Nine Dragons (38 page)

Bosch saw the two Hong Kong detectives physically lean back as Haller shouted the last word. He then continued in a calm and well-modulated courtroom voice.

“Now, we know you want to know what happened and you have reports that need to be filled out and supervisors who need to be informed. But you have to seriously ask yourself, is this the proper course to take?”

Another pause.

“Whatever happened in Hong Kong occurred because your department failed this young American girl and this family. And if you are now going to sit back and analyze what actions Detective Bosch took because your department failed to act properly—if you are looking for a scapegoat to take back with you to Hong Kong—then you won’t find one here. We won’t be cooperating. However, I do have someone here whom you
will
be able to talk to about all of this. We can start with him.”

Haller pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and slid it across the table to them. Wu picked it up and studied it. Haller had shown it to Bosch earlier. It was the business card of a reporter from the
Los Angeles Times
.

“Jock Meekeevoy,” Lo read. “He has information about this?”

“That’s Jack McEvoy. And he has no information now. But he would be very interested in a story like this.”

This was all part of the plan. Haller bluffing. The truth was, and Bosch knew, that McEvoy had been laid off by the
Times
six months earlier. Haller had dug the old card out of a stack of business cards he kept wrapped in a rubber band in his Lincoln.

“That’s where it will start,” Haller said calmly. “And I think it will make a great story. Thirteen-year-old American girl kidnapped in China for her organs and the police do nothing. Her parents are forced into action and the mother is killed trying to save her daughter. From there it will go international for sure. Every paper, every news channel in the world will want a part of this story. They’ll make a Hollywood movie out of it. And Oliver Stone will direct it!”

Haller now opened his own file that he had carried into the meeting. It contained the news stories he had printed in the car following his Internet search. He slid a set of printouts across the table to Wu and Lo. They moved closer together to share.

“And finally, what you have there is a package of news articles that I will be providing to Mr. McEvoy and any other journalist who makes an inquiry of me or Detective Bosch. These articles document the recent growth of the black market in human organs in China. The waiting list in China is said to be the longest in the world, with some reports of as many as a million people waiting for an organ at any given time. Doesn’t help that a few years back and under pressure from the rest of the world, the Chinese government banned the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners. That only heightened the demand and value of human organs on the black market. I am sure you will be able to see from those stories from very credible newspapers, including the
Beijing Review,
where Mr. McEvoy will be going with his story. It’s up to you now to decide if that is what you want to happen here.”

Wu turned so he could whisper in rapid-fire Chinese directly into Lo’s ear.

“No need to whisper, gentlemen,” Haller said. “We can’t understand you.”

Wu straightened himself.

“We would like to make private telephone call before continuing the interview,” he said.

“To Hong Kong?” Bosch asked. “It’s going on five in the morning there.”

“This does not matter,” Wu said. “I must make the call, please.”

Gandle stood up.

“You can use my office. You’ll have privacy.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

The Hong Kong investigators stood up to go.

“One last thing, gentlemen,” Haller said.

They looked at him with
what now?
written on their faces.

“I just want you and whoever it is you are calling to know that we are also very concerned about the disposition of Sun Yee in this matter. We want you to know that we’ll be getting in touch with Mr. Sun and if we can’t reach him or if we learn that he has encountered any sort of impediment to his personal freedom, we plan to bring that issue up before the court of public opinion as well.”

Haller smiled and paused before continuing.

“It’s a package deal, gentlemen. Tell your people that.”

Haller nodded, keeping the smile going the whole time, his demeanor contradicting the obvious threat. Wu and Lo nodded that they understood the message and followed Gandle out of the room.

“What do you think?” Bosch asked Haller when they were alone. “Are we in the clear?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Haller said. “I think this thing just ended. What happens in Hong Kong stays in Hong Kong.”

43

B
osch decided not to wait in the conference room for the Hong Kong detectives to return. He remained bothered by the verbal altercation he’d had with his partner the day before and went into the squad room to try to find Ferras.

