Michael Connelly - The Reversal

“So,” I said, “from the El Rey’s alley and the location of its trash bin, you can see into the adjoining parking lot, and anyone in the adjoining parking lot could see the trash bin, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And prior to the day you discovered the body, did you have occasion to be at work on a Sunday and to notice that the parking lot behind the theater was being used?”

“Yes, like a month previously, I came to work and in the back there were many cars and I saw tow trucks towing them in.”

I couldn’t help myself. I had to glance over at Royce and Jessup to see if they were squirming yet. I was about to draw the first blood of the trial. They thought Johnson was going to be a noncritical witness, meaning he would establish the murder and its location and nothing else.

They were wrong.

“Did you inquire as to what was going on?” I asked.

“Yes,” Johnson said. “I asked what they were doing and one of the drivers said that they were towing cars from the neighborhood down the street and holding them there so people could come and pay and get their cars.”

“So it was being used like a temporary holding lot, is that what you mean?”

“Yes.”

“And did you know what the name of the towing company was?”

“It was on the trucks. It was called Aardvark Towing.”

“You said trucks. You saw more than one truck there?”

“Yeah, there were two or three trucks when I saw them.”

“What did you tell them after you were informed what they were doing there?”

“I told my boss and he called City Park to see if they knew about it. He thought there could be an insurance concern, especially with people being mad about being towed and all. And it turned out Aardvark wasn’t supposed to be there. It wasn’t authorized.”

“What happened?”

“They had to stop using the lot and my boss told me to keep an eye out if I worked on weekends to see if they kept using it.”

“So they stopped using the lot behind the theater?”

“That’s right.”

“And this was the same lot from which you could see the trash bin in which you would later find the body of Melissa Landy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When Mr. Royce asked you if you had ever seen the defendant before the day of the murder, you answered that you didn’t think so, correct?”

“Correct.”

“You don’t think so? Why are you not sure?”

“Because I think he could’ve been one of the Aardvark drivers I saw using that lot. So I can’t be sure I didn’t see him before.”

“Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I have no further questions.”

Monday, April 5, 10:20 A.M .

For the first time since he had been brought into the case Bosch felt as though Melissa Landy was in good hands. He had just watched Mickey Haller score the first points of the trial. He had taken a small piece of the puzzle Bosch had come up with and used it to land the first punch. It wasn’t a knockout by any means but it had connected solidly. It was the first step down the path of proving Jason Jessup’s familiarity with the parking lot and trash bin behind the El Rey Theatre. Before the trial would end, its importance would be made clear to the jury. But what was even more significant to Bosch at the moment was the way Haller had used the information Harry had provided. He had hung it on the defense, made it look as though it had been their attempt to obfuscate the facts of the case that drew the information out. It was a smooth move and it gave Bosch a big boost in his confidence in Haller as a prosecutor.

He met Johnson at the gate and walked him out of the courtroom to the hallway, where he shook his hand.

“You did real good in there, Mr. Johnson. We can’t thank you enough.”

“You already have. Convicting that man of killing that little girl.”

“Well, we’re not quite there yet but that’s the plan. Except most people who read the paper think we’re going after an innocent man.”

“No, you got the right man. I can tell.”

Bosch nodded and felt awkward.

“You take care, Mr. Johnson.”

“Detective, your music is jazz, right?”

Bosch had already turned to go back to the courtroom. Now he looked back at Johnson.

“How’d you know that?”

“Just a guess. We got jazz acts that come through. New Orleans jazz. You ever want tickets to a show at the El Rey, you look me up.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks.”

Bosch pushed through the doors leading back into the courtroom. He was smiling, thinking about Johnson’s guess about his music. If he was right about that, then maybe he would be right about the jury convicting Jessup. As he moved down the aisle, he heard the judge telling Haller to call his next witness.

“The state calls Regina Landy.”

Bosch knew he was on. This part had been choreographed a week earlier by the judge and over the objection of the defense. Regina Landy was unavailable to testify because she was dead, but she had testified in the first trial and the judge had ruled that her testimony could be read to the current jurors.

Breitman now turned to the jurors to offer the explanation, guarding against revealing any hint that there had been an earlier trial.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the state has called a witness who is no longer available to testify. However, previously she gave sworn testimony that we will read to you today. You are not to consider why this witness is unable to testify or where this previous sworn testimony is from. Your concern is the testimony itself. I should add that I have decided to allow this over the objection of the defense. The U.S. Constitution holds that the accused is entitled to question his accusers. However, as you will see, this witness was indeed questioned by an attorney who previously represented Mr. Jessup.”

She turned back to the court.

“You may proceed, Mr. Haller.”

Haller called Bosch to the stand. He was sworn in and then took the seat, pulling the microphone into position. He opened the blue binder he had carried with him and Haller began.

“Detective Bosch, can you tell us a little bit about your experience as a law enforcement officer?”

Bosch turned toward the jury box and moved his eyes over the faces of the jurors as he answered. He did not leave the alternates out.

“I have been a sworn officer for thirty-six years. I have spent more than twenty-five of those years working homicides. I have been the lead investigator in more than two hundred murder investigations in that time.”

“And you are the lead investigator on this case?”

“Yes, I am now. I did not take part in the original investigation, however. I came into this case in February of this year.”

“Thank you, Detective. We will be talking about your investigation later in the trial. Are you prepared to read the sworn testimony of Regina Landy taken on October seventh, nineteen eighty-six?”

“I am.”

“Okay, I will read the questions that were posed at the time by Deputy District Attorney Gary Lintz and defense counsel Charles Barnard and you will read the responses from the witness. We start with direct examination from Mr. Lintz.”

Haller paused and studied the transcript in front of him. Bosch wondered if there would be any confusion from his reading the responses of a woman. In deciding to allow the testimony the week before, the judge had disallowed any reference to emotions described as having been exhibited by Regina Landy. Bosch knew from the transcript that she was crying throughout her testimony. But he would not be able to communicate that to the present jurors.

“Here we go,” Haller said. “ ‘Mrs. Landy, can you please describe your relationship with the victim, Melissa Landy.’ ”