their

Cases by the case files they kept full and complete summaries leg ible notes and a logical flow of reports were all Hallmarks of a well-run investigation BOS also knew that most detective pairings had a division of labor often one investigator was charged with the paperwork because of his or her

Flare with a written word or because it simply suited their personality it was as simple as dividing brains in Brawn in his own Partnerships Bosch always preferred to avoid the paperwork but it didn’t always work out that way and he always paid attention to detail when he was the writer of

Record it appeared to Bosch that Rodriguez was The Keeper of the record when it came to the partnership of roas and Rodriguez his signature was on almost all of the documents and this gave insight into his resentment at having the case taken away his summaries were concise and

Complete no cop speak or Joe Friday just a fax M shorthand his witness summaries managed to capture the personalities of the individuals as well as their statements and this was very helpful to Bosch it also made him realize that he had sized up Rodriguez and roas wrong during the confrontation in

Hollenbeck Rodriguez was upset because he cared about the case whereas his partner roas didn’t share the same visceral connection to it it meant Bosch needed to find a way to connect to Rodriguez and overcome his anger he was the go-to guy the basics of the case

Were laid out in the first pages of a blue binder that only now would be called the murder book the incident report from April 11th 2004 contained the who what when and where and was the Baseline document of the case Orlando mered and his three bandmates had finished a gig early in

The day a girl’s 15th birthday party that was held by her parents on the island in the middle of the lake in Ekko park it was a Saturday the busiest day for work so the band drove in their van back to Mariachi Plaza in hopes of

Picking up a second job for the even evening the plaza was crowded with other Mariachis waiting and hoping for work the four men who comprised Los Reas halisco found a place to sit at a picnic table on the east side of the plaza the forem men played their instruments and

Followed the tradition of dueling musically with other bands in the plaza The Clash of music was so loud that very few people in the plaza heard a shot those who did hear it reported that had came from the west side of the Triangular plaza where it is bordered by Bole

Avenue according to a report written by Rodriguez after sifting through witness statements mered was sitting on top of the pre-cast concrete table with his feet on the bench his bandmates did not hear the shot and did not notice he was hit until he toppled from the picnic table to the

Ground one of the musicians called 911 at 4:11 p.m. because the shot Was Heard by some and not by others the scene at the plaza was described in the reports as chaotic those who heard the report or saw mered fall over pen panicked and ran for

Cover those who did not know what was going on were confused some followed those running and some turned in circles wondering what was going on the investigation produced no witness who saw a gunman firing from a passing car or on foot no one was seen by Witnesses or discerned on surveillance

Videos as a suspect fleeing the scene but many ear Witnesses agreed that the shot had come from the Bole Avenue side of the Plaza North boil Avenue was the main drag in the boil Heights area and also traversed the heart of the turf controlled by a large and violent Latino

Street gang known as white fence the gang derived its name from the white picket fence that surrounded the LA Parisa Church the gang’s Origins reached back to a men’s club at the church in the 1930s the name White Fence evolved over the decades to become a symbol of the

Dividing line between the city’s white Ango power elite and the Latin populace of East Los Angeles the line between those with money and those who cleaned their houses and cut their lawns ethnic pride and solidarity aside the gang became one of the most violent and feared in the city often preying

Upon that same Latin populace WF graffiti marked almost all the walls and surfaces of Mariachi Plaza the lapd’s gang intelligence unit suspected the WF members regularly charged attacks on the musicians who waited for work there white fence became the initial focus of detectives Rodriguez and noos branching off from

Bole Avenue and creating the rear border of the plaza was Pleasant Avenue where several hardcore members of white fence were known to live the Orlando merced’s bandmates told the investigators they were not embroiled in a dispute with white fence nor had they been approached to pay a gang tax roas and Rodriguez

Focused on the Pleasant Avenue gangsters in the initial stages of the case several of the gang members were detained and questioned through the days that followed the shooting none provided anything that implicated the gang or LED to another possible motive or source for the shooting no shell casing was found on

Boil or Pleasant Avenue and the exact origin of the shooting was never determined it seemed baffling to Bosch that a shooting across a plaza where more than 50 people were loitering did not produce a single credible witness such was the power and threat of white fence roas and Rodriguez also conducted

A background investigation into the victim to to attempt to determine if Orlando mered had been a specific Target in the shooting there was nothing in their conclusions that suggested this was the case it appeared to them and was subsequently announced to the public that he was a random and innocent

Victim the detectives were soon reduced to chasing down call-in tips from the public none of these panned out no suspect list was ever formulated but it was clear from the number of reports in the case books that the detectives focused much of their attention ition on the second generation white fence shot

Collar known as C gardo the initial stood for Ciro Blanca he had been named by his father after the gang he had pledged his allegiance to roas and Rodriguez followed a routine investigative strategy with Gallardo bring him in on a smaller charge and sweat him on the bigger one they were convinced Gallardo

Knew who had fired the shot into Mariachi Plaza even if he had not ordered it himself in this case they new gardo ran an auto body shop that was a front for a chop shop where cars stolen by gang members were dissected and sold across

The US and in Mexico for parts and scrap metal in this case they worked with auto theft detectives to raid alente Auto on First Street 10 days after the shooting gardo was arrested for auto theft in possession of stolen property when ID numbers on a variety of parts in the

Shop were tracked to cars reported stolen from the west side in the San Fernando Valley but the man named for the gang he was affiliated with did not crack despite several hours of interrogation regarding the mered shooting gardo refused to admit any involvement and eventually refused to

Talk to the detectives at all in the end he pleaded guilty to a single count of auto theft and spent 6 months in the Wayside honor Rancho Rodriguez’s casebook summation on CB Gallardo was that he remained a strong suspect in the Merced shooting the report suggested that the

Motive behind the shooting was to instill fear in the musicians who sought work in Mariachi Plaza and make them more amenable to paying a protection tax to White Fence in this Theory Merced was a random victim the unsuspecting receiver of a bullet fired without aim into the plaza the last time the Hollenbeck

Detectives had spoken to Garda was 2 years before when he was incarcerated at the penitentiary up in San Quenton for an attempted murder conviction as before Gallardo told them nothing Bosch finished his review of the two casebooks before stto got back from our appointment in Chinatown he moved on to the DVDs from

The evidence box playing them on his laptop he started with the performance videos he watched several minutes of the band playing at a variety of indoor and outdoor events he primarily focused on Orlando mared watching The Man play and how he held his instrument in all but one of

The videos he was standing while playing but there was a single video of the band on a stage at a wedding and all four of the music musicians were sitting on chairs Bosch noted that Merced did not rest his instrument on his thigh as he played he held it up higher leaning it

Against the shelf of his boning stomach this would be important to consider when they attempted to recreate the trajectory of the bullet that strucker said how he sat when he played and how he held the instrument would be two of the key things to understand one of the performance videos

Was dated the same day as the shooting and it was a recording from the birthday party at Eko Park where Los Rees halisco had played earlier in the day while BOS had fast forwarded through most of the other videos he watched this one in its entirety hoping to possibly pick up

Something that would give a clue as to what happened later that day he knew of course that roas and Rodriguez had certainly done the same thing but he was undaunted if nothing else Bosch was confident in himself as an investigator and believed he observed things others

Did not he knew this was egotistical but a healthy ego was a requirement you had to believe you were smarter tougher braver and more resilient than the unknown person you were looking for and working cold cases you had to believe the same thing about the detectives who

Had worked the case before you if you didn’t you were lost it was this sense of the mission that he hoped he could impart to stto in the final year of his career the Echo Park video showed a happy family celebrating their daughters kiny anera many friends and family members

Were on hand picnic tables were covered CED with traditional foods and Gifts the girl at the center of attention wore a white dress and a tiara with a number 15 on it she had a court of honor that included six other girls there was dancing and the band

Played songs that Bosch assumed were traditional to the Celebration at one point the girl’s parents carried out two cultural Traditions the mother presenting her daughter with the last doll symbolizing the end of childhood and the father changing her shoes from flat sandals to high heels symbolizing the beginning of

Womanhood there was much love and poignancy captured on the video it drew Bosch’s thoughts away from the case to his own daughter he carried a constant burden of guilt when it came to her Bosch was a single parent but mostly an absentee parent his daughter was 17 now

And she’d had no sweet 16 party he had never staged any kind of birthday celebration for her other than to celebrate it by themselves watching the the party in Echo Park he was reminded of his many failings as a father and it put a catch in his throat

Bosch turned the video off he had seen nothing on it that had given him pause or any clue to the shooting that would happen just a few hours later mered and his bandmates were professional and did not mingle with the party guests they were verely the focus of the camera but

Were seen in backdrop during several moments of the video Bosch ejected the disc and moved on to the second stack of DVDs these DVDs contained film from surveillance cameras near the plaza as such they were not specifically focused on the Plaza and only captured segments of what happened that day to

Bosch’s surprise the first video he viewed showed a grainy long-distance image of Merced actually being shot as far as he knew this had never been made public the video was taken from inside the Mariachi supplies and music store located across first street from the plaza the camera was mounted in an upper

Corner of the store and its purpose was to document and discourage shoplifting however its reach was through the front plate glass window of the store and across first to the plaza Bosch backed up and replayed the shooting portion of the video several times watching Merced strumming his instrument until the impact of the

Bullet and bedding in his spine knocked him backwards off the table to the ground he then finally let the video continue and intently watched the action that followed the shooting the image were murky because of the distance and the writing on the music Shop’s window the focus of the camera was also

Obviously set on the interior of the store as opposed to the activities across the street at the moment of the bullet’s impact Merced was surrounded by his bandmates he sat on the table with his feet on the bench seat on his right side sat the accordion player and standing to

His left in a step back was the guitarist moving into position behind the table was the trumpet player who was holding his instrument in two hands hands and bringing it up to his mouth to play again Harry watched the shot knock mered backwards off the table the trumpet player immediately ran to the

Right of the frame and out of the picture while the guitar player started to duck under the wing of the table turning his guitar so it shielded his body the accordion player seemed confused by what had just happened it appeared by his body language that he

Did not realize at first that Merced had been shot it was only when he saw the guitar player ducking under the table that he too slid down and moved under its shelter after a long moment both men moved from the table and over to Merced to help him the trumpet player came back

Into the frame and also knelt down next to his Fallen comrade BOS continued to watch the video soon people came running up to the picnic table and started gathering around the shooting victim it became hard to see merett in the middle of all the others in the

Activity over the next 30 minutes Bosch watched his paramedics and police responded to the shooting call Merced was initially treated while lying on the pavement and then hoisted onto a gurnie and wheeled out of the frame the picnic table in immediate area was cordoned off with yellow crime scene

Ribbon and officers started corralling Witnesses for detectives the video ended at that point and Bosch wondered if that was all that had come from the music store or if the editing had been done by Rodriguez or roas Bosch checked the other two videos but neither was as interesting or as

Useful to him both had time codes that allowed him to syn up the moment of the shooting but they provided little new information one was from a parking lot camera at Pito Pedro’s at least a block away it did not actually show much of Mariachi Plaza but rather showed the

Intersection of Bole and first BOS saw no apparent driveby vehicle pass on the tape no gang hoopty speeding through the intersection in the seconds after the shooting went down the third surveillance video came from the suicide camera on the First Street Bridge it was several blocks from the

Plaza and his view of the shooting was blocked by the old hotel at the corner of boil and first Bosch watched it once dismissed its usefulness and ejected it from the laptop he thought about things for a moment he knew he should set up an appointment with Rodriguez and Roos to

Sit down and go over many details of the case rather than do a peace meal but he picked up the phone anyway and called the detective Bureau at Hollenbeck he asked specifically for Rodriguez even though Ro might be more forthcoming this is detective Rodriguez this is Bosch how are you

Doing no answer Bosch waited a moment and pressed on I just finished a review of Your Case Files on mer said he paused still nothing I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass by telling you how thorough you guys were you already know that but I have a few

Questions I could have asked for Rojos because he wasn’t a prick today but I asked for you this is your book Rodriguez I can tell I figure you’re the one I need to talk to can you help me out no answer again but this time Bosch waited eventually Rodriguez

Responded what do you want to know Bosch Harry nodded his Instinct was right the good ones all had that hollow space inside the empty place where the fire always Burns for something call it justice call it the need to no call to need to believe that those who are evil

Will not remain hidden in darkness Forever at the end of the day Rodriguez was a good cop and he wanted what Bosch wanted he could not remain angry and mute if it might cost Orlando Merced his due seven after the phone call BOS went on the computer and started to type up his

First report on the mered case it was primar an update on the case including a cause of death report and an evaluation of existing evidence and investigative leads he was 20 minutes in when his desk phone rang he picked it up assuming it was stto calling in after a psych session

Bosch yes I want to register for the reward Bosch realized it was a call spawned by the ex- mayor’s announcement as he responded he pulled up the internet window on his computer and went to the Los Angeles Times website what do you mean register sir it’s not a

Lottery do you have information that can help us sure enough there was a story already up on the front page of the news site complete with a photo of Zas at the press conference announcing the reward yeah I got information the caller said the shooter is named Jose you can

Mark it down Jose what I don’t know that part I just know it’s Jose how do you know this I just do he was the shooter that’s right do you know this man do you know why he did it no but I’m sure you’ll get all that once

You arrest him where do I arrest him the man on the other end of the line seemed to scoff at the question I don’t know that you’re the detective okay sir so you are saying that I need to go out and find an arrest a man named Jose no last name no known

Whereabouts do you know what he looks like he looks Mexican okay sir thank you Bosch hung up the phone banging it hard into the Cradle douchebag he said to himself the phone rang again while his hand was still on it he answered it with an annoyed tone in his voice

BOS yes I have a question on the reward it was a different man’s voice what is the question if I turn myself in do I get the reward BOS paused for a moment his Instinct was that this was as bogus as the first call good question he said I don’t see

Why not the reward is for information leading to a conviction I think a confession would qualify do you plan to confess yes I do but we would have to be able to prove you did it can’t just take your word for it you know what I mean I

Understand so why’d you do it because I hate that Mariachi this is America you come here you should play American Music I see and what weapon did you use my Smith and Wesson I’m a good shot BOS nodded to himself Instinct confirmed I’m sure you are thanks for the call he hung

Up then stared at the phone for a long moment expecting it to ring right away sure enough it did but he could see on the display that it was an internal call he picked it up Bosch detective this is Gwen and the PBX one of the in-house operators Bosch wasn’t exactly sure

Where she was located in the building the PBX operators handled all calls that came in on the general lines like the main Robbery Homicide division number that was included in the time story and distributed them as required yes Gwen I’ve got a Spanish speaker now for

The mar said reward do you want to take it BOS shook his head the onslaught he warned Crowder and Samuels about was now beginning I don’t have a Spanish speaker right now get a name and number and someone we’ll call them back we’ll do BOS hung the phone up a little gentler

This time he switched over to the LA opinion website clicked on the locales page and sure enough saw another photo of Zas in a story on the mared case in the accompanying reward offer he was a bit stunned by how fast the media was moving on the

Story he went back to the report he was writing and picked up the pace he wanted to get out of the office whether Soto got back soon or not he had a feeling that the phone would soon become an anchor wrapped around his neck he would drown in these calls before he finished

Typing the phone rang one more time and it was the very first caller again hey you didn’t take my name for the reward that’s correct sir I don’t want your name well what about the reward there is no reward not for you I’m telling you

It’s a guy named Jose he did it if we arrest a guy named Jose you call me back okay this time Bosch slammed the phone down so hard in its cradle he drew the attention of detectives in the other cubicles he didn’t offer any explanation while his hand was still on

The phone and rang again he picked it up and gruffly said what it’s Gwen from PBX oh yes Gwen what is it I just wanted you to know that the Spanish speaker refused to give me her name or number okay Gwen I guess that’s one call I don’t need to worry about thank

You after that botch quickly wrapped up the report he was writing printed it out on three-hole punch paper and clipped it into the murder book he then picked up the phone called the PBX number and asked for Gwen Gwen is detective Bosch I’m going

To be out in the field and my partner is not available can you forward any calls to come in regarding the mered case and the reward to Lieutenant Samuels Lieutenant Samuels yes I can good thank you why don’t you make a note there that all such calls should go to

The lieutenant until further notice from me we do detective have a good day you too Gwen BOS stood up checking the clock on the wall over the doorway to the squad stto psych sessions generally lasted an hour with a half hour travel time on either side of it even if she

Went by the crime lab to pick up the slug from gun Chung she should have been back by now this annoyed him because Soto had a tendency to disappear or lose track of time he wanted to keep things moving but she was missing an action he

Didn’t want to call her in case she was still in session with Dr hohos the Department’s head shrink but he was frustrated because Soto hadn’t bothered to shoot him a text saying she had been held up he should not be the one sending out texts and making where are you calls

Anyway he grabbed his keys in the video discs at the sign outboard on the wall next to the door he wrote lab next to his name and headed out Rodriguez had told him that he and roas had not taken the surveillance recordings to the lab to see if any enhancements could be made

To the visuals he explained that it didn’t seemed to be a worthwhile move considering that the videos did not capture the shooter additionally 10 years ago video forensics amounted to little more than a lab rat taking a second look at the footage the detective had already studied today was different there was a

Dedicated video on data Imaging unit with experts who could amplify sound and visuals often bringing forward information that was not readily apparent during casual viewing the last decade had seen an explosion in the use of videos as tools of Investigations it was a city of cameras public and

Private and it was standard case protocol now to look for cameras at a crime scene in the same way it was standard to knock on doors and look for Witnesses this necessitated the formation of the vfu the video forensics unit not all cameras were created equal and it took some expertise to maximize

The potential of images and sounds captured at or near crime scenes it took posos 20 minutes to get over to the lab on the way Soto called him and told him she had just finished her psych session she was backed up with new Shooters she said but I’m on my way

To the lab now to pick up the slug don’t worry about it Bosch said I’m on my way there now with the videos I’ll go see gun and pick up the slug I thought she didn’t finish but Bosch knew what she was going to ask right yeah I looked at them all and

There wasn’t a whole lot there he said the camera in the music shop picked up M said getting hit but it’s all pretty murky I’m hoping the video unit can do something with it okay okay she didn’t sound mollified if you want I can wait let you

Take a look before running it over no no go ahead you might as well are you coming back to the squad after actually I’m trying to stay away from the squad the xm’s reward has already hit the media sites and the calls are coming in

I want to work the case not the phones Bosch pulled into the parking lot outside the crime lab building and started looking for an open slot but what if we get the right call it’s a million to one you asked me but if someone really can deliver the

Shooter they’ll get to us anyway right now I have all the calls going to Samuels maybe that’ll light a fire and get him to put somebody on the call so we can work the case okay so what do you want me to do I was also supposed to set up the

Ballistic trajectory for tomorrow Bosch had forgotten about that now he thought it might be too soon I’m going to hold off on that let’s see what they come up with in video it might help set the trajectory okay where do you want me to

Go now give me 30 minutes and meet me at Mariachi Plaza let’s see if the media’s left the place alone that’ll give me time to hit Starbucks you want something BOS thought a moment about his caffeine level no I’m good I’ll just see you there BOS parked and got out while

Walking toward the glass doors of the lab building his phone rang again it was Lieutenant Sams BOS where the hell are you about to go into the lab I wrote it on the board what’s up what’s up is the phone is starting to go crazy with tip calls what do you want me

To do about it LT I’m working the case I’ve got three stops in the lab here I told you this was going to happen where’s lucky Lucy with you no she has her psych session on Wednesday afternoons anything good coming in how the hell should I know you set this up

Bosch I didn’t set up anything I didn’t want any reward put out there in the first place I knew never mind I’ll put someone on the phones starting tomorrow morning Samuels hung up before Bosch could respond but he was smiling when he pushed through the door to the crime lab

Eight Lucia soda was already at Mariachi Plaza when Bosch got there there was no obvious sign that anybody from the media was still on the scene Bosch crossed the plaza taking it all in it was beginning to get crowded with musicians hoping to pick up evening gigs the sidewalk parking spaces running

Along Bole Avenue were Bumper to Bumper with Vans brightly painted with the names and phone numbers of bands the benches and tables in the plaza were all occupied soda was talking to three men squeezed onto a single bench their instruments and cases at their feet they were wearing matching black half coats

With gold brocade and white blouses with string ties Bosch nodded to them as he joined his partner soda was holding some kind of iced coffee drink with whipped cream at the time top Harry these men were here the day Merced was shot stto said excitedly what do they remember he asked they were