But Ferras was gone and Bosch wondered if he had intentionally gone to lunch in order to avoid further confrontation. Harry stepped into his own cubicle to check the desk for interoffice envelopes and other messages. There were none, but he saw a blinking red light on his phone. He had a message. He was still getting used to the practice of having to check his phone line for messages. In the squad room at Parker Center, things were antiquated and there was no personal voice mail. All messages went to a central line, which the squad secretary monitored. She then wrote out message slips that went into mailboxes or were left on desks. If the call was urgent the secretary personally tracked the detective down by pager or cell phone.

Bosch sat down and typed his code into the phone. He had five messages. The first three were routine calls about other cases. He made a few notes on a desk pad and erased the messages. The fourth had been left the night before by Detective Wu of the HKPD. He had just landed and checked into a hotel and wanted to set up an interview. Bosch erased it.

The fifth message was from Teri Sopp in latent prints. It had been left at 9:15 that morning, just about the time Bosch was opening the flat box that contained his daughter’s new computer desk.

“Harry, we did the electrostatic enhancement test on the casing you gave me. We pulled a print off it and everybody around here’s pretty excited. We got a match on the DOJ computer, too. So give me a call as soon as you get this.”

As he called latents, Bosch looked up over the wall of his cubicle and saw Gandle escorting the two HKPD detectives back to the conference room. He waved his arm at Bosch, signaling him to come back as well. Bosch held up a finger, telling him that he needed a minute.

“Latents.”

“Let me speak to Teri, please.”

He waited another ten seconds, excitement growing. Bo-Jing Chang might have been kicked loose and might already be back in Hong Kong for all Bosch knew, but if his fingerprint was on the casing of one of the bullets that killed John Li, then that was a game changer. It was direct evidence linking him to the murder. They could charge him and seek an extradition warrant.

“This is Teri.”

“It’s Harry Bosch. I just got your message.”

“I was wondering where you were. We got a match on your casing.”

“That’s wonderful. Bo-Jing Chang?”

“I’m in the lab. Let me go to my desk. It was a Chinese name but not the one on the print card your partner gave me. Those prints didn’t match. Let me put you on hold.”

She was gone and Bosch felt a fissure suddenly form in his assumptions about the case.

“Harry, are you coming?”

He looked up and out of the cubicle. Gandle had called from the door of the conference room. Bosch pointed to the phone and shook his head. Not satisfied, Gandle stepped out of the conference room and came over to Bosch’s cubicle.

“Look, they are folding on this,” he said urgently. “You need to get in there and finish it off.”

“My lawyer can handle it. I just got the call.”

“What call?”

“The one that changes—”

“Harry?”

It was Sopp back on the line. Bosch covered the mouthpiece.

“I have to take this,” he said to Gandle. Then, dropping his hand and speaking into the phone, he said, “Teri, give me the name.”

Gandle shook his head and went back toward the conference room.

“Okay, it’s not the name you mentioned. It’s Henry Lau,
L-A-U.
DOB is nine-nine-eighty-two.”

“What’s he in the computer for?”

“He was pulled over on a deuce two years ago in Venice.”

“That’s all he’s got?”

“Yeah. Other than that he’s clean.”

“What about an address?”

“The address on his DL is eighteen Quarterdeck in Venice. Unit eleven.”

Bosch copied the information into his pocket notebook.

“Okay, and this print you pulled, it’s solid, right?”

“No doubt, Harry. It came up glowing like Christmas. This technology is amazing. It’s going to change things.”

“And they want to use this as the test case for California?”

“I wouldn’t jump the gun on that just yet. My supervisor wants to first see how this plays in your case. You know, whether this guy is your shooter and what other evidence there is. We’re looking for a case where the technology is an integral piece in the prosecution.”

“Well, you’ll know it when I know it, Teri. Thanks for this. We’re going to move on it right now.”

“Good luck, Harry.”

