Michael Connelly - Trunk Music

“Schmucks from Iowa, I would assume. People he would meet and persuade to invest in a movie. You’d be surprised how many people jump at a chance to be part of a Hollywood movie. And Tony was a good salesman. He could make a two-million budget flick sound like the sequel to Gone With the Wind. He convinced me.”

“How so?”

“He talked me into being in one of his movies once. That’s how I met him. Made it sound like I was going to be the new Jane Fonda. You know, sexy but smart. It was a studio picture. Only the director was a coke addict and the writer couldn’t write and the movie was so bad it was never released. That was it for my career and Tony never made a studio picture again. He spent the rest of his life making video garbage.”

Looking around the tall-ceilinged room at the paintings and furniture, Bosch said, “Doesn’t look like he did too badly at it.”

“No, he didn’t,” she responded. “I guess we have those people from Iowa to thank for that.”

Her bitterness was stifling. Bosch looked down at his notebook just so he could avert his eyes from her.

“All this talk,” she said then. “I need some water. Do either of you want something?”

“Water would be fine,” Bosch said. “We’re not going to be much longer.”

“Detective Rider?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“I’ll be right back.”

While she was gone Bosch stood up and looked around the living room in a manner that suggested he wasn’t really interested. He said nothing to Rider. He was standing near a side table looking at a carved glass figurine of a nude woman when Veronica Aliso came back in with two glasses of ice water.

“I just want to ask you a few more questions about this past week,” Bosch said.

“Fine.”

He sipped from his glass and remained standing.

“What would your husband have taken with him to Las Vegas as far as luggage went?”

“Just his overnighter.”

“What did it look like?”

“It was a hanging bag that, you know, folded over. It was green with brown leather trim and straps. He had a name tag on it.”

“Did he take a briefcase or any work with him?”

“Yes, his briefcase. It was one of those aluminum shell kind. You know, they are lightweight but impossible to break into or something. Is the luggage missing?”

“We’re not sure. Do you know where he kept the key to the briefcase?”

“On his key chain. With the car keys.”

There had been no car keys in the Rolls or on Aliso’s body. Bosch realized that the reason they might have been taken was to open the briefcase. He put the glass down next to the figurine and looked at it again. He then began writing the descriptions of the briefcase and hanging bag in his notebook.

“Did your husband wear a wedding ring?”

“No. He did wear quite an expensive watch, though. It was a Rolex. I gave it to him.”

“The watch was not taken.”

“Oh.”

Bosch looked up from his notebook.

“Do you remember what your husband was wearing on Thursday morning? When you last saw him?”

“Um, just clothes…uh, he had on his white pants and a blue shirt and his sport coat.”

“His black leather sport coat?”

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Aliso, do you remember if you hugged him or kissed him good-bye?”

This seemed to fluster her, and Bosch immediately regretted the way he had phrased the question.

“I’m sorry. What I meant was that we found some fingerprints on the jacket. On the shoulder. And if you might have touched him there on the day he left, it could explain this piece of evidence.”

She was quiet a moment and Bosch thought that she was finally going to begin to cry. But instead, she said, “I might have but I don’t remember… I don’t think I did.”

Bosch opened his briefcase and looked for a print screen. He found one in one of the pockets. It looked like a photo slide but the center was a double-sided screen with ink between the screens. A thumb could be pressed on the A side and a fingerprint would be imprinted on a card held against the B side.

“I want to take your thumbprint so we can compare it to the print taken off the jacket. If you did not touch him there, then it might be a good lead for us.”

She stepped over to him and he pressed her right thumb down on the print screen. When he was done she looked at her thumb.

“No ink.”

“Yes, that’s nice. No mess. We just started using these a few years ago.”

“The print on the jacket, did it belong to a woman?”

He looked at her and held her eyes for a moment.

“We won’t know for sure until we get a match.”

As he put the card and the print screen back in the briefcase, he noticed the evidence bag containing the poppers. He took it out and held it up for her to look at.

“Do you know what these are?”

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head no.

“Amyl nitrate poppers. Some people use them to enhance sexual performance and satisfaction. Do you know if your husband ever used these?”

“You found them with him?”

“Mrs. Aliso, I’d rather that you’d just answer my questions. I know this is difficult, but there are some things I can’t tell you yet. I will when I can. I promise.”

“No, he didn’t use them…with me.”

“I’m sorry that I have to be so personal, but we want to catch the person who did this. We both want that. Now, your husband was about ten or twelve years older than you.” He was being charitable here. “Did he have problems performing sexually? Is there any chance he might have been using poppers without your knowledge?”

She turned to go back to her chair. When she was seated again she said, “I wouldn’t know.”

Now Bosch narrowed his eyes. What was she trying to say? His silence worked. She answered before he had to ask, but as she spoke she looked directly at Rider, the unspoken message being that as a woman Rider might sympathize.

“Detective, I haven’t had…I guess, sexual relations is the way it is said in these matters. My husband and I…not in almost two years.”

Bosch nodded and looked down at his notebook. The page was blank but he couldn’t bring himself to write this latest piece of information down with her watching them. He folded the notebook closed and put it away.

“You want to ask me why, don’t you?”

He just looked at her and she answered with a measure of defiance in her face and voice.

“He had lost interest.”

“Are you sure?”

“He told me that to my face.”

Bosch nodded.

“Mrs. Aliso, I’m sorry for the loss of your husband. I’m also sorry for the intrusion and the personal questions. I’m afraid, though, that there will be more as the investigation progresses.”

“I understand.”

“There is one other thing I’d like to cover.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Did your husband have a home office?”

“Yes.”

“Could we take a quick look at it?”

She stood up and they followed her down the second hallway to the office. They both stepped into the room and Bosch looked around. It was a small room with a desk and two file cabinets. There was a TV on a cart in front of a wall of shelves. Half were filled with books and the rest stacked with scripts, the titles written with Magic Markers on the edges of the pages. There was a golf bag leaning in the corner.

Bosch walked over and studied the desk. It was spotless. He came around and saw that the desk contained two file drawers. He opened these and found one empty and one containing several files. He quickly looked through the file tabs and saw that they apparently were files containing personal finance records and tax documents. He closed the drawers, deciding that a search of the office could probably keep.