Sitting right here they jumped up and went behind the statue when they heard the shot Bosch looked behind the bench at the bronze statue of a woman hands on her hips wearing a shawl over a patterned dress the statue was on a large concrete and wooden pedestal Bosch guessed that the statue

Would have provided more cover for them than had they remained on the bench when the gunfire erupted the plaque on the base of the statue identified the woman as Lucha Reas the queen of the Mariachis who lived and performed in LA in the 1920s she was from guadalahara were they

Interviewed Soto spoke to the men in Spanish and then translated their answers to BOS even though he had understood yes they gave statements Bosch nodded but he could not remember any of the statements from the murder book involving Witnesses reporting that they had used a statue for cover they had probably been left

Out as inconsequent ask them to show us where they hid by the statue Soto asked the men and one got up and went to the front of the statue he crouched down put his hands on the pedestal and acted like he was looking around the legs of the statue to see who

Was shooting he was looking toward Bole Avenue Bosch nodded again as he tried to see it the way it was that day what made them think the shot came from over there he asked pointing Soto translated and the man Shrugged at first and then one of the

Men still on the bench answered in a Cadence too fast for Bosch to understand he said he heard the shot and ran for cover the other two men followed but weren’t sure they had heard anything they just saw everybody running what did he see two men shook their heads and the third said

NADA did they know her said again stto translated and listened not really she finally told Bosch they knew him from the plaa waiting for jobs BOS stepped away and walked toward the escalators that led down to the underground Metro Metro station the glass structure that served as its roof

Had a distinct Aztec Motif and was designed as a giant eagle’s wing Sheltering the entrance the feathers of the wing were multicolored glass panels that threw the sun across the plaza in blends of color there was a wide tiled staircase between the up and down escalators Bosch turned at the top of

The stairs and looked back across the plaza he then looked left across First Street at the music store with the camera that had captured the Merced shooting was located Bosch moved a small step to his right and figured that he was very close to where the picnic table Merced had sat on

Had been located he knew this assumption had no forensic validity a ballistics team would deal with that later but for now Bosch knew he was nearly at the spot where mered was sitting when he caught the bullet he looked back toward Bole Avenue in the direction the bullet had come

From since Posh had now discounted the idea that the bullet had been fired from a passing car or even from ground level as eyes focused across the street to the structure that occupied the corner across from the plaza in earlier years BOS had known the boil Hotel well unofficially but better

Known as Hotel Mariachi the three-story Stone building of Queen Anne design was more than 100 years old and one of the oldest standing structures in all of Los Angeles but it had fallen into disrepair over the decades until it was little more than a cockroach and infested Flop House for traveling Mariachis and

Transients more than once BOS went into Hotel Mariachi with a mug shot in hand looking for a suspect he had traced from a crime scene but all was different now the boil Hotel had gotten a multi-million dollar makeover in concurrence with the metro station project in Mariachi Plaza it was no

Longer even a hotel it was a mixed use complex offering affordable apartments and Commercial spaces its red brick facade and signature rooftop Koopa were preserved in the renovation process but even at so-called affordable rates the rents were too high for most of the Mariachis who passed through East LA they had to

Rent elsewhere now Soto came over to Bosch and followed the line of his stare you think the shot came from there she asked could have BOS said letun go check it out they walked back across the plaza Bosch noticing that more and more musicians were starting to crowd around

The benches and tables it was almost 5 in time to look and hope for work BOS noticed a small shop behind one Gathering of musicians libros schmibros the sign on the door said it was a bookstore and lending library he pointed at it without breaking stride before this was all Hispanic it

Was Jewish he said in the 20s and 30s by the 50s everybody was moving out to Fairfax white flight stto said sort of I think I may have had a grandparent who lived here something about this place I remember the old Hollenbeck station coming here with my mother in the 50s

There was some kind of hazy vaguely uncomfortable memory he couldn’t get at for the first 11 years of his life he lived with his mother and at times they were as transient as the Denis of the old hotel Mariachi there were too many places to

Remember and it was all 50 years ago he tried to change the subject where’ you grow up Lucy call over my mother’s side was from Orange County Down by Al Toro and my father’s family was from up here his parents got pushed out of Chavez Ravine in the’ 40s

They ended up in Westlake and I was born there but I mostly grew up in the valley bua Bosch nodded I guess that means you’re not a Dodger fan then he said never gone to a single game and never will she said my father would kill me if

He ever heard I went it had been one of the biggest land grabs in the city’s history and Bosch knew the story well having all his life tried to counter his love of baseball and the Dodgers with the ugly story buried beneath the diamond wear as a boy he watched Sandy

Kofax and Don drale pitch it seemed to him that every gleaming success in the city had a dark seam to it somewhere usually just out of view for decades Chavez Ravine was a poor Enclave of Mexican immigrants who nestled in Shacks packed among the hills

And tried to make their way in a place where they were needed but not necessarily wanted the end of World War II brought new prosperity to the city and federal money to provide housing for the poor the plan was to move everyone out of Chavez’s Ravine steamroll it and then

Rebuild it creating an orchard of low-income housing Towers to which the former inhabitants of the Little Valley would be invited to return the development would even be given a name that reflected The Grand American dream of reaching for the Golden Ring alian Park Heights some left the Ravine willingly

And some had to be pushed out houses churches and schools were raised but no Towers were ever built by then the world had changed building towers for the poor was labeled social socialism the new mayor called it unamerican spending instead the city of the future decided it needed a professional sports team to

Secure its image and standing as more than a movie colony and hazy outposts on the western edge of the country the Brooklyn Dodgers came West and a gleaming baseball stadium was built where those towers for the poor were supposed to be the residents of Chavez Ravine were permanently scattered

Their heirs carrying a deeply seeded Grudge to this day and at least in Park Heights was a pretty name that never made it past the blueprints Bosch was silent until they crossed boil and came to the double doors of what once was Hotel Mariachi the door was locked and there

Was a keypad next to it for contacting tenants in the management Soto looked at Bosch do you want to go in might as well she pushed the button next to a sticker that said officina the lock was buzzed open without any inquiry over the intercom as

To who they were BOS looked up to to see a camera mounted overhead in the corner of the door’s trim Soto opened the door and they entered a vestibule there was a building directory in map inside glass cases attached to the wall Bosch looked at the map first and realized that the

Restoration project had also been a consolidation project three buildings had been joined into one complex the front building the original boil Hotel also known on 19th century plattin Maps as Cummings block was now repurposed as commercial space and the two adjoining buildings were apartment buildings Bosch

Moved on to the directory and saw a variety of small office listings most of them for attorney Abado BOS saw a set of stairs to the right of the doorway and started up the manager’s office is down here Harry stto said I know he said we can stop by after looking

Around on the second floor botch saw three separate glass doored entrances to offices two of which were for attorneys the signs on both doors promising sebla espanol the third office appeared to be unrented and empty BOS stepped back and looked around the hallway it was clean and bright not what he remembered from

Previous visits to the building he remembered tiny apartments and a communal bathroom at the end of the hall that smelled like a sewer he was happy the building had been saved from such disrespect and disrepair Harry headed up the stairs to the next level and Soto trailed behind

Him on the third floor there were more offices half of which appeared vacant he tried a door marked roof and it was unlocked he took the next set of stairs up to the cupula and Soto followed him up the Koopa had a 360° view including an expansive reach across the bridge back to

Downtown Bosch could see the concrete River and the train tracks that wrapped around downtown like a ribbon turning East he looked down on the Plaza he saw the members of One band putting their instruments in into their minivan they had gotten an evening gig do you think the shot came from up here

Soto asked BOS shook his head I doubt it too open the angle is probably too steep he raised his arms as if sighting down the barrel of a rifle he pointed the imaginary gun at the top of the Metro stairs he nodded to himself it was too

Steep for a bullet to go through merced’s instrument and torso at the apparent angle I also think this is is restored up here I don’t think there was anything up here 10 years ago Bosch noticed a man sitting by himself on a bench in the plaza he was looking up at

Bosch the door at the bottom of the stairs opened and a woman quickly came up to them speaking in Rapid Fire Spanish SoDo moved toward her pulling her badge to show her they were police the woman spoke too fast for Bosch to understand but he didn’t really

Need to he knew that she was upset that they were on the roof eventually SOA translated this is Mrs Blanca she said we can’t be up here and we should have gone to the management office first I told her we apologize ask if she worked here before

The renovation Blanca shook her head and said no before the question was translated you speak English BOS asked a little bit yes Blanca said well you answer any way you would like this building is protected right Historical Society yes it has Landmark stat this first buil in

1889 what happened to the hotel records when they came in to renovate the woman looked confused and Soto translated the question in the answer she said all the old hotel books in the front desk were saved by the Historical Society they’re in City storage now but they want to make a

Display here Bosch nodded he had seen nothing in the investigative logs kept by Rodriguez and roas about knocking on doors or interviewing anyone in hotel Mariachi about what they had seen or heard during the shooting in in the plaza he thought that was a mistake nine boss stayed late at the office

Rereading the reports and summaries in the murder book and writing down any new observations or questions that came to him his daughter was always busy on Wednesday nights with the police explorer unit she had joined at Hollywood Station it was a group open to high school kids who were considering careers in law

Enforcement they got a firsthand Look at police work and often took part in ride alongs and other operations it was usually a full evening of activity so there was no reason for him to go home even though the day had started Before Dawn with a phone call from Captain

Crowder the football field size Squad room had cleared out for the day and Bosch enjoyed the complete silence of the space and the Darkness beyond the windows he intermittently got up from his cubicle and walked the length of the room wandering among the other cubicles and looking at the way other Detectives

Set up and decorated their desks he noticed that in several of the pods the detectives had gotten rid of the department issued government grade desk chairs and replaced them with high-end models with adjustable arms and lumbar support systems of course this being the LAPD the owners of these

Chairs had secured them to their desks with bicycle locks when they left for the day Bosch thought it was all pretty sad not because personal property wasn’t safe in the police administration building but because the department was more and more becoming a desk bound institution keyboards and cell phones

Were the main tools of the modern investigator detectives sat in $1,200 chairs and wore Sleek designer shoes with tassels gone were the days of thick rubber soles in function over form when a detective’s motto was get off your ass and go knock on doors Bosch’s tour of the squad room left him feeling

Melancholy like maybe it was the right time for him to be winding down his career he worked worked till late and then packed everything into his briefcase left the building and walked down Main Street to the nickel Diner he sat at a table by himself and ordered

The flat iron steak in a bottle of Newcastle he was just getting used to eating alone again his relationship with Hannah Stone had ended earlier in the year and that meant a lot of evenings by himself he was about to pull some of his work materials out of his briefcase but

Then decided to give the work a rest while he ate he passed the time talking with Monica the owner and she topped off his meal with a maple glazed bacon donut on the house it put a new charge in his bloodstream and he decided it was too

Early to go home to his empty house on the way back to the PAB he stopped by the blue whale to see who was playing and who was coming later in the month and was pleasantly surprised to see Grace Kelly on the stage with a four-piece band Grace was a young saxophonist with

A powerful sound she also sang fos had some of her music on his phone and at times thought she was channeling the late great Frank Morgan one of his favorite Sachs men but he had never seen her perform live so he paid the cover ordered another beer and sat

At the back of the room his briefcase on the floor between his feet he enjoyed the set particularly the interplay between grace and her Rhythm Section but she closed with a solo and it stabbed deeply into Bosch’s Heart the song was somewhere over the rainbow and she

Produced a sound from the horn that no human voice could ever touch it was plaintive and sad but it came with an undeniable wave of underlying hope it made Bosch think that there was still a chance for him that he could still find whatever it was he was

Looking for no matter how short his time was Bosch left after the first set to go back to the paab along the two block walk he texted his daughter to see if she was still out with the Explorers she was with the unit attached to Hollywood division

She texted back right away saying she was already at home and about to go to sleep tired from the day of school followed by the explor gig Bosch checked his watch and realized time had moved swiftly it was almost 11: he then called Maddie to say good

Night and tell her he would work late since she was already going to bed you’d be all right if I don’t get home until later of course dad are you working yeah I’m at the PAB going over stuff it sounds like you’re drinking I had a beer at dinner I’m fine I’ll only

Be a couple more hours be safe I will what did they have you kids doing tonight we were at a DUI roadblock mostly just observing there was one guy he wasn’t drunk but he was completely naked it was gross yeah well welcome to Holly weird Division I hope you’re not scarred for

Life by that I’ll get over it they wrapped him in a blanket and booked him good now go to sleep and I’ll see you in the morning before school Bosch disconnected and wondered once again if his daughter really wanted to be a copper if she was just going

Through the motions to please him in some way he thought maybe he should talk to Dr hohos about it Maddie spent an hour with her every month seeing the police psychologist in an unofficial capacity kohos did it as a favor having volunteered her time since Maddie had

Come to live with BOS following her mother’s death when he got back to the squad room it was still deserted but his eyes immediately stopped at his partner’s desk Soto’s handbag was sitting on her chair she usually dropped it there when she came in every morning

And went to get coffee she’d take out just the money she needed and would leave the purse on her chair but it was now 11:00 p.m. and there was the purse he wondered at first if she had forgotten it when she left earlier but that would seem impossible because she

Kept her keys and went off duty her weapon in the large leather bag he did a three 60 and scanned the squad room there was no sign of her but now he thought he had picked up the slight whiff of coffee soda was there somewhere he pulled his phone and shot

Her a text asking where she was her answer made him even more confused home about to hit the hay why now Bosch didn’t know what to do he texted back nothing just wondering when he sent the second text he thought he heard a slight bell tone from somewhere close by Bosch always

Kept his text notification on vibration alert since most of his messages came from his daughter and he didn’t want a dinging text to interrupt something at work but soda was different she had hers set to an audible tone and boss was sure he had just heard it he typed out

Another text see you tomorrow he hit send and this time stood perfectly still and listened almost immediately he heard the Bell again this time he tracked to the open door of the case closet on the other side of the squad room the case closet was actually

A huge storage room where all the murder books and evidence boxes from Case Files under consideration by the open unsolved Unit were stored the space was big but the cases were so many that the year before the department had installed a rolling shelving system usually found in College

Library stacks and big law firms in which the rows of shelves were on tracks and could be collapsed together it allowed for more storage in a confined space when a detective needed to get to a specific murder book he or she had to crank open the row where that book

Resided each pairing of detectives in the OU had both sides of an entire row for their cases Bosch quietly stepped to the open door of the case closet and looked in the smell of coffee was Stronger now he saw that the road that SoDo and he shared for their cases was cranked

Closed but 10 ft further down the Bank of Florida ceiling Shelf the row belonging to another pair of detectives had been cranked open Bosch stepped into the room and quietly moved down to the open row he hesitated when he got to the opening then edged forward and looked

Around the corner into the 3-ft wide aisle between shelves no one was there confused Bosch looked toward the end of the room around the last set of shelves was an open Alcove there was a copy machine there he now moved toward the AL Cove and was just a few feet away

From the corner when he heard the copy machine go into motion the machine gave him good sound cover he stepped forward quickly and looked into the AL Cove Lucia soda was standing at the copier her back to Bosch on the work counter to her right was an

Open murder book its binder ring spread apart next to the binder was a stack of three more murder books and next to them was a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee Bosch watched silently as Soto went about copying the the records and reports from the murder book The Copy

Tray was filling with paper Bosch didn’t know what to do he had no idea why but she was obviously copying the records of a murder case that was not assigned to them he backed up and checked the opening in the shelves each team in the unit was assigned specific years for which they

Were responsible each detective team put their business cards and Slots on either side of their row he saw that the open row belonged to Whitaker and dubau Bosch couldn’t remember offhand which years Whitaker and Dubose were assigned but the four murder books stto had with her at the copy machine looked old the

Blue vinyl of the binders was cracked and Faded the pages inside yellowed Bosch looked toward the AL Cove and thought about leaving as quietly as he had come in but a rush of thoughts came to him and gave him pause first he thought how foolish soda was being by copying the

Files every detective in the squad had a copier code which had to be tapped into the machine’s keyboard in order for it to function this meant there would be a trail that would tell how much SoDo copied and when the second idea that pushed through to Bosch was the common

Knowledge that in recent years entrance standards for the Department had been lowered people with minor drug bust and gang affiliations had gotten in it was believed by some that organized crime and even terrorist organizations had infiltrated the force BOS wondered if Soto could be working for someone outside the

Department Act as a double agent Cold Case detective by day and Gathering Intel from cases by Night finally he thought that he was probably letting his imagination get the best of him but she had after all just lied to him in her texts what was it she didn’t want him to

Know about BOS had never been one to quietly back away from a problem all at once he decided what to do and went back to the alve Lucia was removing a thick stack of copies from the machine she didn’t know notice him because she was completely

Absorbed in her efforts you get what you needed there Lucia nearly jumped out of her shoes as it was she had to stifle the scream when she whipped around to see Bosch it took her a moment to compose herself and then respond Harry you almost scared me to

Death what are you doing here I think that’s the question you need to answer Lucia she made some kind of motion with her hands as if trying to catch her breath after the scare he put on her it gave her time to come up with an answer

I’m just looking at some old cases that’s all really cases that don’t belong to you D I’m trying to learn homicide work Harry I look at cases sometimes I copy them so I can take them home I know that’s against policy but I didn’t think

It was a big deal I couldn’t sleep so I came in to make some copies the story and her delivery of it was almost embarrassing in its phoniness Bosch moved into the AL Cove and over to the world work counter he flipped over the contents of the binder from which

She had been copying documents he read the front page which was always the initial report in summary of the case he immediately recognized it so you’re just randomly pulling and looking at cases yeah something like that Bosch looked at the spines on the other binders and quickly realized that all

Four books were from the same case it was the 1993 Bonnie Brave Fire case nine people most of them chill perished in an apartment in the West Lake Area the victims had been in an unlicensed daycare center in the low-income complex’s basement and became Trapped By Flames and

Smoke half the children crammed into the small space diet of smoke inhalation the fire was labeled arson but no arrests were ever made despite a task force composed of fire department arson experts and LAPD investigators BOS shoved the loose Pages she had been copying into a binder and

Then stacked all four of them on top of each other before picking them up he turned and walked past SoDo bring your coffee he said he carried the binders out to their cubicle and put them down on his desk he pointed SoDo to her desk and told her to sit

Down she moved her purse off the chair and sat Bosch stayed standing pacing a short track behind her and talking to her back she sat with her head bowed eyes down like a suspect who knows the charges are coming I’m only going to have this discussion with you one time he began if

You lie to me and I find out then we are finished as partners and I’ll see to it you are finished as a cop metal of Valor or not he paused and looked at the back of her neck he knew she could feel it she nodded the Bonnie Brave fire he said I

Didn’t work it but I was here and I remember nine deaths never cleared the rumor at the time was that the Pico Union larazza started the fire because the apartment manager wouldn’t let them de in the building that’s all I know like I said it wasn’t my case but

It was a big case and rumors and stories get around he stopped his pacing grabbed the back of her chair and turned her to face him now you come along after becoming a hero for taking down a couple of 13th Street Shooters and it so happens that

13th and Pico Union are sworn enemies for all of eternity Bosch pointed to his Temple so now I find you copying files on Bonnie Bray and I think to myself did this girl tell me she was born in Westlake before moving out to the valley and I got to ask myself who is

She pulling files for it’s nothing like that Harry I let me finish here you don’t need to talk just yet he turned away from her and looked down at the binder stacked on his desk he was full of steam now he turned back it’s well known in this department

That they let their guard drop when they had to fatten the ranks and infiltrators got in people are something else first first and cop second but I’ll tell you right now this isn’t how I’m going to go out you think I’m some old fool you can

Pull on right under my nose and I won’t know it I thought there was something off about you from the start you don’t want to be a cop you want to be something else no you’re wrong she started to stand up at BOS put his hand

On her shoulder and held her in her seat no I’m right and you’re going to sit there and tell me what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for or we’re going to be here till the sun comes up and people start coming in and asking what’s going on

She reached across her body with one hand embosed tensed but her hand went to her left wrist she unbuttoned her cuff and violently pulled the sleeve up her arm she turned her arm to reveal the tattoo on the inside of her forearm it was an RI list with five names on a

