Michael Connelly - The Reversal

“ ‘And what happened when you got there?’ ”

“ ‘We found that they were about to shut down for the day because they essentially worked no-parking zones around churches. By noon they were done. There were three drivers and they were securing things and about to head out when we got there. They all voluntarily agreed to identify themselves and answer our questions. While my partner asked preliminary questions I went back to our car and called their names into central dispatch so they could check them for criminal records.’ ”

“ ‘Who were these men, Detective Kloster?’ ”

“ ‘Their names were William Clinton, Jason Jessup and Derek Wilbern.’ ”

“ ‘And what was the result of your records search?’ ”

“ ‘Only Wilbern had an arrest record. It was an attempted rape with no conviction. The case, as I recall, was four years old.’ ”

“ ‘Did this make him a suspect in the Melissa Landy abduction?’ ”

“ ‘Yes, it did. He generally fit the description we had gotten from Sarah. He drove a large truck and wore overalls. And he had an arrest record involving a sex crime. That made him a strong suspect in my mind.’ ”

“ ‘What did you do next?’ ”

“ ‘I returned to my partner and he was still interviewing the men in a group setting. I knew that time was of the essence. This little girl was still missing. She was still out there somewhere and usually in a case like this, the longer the individual is missing, the less chance you have of a good ending.’ ”

“ ‘So you made some decisions, didn’t you?’ ”

“ ‘Yes, I decided that Sarah Landy ought to see Derek Wilbern to see if she could identify him as the abductor.’ ”

“ ‘So did you set up a lineup for her to view?’ ”

“ ‘No, I didn’t.’ ”

“ ‘No?’ ”

“ ‘No. I didn’t feel there was time. I had to keep things moving. We had to try to find that girl. So what I did was ask if the three men would agree to go to a separate location where we could continue the interview. They each said yes.’ ”

“ ‘No hesitation?’ ”

“ ‘No, none. They agreed.’ ”

“ ‘By the way, what happened when the other detectives visited the other towing companies that worked in the Wilshire District?’ ”

“ ‘They did not find or interview anyone who rose to the level of suspect.’ ”

“ ‘You mean no one with a criminal record?’ ”

“ ‘No criminal records and no flags came up during interviews.’ ”

“ ‘So you were concentrating on Derek Wilbern?’ ”

“ ‘That’s right.’ ”

“ ‘So when Wilbern and the other two men agreed to be interviewed at another location, what did you do?’ ”

“ ‘We called for a couple of patrol cruisers and we put Jessup and Clinton in the back of one car and Wilbern in the back of the other. We then closed and locked the Aardvark tow yard and drove ahead in our car.’ ”

“ ‘So you got back to the Landy house first?’ ”

“ ‘By design. We had told the patrol officers to take a circuitous route to the Landy house on Windsor so we could get there first. When we arrived back at the house I took Sarah upstairs to her bedroom, which was located at the front and was overlooking the front yard and street. I closed the blinds and had her look through just a crack so she would not be visibly exposed to the tow truck drivers.’ ”

“ ‘What happened next?’ ”

“ ‘My partner had stayed out front. When the patrol cruisers arrived, I had him take the three men out of the cars and have them stand together on the sidewalk. I asked Sarah if she recognized any of them.’ ”

“ ‘Did she?’ ”

“ ‘Not at first. But one of the men-Jessup-was wearing a baseball hat and he was looking down, using the brim to guard his face.’ ”

Bosch flipped over two pages of the testimony at this point. The pages had been X-ed out. They contained several questions about Jessup’s demeanor and attempt to use his hat to hide his face. These questions were objected to by Jessup’s then-defense counsel, sustained by the trial judge, then resculpted and reasked, and objected to again. In the pretrial hearing, Breitman had agreed with Royce’s contention that the current jury should not even hear them. It was one of the only points Royce had won.

Haller picked up the reading at the point the skirmish had ended.

“ ‘Okay, Detective, why don’t you tell the jury what happened next?’ ”

“ ‘Sarah asked me if I could ask the man with the hat to remove it. I radioed my partner and he told Jessup to take off the hat. Almost immediately, Sarah said it was him.’ ”

“ ‘The man who abducted her sister?’ ”

“ ‘Yes.’ ”

“ ‘Wait a minute. You said Derek Wilbern was your suspect.’ ”

“ ‘Yes, based on his having a record of a prior arrest for a sex crime, I thought he was the most likely suspect.’ ”

“ ‘Was Sarah sure of her identification?’ ”

“ ‘I asked her several times to confirm the identification. She did.’ ”

“ ‘What did you do next?’ ”

“ ‘I left Sarah in her room and went back downstairs. When I got outside I placed Jason Jessup under arrest, handcuffed him and put him in the back of a patrol car. I told other officers to put Wilbern and Clinton in another car and take them down to Wilshire Division for questioning.’ ”

“ ‘Did you question Jason Jessup at this point?’ ”

“ ‘Yes, I did. Again, time was of the essence. I didn’t feel that I had the time to take him to Wilshire Division and set up a formal interview. Instead, I got in the car with him, read him the Miranda warning and asked if he would talk to me. He said yes.’ ”

“ ‘Did you record this?’ ”

“ ‘No, I did not. Frankly, I forgot. Things were moving so quickly and all I could think about was finding that little girl. I had a recorder in my pocket but I forgot to record this conversation.’ ”

“ ‘Okay, so you questioned Jessup anyway?’ ”

“ ‘I asked questions but he gave very few answers. He denied any involvement in the abduction. He acknowledged that he had been on tow patrol in the neighborhood that morning and could have driven by the Landy house but that he did not remember specifically driving on Windsor. I asked him if he remembered seeing the Hollywood sign, because if you are on Windsor you have a straight view of it up the street and on top of the hill. He said he didn’t remember seeing the Hollywood sign.’ ”

“ ‘How long did this questioning go on?’ ”

“ ‘Not long. Maybe five minutes. We were interrupted.’ ”

“ ‘By what, Detective?’ ”

“ ‘My partner knocked on the car’s window and I could tell by his face that whatever he had was important. I got out of the car and that’s when he told me. They had found her. A girl’s body had been found in a Dumpster down on Wilshire.’ ”

“ ‘That changed everything?’ ”

“ ‘Yes, everything. I had Jessup transported downtown and booked while I proceeded to the location of the body.’ ”

“ ‘What did you discover when you got there?’ ”

“ ‘There was a body of a girl approximately twelve or thirteen years old discarded in the Dumpster. She was unidentified at that time but she appeared to be Melissa Landy. I had her photograph. I was pretty sure it was her.’ ”

“ ‘And you moved the focus of your investigation to this location?’ ”

“ ‘Absolutely. My partner and I started conducting interviews while the crime scene people and coroner’s people dealt with the body. We soon learned that the parking lot adjacent to the rear yard of the theater had previously been used as a temporary auto storage point by a towing company. We learned that company was Aardvark Towing.’ ”