Майкл Коннелли - Город костей - английский и русский параллельные тексты

- Это индустрия развлечений, - заметил Босх.

Шагая по коридору к лестнице, Босх и Эдгар снова миновали всех актеров. На лестничной клетке Фрэнк громко произносил свои реплики. Когда появились детективы, он улыбнулся им:

- Ребята, вы настоящие полицейские, верно? Как, по-вашему, я читал?

- Великолепно, Фрэнк, - сказал Эдгар. - Ты «закрыватель», дружище. Доказательство у тебя в брюках.

46

At two o'clock Friday afternoon Bosch and Edgar made their way through the squad room to the homicide table. They had driven from the Westside to Hollywood in virtual silence. It was the tenth day of the case. They were no closer to the killer of Arthur Delacroix than they had been during all the years that Arthur Delacroix's bones had lain silently on the hillside above Wonderland Avenue.

All they had to show for their ten days was a dead cop and the suicide of an apparently reformed pedophile.

As usual there was a stack of pink phone messages left for Bosch at his place. There was also an interoffice dispatch envelope. He picked up the envelope first, guessing he knew what was in it. "About time," he said.

He opened the envelope and slid his mini-cassette recorder out of it. He pushed the play button to check the battery. He immediately heard his own voice. He lowered the volume and turned off the device.

He slipped it into his jacket pocket and dropped the envelope into the trash can by his feet.

He shuffled through the phone messages. Almost all were from reporters. Live by the media, die by

the media he thought_

46

В два часа Босх и Эдгар прошли через сыскной отдел к своему столу.

Из Уэстсайда до Г олливуда они ехали в полном молчании. Шел десятый день расследования.

К убийце Артура Делакруа они были не ближе, чем в течение всех лет, пока кости мальчика лежали на склоне холма над Уандерланд-авеню.

Наглядные результаты их десятидневной работы сводились к гибели констебля и самоубийству явно исправившегося педофила.

Как обычно, Босха дожидались розовые извещения о телефонных звонках и пакет из экспедиции. Босх первым делом взял его, догадавшись, что в нем.

- Наконец-то.

Открыв пакет, он достал оттуда мини-кассетный магнитофон. Нажал кнопку воспроизведения звука, чтобы проверить батарейку. Сразу услышал собственный голос. Убавил громкость и выключил аппарат. Положил его в карман куртки, а пакет бросил в мусорную корзину.

Потом стал просматривать извещения о телефонных звонках. Почти все были от репортеров. Эта публика готова и превознести тебя, и смешать с грязью, подумал Босх.

He would leave it to the Media Relations Office to explain to the world how a man who confessed to and was charged with a murder one day was exonerated and released the next.

"You know," Bosch said to Edgar, "in Canada the cops don't have to tell the media jack about a case until it's over. It's like a media blackout on every case."

"Plus, they've got that round bacon up there," Edgar replied. "What're we doing here, Harry?"

There was a message from the family counselor at the medical examiner's office telling Bosch that the remains of Arthur Delacroix had been released to his family for burial on Sunday.

Bosch put it aside so he could call back to find out about the funeral arrangements and which member of the family had claimed the remains.

He went back to the messages and came upon a pink slip that immediately gave him pause. He leaned back in his chair and studied it, a tightness coming over his scalp and going down the back of his neck.

The message came in at ten-thirty-five and was from a Lieutenant Bollenbach in the Office of Operations — the 0-3 as it was more popularly known by the rank and file. The 0-3 was where all personnel assignments and transfers were issued. A

decade before when Bosch was moved to the_

Он хотел предоставить пресс-службе объяснить миру, почему человек, вчера признавшийся в убийстве, сегодня оправдан и освобожден.

- Знаешь, - обратился он к Эдгару, - в Канаде полицейские не должны ничего говорить журналистам о деле, пока оно не завершено.

- Да и платят там получше, - заметил Эдгар. - Гарри, что мы здесь делаем?

Пришло сообщение от консультанта из медицинской экспертизы, что останки Артура Делакруа выданы его родным для похорон в воскресенье.

Босх положил его отдельно, чтобы позвонить туда, узнать о похоронных приготовлениях и о том, кто из родных затребовал останки.

Продолжая просматривать розовые извещения, Босх наткнулся на одно, которое заставило его прервать свое занятие. Он откинулся на спинку стула и стал его разглядывать, ощущая, как что-то сдавливает голову, спускаясь к затылку.

В десять тридцать пять звонил лейтенант Болленбах из оперативного отдела - 0-3, как его называли все, от констеблей до сержантов. Из этого отдела исходили все кадровые назначения и перемещения. Около десяти лет назад, когда Босха перевели в голливудское отделение, он получил приказ после уведомления из 0-3.

Same thing with Kiz Rider going to RHD the year before.

Bosch thought about what Irving had said to him in the interview room three days earlier. He guessed that the 0-3 was now about to begin an effort to achieve the deputy chief's wish for Bosch's retirement. He took the message as a sign he was being transferred out of Hollywood. His new assignment would likely involve some freeway therapy — a posting far from his home and requiring long drives each day to and from work. It was a frequently used management tool for convincing cops they might be better off turning in the badge and doing something else.

Bosch looked at Edgar. His partner was going through his own collection of phone messages, none of which appeared to have stopped him the way the one in Bosch's hand had. He decided not to return the call yet or to tell Edgar about it. He folded the message and put it in his pocket. He took a look around the squad room, at all the bustling activity of the detectives. He would miss it if the new assignment wasn't a posting with the same kind of ebb and flow of adrenaline. He didn't care about freeway therapy.He could take the best punch they could give and not care. What he did care about was the job, the mission. He knew that without it he was lost. He went back to the