Tombstone Jose Elsa marinaa wanito Carlos I was in that basement when that fire started okay she said these these are my friends they died BOS slowly stepped back to his desk and pulled out the chair so he could sit down he looked at the binders for a

Moment and then looked back at his partner you’re trying to solve this thing he said on your own Soto nodded and pulled her sleeve back down 10 in the morning Bosch and stto met in the squad room checked in on the board and went directly back to Bosch’s car

For the drive over to the Regional Lab Bosch had already been summoned by the video analyst he had left the disc with the day before initially the analyst bayy Copeland had told BOS she would need a couple days to work with the three discs and that schedule included bumping the

Case up to the front of the line because of the importance and media attention it was receiving but that morning she called Bosch while he was driving in on the 101 and told him she had come up with something he should look at sooner rather than later on the way over Bosch

And stto said little about the night before and its discovery of her secret investigation Bosch immediately understood her motivations he had similarly been driven to solve a case from his own past so he had told her that he would help her but it had to be done right with less than a

Year to go and his plan to retire and take his pension in a lump sum payment he could not be sure the department wouldn’t use any infraction to fire him to avoid the payout he told Soto that if they could come up with a plan that would result in

The official transfer of the Bonnie Bray case to them then he would join her in working it but he warned her that working a case that was not hers was a dangerous move in the department for her as well as him the video and data imagery unit was on the third floor of

The Regional Lab copelan was waiting for them in a video Booth where there was a sound and video board set on a lab table in front of a multi-screen wall display the room was dimly lit and small but Copeland had pulled in extra stools for BOS and

SoDo thanks for coming in early Copeland said I’m going to show you what I have here and then go home he pulled an all nighter on this Bosch asked I did I got excited and couldn’t leave it thank you for that show us what you’ve got the lab

Table was elevated and Copeland was a short woman she stood during the demonstration and sitting behind her Bosch and SoDo could still easily see the screens okay let’s just run through it once and then we can go back the first thing I did was run a triangulation program on our three

Videos the time counters on at least one of them was off so what I used to base time on was the one thing that is in each video she clicked a button on a keyboard and three of the screens in front of them came to life each showing their

Angle on Mariachi Plaza or the streets in front of it she then almost immediately hit another key and the images froze Copeland pointed at the center screen which showed the video from The Music Store you see the the for tourus here passing the music store that car is on each

Video she pointed the car out on each of the screens Bosch could already see that the clarity of each video had been greatly improved in what he had viewed the day before Copeland had fine-tuned them made them crisper by calibrating the three videos off the movement of that car we can run

All three simultaneously now let’s watch she hit a key and the videos continued the three screens were right next to each other and so it was not difficult for Bosch to watch Copeland had found the triangulation point the Ford more than a minute before the shooting so they watched and waited in

Anticipation before finally seeing Merced topple off the table to the ground and his bandmaid start to scramble okay so let’s watch again in slow motion Copeland said tell me what you see she started the playback again Bosch’s eyes were primarily drawn to the center image which showed Merced sitting

On the table it was it was the cleanest video and it was the only one showing the victim it was Eerie watching in slow motion knowing what was to come soda who had not seen the videos before that morning leaned forward to watch more closely Bosch tried to pull his vision

Back to all three screens at the moment mered was shot but he didn’t see anything that Drew his attention when the shooting occurred Copeland stopped the playback so did you see it she asked see what Bosch asked Copeland smiled letun switch the around she typed in a command and the

Three camera angles changed positions now front and center was the angle from the parking lot camera at Pito Pedro’s Restaurant okay watch again Copeland replayed the video in slow motion and BOS kept his eyes on the center screen though clearer than when he viewed the video on his laptop the day

Before it was still a grainy view of the street and a portion of Mariachi Plaza from a distance of two blocks there stto said I saw it saw what Bosh asked in the window she pointed to a secondstory window of the boil Hotel it was a darkened

Room good eye Copeland said letun watch again she replayed the sequence again and this time Bosch only watched the window his partner had pointed out he waited and at the moment of the shooting he saw a small pixel of light flash in the darkness copelan stopped the playback that Bosch asked yes that

Copelan said you have to remember that most surveillance video especially from 10 years ago is shot on slow speed because of storage capacities the frame rate on this camera is 10 so you’re saying that little dot of light is the muzzle flash yes exactly it’s all the camera caught but it’s

Enough the shot came from that window Bosch stared at the Frozen image on the screen he knew there was no longer any need for the trajectory study the shot had come from a second floor room in the mark Mariachi Hotel here’s what I have Copeland said

She put in commands that blew the center screen image up she centered the window on the screen and they studied the white dot in the field of black we have to get those Hotel records Harry Soto said Bosch nodded search warrant she asked keep everything clean Bosch nodded again

I’m not finished Copeland said she reconfigured the screen so the angle on mer said was at Center again she then put an isolation circle on one of the band members it wasn’t mered it was one of the men standing the trumpet player she hit the playback and the circle

Stayed on him keeping him in Focus while the rest of the screen slightly blurred watch him she said Bosch did his instructed and watched the shooting once again but this time seeing only the trumpet player as he reacted to mared’s being shot he moved quickly away running off

Screen okay Bosch said apparently not seeing what Copeland wanted him to see what are we looking at two things Copeland said first his reaction this has nothing to do with video enhancement I’m just talking about his reaction watch the others she moved the isolation Circle to one of the other men and

Replayed the video it was the accordion player who sat right next to mered on the table the man saw mered topple off the table and started smiling because he thought it was some kind of stunt but then he saw the guitar player ducking under the table and dropped down too

Pushing himself under as best he could and now the guitar Copeland said the circle moved to the man standing and playing the guitar at the rear corner of the table he too was initially confused when Merced was hit but then understood and duck down to use the table as well as

His guitar as cover letun see the trumpet player again Bosch said they watched in silence again BOS said they watched again okay he said let’s see the whole thing again without any isolation when the replay was over he just stared at the screen you see what I mean copelan asked

I’m not talking about him running that’s understandable you think he knew the shot was coming Soto asked I don’t know about that either copelan said but what I’m talking about is that he shows no confusion about it just the flight Instinct it’s like he knew right away

That Merced was shot and the other guys tumbled to it late Bosch nodded it was a good observation one that had escaped him during the multiple times he had watched the video the day before he had focused solely on Merced and not paid proper attention to the other band

Members which one is that he asked the trumpet I think that was OA stto said Angel OA he’s the one who said in his statement that he ran okay let’s talk about Mr ojo’s position now Copeland said with the triangulation I was able to make a dig

Model of the shooting it’s crude because I thought it was better to go with speed over quality she typed in commands and killed all but the center screen she then opened up a cruely animated version of the shooting from the angle of the music shop the band members were little more

Than stick figures with letters affixed to them Merced was marked a and OA was figure B this program measures spatial gradations and accurately recreates a multi-dimensional animation that we can manipulate with her keyboard and mouse she controlled the screen The View moved out through the window of the music store and close up

On the four men located on and around the table she then clicked the command and the shooting took place in slow motion the bullets trajectory marked by a red line that crossed the screen and struck the figure sitting on the table mer said Okay so let’s start over but move over top Copeland

Said the image shifted so that they were now looking down on the table an overhead shot copelan ran the simulation and the bullet again streak into the picture as a red line hitting Merced at the moment of impact the figure that was OA the trumpeter was in

Motion behind the table it was clear that if the bullet had not hit merette it was on course to strike OA wow stto said Copeland ran two more simulations the first one was another overhead version but it was high in the sky and took in the entire Plaza

Adjoining streets in the boil Hotel this simulation showed the red line of the bullet streak across the screen from the hotel to the picnic table again convincingly showing that Merced stopped the bullet before it could have hit OA the last simulation was a ground angle of the entire shot from the hotel

To the table Copeland stopped the program at the point the bullet struck the figure that was M said she then ran it again and then a third time before letting the simulation go to the end you’ll have to talk to the guys in the gun shop about

Trajectory and Target Target lead all of that she said but it is possible when you look at this to see that if figure B was being tracked with a scope the shooter could have fired before realizing that figure a your victim was in the line of fire Bosch

Nodded tunnel vision some people call it scope blindness all you see is the target he stood up he was too charged to remain sitting the trumpet player he said we need to find him Copeland took a disc and a plastic sleeve off the side of the work table and handed it to

SoDo I made a copy of the animation I hope it helps we would build a more detailed model if it was ever needed for court use Soto nodded and took the disc got it she said thanks Bailey gets some sleep BOS said you earned it 11 Bosch and stto hurried back to the

Paab and divided up the work it was decided that BOS would write up the search warrant for the boil Hotel records and take it to the CCB to be signed by a judge meanwhile soda would work on locating the surviving three members of Los Rees halisco her priority being

Angel OA the trumpet player while Soto went for coffee before beginning her task Bosch went to the captain’s office and knocked on the door he wanted to give Crowder a brief update on the case it was unusual for Bosch to keep his supervisor so closely informed about

A case but he wanted to make sure Crowder was not falling under the sway of his lieutenant in terms of moving the mered investigation out of open unsolved and over to Robbery Homicide if Crowder knew the progress was being made he would be less likely

To move the case after all if Bosch and Soto actually solved it then Crowder as her supervisor would be in for all Kudos that came with an arrest to Bosch’s dismay Crowder picked up his phone and called Samuels into the office so he could hear Bosch’s report Harry had hoped to keep Samuels

Out of this Loop since Lieutenant was pushing for the case to be transferred boss quickly updated both men on the key information from the video and data Imaging unit that they now knew where the shot came from and were working toward finding out who had rented that room at the hotel Mariachi

On the day of the shooting he didn’t bother telling them about the animation bayy Copeland had made which indicated the bullet that hit Merced may have been meant for Angel OA the trumpet player Bosch wanted to pursue that aspect further before bringing it to Crowder and Samuels

He did tell the two supervisors that stto was tracing the three other band members so they could be reinterviewed okay Harry Crowder said you’re making good progress keep it going okay cap we’re putting hul on the tip line Samuel said starting today Carls has court Sarah hul and Eddie quls were one

Of the other teams in the unit qul was the veteran and hul was one of the new transfers they had a case that was currently on trial and as a senior senior partner Carls would have the lead and therefore be assisting and testifying in court hul could attend

Trial but would have little to do Samuels wisely pulled her back into the unit to handle the reward calls that came in on mered normally Bosch would have wished for a more experienced detective vetting the calls but in this case having one of the unit’s rookies on the tip line would

Work better with the plan he was formulating when Bosch got back to his desk he found a cup of coffee from the vending machine on the first floor a good cup of coffee coffee never came out of that machine but it always did the job and he appreciated that SoDo

Had gotten it for him I’ll get the next round he said to his partner who was already working on her computer no worries she said without looking away from her screen it all works out in the end BOS opened up his laptop and went to work on the warrant he used a basic

Template for the first several Pages just filling in blanks about where he wanted to search and what he was looking for the difficult part was narrowing down where the bo hotel’s old records were currently located the renovation project had been carried out by one agency and the materials Bosch sought had been turned

Over to another that agency the Historical Society had them in storage somewhere but the location of the targeted materials aside it was the probable cause summary that counted most in the document and there was no template for that he had to convince a judge to Grant him the authority to

Temporarily seize the records of the now defunct Hotel he had to show cause why the records were pertinent to his case it took him the rest of the morning to finish the search warrant shortly before lunch he printed it and asked soda to read it over it was a way of

Instilling partnership and teaching her the ropes the search warrant was one of the investigator’s most useful tools after she was finished he told her he was going to walk at the courthouse while she continued to run down locations on their interview subjects she reported that she had already

Tracked two members of Los Ros halisco and that they were both local but Angel OA the one they most wanted to talk to was proving difficult to find he had split from the band and even apparently left Los Angeles very soon after the shooting nothing had come up on law

Enforcement databases and the ins base showed his permanent resident card had not been renewed 3 years ago maybe the other two know where he is Bosch suggested that’s what I’m thinking or maybe they can give us a line on somebody who can give us a line are you

Free this afternoon to do this yeah we need to keep momentum we can drop the search War at the Historical Society on the way cool the place Bosch was going was the Clara Shortridge folz Criminal Justice building but nobody ever called it that the name was too long and too

Difficult to collapse into the easy parlament cops like to use most cops and lawyers called it the CCB for Criminal Courts Building or the 2-10 for its address on Temple Street it was a slightly uphill block from the PAB and Bosch walked it because it would

Would take much longer to drive over and find a parking space Bosch was in luck the onall judge who handled administrative matters including search Warren applications with Shera barlet a juror Bosch had known since she was a prosecutor they had always had a professional but easy Rapport and when

Botch sent word to her through her clerk that he was there with a warrant he was immediately invited back to her Chambers more often than not the warrants went back to the chambers for the judge’s consideration while the detectives cooled their heels in the empty courtroom Harry I can’t believe you’re

Still in the game she said as he entered she got up and came around from behind her desk to formerly shake his hand barely he said I’ve got about a year left on my drop contract but some days I’m not even sure I can make that you I

Probably have to drag you out sit down she gestured to a chair in front of her desk while she returned to her spot behind it she was a very pleasant woman whose easygoing demeanor always bellied her ferocity as as a prosecutor and now as a judge back when she was a prosecutor her

Nickname was the accountant because not only did she specialize in financial crimes but she had a marvelous memory for all things numerical from penal code numbers to phone numbers to the sentences received by violators in her cases years before BOS had worked with her twice in the 90s on murder cases motivated by

Financial gain she had been a Taskmaster but he couldn’t complain they got first-degree verdicts both times he handed the search War an application across the desk to her what if we got here barlet said as she began flipping through the pages to the summary this is a record

Search right Bosch said looking for a name on a hotel registry the Historical Society Bosch didn’t respond she was just reading out loud he waited I remember the M head case I was out of the DA’s office but I do remember this one so now he’s died yes it’s been in the

Papers between what I do here and my husband and kids I have so little time to read the paper I’m always out of the loop Bosch just nodded even though the judge’s eyes were on the document he had brought the judge picked up a small gavel that was on her desk and Bosch

Realized that it was actually a pen she signed the front signature page of the warrant and handed it back to him with a smile I hope it helps detective me too thanks judge he got up and turned to the door when’s your retirement date she

Said to his back he looked back at her supposed to be end of next year he said supposed to be she asked BOS Shrugged you never know you’ll make it Harry she said and I hope Jerry and I get invited to the party Posh assumed Jerry was her husband he smiled you’re

On the list from the courthouse he walked through the Pau and over to Alam his first stop was at Philip’s for a French dip sandwich getting food at Philip’s had worked the same way for more than a 100 years customers lined up at the deli counter in front of Carvers

And waited patiently to order their sandwiches the trick was to pick the fastest moving line Carvers who were chatty with the customers were slow Bosch chose a woman who looked like she was all business and he chose right his line moved efficiently and soon he was sitting at one of the communal tables

With his sandwich a side of potato salad and a Coke the food hit the mark as usual and Bosch was tempted to wait in line for another round but decided to stay hungry the French dip hadn’t been the only reason he had chosen Philip’s the restaurant was across the street from Union

Station when he was finished Bosch stepped out and crossed Alam to enter the Great Hall of the train station there was a bank of old style foam Booth near the entrance and he went into one to make a quick call wrapping his tie around the mouthpiece to muffle his voice

12 SoDo was ready and waiting when Bosch got back to the paab she said she had addresses for two of the musicians who had been with Orlando mared when he had been shot at Mariachi Plaza both were located in North Hollywood and just a few blocks apart meaning they were most

Likely still Associated as musicians and friends they needed to be interviewed to see if they had any new thoughts or Recollections about the case they also would hopefully have line on Angel OA whose whereabouts remained unknown I thought we’d drop off the Warren at the Historical Society and

Then head to the valley she said get a head start before the traffic gets bad the traffic’s always bad Bosch said the first man to be interviewed was named estabon Hernandez the band’s guitar player he lived in a large apartment complex on North laners that had a center Courtyard with a filled-in

Pool where tenants gathered during the day as BOS and so walked down the exterior walkway to apartment 3K the men gathered in one group on what was now the concrete surface of the pool looked up at them and talked openly BOS picked up the words like ficia heroina and laora and knew they

Had recognized SoDo when they got to 3K Bosch knocked loudly and they waited those guys down there they made you Bosch said I heard him from TV soda said that bother you didn’t 13th Street put out a bounty on you supposedly but then they got the message what

Message before she could answered the apartment door was opened by a heavy set man Bosch was able to recognize from The Music Store video of the mered shooting wide shoulders and skinny hips with an ample belly and a thick push broom mustache Mr Hernandez he said LAPD he flashed his badge and then

Introduced SoDo she spoke to Hernandez in Spanish and he responded in kind they were invited into the small but neat efficiency apartment Hernandez sat on a cot that had been made up to look like a couch with several pillows propped against the wall behind it BOS stayed standing near the door and let

Soda move front and center since this was going to be her interview she remained standing as well positioning herself directly in front of Hernandez BOS could understand most of the interview from SoDo side of it she started off explaining that the May said shooting had now become a homicide and

That she and Bosch were investigating the matter she asked a few open questions getting at whether Hernandez remembered anything new about the shooting or if he had any thoughts 10 years later Hernandez was more difficult for Bosch to understand his voice was raspy and he may have been drinking

Before they got to him he seemed to be slurring some words and mumbling others but it did become clear he had nothing knew to add to what was already in his statement and in the murder book SoDo then asked him if he knew where the other two surviving members of the band

Angel OA and Alberto cabal could be located Bosch liked that she had asked about cabal even though they had an address for him it was a move a more experienced detective would employ to check a witness’s veracity he appreciated that he didn’t have to tell soda to handle it that way

Hernandez shook his head about OA but pointed his thumb over his shoulder and gave an address for cabal Soto asked him a few more general questions and then when the interview seemed to be over she asked why he thought haa had run that day Hernandez feigned confusion

Okay she asked him again telling him there was a tape of the shooting and that o’a took off the moment mered was shot as if he knew what was going on Hernandez said he hadn’t noticed oa’s movements because he was too busy ducking for cover once he realized mared

Had been shot stto seemed to accept that but then open a line of questioning about o’a asking if he had enemies or had gotten into any kind of trouble in the time around the shooting Hernandez wasn’t helpful he either didn’t know much about Ora or was

Acting as though he didn’t he did say that o’a had only been with the band N9 months before the shooting and had dropped out of it right afterward Hernandez and cabal joined with two other musicians and continued to perform as Los Rees halisco Soto asked where OA had come

From to join the band and Hernanda Shrugged he knew he was originally from Chihuahua but he couldn’t remember the exact circumstances of him joining the band he said he believed that cabal had met him at Mariachi Plaza and brought him into the group because he thought that the addition of a trumpet player

Would help them score more in better jobs as he talked Hernandez seemed to remember more he added that OA was very handsome and that was also a consideration in adding him to the band he came with a small following in the Mariachi circuit and it was believed

That his looks might help them get jobs at the plaza where any Competitive Edge was good to have Soo thank Hernandez and BOS nodded the detectives then drove a few blocks further up laners him to a very similarly designed apartment complex where Cabra lived however Cabra was not in his

Apartment or in the courtyard where a group of men were sitting around a grill preparing a meal when asked by Soto about cabal and his possible whereabouts the men shook their heads they were no help BOS and stto were so far north of downtown in the PAB that they decided to

Sit in the car for a while and wait to see if cabal showed up Bosch moved the car to a red curb near the Gated entrance of the complex so they would be sure to see the musician if he entered so what do you think Soto asked once they were parked and

Watching I think he handled that interview really well BOS said Thank you and I think what I thought before we have to find OA I hope he didn’t go back to Chihuahua because that’ll be a needle and a hay stack job I don’t know his green card laps makes

Me think he went back the question was will be why Soto nodded did you believe Hernandez that he didn’t keep track of him she asked Posh thought for a few minutes and nodded I think so musicians are an itinerant sort they come and go float around Soto nodded and they were silent

For a while then he remembered Soto’s unfinished story what you said before about the bounty in 13th Street you didn’t finish you said they got the message she nodded yes some guys from gang intelligence went to visit some of the ogs and told them that if anything happened to me

Would instigate an allout war with the LAPD and the 13th Street would never get any business done big blue would be all over them and what they promised no harm would come your way that’s what they said Bosch nodded and continued to think about SoDo in her

Journey his next questions went back to the Bonnie brease what do you remember from that day he asked about the fire you were what six or seven Soto composed her thoughts before answering I was seven and the thing I remember most is the smoke coming under

