David Chu was in the AGU office and took Bosch’s call. Harry updated him on the latest piece of information to come out of latent prints and told him to run Henry Lau’s name through the triad files. In the meantime, Bosch said, he was heading over to pick Chu up.
“Where are we going?” Chu asked.
“To go find this guy.”
Bosch hung up and headed to the conference room, not to take part in whatever was being discussed, but to inform Gandle of what appeared to be a major breakthrough in the case.
When he opened the door, Gandle put his it’s-about-time look on his face. Bosch signaled him to step out again.
“Harry, these men still have questions for you,” Gandle said.
“They’ll have to wait. We’ve caught a break on the Li case and I need to move on it. Now.”
Gandle got up and started toward the door.
“Harry, I think I can handle this,” Haller said from his seat. “But there’s one question you need to answer.”
Bosch looked at him and Haller nodded, meaning the remaining question was a safe one.
“What?”
“Do you want your ex-wife’s body transported to Los Angeles?”
The question gave Bosch pause. The immediate answer was yes, but the hesitation was in measuring the consequences for his daughter.
“Yes,” he finally said. “Send her to me.”
He let Gandle step out and then closed the door.
“What happened?” Gandle asked.
Chu was waiting out front of the AGU building when Bosch pulled up. He was holding a briefcase, which made Bosch think that he had found some information on Henry Lau. He hopped in and Bosch took off.
“We’re starting in Venice?” Chu asked.
“That’s right. What did you find on Lau?”
“Nothing?.”
Bosch looked over at him.
“Nothing?”
“As far as we know, he’s clean. I could not find his name anywhere in our intelligence files. I also talked to some people and made some calls. Nothing. By the way, I did print out his DL photo.”
He leaned down and opened his briefcase and pulled out the color printout of Lau’s driver’s license photo. He handed it to Bosch, who stole quick glances at it as he drove. They got on the Broadway entrance to the 101 and took it up to the 110. The freeways were congested downtown.
Lau had smiled at the camera. He had a fresh face and a stylish cut to his hair. It was hard to connect the face with triad work, particularly the cold-blooded murder of a liquor store owner. The address in Venice didn’t fit well either.
“I also checked with ATF. Henry Lau is the registered owner of a nine-millimeter Glock Model Nineteen. Not only did he load it, he owns it.”
“When did he buy it?”
“Six years ago, the day after he turned twenty-one.”
To Bosch that meant they were getting warm. Lau owned the right gun and his purchase of the weapon as soon as he was of legal age most likely indicated that he had had a long-term desire to acquire a weapon. That made him a traveler in the world Bosch knew. His connection to John Li and Bo-Jing Chang would become apparent once they had him in custody and started taking apart his life.
They connected to the 10 and headed west toward the Pacific. Bosch’s phone buzzed and he answered without looking, expecting the caller to be Haller with news about the meeting with the Hong Kong detectives being over.
“Harry, it’s Dr. Hinojos. We’re waiting for you.”
Bosch had forgotten. For more than thirty years he had simply moved with an investigation when it was time to move. He had never had to think about anybody else.
“Oh, Doctor! I’m so sorry. I completely-I’m on my way to pick up a suspect.”
“What do you mean?”
“We got a break and I had to-is there any way that Maddie could stay with you a little while longer”
“Well, this is…I suppose she could stay here. I really just have administrative work the rest of the day. Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“Look, I know this is bad. It looks bad. She just got here and I left her with you and forgot. But this case is the reason she’s here. I have to ride it out. I’m going to grab this guy if he’s home and come back downtown. I’ll call you then. I’ll come get her then.”
“Okay, Harry. I could use the extra time with her. You and I are also going to need to find time to talk. About Maddie and then about you.”
“Okay, we will. Is she there? Can I speak to her?”
“Hold on.”
After a few moments Maddie got on the line.
“Dad?”
With one word she imparted all of the messages: surprise, disappointment, disbelief, terrible letdown.
“I know, baby. I’m sorry. Something’s come up and I need to go with it. Go with Dr. Hinojos and I will be there as fast as I can.”
“All right.”
A double helping of disappointment. Bosch feared it would not be the last time.
“Okay, Mad. I love you.”
He closed the phone and put it away.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said before Chu could ask a question.
“Okay,” Chu said.
The traffic opened up and they made it into Venice in less than a half hour. Along the way Bosch took another call, this one the expected one from Haller. He told Harry that the Hong Kong police would bother him no further.
“That’s it, then?”
“They’ll be in touch about your ex-wife’s body, but that’s it. They’re dropping any inquiry into your part in this.”
“What about Sun Yee?”
“They claim he is being released from questioning and that he faces no charges. You will need to contact him, of course, to confirm.”
“Don’t worry, I will. Thank you, Mickey.”
“All in a day’s work.”
“Send me the bill.”
“No, we’re even, Harry. Instead of billing you, why don’t you let my daughter meet your daughter? They’re almost the same age, you know.”
Bosch hesitated. He knew that Haller was asking for more than a visit between the two girls. Haller was Bosch’s half brother, though they had never met as adults until they crossed paths on a case just a year before. Hooking up the daughters meant hooking up the fathers, and Bosch wasn’t sure he was ready for that.
“When the time is right we’ll do it,” he said. “Right now, she’s supposed to start school tomorrow and I’ve got to get her settled in here.”
“Sounds good. You be safe, Harry.”
Bosch closed the phone and concentrated on finding Henry Lau’s residence. The streets that made up the neighborhoods at the south end of Venice were gridded in alphabetical order and Quarterdeck was one of the last before the inlet and Marina del Rey.
Venice was a bohemian community with uptown prices. The building where Lau resided was one of the newer glass-and-stucco structures that were slowly crowding out the little weekend bungalows that had once lined the beach. Bosch parked in an alley off Speedway and they walked back.
The building was a condominium complex and there were signs out front advertising two units for sale. They entered through a glass door and stood in a small vestibule with an inner security door and a button panel for calling up to individual units. Bosch didn’t like the idea of pushing the button for unit 11. If Lau knew police were at the building entrance, he could escape through any fire exit in the building.
“What’s the plan?” Chu said.
Bosch started pushing the buttons for the other units. They waited and finally a woman answered one of the calls.
“Yes?”
“Los Angeles police, ma’am,” Bosch said. “Can we speak with you?”
“Speak to me about what?”
Bosch shook his head. There was a time when he would not have been questioned. The door would have been immediately opened.
“It’s about a homicide investigation, ma’am. Can you open the door”
There was a long pause and Bosch wanted to buzz her again but he realized he was not sure which of the buttons he had pushed was the one she had responded to.