Michael Connelly - The Drop

Bosch leaned forward, closer to Mason, and put his elbows on his knees. They were getting to the center of it now.

“What did you do?”

“I confronted him. I went to George and gave him every way out, but at the end of the day, there was no way out. I felt he and his father had used me and I told him that. I told him we weren’t friends anymore and that was the last time I saw him.”

Bosch nodded.

“And this is why you think he killed himself.”

Mason scoffed.

“No, man. If he used me like that, then I wasn’t really that important in his life. I think he killed himself for other reasons. I think Chad leaving was a big thing. . and maybe there were other things. The family had secrets, you know what I mean?”

Mason didn’t know about McQuillen or the marks on George Irving’s back. Bosch decided that this wasn’t the time for him to find out.

“Okay, Mason, you have anything else for me?”

Mason shook his head.

“You didn’t confront the councilman about all of this, did you?”

“Not yet.”

Bosch thought about that.

“You going to the funeral tomorrow?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Tomorrow morning, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll guess I’ll decide then. We were friends a long time. Things just sort of went wrong at the end.”

“Well, maybe I’ll see you there. You can go now. I appreciate you telling the story.”

“Yeah.”

Mason stood up and headed toward the back hallway, his head down. Bosch watched him go and wondered about the vagaries of relationships and investigations. He had come to the division expecting to confront a cop who was bent, who had crossed the line. Instead, he now viewed Mason as another victim of Irvin Irving.

And at the top of the list of Irving’s victims was his own son. Mason might not have to worry about confronting the councilman. Bosch might get there first.

George Irving’s Thursday morning funeral was crowded. But it was hard for Bosch to tell if all the people were there to mourn the loss of George Irving or to buttress their ties to his father, the city councilman. Many of the city’s political elite were there, along with the command staff of the police department. Even Councilman Irving’s opponent in the upcoming election — the guy who didn’t have a chance — was present. It was as if a truce in politics had been called so respect could be shown for the dead.

Bosch stood on the periphery of the graveside gathering and watched the parade of who’s who make their way to Irvin Irving and the rest of the dead man’s family to offer condolences. It was Bosch’s first look at Chad Irving, the third generation of the family. He clearly favored his mother in his looks. He stood next to her with his head down, barely looking up whenever someone offered a hand or a grip of the upper arm. He seemed bereft, whereas his mother was tearless and stoic, possibly operating behind a pharmaceutical haze.

Bosch was so intent on studying the family and political permutations of the scene that he didn’t notice Kiz Rider slip away from the police chief’s side. She came up on Harry’s left as silent as an assassin.

“Harry?”

Bosch turned.

“Lieutenant Rider. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I came with the chief.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Big mistake.”

“Why’s that?”

“I wouldn’t be showing support for Irvin Irving right about now. That’s all.”

“Have things advanced since our discussion yesterday?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Bosch summarized his interview of Robert Mason and the clear implication that the councilman was complicit in the effort to move the Hollywood taxi franchise from B&W to Regent. He said that effort likely triggered the events that led to George Irving’s death.

“Will Mason testify?”

Bosch shrugged.

“I never asked him but he knows the score. He’s a cop and he likes his job — enough to end his friendship with George Irving when he realized he was being used. He knows if he’s called to testify and he refuses, then his career is over. I think he’ll testify. I’m surprised he’s not here today. I thought maybe there might be some fireworks.”

Rider scanned the crowd. The service was over and people were starting to drift off amid the tombstones, heading to their cars.

“We don’t want fireworks here, Harry. If you see him, you head him off.”

“It’s over. He didn’t come.”

“So what’s your next move?”

“Today’s the big day. I’m going to bring McQuillen in for a conversation.”

“You don’t have enough to charge him.”

“Probably not. I’ve got a forensics team at the hotel right now with my partner. They’re taking a second run at it. If we can put McQuillen in that suite or on the fire escape, it’s over.”

“A big ‘if.’”

“There’s also his watch and the possibility of matching it to the wounds on the back.”

Rider nodded.

“That might work, but as you mentioned before, it won’t be conclusive. We’ll have our experts say it’s a match. He’ll have his experts say it’s not.”

“Yeah. Listen, Lieutenant, I think I’m about to have some company. You might want to move out of the way.”

She scanned the remaining crowd.

“Who?”

“Irving’s been watching me without really watching me. I think he’s going to come over. He’s waiting for you to leave, I think.”

“All right, then I’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Harry.”

“If that’s what it takes. See you, Kiz.”

“Stay in contact.”

“Roger that.”

She walked off and headed toward a clot of people surrounding the chief of police. Almost immediately Irvin Irving took advantage of seeing Bosch alone and headed toward him.

Before Bosch could address him, Irving said what was on his mind.

“It’s a devastating thing to put your son in the ground and not even know why he was taken.”

Bosch had to hold himself back. He had decided that now was not the time to confront Irving. There was still work to be done. McQuillen first, then Irving.

“I understand,” he said. “I hope to have something for you soon. The next day or two.”

“That’s not good enough, Detective. I have not heard from you, and what I hear about you is not comforting. Are you working another case besides the investigation of my son’s death?”

“Sir, I have a lot of open cases and things don’t come to a standstill because a politician pulled strings and put me on a new one. All you need to know is that I am working the case and will have an update for you before the week is out.”

“I want more than an update, Bosch. I want to know what happened and who did this to my son. Are we clear?”

“Sure, we’re clear. And what I would like now is to speak to your grandson for a few minutes. Could you—”

“It’s not a good time.”

“It’s never going to be a good time, Councilman. But if you are going to demand results, then you can’t stop me from throwing the net. I need to talk to the victim’s son. He’s looking at us right now. Would you please wave him over?”

Irving looked back at the grave site and saw Chad standing by himself. He signaled him over. The young man walked up to them and Irvin Irving made the introduction.

“Do you mind if I speak with Chad alone for a few minutes, Councilman?”

Irving looked like he had been betrayed but didn’t want to reveal it in front of his grandson.

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll be at the car. We’ll be leaving soon, Chad. And Detective? I want to hear from you.”

“You will, sir.”

Bosch put his hand on Chad Irving’s upper arm and steered him away from his grandfather. They walked toward a stand of trees in the center of the cemetery. There was shade there and privacy.