The door we tried to leave but we had to go back because the fire was in the stairwell and the other stairs were blocked so we went back and closed the door and there was no other way out was there a teacher yes Mrs Gonzales she

Died we were in there and nobody came to help and pretty soon the smoke started to come in we had these aprons that we used when we painted and Mrs Gonzalez and her helper a lady named Adele cut them with scissors so we could dip them

In the fish tank to get them wet and then we wrapped them around our faces and over our noses and mouths that was smart but the smoke kept coming in and we were coughing and gagging so we all went into the supply closet and closed that door except there

Wasn’t room for Mrs gonzala so she stayed out and kept calling for help yelling for help but nobody came not for a long time and pretty soon we didn’t hear her anymore and the smoke was coming into the Supply Closet BOS imagine how scared they all

Were all those little kids and one adult left then the smoke was too much for us and we all went to sleep only some of us didn’t wake up a fireman saved me gave me mouth to mouth and then they put on a breathing mask I remember being in the truck and

Seeing them working on my best friend Elsa they couldn’t save her they saved me but not her I didn’t understand that Bosch wasn’t sure what to say so he said nothing for a long time when he finally spoke it was to pick out one of the positive parts of

The story did you ever know who that firefighter was no I never did I thought maybe his name would be in one of the reports but I haven’t seen it so far Bosch nodded but his attention had been drawn to the side view mirror a car was

Coming up slowly along the line of cars parked at the curb Was An Old Ship box with its windows down it looked like a driveby hoopie he pulled his gun off his belt and held it down in his lap the barrel pointed at his door what is it Soto said hopefully

Nothing Soto shifted sideways in her seat so her back was to her door she pulled her weapon as well and held it with two hands on her lap just don’t shoot me Bosch said he noticed that his voice was tight adrenaline was flowing into his bloodstream the car was two

Spaces back now and Bosch could make out at least three figures in it two in the front one in the middle in the back seat it slowly cruised by and Bosch made eye contact with the front passenger and then the man in the back seat both men

Had full neck tattoos they stared back at Bosch but made no furtive moves and the car kept going once it passed BOS eased his grip on his weapon and checked the car’s plate the microphone for the police radio was on a cord so old it had lost

Its coil and had to be draped over the rear mirr Bosch grabbed it and called the Communication Center to give the plate number and get a rund down on the car’s ownership recognize them he asked Soto while he waited are they 13th no they look like bangers but who

Knows why would 13th be all the way up here you those men in the courtyard where Hernandez lives they made you as the shooter in the Pico Union thing if any of them had connections to 13th maybe they think if they take you out off their Turf there won’t be a problem

Soda didn’t say anything BOS continued and the cholos in that hoopti were Young Bucks they don’t always listen to the ogs who make deals with cops they try to make a name for themselves the dispatcher came back with a report on the plate number the car was registered to an

Owner with an address in the town of San Fernando the tiny City in the middle of the valley surrounded on all sides by Los Angeles not 13th Street Turf stto said as she hung the mic back over the Mir let’s not take any chances the car in question had turned

Right a block up the street this meant that they could be coming back around for another lookie or something worse BOS started the car and pulled out from the curb he went down the street and turned where the car had turned he navigated around the block but

Never saw the car again he came back to the same parking space and pulled in maybe it was nothing stto said there was a false hopefulness in her voice maybe Bosch said they waited another half hour with no sign of cabal Bosch said they’d give it another 10 minutes and 5 minutes

Later a city bus pulled to a stop at the corner and several people got off including a man botch was pretty sure was the accordion player from the video that him Soto stared and eventually nodded I think so they got out of the car in unison botch was on

The street side and he looked around still wary of the car and the gang bangers who had scoped them out earlier he saw no no sign of them and came around to join his partner on the sidewalk the man they thought was Alberto cabraal was carrying two cloth

Shopping bags that appeared filled with groceries the bags looked like they were heavy with cans and other Staples they blocked his path and Soto badged him and confirmed his identity she started out speaking English we need to speak to you about the Orlando mered shooting she said

Cabal attempted to shrug but the weight of the bags he carried in either hand impeded him I don’t know anything he said in a thick accent do you know where Angel OED is BOS asked yeah I know him do you know where he is we need to talk

To him soda repeated the question in Spanish and cabal answered in English yeah he went to Tulsa Tulsa Oklahoma Soto asked cabal nodded he put the bags down on the sidewalk to rest his arms BOS realized that this was the wrong place to be doing the interview especially since it

Looked like they were getting a line on OA he he reached down and picked up the nearest bag let us help you let’s take your groceries in and we’ll talk inside 5 minutes later they were in cabal’s threadbear apartment where like his bandmaid Hernandez he lived alone and

Sparely all the night work and inconsistency of gigs had made for a lonely life there was no sign of a wife for children no framed photos no school drawings on the refrigerator Bosch thought of a bumper sticker he had once seen play accordion go to jail in many ways it appeared that

Cabal’s life as a mariachi musician had been its own form of incarceration how do you know Angel OA is in Tulsa Soto asked without the bags weighing his arms down cabal could now shrug and he did so I don’t know he said when he quit the ban he said he was

Going to Oklahoma to run his uncle’s bar so this is 10 years ago she asked right after Orlando got shot he nodded pretty soon after yes cabal was standing in the tiny kitchen putting away his groceries while Bosch and SoDo stood on the other side of a counter he opened the refrigerator door

To put away a small carton of milk a FedEd smell of food kept too long despite the cold storage wafted into the room have you heard anything about him since no but you’re sure it was Tulsa BOS asked yes Tulsa cabal insisted I know because I had to send him a money

Order with the last money he made with us Bosch moved into the kitchen crowding cabal these next few questions were important do you remember where you sent the check I told you Tulsa the address where in Tulsa I don’t remember it was the bar where he worked do you remember

The name of the bar yes because he was El Chihuahua that was the name of the bar in Tulsa El Chihuahua yes I remember that because he was where he was from Chihuahua the place not the dog Bosch nodded the name of the bar was a good piece of information he decided

To change tracks with cabal why’ you bring him into the band he asked he wasn’t from halisco cabal responded with another shrug we wanted a trumpet and he was always there at the plaza available he could play I said why not was he in trouble with anybody I don’t know he

Didn’t say this he ever talk to you about the shooting I mean after before he went to Tulsa instead of shrugging cabal frowned and shook his head not really he just said that we were lucky and Orlando wasn’t he never said that he knew what happened he never said he knew who fired

The shot and why gabal looked sharply at Bosch surprised by the question Bosch read it as a legit reaction no never cabal said Bosch believed him he looked around the apartment thinking about what else to ask he saw a tiny desk in the corner that had a stack of

Ledgers and a Rolodex on it so you’re the band’s manager right he asked yes cabal said you make the bookings I do and there are bookings to be made not so much work anymore for the Mariachis Traditions don’t mean Much Anymore Bosch nodded again he agreed with that it had

Been a good interview it gave them something to pursue but rather than leave it Bosch decided to throw cabal a curveball sometimes it worked to catch an interview subject off guard what about the drugs he asked cabal squinted his eyes what drugs he asked we were

Told OA was a user cabal shook his head not around me we had a rule no drugs okay BOS said no drugs it had been worth the shot after concluding the interview they returned to the car and as Bosch was walking around the rear bumper he

Noticed the gang car from before was now parked across the four-lane street and down about 40 yards with a nonchalant glance he discerned that there were three figures still in it he unlocked the Ford but opened the rear door he slipped off his jacket so the gun and badge on his belt

Were readily visible he took his time folding his jacket and then leaned into the car to put it on the back seat Soto had already gotten into the front passenger seat BOS spoke calm me to her your friends are back what friends from San Fernando where right across the street

She clocked the car and concern spread on her face what do you want to do you call back up and sit tight I’m going to go pay them a visit Harry you should wait until he closed the door and went to the rear of the Ford he popped the trunk

Leaned down and released the snaps on the shotgun rack using the trunk lit as a blind he glanced into the street and waited for a moment when the traffic was clear he could hear stto on the radio reporting an officer needing assistance the non-emergency requests for backup

The moment the street was clear he stepped away from the trunk with a Remington 870 and started to cross diagonally directly toward the gangar almost immediately he heard its engine fire to life he racked the action on the shotgun putting around into the chamber he made it to the center of median

Before the car lurched away from the opp said CB into a screeching U-turn and took off hey where you going he called after the speeding car stto came running across the street her weapon out and at her side Harry what the hell were you doing she yelled he didn’t answer at

First he watched the car until it turned right the next block and disappeared sending a message he finally said what message he said we don’t even know if they were 13th doesn’t matter who they were our gang is bigger than their STS that’s the message a patrol car came coing down the

Street behind them it’s Blues on but no siren Bosch leaned down holding the shotgun across his thighs to talk to the driver 13 the only thing Bosch regretted about his decision to grab the shotgun and confront the gang bangers trying to intimidate them was that it cost them

Nearly an hour of explanation and waiting while Patrol units flooded the zone and tried to find the vehicle once it was determined that the vehicle was Goa Patrol speak for gone on arrival BOS and SoDo were cleared to proceed on their way but neither the slow-moving afternoon traffic that

Hampered their drive back downtown nor the sideshow BOS had created with the Remington could dampen the flow of momentum Bosch was feeling the video analysis coupled with now having a line on OA and Tulsa even if it was 10-year-old information was giving the case undeniable speed speed

If the trumpet player went to Oklahoma after the shooting Bosch felt confident they’d be able to pick up his Trail the plan would be to confirm his location and then go there to interview him in person while OA obviously wasn’t a suspect in the shooting it seemed

Obvious now that he knew more than he had ever revealed he allowed the original investigation to go down the wrong road random gang violence when there may have been an entirely different motivation for the shooting if OA held that secret then it couldn’t be handled in a phone

Call or as a favor by the police in Oklahoma he told SoDo that they were going to need to convince Crowder to send them to Tulsa to handle it themselves have you ever been Soto asked Tulsa I’ve only flown in and out I had a case about 5 years ago where we had

Science on a guy who lived up in a small town north of Tulsa one of those places that later got wiped out by a tornado it’s a funny story I mean now now I was pretty pissed off then and it changed how we deal with other departments what happened he told her

The story it began with a cold hit on DNA from a 1990 home invasion robbery rape and murder the match was to a 58-year-old ex-convict named Frank Tomlinson whose criminal history stretched all the way back to repeated stints in juvenile hall Tomlinson had long been off the grid his whereabouts unknown since he

Jumped a parole Tale in 2006 but he still had family in LA soos and his partner at the time Dave Chu put together a play they first applied for and received a court order allowing them to EOP on phone calls made by Tomlinson’s elderly mother and his

Brother boss then knocked on their doors and inquired about the suspect dropping hints that he needed to talk to Tomlinson about a murder from 1990 meantime Chu was in The Wire room waiting to listen in on any calls that went out from their homes after Bosch’s visit sure enough the brother placed a

Call to Tomlinson and warned him about the police visit the call was traced to a cell tower located in the Tiny Town of Beacon Oklahoma Bosch made contact with the beacon police department and spoke to a sergeant Hayden who looked at an emailed photograph of Tomlinson and

Identified it as a photo of Tom Frasier who worked as one of the town’s two cab drivers Bosch inquired as to whether the police department had the manpower to keep an eye on Fraser Tomlinson until Bosch and cheu could guess there the next day the concern was that the call

From the brother might spook the suspect and cause him to once again disappear Hayden said surveillance would not be a problem but offered to go ahead and arrest Tomlinson and hold him in the town jail BOS said no that they wanted to casually interviewed the suspect before he was placed under arrest and

Could exercise his right to legal counsel Hayden agreed not to approach the suspect and told Bosch to email the details of their flight to Tulsa Hayden said he would pick Bosch and chew up at the airport and bring them directly to the suspect’s home since the suspect

Worked the night shift what Bosch didn’t learn until he got there was that the town of Beacon was so small that its Police Department had only four officers which amounted to one officer on duty at any given time when Hayden went to pick up the two La detectives at the airport

Down in Tulsa he left Tomlinson unwatched the suspect made his move and left town he was long gone by the time Bosch and Chu got to the ranch where he had lived and were ha had been watching until it was time to go to the airport you have to be kidding stto said

I wish Bosch said did you ever get the guy Tomlinson eventually he tried to do the same thing start over in some Podunk town with the Podunk Police Department in Minnesota except that department had a chief who had retired out of valet and religiously checked the wanted posters

That came across his desk he recognized Tomlinson and made the arrest that was last year well at least they got him in the end yeah but that little snafu in Oklahoma got him another four years of Freedom it’s a funny story until you consider that Bosch’s phone vibrated and he

Checked the screen it was the historical society so he took the call the secretary to the director told BOS that the material requested in the warrant had been retrieved from storage and was available for pickup BOS said he was on his way the squad room was almost deserted

When they got back Soto carried the hotel Reg ation book they had just picked up at the Historical Society because it had been decided in the car that she would work the names she had already looked at the name registered to what was room 211 on the day of the

Merced shooting Rolo Martin was listed as the guest in the room where the shot was believed to have come from but she would run the names of all guests listed on the registry through various law enforcement data banks checking for criminal records aliases and anything else that would draw attention to them

She immediately went to work while Bo went to catch the captain before he left for the day he was hoping to get travel approval so he could book a flight to Tulsa Crowder was already standing and pulling on his suit coat when BOS entered the office Harry make me happy he said it

Was his normal greeting when a detective entered without being called in we’re working on it cap looks like we have a line on a key witness in tulson what kind of witness he was one of the victim’s bandmates some stuff has come up and we really need to talk to him in

Person what’s wrong with the phone call he’s not a forthcoming witness we think he knew something he didn’t say before with the original team that plus he split town right after the shooting aren’t these Mariachi guys kind of itinerant they go where the work is right that’s true but you don’t leave

Los Angeles for Tulsa if you’re a mariachi the work’s here Crowder adjusted his jacket and sat back down behind his desk to continue the conversation maybe he’s the only Mariachi in Tulsa BOS stared at him blankly for a moment are you saying we can’t go Captain is he considered

Dangerous Bosch nodded not because OA was considered dangerous but because he now understood why Crowder was hedging on the trip to Tulsa he was worried about the travel budget he had sent a memo out a couple of weeks earlier saying the travel in the last two months of the year would be

Considered and approved on a priority basis because the units travel budget already the highest of any unit in the department had been depleted earlier than expected it was memos like these seemingly putting a changing value on cashing killers that frustrated Bosch to no end Crowder was asking if

Interviewing oh would be a dangerous assignment because he knew if he sent only one detective he could cut the cost of the trip in half that’s not going to work Bosch said what’s not going to work Crowder responded sending just one of us if if you go with one it’ll have to be

SoDo because we don’t know if this guy speaks English she’s good I can already tell that but I don’t know if you want to send her out by herself a month into the job no you’re right she’s got to go and I’ve got to go we think this guy may

Have been the intended target Crowder didn’t respond to that he said nothing else which Bosch took to mean that he was contemplating turning the whole trip down and telling Harry to handle it by phone you heard what I said right we think the bullet may have been meant for this guy in tuls

Yes I heard what you said you left out that you only think he’s in Tulsa he could be in timbuk too as far as what you know for sure true but if he is we’ll pick up the trail and Tulsa that was greeted with another dose of

Silence look Captain there’s got to be some discretionary funds up there on the 10th floor botch finally offered I mean Malin is all over this so let him put some money where his mouth is or maybe we go to the ex- mayor since he’s the one throwing reward money around

Crowder made a calming gesture with his hand we don’t want to go to the ex- mayor he’s already caused enough problems for us and then he made his decision moving quickly from all out to Allin okay look don’t worry about the money the money’s my issue when do you

Want to go Bosch answered quickly hoping to seal the deal and get out of the office before there was another change of mind the sooner the better we’ve got a line on him working in a bar I’d like to get out there tomorrow if he’s going

To be at the bar he’ll probably be there then Friday being paycheck day in the start of the weekend all right plan on that I’ll know where the money comes from by tomorrow morning thanks Captain Bosch went back to the cubicle when he got there he saw

That his seat had been pulled over to Soto’s desk and was occupied by Sarah Hulk who was the detective Samuels had put in charge of handling phone in tips spawned by the reward announcement we get anything good he asked as he entered the small cubicle hul immediately started rising from the

Stolen desk chair Bosch put his hand on her shoulder don’t worry it’s okay I’m going to get a cup you sure sure either you want coffee both women said no well did you solve it for us hul get a confession not quite Soto handed him a Tip Sheet this one’s interesting though

She said Bosch took the page and read the summary hul had written caller said mered shooting connected to Bonnie bra fire 1993 caller sidur said knew who set the fire and was threat Bosch checked the back of the page to see if there was any more it was

Blank he handed it back to SoDo who had turned in her seat and was staring up at him knowing the call had come from him I take it this was Anonymous he asked yes hul said it was a pay phone at Union Station I checked out the

Number Bosch looked over the top of the page at her he was surprised she had taken the initiative to run the number but that was also why he had taken the precaution of calling from a pay phone I guess we should take a look at it he said

93 I think that year belongs to Whitaker and Dubose we should talk to them see if this rings a bell seems kind of thin but maybe we can take a look at the book on Bonnie Bray cross reference it for names do you want me to do that Hulk

Asked eagerly no we’ll talk to them BOS said just don’t put too much stock in these call-ins people have agendas you know oh yeah hul said some of them are so transparent about it too anything else halfway legit there was a whole stack of tip sheets on the desk not

Really hul said I was just giving Lucy the low lights she referred to a clipboard in which she had condensed the calls to one liners let’s see she said caller said talk to Sleepy who was in the neighborhood over there and knows all about the white fence

Shootings sleepy BOS said okay hok moved down her list female call says the mayor knows all about who did the shooting I’m assuming she meant the ex-m but I didn’t talk to her that one came in on the overnight tape Anonymous somebody with a heavy Spanish accent nice stto said rat

Out the guy who put up the reward Bosch smiled you have to admit the motive is pretty creative he said Zas had mared shot and paralyzed so he could roll them out during the campaign to help win the election great plan Soto said worked perfectly what else Posh said

Well we got several suggestions that we look into white supremacy groups Hulk said several more that we’re sure the drug cartels are behind the shooting and we had one caller who says the shooter was this guy named Felix who was angry because he had hired some Mariachis from

The plaza and they had performed badly oh and there was also the guy who called in and said he was sure it was the Mexican Mafia only he wasn’t sure why all in all very helpful Bosch said you bet hul said and I haven’t even mentioned all the calls from the racists

Who said merid got got exactly what he deserved simply because he was Mexican it was all part of what was expected when a reward was put out to the public all the crazies come out none of it surprised Bosch and none of it was worth a second thought except for the

Followup on the Bonnie Bray tip he thanked hul for her perseverance and left to get a cup of coffee out of the machine on the first floor when he got back hul was gone BOS and stto conferred and he told her to bring a packed bag to work the next day

Because it looked like they were going to Tulsa to find and question OA there might be a problem she said tell me he said I was just on the computer and I did find a bar called el chihuahua but when I called and asked you

Called yes you said we needed to try to confirm he was there yeah but not by calling him directly well as it turns out I didn’t talk to him directly or even indirectly I called and asked if he was in and the man who answered said no one worked there named OA

Maybe he quit it’s been 10 years I asked you know did he ever work there and this guy in the line said no that he never heard of him and he said he had been there 10 years Bosch thought about that for a long moment ju supposing it with

Cabal’s information cabal had seemed honest and sure of what he had told them we’re still going he finally said tomorrow I hope you didn’t have plans she shook her head BOS already knew she didn’t have a boyfriend and he now knew that much of her free time was

Probably spent on the Bonnie break case well should I call the Tulsa police and see if OA is known to them no you never do something like that remember what I told you about Beacon you don’t tip the locals unless you have to chasti Soto changed the subject how do you want to

Handle Whitaker and Dubose she asked you handle it if it’s me they might think something’s up just keep them out of it tell them we got the tip and ask for a look at the books what if they saw my name and the reports on the witness list

I was interviewed back then BOS shook his head that’s not how they work they didn’t read the reports they only accessed the case for scientific evidence they don’t move their asses unless there’s science Soto nodded but looked concerned what BOS asked did you make sure there were no cameras near the

Phone booth when you made that call she asked that froze Bosch for a moment he had not been that careful I didn’t even check he I said but this tip isn’t going to pan out so there’ll be no reason for anybody to check for cameras well hul wasn’t supposed to be