Bosch hung up. He first looked over the cubicle wall at the conference room. The blinds were down but open. He could see Haller gesturing toward the two men from Hong Kong. Bosch checked his partner’s cubicle once more but it was still empty. He made a decision and picked up the phone again.

David Chu was in the AGU office and took Bosch’s call. Harry updated him on the latest piece of information to come out of latent prints and told him to run Henry Lau’s name through the triad files. In the meantime, Bosch said, he was heading over to pick Chu up.

“Where are we going?” Chu asked.

“To go find this guy.”

Bosch hung up and headed to the conference room, not to take part in whatever was being discussed, but to inform Gandle of what appeared to be a major breakthrough in the case.

When he opened the door, Gandle put his it’s-about-time look on his face. Bosch signaled him to step out again.

“Harry, these men still have questions for you,” Gandle said.

“They’ll have to wait. We’ve caught a break on the Li case and I need to move on it. Now.”

Gandle got up and started toward the door.

“Harry, I think I can handle this,” Haller said from his seat. “But there’s one question you need to answer.”

Bosch looked at him and Haller nodded, meaning the remaining question was a safe one.

“What?”

“Do you want your ex-wife’s body transported to Los Angeles?”

The question gave Bosch pause. The immediate answer was yes, but the hesitation was in measuring the consequences for his daughter.

“Yes,” he finally said. “Send her to me.”

He let Gandle step out and then closed the door.

“What happened?” Gandle asked.

Chu was waiting out front of the AGU building when Bosch pulled up. He was holding a briefcase, which made Bosch think that he had found some information on Henry Lau. He hopped in and Bosch took off.

“We’re starting in Venice?” Chu asked.

“That’s right. What did you find on Lau?”

“Nothing.”

Bosch looked over at him.

“Nothing?”

“As far as we know, he’s clean. I could not find his name anywhere in our intelligence files. I also talked to some people and made some calls. Nothing. By the way, I did print out his DL photo.”

He leaned down and opened his briefcase and pulled out the color printout of Lau’s driver’s license photo. He handed it to Bosch, who stole quick glances at it as he drove. They got on the Broadway entrance to the 101 and took it up to the 110. The freeways were congested downtown.

Lau had smiled at the camera. He had a fresh face and a stylish cut to his hair. It was hard to connect the face with triad work, particularly the cold-blooded murder of a liquor store owner. The address in Venice didn’t fit well either.

“I also checked with ATF. Henry Lau is the registered owner of a nine-millimeter Glock Model Nineteen. Not only did he load it, he owns it.”

“When did he buy it?”

“Six years ago, the day after he turned twenty-one.”

To Bosch that meant they were getting warm. Lau owned the right gun and his purchase of the weapon as soon as he was of legal age most likely indicated that he had had a long-term desire to acquire a weapon. That made him a traveler in the world Bosch knew. His connection to John Li and Bo-Jing Chang would become apparent once they had him in custody and started taking apart his life.

They connected to the 10 and headed west toward the Pacific. Bosch’s phone buzzed and he answered without looking, expecting the caller to be Haller with news about the meeting with the Hong Kong detectives being over.

“Harry, it’s Dr. Hinojos. We’re waiting for you.”

Bosch had forgotten. For more than thirty years he had simply moved with an investigation when it was time to move. He had never had to think about anybody else.

“Oh, Doctor! I’m so sorry. I completely—I’m on my way to pick up a suspect.”

“What do you mean?”

“We got a break and I had to—is there any way that Maddie could stay with you a little while longer?”

“Well, this is…I suppose she could stay here. I really just have administrative work the rest of the day. Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

“Look, I know this is bad. It looks bad. She just got here and I left her with you and forgot. But this case is the reason she’s here. I have to ride it out. I’m going to grab this guy if he’s home and come back downtown. I’ll call you then. I’ll come get her then.”

“Okay, Harry. I could use the extra time with her. You and I are also going to need to find time to talk. About Maddie and then about you.”