Running the numbers either stto said but she did I don’t want you getting into trouble don’t worry I won’t well it’s just that there’s some rumors going around that the Department’s so heavy with these drop contracts that they’re looking for ways to push people out before the end of the contract to save

Some money now how did you hear something like that you’re at least 20 years away from even thinking about a drop contract the Blue Line there were some letters from officers in last month’s Edition that’s what they were saying Bosch nodded he had read the same letters the Deferred retirement option

Plan had started out as something with the best intentions all around it was a plan to keep experienced officers and detectives working for the Department instead of taking those skills elsewhere when their pensions maxed in effect it allowed them to bank their pensions and start over at full

Pay with a second pension accruing and earning High interest but politics and bureaucracy set in and the plan had to be offered to anyone who reached 25 years in no matter their job or skill level now too many were on the drop and the interest was threatening to bankrupt

The plan the department was looking for ways to stop the bleeding including forcing officers out of their 5-year contracts early I’m not worried about it Bosch said the only thing I have to worry about right now is you and making sure you’re ready to carry the torch when I’m

Out of here Soto looked at him and tri tried to hide a smile I’ll be ready she said good he said bosa’s daughter had a rare night at home with Explorer meetings and activities and even a part-time volunteer job delivering dinners to Shu inss she seemed to use the house only

For sleeping these days this bothered Bosch because he knew his time with her was short but at the same time he knew she was pursuing things she wanted and all the activities counted as public service at her school and would help round out her application package for

College she had her eyes on Cal State Los Angeles where there were top criminal justice in forensic programs Bosch was pleased with her choice because it was still in the city besides that the school was also where the regional crime lab was located which would afford him the opportunity to see

Her at school on occasion during his last few months on the job they spent the evening preparing a swordfish steak dinner and talking about the Explorer assignment for the following Tuesday Maddie and others in her Explorer Unit were going to be used in an undercover sting operation in which they would be

Wired and sent into convenience stores in Hollywood to see if employees would allow them to purchase alcohol Maddie was excited about it and his undercover operations go it was relatively safe BOS wanted to make sure she understood that in any operation there was always a possibility of things

Going sideways she couldn’t rely on the undercover officer who went into the store ahead of her or the patrol units waiting nearby she had to keep her eyes open at all times I will Dad I will she said in recent months she had perfected the dismissive I know this already tone when

Speaking with him on almost any subject it doesn’t hurt to repeat it BOS said you want me to be there no that would be embarrassing she said it as though he had suggested tagging along on a prom date okay okay just checking they were on the back deck

Where he was grilling the fish on a small gas grill he flipped the stakes and changed the direction of the conversation so I’m hoping to be back by Sunday afternoon he said maybe we can have dinner again that night he had already told her about the trip to Tulsa

She was used to his frequent work trips and was always fine by herself Sunday I have mow she said sorry Meals on Wheels her volunteer work for the organization had greatly cut into the time Bosch enjoyed most with her sharing a meal and talking maybe I need to sign up for that might

Be the best way for me to see you at night dad you know I need to do this I want to get into Cal State and get some scholarship money this will all help I know baby I know here I am complaining and I’m the one going to

Tulsa he used a fork to push the staks onto a plate dinner was ready you have to go she said you don’t have many cases left BOS nodded she was right about that on the way inside to the table she told him she was thinking about getting a

Nose ring over the weekend so she could really look the part for the sting operation BOS managed not to drop the plate you mean you’re going to put a hole through your nose where there isn’t supposed to be a hole Yeah I think it will be kind of cool I won’t have to

Keep it less permanent than a tattoo the food smelled great but Bosch wasn’t sure he was hungry anymore 14 BOS and stto took an 11:00 a.m. flight to Tulsa with a stop in Dallas they got lucky on the first flight and had an empty seat between them in economy

Class this became the storage space for the murder books from both the mered and Bonnie Bray cases Bosch was determined to use any downtime during the trip to review the Bonnie break case for stto and to continue to read and reread the reports on the original mered investigation he firmly believed and it

Had been his repeated experience that the the answers to most cases are hidden in the details both cases offered volumes of details Bosch decided that on the first leg of the trip he would devote his time to the Bonnie Bray books after Dallas he would be back on

Mered the Bonnie Bray murder books were not divided chronologically as was the case with mered most lengthy or wide- ranging investigations that required multiple binders were still chronologically composed detectives filled one book after the other as they proceeded and this allowed a linear review of the case the Bonnie Bray investigation had

Originally been carried by the Department’s criminal conspiracy section which was the investigative unit that handled arson cases in liaised with fire department investigators with nine victims the case from the outset was broken into specific Avenues of Investigation the first murder book was a catchall for the case chronology and

Other reports generated during the investigation book two was dedicated solely to the identific ation and background of the victims the next binder was dedicated to the investigation of the Pico Union larazza Street gang the fourth was fat with reports on the analysis of the origin of the fire and it spread through

The Bonnie BR Arms apartment building this last binder was also the repository for all the media reports accumulated on the case it was before the time of the internet in the city’s newspapers were the main source of reporting in the community the plethora of news Clips shoved into large envelopes made this

Last binder the thickest of them all while not entirely linear in presentation murder Brook 1 was the binder most resembling a standard murder book and so it was the place Bosch started as he worked his way through the book soda was on her laptop writing the initial report on the investigative

Moves that led to their trip to Tulsa it was required that work trips be fully documented in order to justify the hit on the unit’s travel budget in this case Captain Crowder had gotten fun funding for the trip through a discretionary fund attached to the budget of the ocp so documentation was

Imperative most of the reports in the book Bosch was reviewing had been composed by a detective 3 named Jack Harris his rank was equal to that of a sergeant and he was a lead investigator of the five person CCS task force pulled together to work the

Case Bosch knew none of them from past experience though he had heard of Harris he believed Harris was retired now but during the ‘ 80s and ’90s he seemed to Frontline a number of CCS cases that either made news or were known within the department there was no reason to think

Of him as anything but competent and that weighed in Bosch’s thinking as he delved into a case that had been unsolved for 21 years he knew the chances were slim that he and soda would be able to change that outcome Whitaker and Dubose had already told them as they handed over the

Binders that they had thoroughly reviewed the case the previous year looking for a scientific foothold but had come up dry the man Mandate of the open unsolved unit was to search old cases for new attack angles those largely being areas where new forensic Sciences could be applied DNA and fingerprint Technologies

Were the Main Stays of this effort and there was no such evidence in the Bonnie Bray case Bosch had not expressed his pessimistic thoughts to his partner because of her emotional connection to the case he promised so to a full review of the lengthy files and would conduct that

Review without taking anything away from his efforts on the mered investigation the plane ride was his chance to begin the Bonnie Brave fire did most of its damage with smoke the fire itself was largely contained to a single hallway in a room in the basement where large trash dumpsters were positioned

Beneath two trash shoots that served the five floors of apartments above the fire gutted the trash room and spread only into the basement hallway But Smoke From The Blaze spread rapidly through the building down stairwells hallways and the trash shoots the fire and atten and smoke cut

Off the Escape Route of the children and teachers in the makeshift and unlicensed daycare facility in one of the basement rooms a key reason the case had gone unsolved for so long was the fact that a precious two weeks went by before the fire was determined to be

Arson that kind of delay in a homicide investigation was usually too hard to overcome cases not solved in 48 hours most often were never solved a two-e delay in an investigation made the odds of success even longer the delay was caused by the case initially being called accidental by fire department arson

Experts the origin was determined to be a dumpster located beneath one of the trash shoots it was believed that combustion occurred when flammable materials already in the waist bin came in contact with a burning cigarette but inadvertently tossed into the trash shoot from one of the floors

Above it was a day before the scheduled trash pickup and the complex maintenance man reported that the bins in the trash room were full the fire quickly spread to the the wooden ceiling joist and was carried throughout the room the fire burned so intensely that there was nothing but wet

Ash left in the bin once the fire was extinguished despite the fire department’s declaration that the fire was accidental Patrol officers out of Rampart Division immediately started picking up Street talk from snitches that had the cause as intentional the story repeated by many in the snitch world was at the Pico

Union lza gang had been having issues with a manager at Bonnie Bray over his refusal to let gang openly sell drugs in the complex the word was that the fire had been meant as a warning to the manager that there would be consequences if he continued to thwart the gang’s drug

Enterprises the deaths that resulted were unintentional it was nothing more than Street talk until lab analysis of samples of the charred rubble from the burned out trash bin came back from the State Fire lab in Sacramento gas chromatography testing found at least two ilrs ignitable liquid residues in all batches of sand samples

Collected from the trash bin at the fire scene the accelerants were listed in the report as petroleum and something called varsol the report concluded that there was no reasonable explanation for the presence of these chemicals in large quantity in the trash bin and the case became an arson

Investigation Bosch looked over at SoDo who was typing something on her computer you’re online there right yes what do you need can you Google something list varsol here is one of the RS what is it’s a high-grade paint thinner expensive it’s used a lot in machine shops and auto repair shops to

Clean engine parts Bosch just looked at her impressed by her knowledge I Googled it before when I first started reading reports she said once they identified the accelerance it helped set the path of the investigation because varsa is expensive they figured it was something handy to the arsonist

Rather than something he went out specifically to buy so they figured it had to be someone who worked at a place where the stuff was on hand the arsonist used the waste mix that came from cleaning oily machine parts varsol and grease he probably put it into a

Container lit it and dropped it down the trash shoot Molotov cocktail right wouldn’t that have made an explosion a sound people would have heard he realized he was talking about her as a child being among those people that’s one of the things I remember most being asked that but the

Trash room was at basement level and down the hall from the children’s room and we were loud you know 10 kids in a confined space like that I never heard anything I wish I had Bosch nodded he wondered if SoDo somehow felt guilty over having not heard the firebomb

Explode when she was 7 years old and playing with her friends it wasn’t her fault but he knew he could never convince someone who carried something like that inside for 20 years he went back to reading the reports let me know when you get to the tampon affidavit stto said Bosch looked

Up at her thinking he had misheard her what the tampon affidavit it’s a hoot he nodded and went back to reading the investigative chronology after the ilrs were confirmed the lapd’s criminal conspiracy section was called in to investigate the case along with the fire department but the investigation had lost momentum in the

Intervening weeks the investigators focused on the information coming in from the streets that pointed toward the fire as being a gang scare tactic that went wildly beyond what it was planned to do the apartment complex manager was a key witness in this investigation and provided information about the ongoing

Threats from the Pico Union gang the CCS sought and received a wide- ranging search warrant that was served 4 weeks after the deadly fire on the homes and workplaces of 29 members of the gang Before Dawn a task force composed of CCS investigators and officers from the Gang gang intelligence unit hit the

Location simultaneously the search resulting in the seizure of drugs weapons and potential evidence in the arson case as well as the arrest of 22 of the targeted gang members on charges related to the seized drugs and weapons reading the search warrant returned document Bosch saw that very little had been seized that directly

Related to the arson the only thing that came close was a gown container of varsol from an auto repair shop where one of the gang members a mechanic named Victor choa was employed everything else listed on the warrant return was window dressing drugs and guns that looked good spread out on

A table for the mediate a photograph but amounted to nothing in terms of evidence in the Bonnie break case still the seizures and arrests were enough to put the squeeze on Pico Union larazza most of the gang members had records and were facing prison or jail

Time if they were convicted on even the minimal charges it gave Jack Harris and his team powerful leverage with which to squeeze out cooperation and turned gang brother against gang brother the man at the center of the Squeeze Play was Victor choa of everybody caught in the net he

Was the one with direct access to the accelerant found in the ashes of the fire though the manager of the Bonnie Bray complex could not identify him as one of the gang members who threatened him and Chopper provided an airtight Alibi he was still seen as the man who

Most likely obtained the fuel and probably built the firebomb this latter assumption was based on the fact that lived with no women but a box of tampons was found in a bathroom cabinet in his apartment during the court ordered search the tampon was known to the CCS

Arson experts to be used often as the wick attached to a Molotov cocktail choa was arrested during the search of his apartment for possession of cocaine this was based on residue in a pipe fashioned out of a piece of a car antenna found in a living room ashray in

An apartment shared by four men it was a case that would never go the distance but but it was enough to hold and sweat him for 48 hours he was questioned at length and then booked in a Cell where an undercover officer was posing as another custody aside from providing the details

Of his Alibi Choppa spoke neither to his interrogators nor to his cellmate he gave up nothing he was 28 years old at the time and a long-term member of Pico Union he’d also been to state prison on a stolen property bust he stood tall and was released on a bond after his arraignment

A hearing at which his attorney also produced an affidavit from a former girlfriend stating under oath that she had left the box of tampons found in choppa’s apartment the old tampon defense Bosch said works every time stto said Bosch looked over at her computer screen and

Saw a map what’s that I found out Chihuahua Tulsa has an area called Little Mexico it’s there good we’ll check it out tonight doesn’t look like the kind of place place you’re going to fit in Harry yeah we’ll see he went back to reading according to the investigative chronology none of the gangbangers

Brought in during the dawn raid cop to any knowledge of the Bonnie Bray fire all denied it all claimed to be insulted that the gang would be suspected of having anything to do with the deaths of nine people most of them children and all of them from larazza the gang’s home

Turf in that sense the bust itself was a bust and that ratcheted up the pressure on Harris and his team it was the case of the year and the electronic and print press was all over it the Department’s media affairs’s office was demanding daily updates on the investigation the pressure pushed Harris

Into a play that backfired fatally he chose to continue to squeeze Choppa by strategically putting the word out through the snitch Network on the streets in Pico Union that the police raid had produced a cooperating witness who would soon be taken before a grand jury the idea was that choa would would

Feel the pressure and come in he would have no choice but to grab the lifeline the police were throwing him and cooperate by admitting his Parton procuring the firebomb and revealing the name of the man who dropped it down the trash shoot Chapa was placed under surveillance as a protective measure and

Harris waited for results as the pressure came down on the mechanic he didn’t have to wait long on the second day of the surveillance once all of Pico Union had been properly seated with a story about a cooperating witness Harris and Company saw their Squeeze Play fall apart with what were

Most likely deadly consequences for Choppa the team was set up on the six Street auto repair shop where choa worked as an apprentice mechanic all customers and cars going in and out of the 3-bay garage were watched from a rooftop Vantage Point ground team stood by around the corner and ready to

Trail choa when he left work for the day but choa never left work when the shop closed and the garage doors came down choa was not among the employees leaving citing a Potential Threat to life the police broke into the shop without warrant and found no sign of choa an internal investigation concluded

That the CCS Ploy and surveillance became known to choa and members of his gang he was either forcibly or voluntarily spirited out of the shop in the trunk of a customer’s car that was picked up after repair work had been completed that day Choppa was never seen

Again despite a standing warrant for his arrest for failure to show for a court hearing relating to his drug charge with choa gone and Harris and his team under internal investigation for the handling of the suspect the momentum of the investigation lagged the task force was disbanded and

The case was moved through a series of CCS detectives over the years eventually it became reactive rather than proactive every time a member of Pico Union larazza was arrested for any reason they were questioned about the Bonnie Brave Fire by the current CCS detective handling the case

These efforts proved futile and the case eventually grew cold the back of the binder Bosch was reviewing contained a large folded chart that delineated the hierarchy of the Pico Union larazza Circa 1993 its edges cracked and tore in places as it was unfolded for the first

Time in years Soto leaned over to look at it with Bosch you look at this before Bosch asked no I never got to it she said the diagram showed the names and photos of the gang shot callers most of the photos were mug shots from prior arrests the chart also noted whether

Each man was currently incarcerated in 1993 and what his area of responsibility to the gang was whether it be in drug sales Transportation production weapons muscle and so on this might be a place to start BOS said how so Soto asked we run these names some will be dead but some of them

Will be in prison I’m betting we could use that that go see them offer them daylight somebody might flip if somebody in that gang did this then somebody’s still got to know we hit the right guy looking for a way out of the pen we might get

Lucky I wonder why Whitaker and de bose didn’t do that because they’re lazy if a case has no science they move on to the next one no need to leave the office BOS started to carefully fold the chart back up without further damage don’t be like that he continued

You want to be a good detective go out and knock on doors I will Harry Soto said I promise the captain announced that they were beginning the descent into Dallas Bosch decided he’d put the binders aside and rest his eyes he still had much to look through including the envelopes containing all

The newspaper reporting on the case all of that would have to wait until he next had time for the Bonnie Brak case what about choa he asked you think Dead or Alive definitely dead stto said or else he would have turned up somewhere by now he’s probably buried

Somewhere in the desert Bosch just nodded he thought she was probably right choa didn’t disappear from that garage of his own valtion there was no loyalty in a gang once the scent of informant blood was in the water the plane banked toward Dallas and Bosch changed the subject do you like

Barbecue he asked I guess Soto said sometimes it wasn’t an enthusiastic response he just nodded why she asked there’s a place in the DFW terminal called cousins he said it’s good stuff I think I’ll hit it before the next flight I think I’ll just meet you at the

Gate that okay sure did you check the Bible before we split anything on Tulsa he was talking about a journal kept in the unit in which detectives contributed reports on cities they had visited on cases noting good places to eat and stay that were within the department Department’s travel

Prium it also contained tips in regard to dealing with local law enforcement and Judiciary the unit had been operating for nearly 10 years and there was no state in the Union that had not been covered the Bible was thick with travel advice and there was even talk about

Trying to get it published as a fundraiser they were calling it Blue Plate special a cops guide to digs Dives and donuts I did Soto said as she flipped open a notebook breakfast at a place called Jimmy’s Egg dinner at mahogany but that sounds to me like a strip bar

Another place called brownies has good pies Bosch smiled pies that had to have been put in by Rick Jackson before he retired he’s always a pie man you got that right it was Jackson anything in there about the PD yeah Jackson put in a guy’s name he

Worked with at Tulsa PD Ricky Childers he’s a night shift soup in the the D Bureau at least he was 2 years ago Jackson wrote Good People okay then we go to him 15 it was part of the open unsolved units travel protocol to check in with

The locals and explain what they were in town for and where they plan to go usually it was just a simple courtesy and the Los Angeles detectives were allowed to go about their work often the locals prefer to require that one of their own tag along and sometimes the visitors from La needed

Local help finding someone or facilitating an arrest as BOS had explained to Lucy he had learned from experience that calling ahead about his impending arrival could lead to problems sometimes locals would jump the gun and pre- Scout the targets which inadvertently tipped or spooked them there were also cases where the locals

Simply went out and grabbed the suspect before Bosch got there thereby robbing him of the ability to question the suspect before he was officially arrested and lawyered up there was also always The Longshot possibility that the target Bosch was coming for was associated with the very officer on the

Other end of the phone line Bosch once called a detective in St Louis in preparation for a trip there to make an arrest for murder little did he know he was talking to a man who happened to be related by marriage to the person Bosch was coming to

Arrest Bosch didn’t learn of this connection until after he got there and found that the suspect had fled the night before never again after that Bosch told SoDo now I always go in cold they got to the downtown headquarters of the Tulsa Police Department shortly before 8:00

P.m. they had first checked into a nearby Hotel because it was unclear what the night ahead would bring and Bosch didn’t want to lose the reservation should they not get to the hotel until after midnight a uniformed officer at the front desk seemed unimpressed by their LAPD badges but agreed to call upstairs

To the the detective Bureau and ask if detective Childers was available they were in luck Childers was in and he told the officer to send Bosch and SoDo up they took the elevator the one flight up and there was another counter on the second floor in front of

The entrance to the detective Bureau nobody was there and they waited a minute until a man came through the door behind the counter how’s Rick Jackson he said just retired Bosch said and wherever he’s at he’s probably golfing I hope so the detective reached his hand across the

Counter Ricky shers they put me in charge of this place at night they shook hands all around and Bosch handed child his badge rather than just flashed it as he had done downstairs stto did the same it was a show of respect did you guys call ahead chers

Asked the captain didn’t leave me anything on it no we just showed up BOS said this morning we caught a line on a guy we need to talk to and jumped on a plane we didn’t get the chance to call ahead Childers nodded but Bosch wasn’t sure he

Believed the story CHR looked like a capable and experienced man he was mid-40s and in good shape he had a draw to his voice and a long mustache that drooped down the sides of his mouth it all gave him the aura of a gunslinger from the old west The Botch guessed he

Was well aware of and fostered he wore no jacket and carried his weapon in a shoulder harness that helped paint that picture too who you talking about here he asked a witness on a case we’re working Bosch said a murder case we need to talk to him again

Because we’ve come to believe he might not have told us everything he knew holding back on you huh Jer said that ain’t good this fellow have a name Angelo us soda said he’s 39 and we think he’s been out here about 9 10 years she handed Childers a sheet with a

Copy of oa’s last California driver’s license 9 10 years shoulder said then you’re working a Cold Case huh something like that Bosch said the line we have in this guy is that he came out here to work at a bar called el chihuahua you know of the

Place oh sure we know of it on Garnett in east Tulsa that’s Little Mexico what kind of place is it it’s a dump with a pool table Patrol goes in there a few times a week to break things up you said this guy works there that info almost 10 years old it’s

Just a starting point I’ll take you out there if you won’t well let’s go on back to the squad first and see if we have anything on this Mr OA am I saying that right detective Soto the J like an H you got it right Soto said chers pointed

Toward a half door at the end of the counter and waved them around working cold cases had brought Bosch into detective bureaus all over the country there was a sameness to them all the Tulsa Squad room could have been in Seattle or Baltimore or Tampa cluttered desks walls of file cabinets

Wanted posters on every wall and door the room was largely deserted because of the hour Bosch saw a uniformed cop at one desk and a detective at another chers LED them to his own cubicle grab a chair he said BOS and stto pulled chairs away from empty desks

And rolled them over they all sat and chers turned off a clock radio on his desk that was quietly playing country music it sounded like Hank Williams Jr let’s see what we got on this fellow Childer said looking at the sheet with the driver’s license he typed information into his desktop

Computer Bosch assumed he was searching an internal Data Bank that would tell him if OA had ever intersected in some way with the Tulsa Police stto had already checked the national computers before they left LA and there were no hits tiers hit the enter button and held

His hands up like he had just performed a magic trick a few seconds later three words appeared at the top of the screen no match found damn it Childer said if he’s been working at the Chihuahua he would have come up as a witness victim reporting party something you sure your info is

Good it’s good BOS said but maybe you could have changed his name what comes up if you just plug in El Chihuahua you got all not children typed the name of the bar in and this time the screen said there were 972 matches and this thing only goes back 7 years he

Said we were on paper before that you two want to sit here and look through all this I’ll let you have at it Bosch thought for a moment about what would be the best use of their time and how they could narrow the focus of the computer

Search Soto beat him to it I say we just go scope it she said see if he’s there that’s why we came sounds like a plan to me Cher said Bosch nodded children’s drove Little Mexico was a 20-minute Drive East from downtown it was dark but the streets

Were well-lighted and Bosch didn’t see what he expected the streets were wide with grassy medians there were houses and churches and businesses with space around them they were closed businesses too he saw a Tulsa patrol car parked at an outof business gas station he had to

Look long and hard before he saw any graffiti so he said this is your bario this is it Cher said Bosch was in the back seat having given Soto the front this would allow him to sit next to OA should they find him and take him back to the PD for

Questioning chers first made a slow pass by the el chihuahua it looked to BOS like it had once been a Pizza Hut it still had the Red Roof but the windows were painted over and there were a variety of hand painted plywood signs affixed to the facade advertising cesis ch ones and

Deportes a lighted sign on a pole announced the name of the bar and depicted a cartoon of the dog breed named for the Mexican state of Chihuahua its teeth Beed for a fight and its front paws up and clad in boxing gloves it was near 10:00 and the parking

Lot was full several men were Milling about outside the doors on either side of the building holding bottles and smoking that’s of violation right there children said open container law they can’t be drinking outside good Bosch said we can use that Childers pulled to the side of the road once they passed he

Looked in the rear view of BOS because he knew Harry called the shots in the partnership with SoDo what’s the plan he asked Bosch thought for a moment we passed the shimu back there in the old gas station he said can we bring him in on this shimu childr asked the black and

White looked like the guy was writing reports shimu like the whale I like that yeah I can get him over here okay we get him we all go in and look around if we see our guy we have the uniform ask him to step outside because we have a problem with the

Public drinking if that works out we get him in the car and Lucy and I take it from there we don’t mention LA and we use your badges childr nodded sounds good he reached for the police radio between the seats and went through dispatch to instruct the nearby patrol

Car to respond to their location he then signed off and put the radio mic down how rough’s the crowd going to be Bosch asked we should be all right Childer said but there ain’t going to be a lot of women in there detective stto might

Give them pause if you know what I mean I can handle it Soto said I didn’t come out here to wait in the car her tone invited no debate F by me children said they waited 10 minutes for the patrol car to show Childers flashed his lights

As it was approaching on Garnett and the car car AC cross the oncoming traffic lane to pull up driver’s side window to driver’s side window it was a one-man Patrol typical of cast strapped municipalities children’s knew the officer but didn’t bother to introduce Bosch and stto other than to explain

They were from Los Angeles he relayed Bosch’s plan and the officer said he was good to go childr turned the car around and they followed the patrol car to the bar there were no parking spaces available in the lot they drove down one side and around the back and then down

The other side stopping near the door where a group of men were standing drinking and smoking most of them had probably been hassled before for drinking outside upon seeing the patrol car they jostled to get back indoors everybody got out of the cars and headed toward the door Bosch heard

The pulsing music coming from the bar he checked on SoDo and moved to her left side it was a routine way for them to approach a door where it was unknown what would be on the other side he was left-handed and she was right-handed it was the safest way to

Approach the uniformed officer was at least 63 and Barrel chested his girth was accentuated by the bulletproof vest under his uniform he entered the bar first and started clearing a path through the crowd stto Drew eyes as expected which worked to Bosch’s Advantage he swiveled his focus and took in the faces looking

For one that approximated the 10-year-old photo of angel O’s driver’s license from California he got lucky almost immediately he spotted a man behind the bar on the right side of the room who looked like OA he appeared to be one of three bartenders but he wasn’t taking orders or opening bottles of

Beer he was leaning against a back counter next to the cash register and watching the crowded barroom soon his eyes came to Bosch and registered the white face and a sea of brown faces Bosch knew in that instant that he had probably made Bosch as a cop

But he doubted OA if it was OA would have made him as a cop from La by now Bosch and soda were not walking next to each other the pathway through the crowd was too thin and they were moving in single file SoDo was much shorter than Bosch and her view was

Totally inhibited by the crowd electronic dance music with a Latin beat blared from speakers there were flat screens high on the walls and over the bar showing soccer and boxing the unmistakable think of marijuana was in the air Bosch leaned forward and spoke loudly over Soto’s shoulder and into her ear he’s here

Behind the bar tell chers the message was sent up the line and by the time the small troop made it up to the side of the bar the patrol officer had his instructions he signaled a man by the cash register over and told him he needed to step

Outside the man hesitated signaling to the crowd as if to say he had to stay to take care of business the big Patrol cop leaned further over the bar and said something that was convincing the man raised a fold over countertop and came out from behind the

Bar he made some sort of hand signal to one of the bartenders he’ left behind and headed toward the nearest door the patrol officer redirected him to the door Bosch and Company had come in through and they crossed the bar room again and exited outside the bar the man Bosch had

Zeroed in on immediately went on the offensive directing his protest at the uniformed officer even though he should have known that the suits are always in charge why are you hassling me man I have a business here sir calm down the uniform said we have a problem we need

To what problem there is no problem Bosch was sure it was OA and was pleased that he obviously spoke English Kevin let me speak to the man Childer said the officer stepped back and ch’s moved in getting right in the Barm man’s face what’s your name sir why

Why do I give you my name because we have a big problem here sir if you don’t start cooperating it’s going to get bigger now what is your name Francisco Bernal okay you got an n on you Francisco Bernal a driver’s license I don’t drive I live behind the bar good

For you a green card then a passport the man looked at SoDo with an expression of disgust that she would be part of this Shakedown he pulled his wallet and from the billfold pulled a folded piece of paper he handed it to chers who unfolded the paper and looked at it quickly before

Handing it to Bosch he then stepped aside so Bosch could take things from there Bosch looked at the document and the patrol officer helped by holding his flashlight on it it was a photo copy of a permanent resident card identifying the man as Francisco Bernal technically every bearer of a

Green card was required to carry it with them at all times but the reality was a permanent resident card was precious and difficult to replace If lost or stolen most people carried photoc copies and lock the original away these copies were usually accepted during casual police stops but Bosch was

Also aware that it was easier to make a phony photo copy than a counterfeit green card as BOS studied the document a few bar patrons stepped outside to see what was going on chers aggressively moved toward them pointing at the door and ordering them back inside they complied

Quickly Bosch looked up from the document and looked at the man he still believed was Angel OA you know it’s a Mis meanor to not carry the real thing right the man shook his head in frustration this is he said BOS stepped up to him and gave

Him a folded piece of paper that he had been carrying is this he asked the man grabbed the paper from Bosch’s hand and unfolded it it was the copy of the California driver license with his old picture on it botch saw a flash of recognition in the bar Man’s eyes it

Confirmed he was OA you just lied to a police officer he said you have what I believe is a false identification and immigration document do you know what kind of trouble you’re in Bosch took a step back and nodded to the patrol officer hook him up Kevin he said the

Patrolman turned off his flashlight and went to work 16 just as every Squad room looked the same to Bosch so too did the interrogation rooms always Stark brightly lit cubes designed to instill hopelessness in those who wait to be questioned from hopelessness comes compromise and cooperation they had let OA cook for

Close to an hour before Bosch entered the room the plan was for Bosch to take the first shot and if that didn’t work then soda would replace him and work the witness from a different angle she would be watching Bosch’s effort on video in another room OA was sitting at a small

Table seeing him in the cold light of the room BOS could tell he was a handsome man with a full head of jet black hair smooth skin and a trim build there was a weariness or sadness in his dark eyes as BOS pulled out the chair opposite him he tossed oa’s photo copy

Of a supposed green card on the table what do you want me to call you angel or Francisco he asked I want you to call me a lawyer OA said I know my rights here Bosch nodded you do have the right to a lawyer but you know what

Happens once you bring in a lawyer you get booked into the jail and we slap an immigration hold on you and there is no bail in the world for that a pained expression moved across oa’s face that’s right BOS said we checked with immigration and we know your print out

There is you can wipe your ass with it because that’s about all it’s worth most of this was a bluff the chances of getting an immigration confirmation on a Friday near midnight in Tulsa where next to nil but Bosch was confident NOA didn’t have a valid green card under the name Francisco

Bernal a legit card would have entailed a fingerprint check by immigration which would have produced his real name so what happens is that after you’ve been in jail for about a month you finally get a hearing before a judge he continues but there’s not really much you can do

To help yourself when you have counterfeit papers no defense for that my friend so you get shipped back to Chihuahua he let that sink in for a moment before continuing so I got to ask is that really how you want to play this if it

Is just nod your head then I’ll take you to the jail and I’ll even give you a quarter to call that lawyer who can’t help you OA folded his arms they had removed the handcuffs before placing him in the room it was a little hint that they wanted something from him that

There might be a negotiation but it had obviously been too subtle since he had asked for a lawyer right off the top only I can help you Bosch said now ha was beginning to see the play what do you want he asked Bosch reached down and pulled his badge off

His belt he then put it down the table so ala could read it arms still folded he leaned forward and did so La why are you here you know why Angel no I don’t I haven’t been in LA and Orlando mer said is dead OA looked up at him he didn’t know

Hadn’t heard he died 3 days ago and he died because of that bullet that was in his spine the bullet that was meant for you OA sat back up straight and stared at BOS 10 years ago you lied to us Angel you lied by Mission you know what that

Is it’s when you don’t tell the whole truth when you don’t tell us everything you know I didn’t know anything yes you did you knew it all you didn’t tell us and no that’s obstruction of justice but that was back then now it’s a murder and if you’re not helping us then you’re

Helping the murderer and that’s a whole different thing that’s what they call accessory after the fact accessory to murder and that means they don’t send you back to Chihuahua until after you do your time in a California prison no this is crazy who took that shot at you Angel

Who made you run to Oklahoma and change your name OA shook his head as if he was trying not to let Bosch’s words get in his ears nobody made me do anything you have this wrong I changed my name because my uncle owned the bar and he

Wanted me to come out and act like his son so I took his name and that’s all Bosch reached across the table and took his badge back he clipped it on his belt it was a move that gave him time to think about what direction to go who is

Rolo Martin he asked o’a shook his head again and looked confused I don’t know I never heard this name he was in the hotel across the plaza he took the shot and you saw him we’ve got it on video Angel that’s why you ran you saw the man with the gun and

You saw he was aiming at you mered took that bullet for you no I didn’t see anybody I who is Rolo Martin I don’t know Bosch calmed himself and proceeded in an even tone you need to start telling me the whole story or I can’t help you tell me

What happened for the first time OA nodded instead of shaking his head Bosch knew then it was going to work he was going to open up he waited and finally OA spoke with his eyes down on the table when I was a musician I used to get

Women it wasn’t what Bosch expected to hear but he nodded he could see it OA was a strikingly handsome guy and a musician Bosch’s daughter had recently told him about a study she had come across on the internet they reported that in a blind Street study women were

More likely to give their phone number to a man who approached them carrying a musical instrument case than a briefcase okay and then I got with the wrong woman and all this happened Bosch had been expecting it to be about drugs not a woman okay tell me about the woman who

Was she where did you meet her OHA scratched the back of his neck as he spoke we had a gig it was at a big house it was like a castle on the mountain and there was a big dinner for someone special with many people I met her there

At the end when we were packing our instruments I went outside for a smoke you know she was there and we smoked she gave me a phone number and told me I should call her and you did she was beautiful I called her she was married OHA

Nodded she was married to the man who had the house very powerful man very rich people said he was the concrete King it was their house she’s married to this king with a castle but she wants you to call her BOS did didn’t ask it as a question but succinctly summarizing oa’s story

Underlined the seeming absurdity of it she told me this was later she said she was lonely but couldn’t leave because he was dangerous very powerful and he had all the money he made her sign a paper for it prenup when exactly was this gig when he met her I don’t know I don’t

Remember how long before the shooting I’m not sure but yes before obvious were you with a new band Los Rees halisco yes with them okay so 6 months before the shooting a month like 3 months in there and you’re saying you started an affair with this woman OHA

Nodded how long did it last uh many weeks and the husband found out another nod he came to me at my place and he threatened he said he’d kill me if I didn’t stop you know with his wife did you stop OHA averted his eyes

And then shook his head no I loved her very much the last part sounded phony as if part of an excuse system oh had put together and kept fueled for 10 years it was about love he told himself not about a carnal need not about every man’s

Desire to take something off the top shelf his desire ultimately destroyed a man’s life there had to be a valid reason what about her did you tell her to stop with you he did but we did not stop OHA bowed his head as if acknowledging his decision had fatal

Consequences how long was it between when the husband warned you and when Merced was shot in the plaza not long a month don’t ask me tell me how long a month Bosch leaned back and looked at OA trying to assess what he was hearing and

The veracity of it all what was her name Maria her whole name Maria brousard but she was Mexican her name was Fuentes before she married her husband and her husband’s name Bruce Bruce brousard you sure that’s what she called him okay and where was this big house

Where the party was the castle up in the mountain it was the whole side of the mountain what was the address I don’t know this I was only there one time and I was in the back of the van when we drove up you met her the other times

When you got together somewhere else she got hotels mostly one she came to my place which hotels many hotels all over the place we met a universal once and that hotel downtown with the elevators on the outside of the building did you know from the start who she was

I mean that she was married and that was her house OHA hesitated don’t lie BOS said you lied to me one time about any of this and we have a big problem yes I knew OA said did the other men in the band know about you and her

No it was a secret just her and me how did her husband find out I don’t know she told him no I think he followed her or he had some someone follow her who is Rolo Martin I told you the truth I don’t know Bosch knew the name was most likely

Phony you don’t give your real name when you check into a hotel room to use it as a sniper Nest he moved on when was the last time you spoke to Maria brousard 10 years after the day Orlando got shot I called her and told her I

Knew what happened after that I never saw her again you told her that you knew the bullet that hit mer said was meant for you yes what did she say she said she didn’t believe me she said I was a liar so that was it Bosch had taken no notes he knew

Soda was watching and writing and the chers had set up a camera he had one final question for the time being you said the party where you met her was for a very special person who was that I don’t remember his name he was running for the mayor and at the

Dinner they charged people to raise the money BOS sat still and looked at OA he now better understood the reasons he had disappeared and changed his name whether it was love or just a base human desire that he had followed his choices had taken him into the dark Waters where politics and murder

Swirl was it Armand OAS at the dinner was he the special man OA shook his head no not him you sure you remember what I said about lying I’m sure it wasn’t him I know who he is we played at his wedding it was someone else who

Wanted to be mayor he was a white guy one of Z’s opponents the connection wasn’t as direct but BOS still felt dark Waters Rising BOS found stto sitting in the video room where she had watched the OA interview she was alone she had an open bag of potato

Chips from a machine it reminded Bosch that he hadn’t eaten since the brisket sandwich in Dallas where’s Ricky he left about halfway through said he had his own stuff to do but would be around if we need him nice going in there Bosch picked up the bag and dug

His hand into it for a potato chip SoDo didn’t protest thanks Ricky stayed until you got OA to break he said you were a true Gator and didn’t need any help from him what’s that mean BOS Shrugged I don’t know he looks too young to have been in

Vietnam what did it mean in Vietnam my grandfather was in Vietnam your grandfather that makes me feel good she snatched the bag away from him figting annoyance that he had not given it back get your own there are machines in the hallway my grandfather was a lot older

Than you and a lifer in the Marines believe it or not what did it mean they had these CIA types they called Gators short for interrogators but they used what they called enhanced methods and tools of interrogation you mean like helicopters yeah my grandfather told some stories her memory threatened to trigger

Bosch’s own memories and he didn’t need that now he brought the discussion back on point how much of that last part of the interview did you write down in your notes none of it yet good let’s keep it off the record for now why cuz it’s a

Hot door we have to be careful never open a door in a burning room you approach cautiously and you he stopped when he realized what he was saying sorry that was not the right no it’s okay she said I get it good what about that name Bruce brard

You heard of him she shook her head sort of rings a bell but I don’t know from where she said you no sounds like a big shot the concrete King do you believe OA about him and this woman with a rich husband falling in love BOS thought for for a moment and

Then nodded so far I do could have been love from his side of it the woman I don’t know yet but we don’t talk about this with anyone nothing in the reports nothing to your friends even if they have badges we find out more about Maria brassard

First what about the captain he’ll want to know what he got for his money sending us out here I’ll write the summaries and leave the name brard out for now I know how to make it look like he got his money’s worth we need to try to get on the plane in the

Morning I’ll check online what about OA Bosch had to think about that for a moment letting OA go could always result in his running again it was a risk they’d have to take holding him on the phony ID in green card was a good way to turn a potential witness against the

Prosecution he pointed to the equipment that lined one side of the room we had the video of the interview we take that and we write up a statement one that includes the whole whole story we get him to sign it and then we cut him loose

We keep it all out of the book for now just in case of what of anything 17 on Saturday morning Bosch and stto caught the first flight to Dallas where the airline had put them on standby lists for the next three flights to La they had spent a little more than 12

Hours in Tulsa and less than $1,000 of City money and all for what they got Bosch thought that was a pretty good deal they got lucky in Dallas and made it on to the first flight they then doubled down on the luck when the plane’s Captain who had been routinely

Informed that two armed Law Enforcement Officers would be on the flight bumped them to the top of the upgrade list and both snag seats in first class though in separate rows Bosch felt embarrassed to have brought his to-go bag from cousins into such luxurious surroundings where he was

Informed by the flight attendant that a complimentary lunch would be served when he saw a soldier and Camo coming down the aisle and making his way to the back he handed the bag to him and told him it was the best chopped brisket sandwich he’d ever eat the soldier took

The bag we’ll see about that sir he said I’m from Memphis Bosch nodded he’d once spent a week in Memphis on a case and a local detective took him to a different barbecue joint each day wet or dry he asked the soldier dry sir the rendevu you got it

Sir Bosch nodded and the soldier moved on down the aisle the woman behind him asked Bosch if he was giving anything else away and his face turned red Bosch was in the third row of the cabin in SoDo the first the captain had made sure that they got aisle seats so they could

Act and move quickly in the event of a problem this wasn’t the first time BOS had received such treatment most flight Crews he had encountered welcomed an armed presence near the cockpit while waiting out a minor delay before departure Bosch put in his earbuds and listened to music he had downloaded from

A film about Frank Morgan the saxophonist it was a documentary and featured a tribute concert at San Quenton where Morgan had been incarcerated for years before making his comeback in the Jazz world the tribute band was composed of players who had worked with or revered Morgan and the

Dedication came out in the strong performance he played the Dizzy Gillespie standard the champ twice in a row his favorite part being where Theo marceles and Mark preacher gross traded fours on trombone and Sachs after the plane finally took off Bosch stopped the music and got down to

Work he and stto had split up the murder books and he still had the files from the Bonnie Bray fire investigation sitting next to a woman who looked like a young Hollywood executive Bosch was concerned about opening the binders and possibly revealing photos of victims at the scene or after

Autopsy so he we slipped the thickest media envelope out of one of the binders and started reading through the newspaper coverage of the deadly fire the packet was filled with folded and yellowed clippings that were as fragile as the gang organizational chart he had opened the day

Before the creases broke apart even as he carefully and slowly unfolded them this happened often when he reviewed old case files and his practice was to tape the separated pieces onto butcher paper they kept a roll in the squad room so that the disintegration could be curtailed and the stories

Refolded as would be expected the Bonnie braire drew a tremendous amount of coverage from the Los Angeles Times the contents of the media packet were largely split in half with the first half containing stories about the fire and immediate aftermath and the second being reports on the investigation that seemed to have been

Published at semi-regular intervals 6 months later 1 year later 5 years later and 10 years later apparently the editors at the newspaper either Miss missed a chance at a 20-year later story or deemed it un newsworthy the last story in the packet was the 10th anniversary story after determining what he had

Bosch started at the beginning on day one the times was almost entirely dedicated to the fire he unfolded an entire front page that had three photos and the start of three stories the photo block contained two smaller photos depicting residents charging out of the Smoky apartment building and two women embracing on the

Street their faces stre with soot and tears and looks of utter anguish the larger main image to the right of these and at the center was of a firefighter emerging from the building and holding a young girl on his arms her limbs hanging it seemed lifelessly the firefighter had not

Waited to get out of the building before starting CPR measures he was blowing air into her mouth as he was coming out of the building Bosch read the caption below the photo block but it did not identify the firefighter or the girl and did not say whether she

Lived he looked again closely at the photo and then two rows up the aisle where he could barely see the top of Soto’s head above the back of her seat he wondered if she was the girl on the photo he had noticed that since he had

Started to work with her there had been many small instances of luck turning his way in the last 48 hours on this case alone he had felt lucky several times from getting his friend sh a barlet as the on call Judge for search warrants to Ricky child being there when they

Checked into the Tulsa PD to getting first class upgrades on the flight home he felt in many ways that he was on a role and it defied the law of averages which held that you win some and you lose some it had him contemplating the idea of luck and whether it was

Something random or possibly something that could follow certain people all their lives including being the one to survive a deadly fire and the a deadly firefight outside a liquor store perhaps lucky Lucy was more than a nickname and perhaps the luck she brought was contagious wow that’s what you call old news Bosch

Turned the woman next to him was looking at the yellowed and cracked front page he was holding he smiled and nodded awkwardly yeah I guess it is he said what are you doing she asked BOS looked at her sorry she said I’m just nosy looks interesting I’m just checking out

Something that happened a long time ago that fire she pointed to the photos on the newspaper front yeah Bosch said but I can’t really talk about it it’s a private matter can you tell me this the woman insisted did that girl live BOS looked at the photo for a moment before

Answering yes she did she was lucky I’ll say Bosch nodded and the woman went back to reading a script BOS focus on the stories on the front page there was the main story at the upper right corner that contained the basics of what happened at least as far

As what was known on the day of the fire there was a single column sidebar below it with the headline illegal daycare rampant Bosch assumed that the purpose of the story was to show a causal relationship between the fire and the deaths in the building’s basement daycare center presumably a licensed

Facility would have had multiple exit routes in the event of a fire and the children would have escaped but the tone of the story seemed to infer that the children themselves had somehow brought on their own deaths by being involved in an illegal daycare center the third story was an

Investigation of the 210 unit apartment complex health and safety inspection record which was replete with violations over the past decade the story also focused on the complex’s ownership by a real estate holding company that owned several other large complexes in the area which also carried low rents and high incidences of

Health and safety code violations written before the deadly fire was known to be arson the story seemed intended to prepare the reader for an eventual conclusion that the blaze was started because some code was violated or ignored the stories jumped inside where there were more sidebars and two pages of photographs from the

Scene there was also a black bordered box that listed the names of all the reporters who worked on the newspapers coverage of the fire Bosch counted 22 names and it made him miss the old Los Angeles Times in 1993 it was big and strong its additions fat with ads and stories

Produced by a staff of some of the best and brightest journalists in their field now the paper looked like somebody who had been through chemo thin unsteady and knowing the inevitable could only be held off for so long it took Bosch almost an hour just to read the stories

And study the photographs in the a section nothing he read gave him any ideas about proceeding any differently with the case the only place where the time coverage came close to what would eventually be the focus of the original investigation was in an inside story that profiled the neighborhood and

Mentioned Pico Union larazza as the predominant gang they quoted an unnamed police Source calling Bonnie BR Street a drive-through drug Market where rock cocaine and black tar heroin from Mexico were plentiful Bosch noticed that soda was getting up from her seat and holding her computer open he quickly folded the newspaper and

Slipped it beneath a stack of other Clips in case of photographs were something she didn’t want to see Soto came back to his row carrying her open laptop she saw the stack of yellow newspaper clippings you reading all of that stuff she asked yeah he said

You never know sometimes you get an idea from it see a quote from somebody or something I wrote down some names of people who were there that day reporters and residents might be worth a phone call or something see what they remember okay Bosch nodded to her

Computer so what’s up she put her computer down on top of the news clipping so he could see the screen I’m using the Wi-Fi and I think I found brousard Bosch turned in a seat to blocked the possibly prying eyes of his seatmate and looked at the

Screen he realized he was seeing a digital version of the Los Angeles Times it was a story dated 9 years before about the appointment of Charles Bruce brousard to the Parks and Recreation Commission by newly elected mayor Armando o Zas it was a short story because the commission that oversaw the

City’s Parks was not a big news generator the profile of brousar described him as a local businessman who had been an important fundraiser for local politicians for many years the accompanying photo was a shot taken on the night of the mayor’s election and showed Zas with his arm around broussard’s shoulders a smiling

Woman standing nearby was identified as Maria brousard she was much younger than her husband good work Bosch said without looking up at SoDo he tilted the computer screen back so he could see the photo better he studied brousard intently he was a heavy set man in an expensive suit maybe 40

Years old at the time of the photo he had a full beard with an odd graying pattern that made it look as though bleach had leaked from the corners of his mouth and left a trail of white hair down to his jaw SoDo leaned down so she did not have

To talk loudly but OHA said the fundraiser where he met Maria was not for Zas she said Bosch nodded it was a discrepancy in the story either o to lied or brousard switch sides he said we need to find out which one it is 18 they had driven separately to LAX the

Day before because they didn’t know the circumstances of their return and stto lived south of the airport in Rodondo Beach while BOS lived in the opposite direction in the Hills above the coena pass they landed at 9:30 and as they walked toward the exit doors of terminal 4 they discussed their schedule and

Agreed that they would meet at the office the next morning at 8 and work half a day this was perfect for Bosch because Sunday was his daughter’s sacred day for catching up on sleep if undisturbed she would sleep till noon and then want breakfast he would be able to get a

Solid four hours of work in on their cases before meeting up with Maddie they crossed the airport pickup lanes and into the parking structure and then went their separate ways Bosch felt excited the short trip had been extremely profitable in terms of information gathered and case momentum even the plane ride home

Counted stto had identified their next investigative Target Charles brassard as Bosch was driving down Sentry Boulevard After exiting the airport he thought of something that he decided shouldn’t wait even until the next morning he pulled his phone and called his daughter’s line she answered right away what are you up

To he asked just got up she said have a plan for the day homework it’s a beautiful day she’d be out having fun you mean you’re back already just landed but I might have to go in for a little bit I’ll be home before dinner dad you said you’d be back on

Sunday I said I thought I would what’s wrong with getting home a day early I have a date tonight because I thought you wouldn’t be here you mean a date at the house he failed to keep the concern out of his voice no she said quickly I meant I said

Yes to this guy because I didn’t think he’d be home I’ll call him up and say I changed my mind no look don’t do that go out have fun who is the guy what’s his name you don’t know him his name is Jonathan pace and I know him from

Explorers he’s not the sergeant in charge is he there had been a scandal once and he had warned her no Dad Gross he’s 17 just like me but he knows your dad’s a cop it wasn’t her first date but she had not had many vosch required her

To inform all suitors that her father was a police detective who always carried a gun it sent the proper message every time yes he knows exactly who you are and what you do he wants to be a detective too really sounds like a keeper when do

You leave we’re meeting at the Grove at 7:00 to see a movie by yourselves no we’re meeting other explorers boys and girls yes okay I’ll be home before you leave and you know what what there’s a bookstore in that place right next to the movie theaters why don’t you kids

Check that out too Dad they had reached a level where she could simply say dad and Bosch would read it synonymously as stop this is one of those times sorry I thought books were fun it’s Saturday night we’re not going to sit in a bookstore reading we want to

Have some fun we read books all week at school I have to read for homework right now okay got it is Jonathan Pace involved in the alcohol sting on Tuesday yes we all are okay maybe I’ll meet him then Dad you’re not going to come that would be so embarrassing that

My father had to check on us like we’re children okay message received I won’t be there if you don’t want me there just be safe then and be safe tonight I’ll see you in a little while after hanging up Bosch called directory assistants to get the number

To The Newsroom at the Times the operator made the connection and while he waited for the call to go through he turned onto the circular entrance ramp to the 405 North depending on how this call went he would either take the freeway up the seula a pass to M Holland

Where he would jog East on the 10 toward downtown in the PAB the call was answered by someone who did not give a name but simply said Newsroom yes BOS said I’m looking for a Virginia Skinner she’s off today can I take a message can you get her a message

I don’t have her number with me I need to talk to her today and she’ll want to talk to me there was a short pause and then an answer I can try but I can’t promise anything what’s the message by gave his first name only and his number and the message was that

Skinner needed to call him today or she would miss the story that all that’s it Bosch disconnected Virginia Skinner was one of the few veteran reporters the times had left in its downtown Newsroom BOS knew her because 20 years earlier when she had gotten the times

Job after spending most of her 20s in journalism’s minor leagues she was placed on the police beat she wanted nothing to do with covering cops and crime but it was the starter position and she was smart enough to know that the better she was at it the faster

She’d get promoted to the next slot she was right and she was good and in 2 years she was on to the next beat which was City Hall Local and state politics in government was what she wanted all along and where she had stayed to this day she

Had the perfect name for it too she specialized in political profiles that usually stripped candidates down to the bone and in many cases a is erated their election chances but during those first two years Bosch took a liking to her because of her accuracy and fairness she had crossed his path on

Several stories and he spoke to her on and off the Record and never once did she burn him in the following years they had minimal contact but there was always a story here and there where police and politics crossed she would check in and he would

Give her what he knew and what he could Bosch certainly didn’t like the idea of being any reporter Source but at least he had never had cause to mistrust Virginia Skinner he did have her phone number but it was hidden in his desk he was not foolish enough to carry it in the

Contacts list on his phone if his phone ever fell into the wrong hands and it was revealed he had a direct connection to her the ramifications in the department could be career-threatening Command Staff frowned upon media sympathizers especially if the media was the LA times as he drove BOS tried to recall

The last time he had spoken to Skinner and what the story was he couldn’t remember it had probably been 2 or 3 years before there was no call back by the time he got to the decision-making point on the freeway he knew that because his daughter would be out during the evening

He could flip things around and go home now to spend some time with her then go back down to the PAB to work at night he struggled with this Choice as he looked at the approaching eastbound lanes and then was saved by the phone a call marked private number was coming in he

Answered putting the phone on speaker Harry it’s Jenny Skinner what’s so important on a Saturday thanks for calling let’s start by saying all this is off the Record you can’t write anything about it I don’t know what it is so it’s hard for me to agree to that

It was the typical catch22 with all reporters they wouldn’t agree to hold something back until they knew what it was but what if upon knowing what the story was they said they couldn’t hold it back now BOS had to carefully choose his words well you know I work Co case

Homicides right right and I also read my own newspaper I know you are on the Mariachi case Bosch frowned he was hoping she would not know a case he was on I have many cases working at once Jenny you know that we cut to the chase then Harry it’s

Saturday and a beautiful day outside I’m turning 50 tomorrow and I want to last Margarita before before that happens what do you want really you 50 yes really and that’s all I want to say about it I shouldn’t have even brought it up what do you need well you guys write about campaign

Finance and all that right do you keep all those records from elections past depends on how far back you want to go and which race what are we talking about here I’d like to see donation lists for the mayoral elections going three back he thought that by spreading the

Net he was casting it would be harder for her to figure out what his true Target was ooh she said that’s a lot we have all this stuff computerized but you’re not asking to search for a needle and a hay stack you’re asking for the whole

Hay stack you’ve got to tell me what you really want Harry be specific Bosch considered ending the call and waiting until Monday to get the information he needed through proper channels but his urgency to keep the case moving one out and he tried one more time to strike a deal

I can’t be more specific Without You agreeing it’s off the record for now you’d obviously be first in if it comes to anything and it is political I cover politics not crime Bosch ran into a Slowdown across all eight Lanes of the freeway as it came to the 110

Split he thought maybe there was an event at the convention center it was too early for a game or concert at Staples it’s both he said politics and murder that’s always a good story she said okay I give we are off the record on deep background I do

Nothing with anything you give me until I get the high sign you don’t even tell your editor you tell no one I don’t trust my editor he’d tell everyone in the news meeting and act like it was his work agreed Bosch paused it was a point of no return with a

Reporter he felt he could trust Skinner but the halls of the PAB were littered with the carcasses of cops who thought they could trust reporters he slowly merged onto the 110 his exit was less than a mile ahead but it might take him 15 minutes to get

There in the wall to–all traffic are you there Harry yes I’m here okay this is what I want do you know of a guy named Charles brousard of course people call him Bruce like the name Bruce he’s a moneyman he owns a company that puts those concrete barricades on the freeways when there’s

Construction and there’s always construction what about him do you personally know him no but I may have talked to him once or twice for a quote or something he was tight with Zas during that regime I think he’s on the outs now because he backed the wrong

Horse the last time around so I get it now rard was close to Zas and Zas was close to this Mariachi guy who got shot I wrote about that guy during the first campaign I was assigned to Zas remember look don’t jump to conclusions can you

Meet me now I want to know who brousard gave money to in the last few campaigns and I want to know about brard anything you might know meet you now can’t we do this Monday if I wait till Monday I don’t need you Jenny I can get this stuff on

My own then now it was Skinner who paused come on Bosch urged do this and then I’ll buy you a margarita for your last day as a 49er they have to make a good margarita somewhere over there in the peblo that’s tempting she finally said okay I’ll meet

You at the Spring Street entrance at 1:00 Bosch checked his watch that was nearly two hours away I’ll be there he said 19 the times was located directly across Spring Street from the PAB the two buildings were so close that Harry once had a supervisor who closed the blinds

On his office Windows because he was certain there were times reporters across the street watching him BOS parked in the underground garage at the PAB but didn’t go up to the Squad instead he decided to get in some exercise and walk down first street toward Mariachi Plaza he had no investigative intent in

Going there but it always felt good to him to return to crime scenes during an investigation he called it listening to the scene there were nuances and small details that could be picked up even years after the crime plus there was a sense of ghosts some sort of presence of

Those who had been murdered BOS always felt it whether anybody else did or not jinny Skinner was right about it being a Beautiful Day downtown was perfectly warm compared to when he had stepped out of the terminal at LAX which was located at the edge of the Chile

Pacific the walk down first street through Little Tokyo was pleasant as the sun warmed Bosch’s shoulders when he crossed the First Street Bridge he noticed that someone had tied a clutch of flowers to one of the light poles at the center of the span there was a cardboard heart that said rip

Vanessa for some reason Bosch took out his phone and took a photo of the sad little memorial for a woman or more likely a girl who had jumped to her death the cameras that had been put up on the bridge obviously did not stop all jumpers he walked up to the rail and

Leaned over to looked down he wondered if vanessa had regretted her decision during those last few seconds as she fell he checked his watch and moved on a few blocks later he got to Mariachi Plaza because it was a Saturday the small triangular public space was crowded with Mariachis locals and food

And flower vendors he realized that the plaza would have been this active on the day Orlando Merced was shot the shooter must have planned on that there would be more camouflage more Panic more people running in all directions on a Saturday had that been part of the plan

He crossed First Street and started moving through the crowd at least two of the bands were playing but it did not seem like a competition it seemed as though the bands were warming up for the gigs that would hopefully follow in the afternoon and evening Bosch saw that the door of the

Book store was open and there was a crowd inside he read the banner that hung next to the door Los Angeles is like your brain you only ever use 20% of it but imagine if we used it all Harry turned toward the Metro entrance because the walkover had taken

Longer than expected he didn’t want to be late for the meeting with Skinner so his plan was to take the Gold Line back across the bridge he jump off at the Little Tokyo Station and walked the rest of the way it would save him 15 minutes but as

Bosch approached the escalator a voice called to him from behind he turned around and there was Lucy SoDo what are you doing here he asked I was going to ask you the same thing she said BOS Shrugged and made up a lie he didn’t want to tell SoDo that he was going to

Talk to a reporter about brard not yet I just wanted to see this place on a Saturday you know same day as the shooting wanted to get a feel for it listen to it same here Bosch nodded he knew in that moment that she would be a good

Detective were you going down to the Metro she asked yes he said I parked back at the PAB and walked over the Metro will get me about halfway back don’t tell me Harry Bosch carries a TAP card she was being sarcastic it was a crack at him being old school and setting his

Ways the Metro was new in the evolution of the city and had been difficult for lifelong La drivers to adapt to actually I do he said you never know when it will come in handy how about I just give you a ride I’m parked over there she pointed

Toward the line of Vans belonging to the bands each one had the band’s name and a phone number painted across the side panels at the end of the line was a red two seedar with a top down sounds good I think her car was small and low to the

Ground Bosch had to turn and slowly lower himself into the cockpit feel like I’m in a kayak or something he said oh relax Soto said it’s fun I bet your daughter would like one of these I wouldn’t let her you need a roll bar for it cranky old Harry just

Sit tight and we’ll be there in 5 minutes no other way to sit in this thing she pulled away from the curb slamming Bosch back into his seat and headrest she made the light at boil and flew over the rise of the First Street Bridge Bosch felt himself about to smile

But was able to contain it so you never really said anything about Bonnie Bray she yelled Bosch looked over at her her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses that had wind guards on the sides that’s because I’m not finished reviewing it he called back I started with the clips on the plane today but

Have a lot more to read she nodded okay whenever you’re ready they hit the light at Alam and Bosch didn’t have to yell once the car came to a stop there’s no guarantee that there’ll be anything there to work he said I mentioned visiting some of these

Guys in prison to see if that softened them up that’s a long shot they know that if even a hint of them cooperating gets out they could end up dead in the yard it will be hard finding somebody willing to risk that I know she said

With a hint of defeat in her voice we’ll see he said they drove the rest of the way in silence and in 2 minutes she turned left on Spring and then over to the curb next to the PAB she didn’t realize she was dropping him closer to

His destination than she had thought he gingerly pulled himself up and out of the car thanks for the ride you going home now she nodded and smiled I’m going home see you tomorrow then yep see you she took off and Bosch watched her until she made a turn a

Couple blocks down the street he then crossed spring to the sidewalk that ran alongside the Times building there was an entrance at the corner of spring and second Bosch walked in and saw an an room where Virginia Skinner was standing typing on her phone she looked different than Bosch

Remembered from the last time he’d encountered her in person at least 2 years before it was the hair on the glasses both different but both suited her better Jenny she looked up and smiled Harry sorry if I kept you waiting no not at all you’re right on time I got so

Intrigued by your call that I came in early to pull up some stuff and came down here as soon as I was ready you want to come up sure but Bosch was a little nervous in all his years of dealing with reporters from the times he had never been up to The

Newsroom there was a deal in place allowing employees from the PAB simply by showing their ID card to enter the times and use the first floor cafeteria Bosch was a frequent user of that courtesy since there were only snack machines in the PAB but the news room was new in forbidding

Territory Bosch was glad it was a Saturday and both the PAB and the newspaper building were underst staffed the fewer people to see him cross the Gray Line the better The Newsroom on the third floor was almost as vast as the squad room across the street and just as empty

Skinner LED Bosch to her cubicle which was much like Bosch’s he looked around and saw the same sort of decorations on desks the names written on seatbacks and the unkempt piles of paperwork and files what Skinner asked nothing BOS said just never been up here before pull that chair from that desk

Over here no one works there anymore it was an illusion to the state of the newspaper business as a whole in the time specifically Bosch had heard that nearly half of The Newsroom was empty these days as a newspaper paper tried to adjust to Falling circulation and the migration of readers to the

Internet he brought the chair over and sat next to Skinner who was already pulling up numbers on her computer screen you said you were interested in the last three elections where do you want to start letun go three back that’s what I thought and that’s what I have up

Here you are specifically interested in Charles brousard and you can see here that personally corporately and with in-kind donations he was hedging his bets Bosch leaned toward the computer screen but it didn’t really make a lot of sense to him how so he asked he maxed out on two candidates Skinner said Zas

Who eventually won and Robert England who was eliminated before the runoff Bosch knew the name Robert England he was a former city councilman and perennial candidate for local offices he was from Woodland Hills and carried the vast backing of the valley when he entered the race what in-kind donations are we

Talking about about he asked to get that we would have to pull records on Monday Skinner said but normally what that means is they sponsored an event that rais money for the candidate like a dinner exactly brard provides the place the staff and the food and all that has

To be reported as a donation you can kind of see this in the numbers brard made an in-kind donation here to England on January 12th in 04 you then look at other donors and you have scads of donations for 250 $50 each on the same date it obviously was a dinner for

England and it cost anybody who went 250 bucks a plate Bosch pulled out his notebook and wrote the date down he believed it was a date that Los raos halisco played at a fundraiser at the brousard house and Angel OA met Maria brousard if this could be confirmed it

Would go a long way toward supporting oa’s veracity this would be important if BOS and stto ever reached the point of going to the district attorney’s office with the case to seek charges against someone someone okay he said so when did brousard give money to Zas Skinner scrolled down the

Screen he put his money on Zas after she said first donation in May right before the runoff she ran her finger across a line on the screen Bosch leaned in to see and then wrote the date and the amount down in the notebook that was the

Max he asked up until that point yes Skinner said the most he could do Bosch leaned back and looked at his notes between broussard’s going Allin with England in January and then all in with Zas in May Orlando Merced was shot on April 11th it made Bosch wonder about

Things was brousard really hedging his bets and supporting two candidates equally or had he changed allegiances from England to Zas and if so why what else Harry Skinner asked what happened in the next election he responded Skinner went to work on the computer and pulled up Financial figures

From the 2008 election she typed in a search for broussard’s donations and then studied the results for a moment before speaking he was with Zas again she said maxed out again did he hedge his bets Bosch asked you mean donate to other candidates Bosch nodded she looked at

The charts for a moment before drawing a conclusion he contributed in many other races she said sometimes the two competing candidates but when it came to Zas he never doubled down after that first run for mayor he was exclusive to him okay Bosch said Zas is not going for

The Governor’s job as he started taking donations can you see if brousard is still supporting him that would be under the state so that will take a little more she pulled up another screen of numbers and study them yes she finally said he’s still a major funer contributed to the Zas exploratory

Campaign for governor Bosch nodded and wrote A Few notes down anything else Skinner asked I think that’s good BOS said thanks for this you owe me a margarita but I’d trade it for your telling me what’s going on Bosch was quiet a moment as he thought about how to answer he had to

Give her something because if he didn’t she might very well go off on her own and that could be disastrous if she drew the notice of Charles brard tell you what he finally said give me a day with what you’ve given me and then I’ll come back to you I don’t want

You going off and doing anything on your own could be dangerous Skinner held back a smile now you’re really hooking me you’ve got to give me something Harry pretty please look I really can’t you’ve been very helpful here and I owe you for that but I need to check a few things out

First what are you doing tomorrow I can oh never mind it’s your birthday I forgot tomorrow I’m not doing anything you think I want people to know I’m 50 in this business it’s an invitation to a pink slip I shouldn’t have even told you Bosch now held back a smile he realized

He was attracted to her she was all business he liked that about her tell you what he said let’s have dinner tomorrow and we won’t even mention it’s your birthday by then I think I can continue this conversation as long as we’re still off the Record she looked at him

Suspiciously the dinner the birthday everything off the record yes everything but it’s got to be early I have a daughter and she works till about 8:30 so let’s say we get together at 6:30 or 7 deal she didn’t hesitate deal 20 Bosch took all the binders from the

Bonnie Bray murder case home with him Saturday night he decided that the strides being made on the merid case demanded his full attention no more jumping back and forth from case to case he would finish the review of The Deadly arson investigation and in the morning

Tell Lucy stto his final thoughts on it before they moved on to Merced and the focus on Charles brassard with a clear Direction now apparent the Merced case demanded it before getting down to work he saw his daughter off on her date telling her that he would have preferred to meet the

Young man she was Rend deing with at the Grove shopping center she counted that this was the way things were done these days and added that it was not just a one-on-one date but that several of the Explorers from the Hollywood division were getting together for dinner and a

Movie this mollified Bosch but he did not let her out the door without a hug and a promise of regular text updates except during the movie a science fiction story starring Matthew mccon after she left Bosch got down to business he made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich stacked the Bonnie Bray

Murder books on the dining room table and put on a Ron Carter disc he hadn’t listened to in a while it was called dear miles and Bosch assumed that the 2007 recording was inspired by by the basis time in the Miles Davis band of the 1960s Bosch hadn’t chosen it for the

Origin or the Davis standards it contained he was looking for rhythm and Carter’s vibrant Baseline leading the quartet would certainly bring it he needed to get through the Bonnie brain material on this night and then move on and back to the mered case with an undeniable momentum Ron Carter would

Help with that he picked up where he had left off he pulled out the stack of newspaper articles but this time unfettered by the tight confines of an airline seat he spread the stories he had read across the large rectangular tabletop in hoped that the display of

All the photos and headlines might Shake something loose an idea or maybe a detail of a photo he had missed or a word from a headline that would Inspire an unseen connection he was still on the first day of coverage reading the stories from inside the a section of the times the

Track seven steps to Heaven helped and pick up the pace and soon half his sandwich was gone and he had moved onto the first day stories in the B section these stories focused on the human element of the tragedy there were short descriptions of the young victims

Who perished and a larger profile of Esther Essie Gonzales the daycare center operator who died trying to protect the children from the smoke and Flames one photo dated a year before the fire showed the woman hugging a child in the daycare center the accompanying story seemed to count the front page article that

Castigated the proliferation of unlicensed daycare centers in the City by describing this woman as a trusted caretaker of children who sacrificed herself in an attempt to save them it was Bosch’s thought that the reporters who had written the stories had not compared Notes One wrote about a tragic

Flaw on the system and one wrote about a hero who emerged from that system he thought that maybe this was the newspaper’s attempt to provide balanced coverage the story jumped to the next page page but Bosch could not find the clip in the remaining stack of crumbling

Newsprint then he flipped over the front page he had been reading and found the continuation on the back of it it fit perfectly within the cutting he finished the story and felt a new urgency about solving the case the loss of the children was the awful

Tragedy to be sure but it was Essie Gonzalez’s full profile that brought home to Bosch the horror of the crime he flipped the clip over to study the photo of the woman again and then reread the story when he turned it to read the continuation another story caught his

Eye it was unrelated to the Bonnie braire it was a column containing police briefs the first one drew his attention armed robbers hit Mid City check cacher two heavily armed and masked men stormed into a Wilshire Boulevard check caching company Friday and brutalized employees before escaping with the business’s cash reserves Los Angeles

Police said the daring morning robbery occurred at easy bank at the corner of the busy intersection of Wilshire and Burlington boulevards LAPD detective Augustus brayy said the robbers arrived at 10:30 a.m. in a dark sedan both gunman left the car with its doors open and entered the premises of the check cashing company

Brilley of the major crimes unit said the robbers wore ski masks but fired their weapons at cameras inside the business disabling them it was believed based on witness description that they were carrying AR-15 assault rifles the robbers moved so quickly they surprised a security guard who was in the lobby of the

Business one suspect struck the security guard repeatedly with the butt end of his weapon until he was knocked to the floor one of the Armed men then pointed a gun at the guard’s head and threatened to kill him if other employees did not open a locked steel door and allow them

Behind the bulletproof class enclosed counter once behind the counter the gunman forced two employees to empty a safe and three Cash drawers of an undisclosed amount of money the robbers then ran from the premises and fled in the getaway car brayy said that employees of the business had engaged a

Silent alarm when the robbers first entered the premises but the robbery occurred so quickly that the suspects were gone by the time police responded investigators were looking into the possibility that the robbery was linked to others in Los Angeles in recent months two men brandishing similar weapons and wearing ski masks

Robbed a check cashing store in param around 6 weeks ago brayy would not say whether that robbery was suspected of being linked to Friday’s crime the security guard who was not identified by police was treated by paramedics at the scene Joel Bremer time staff writer BOS read the story again he

Realized that the fire call and the robbery occurred within 15 minutes of each other on Friday October 1st 1993 Mother’s Day BOS said to himself he got up and went to a wall of shelves in the living room these mostly held his records CDs and some of the

DVDs his daughter had collected over the years but there was an old Thomas brother’s mapbook of Los Angeles that had probably logged a couple hundred thousand miles in Bosch’s cars over the years he now had an updated mapbook in his car but also relied on his partners for GPS generated directions when he

Needed them he took the mapbook over to the table and flipped through the pages until he found the one that included the Pico Union area of the city and the start of the Wilshire Corridor that led all the way to the Pacific with a pencil he marked the

Location of the Bonnie Brave fire between 7eventh and e8th streets and then the location of the easy bank robbery at Wilshire and Burlington as he suspected the two locations were close the robbery occurred two and a half blocks north and one block west from the Bonnie Bray arms

The distance could have been driven in less than 2 minutes BOS sat back and studied the map and thought about the possibilities Mother’s Day was street slang for the day that government subsistance checks landed in mailboxes usually the first of every month the nickname came about because Street hoods often came home to

Visit mother on the day she got her government check streets slang aside Bosch knew that businesses like easy bank would fill their safes and cash drawers to be ready to handle the regular increase of check cashing that occurred on or near Mother’s Day the time story did not say how much money

Was taken in the robbery but botch knew that for the major crimes unit to have taken on the case it would have to have been six figures he knew of Gus brilley back in the90s but had never worked with him Major Crimes didn’t even exist anymore

As it did then and he was pretty sure brayy had retired before the turn of the century BOS muted the music then pulled his phone out and scrolled through his contact list there was only one guy he knew who was in Major Crimes back then the recently retired Rick Jackson he had

Jackson’s cell number and hoped he had changed it many cops do when they pull the pin he called the number and Jackson answered after two rings this is Rick this is Harry Bosch you still remember me Jackson laughed what’s up my brother he asked now Bosch

Left how long ago did you retire the ’90s if I said something like that in front of my partner you’d think I just came out of a time machine got to love the ’90s Harry what are you doing what am I doing I’m working on a Saturday night and I’m sitting here

Wondering if you knew Gus brilley back in the day sure did old Gus he was a son of a tough guy still alive oh yeah I join this retired detectives group and we meet once a month for lunch I don’t go every time but I’ve seen him there I

Think he comes in from Palm Springs what’s going on with him I’m looking at one of his old cases and want to ask him about it you got a number that’s good for him yeah hold on I got to look at my contacts on my phone to get it I’ll read

It out loud then bring the phone back up okay okay whatever happened to the Rolodex really Bosch waited while Jackson looked through his contacts list and then called the number out loudly BOS wrote it down on the edge of the Pico Union map page got it Jackson asked with the

Phone back to his mouth got it Bosch said thanks so how are you hitting him Bosch knew very little about golf but knew that was a question often asked pretty good Jackson said playing a lot and practice makes well almost perfect I’m down to single digits Bosch had no idea what that meant

So he didn’t know what to say you miss us he asked going in a New Direction you missed the work not yet and I don’t think I will how long you got left Harry I don’t know a little over a year I think I try not to think about it you

Got to take up golf man I’ll take you out someday yeah golf I’ll let you know Bosch couldn’t picture it especially the shorts he’d seen golfers wearing he didn’t own any shorts but it was a good way to end the conversation he thanked Jackson and both men promised to stay in

Touch after disconnecting BOS immediately called the number Jackson had given him Bry didn’t answer and the call went to a message Bosch left his name and number and said he needed to talk to him about a case brilley had handled 1993 he then gave his number again and

Disconnected he picked up the pencil and drummed it on the table this review was not going the way he thought it would he had something here the case had a loose tooth and he couldn’t leave it alone he hoped he would hear from Bradley soon he

Turned the music back up in time to hear Stella By Starlight and went back to the work in front of him he quickly finished reading through the newspaper stories after the first 10 days of multiple stories daily the coverage waned and became little more than pruner updates on an investigation going

Nowhere he then started through the other murder books quickly reviewing the autopsies and photos of the dead children and the two adults the photos were as hideous as they were sadly repetitive but Bosch knew he couldn’t look away he thought of the names tattooed on Lucy sto’s arm and

A fix them to children in the photographs he would not need a tattoo to remember them but now further into the review Bosch tried calling brilley again knowing full well that he had left a message and the retired detective would call when he received it but he

Was surprised that the call was answered yes BOS muted the music with his remote again Gus Gus BR yes who’s this it’s Harry Bosch and Robbery Homicide I left you a message a little while ago today I got it yeah Bosch paused well were you

Going to call me back yeah yeah I was going to call I was just sitting here thinking about 93 and wondering what case you were calling about that was a busy year the easy Bank job over on Wilshire you remember it easy Bank yeah I remember it Mother’s Day two guys with

AR15s that’s it I’m working from home tonight no access to the company computer and trying to catch up did you ever pop anybody for it there was a pause BOS I remember you you’re a murder coper right what do you care about a cashbox robbery from 21 years ago you’re

Right I’m a murder cop I work cold cases now and I’m looking at a case and I’m thinking maybe your guys could be good for so did you ever make arrest Gus name any suspects there were a few seconds of Silence while brilley was grinding it down how’d you get this number seeing

That you’re working from home on a Saturday night Rick Jackson call him if you want he’ll tell you I’m good people I don’t know man Saturday night you got to admit this is a little hky who works Saturday nights in cold cases brilley still used cops speak from

The 9s hanky or not Rick will vouch for me can you help me Gus Bosch waited he knew that the chances of his being able to pull either a digital or hard copy file on a 21-year-old robbery were not good the statute of limitations would be long p

On a robbery and it was unlikely the apartment would have kept a physical file only cases with viable prosecutorial status were scanned and entered when the department went through a massive shift in Purge process as it moved toward digitized records Bosch needed brayy to help him that one we never cleared brayy

Finally said how much do you remember about it Bosch asked I bet you remember the ones you never solved right yeah well me too a I do I work stickups and you work murders but the open cases still stay with you they sure do how much did they get in the robbery

I remember that to the dime $266,300 Bosch whistled low you’re kidding me in that neighborhood on Mother’s Day they’d cash 3400 checks that adds up and these guys with the AR-15s knew that well it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure it out but we thought they probably had

Help from somebody inside we just could never confirm it our pick for the inside man lawyered up faster than you can say you have the right to remain silent the security guard how’d you guess I don’t know something about the way it read in the paper I thought you didn’t have the

File I don’t it’s a long story Gus but all I have is a first day newspaper clip and after reading it I was thinking that if I was going to lean on anybody inside it would be the security guard do you remember his name nope Rodney something or other that’s all I remember

He was white American and the two stickup guys were white and the one who did the talking had no accent this Rodney character was also banging the girl behind the cage on the side we found that out and she was the one who opened the door for them did you think

She was in on it too no because she was the one who pulled the silent alarm before they made her open up as soon as she saw guys in ski masks getting out of the car in front she pulled the alarm that put her in the clear on our book

But we grilled her pretty good anyway and dismissed her as being part of it she just opened the gate because they had a gun to her boyfriend’s head so we zeroed in on him thinking maybe he played her he knew she’d open the door

When she saw him all beat up and with a gun to his head but nothing came of it maybe Rodney set it up maybe he didn’t no other suspects came up not right then but when those two guys shot up North Hollywood on national TV a few years

Later we took a look at them they were white and worked as a pair of us ski masks and carried AR-15s brille was referencing the infamous 1997 shootout in the streets outside a Bank of America branch in North Hollywood two heavily armed and armored men engaged with police for nearly an

Hour in what was the most violent firefight with law enforcement ever seen on American soil it was carried live on TV around the world when it was over 3,000 rounds had been fired 18 cops and citizens were left shot and injured and the two gunmen were finally dead the

Bloody afternoon was analyzed in detail with every subsequent class of recruits that came through the police academy and it was responsible for upgrades in the types and power of weapons LAPD officers were allowed to carry on their person and in their work cars on that day it seemed as though the

Entire police force had been outgun by the two bank robbers Bosch had been there the ongoing shooting Drew hundreds of officers and detectives from all over the city Bosch and his partner at the time Jerry Edgar had responded code 3 from Hollywood Station and arrived at the barricade on Laurel Canyon Boulevard

Just as the final shots were fired and the all clear signal was given they were then assigned a crime scene containment in the massive post shooting investigation what happened with that BOS asked we never made the connection Bry said but not for lack of trying let

Me tell you a story about those two guys back in October 93 just a few weeks after the easy Bank Job those two guys got arrested up in Glendale they were pulled over on a simple traffic stop for suspicious activity around a bank and the copper saw guns under a blanket on

The back seat they had a fraking Arsenal in the car including two AR-15s and they were about to hit the bank they made an attempted robbery case against them and both went to prison for a couple years Bosch had an idea about where the story was going you guys never heard about it

At the time he asked not a word brayy said Glendale kept it to themselves and we never heard about it until 97 when the hit the fan at Bank of America so then we go back to that Glendale case and that’s when we see they were using

AR-15s within a month of our cash box hit and think holy we’ve got something here but you know what no AR15s exactly right Glendale had a confiscated weapons bonfire in 96 and those 15s went into the smelter we never got a chance to see if they matched our

Case there was bitterness in Bray’s voice and it was understandable Bosch knew it wasn’t the first time and by no means the last time the lack of communication between law enforcement agencies let things slip through the cracks in 1993 there was barely any digital tracking of weapons or cases the

Computer revolution in law enforcement that would make for better and more immediate connections was just about to begin so we never closed it Bry said then my partner Jimmy Corbin retired and 6 months after him I pulled the pin too nobody came in to carry the torch because Major Crimes was changing and

Nobody gave us anymore you know how that went yeah I do Major Crimes as an elite robbery Squad was dissolved in the unit designation was later applied to the squad task with all terrorism related investigations and intelligence gathering the history aside there was something that bothered Bosch about the

Mention of the North Hollywood bank robbers something he couldn’t quite place or remember he let it go for the moment can I ask you a couple more questions Gus he asked sure might as well brilley said I kind of like this Bosch you know thinking about cases I

Didn’t miss it when I first retired and then I did now I sit out here and bake in the Sun all day BOS made a mental note of this complaint for his own future reference and moved ahead you remember the name of the girl who opened

The door for these guys you remember any other names no sorry I just remember Rodney the girl was Mexican from the neighborhood they needed her in there to help translate the other guy who was in there was Ukrainian so it was the security guard the girl and the Ukrainian guy that’s it

Yeah it was the morning and things didn’t start cooking there until after the mail was delivered in that neighborhood about 12: they had more help scheduled for the afternoon okay what about the Ukrainian did you look at him we looked at everybody BOS we were thorough but the

Ukrainian guy was a part owner with this group that owned three or four of those places around the city we couldn’t make it work work you know why would he steal his own money he was way over the insurance limit because of Mother’s Day He took a significant loss and it didn’t

Make sense to us okay