Internet search. He slid a set of printouts across the table to Wu and Lo. They moved closer together to share.
“And finally, what you have there is a package of news articles that I will be providing to Mr. McEvoy and any other journalist who makes an inquiry of me or Detective Bosch. These articles document the recent growth of the black market in human organs in China. The waiting list in China is said to be the longest in the world, with some reports of as many as a million people waiting for an organ at any given time. Doesn’t help that a few years back and under pressure from the rest of the world, the Chinese government banned the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners. That only heightened the demand and value of human organs on the black market. I am sure you will be able to see from those stories from very credible newspapers, including the Beijing Review, where Mr. McEvoy will be going with his story. It’s up to you now to decide if that is what you want to happen here.”
Wu turned so he could whisper in rapid-fire Chinese directly into Lo’s ear.
“No need to whisper, gentlemen,” Haller said. “We can’t understand you.”
Wu straightened himself.
“We would like to make private telephone call before continuing the interview,” he said.
“To Hong Kong?” Bosch asked. “It’s going on five in the morning there.”
“This does not matter,” Wu said. “I must make the call, please.”
Gandle stood up.
“You can use my office. You’ll have privacy.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.”
The Hong Kong investigators stood up to go.
“One last thing, gentlemen,” Haller said.
They looked at him with what now? written on their faces.
“I just want you and whoever it is you are calling to know that we are also very concerned about the disposition of Sun Yee in this matter. We want you to know that we’ll be getting in touch with Mr. Sun and if we can’t reach him or if we learn that he has encountered any sort of impediment to his personal freedom, we plan to bring that issue up before the court of public opinion as well.”
Haller smiled and paused before continuing.
“It’s a package deal, gentlemen. Tell your people that.”
Haller nodded, keeping the smile going the whole time, his demeanor contradicting the obvious threat. Wu and Lo nodded that they understood the message and followed Gandle out of the room.
“What do you think?” Bosch asked Haller when they were alone. “Are we in the clear?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Haller said. “I think this thing just ended. What happens in Hong Kong stays in Hong Kong.”
43
Bosch decided not to wait in the conference room for the Hong Kong detectives to return. He remained bothered by the verbal altercation he’d had with his partner the day before and went into the squad room to try to find Ferras.
But Ferras was gone and Bosch wondered if he had intentionally gone to lunch in order to avoid further confrontation. Harry stepped into his own cubicle to check the desk for interoffice envelopes and other messages. There were none, but he saw a blinking red light on his phone. He had a message. He was still getting used to the practice of having to check his phone line for messages. In the squad room at Parker Center, things were antiquated and there was no personal voice mail. All messages went to a central line, which the squad secretary monitored. She then wrote out message slips that went into mailboxes or were left on desks. If the call was urgent the secretary personally tracked the detective down by pager or cell phone.
Bosch sat down and typed his code into the phone. He had five messages. The first three were routine calls about other cases. He made a few notes on a desk pad and erased the messages. The fourth had been left the night before by Detective Wu of the HKPD. He had just landed and checked into a hotel and wanted to set up an interview. Bosch erased it.
The fifth message was from Teri Sopp in latent prints. It had been left at 9:15 that morning, just about the time Bosch was opening the flat box that contained his daughter’s new computer desk.
“Harry, we did the electrostatic enhancement test on the casing you gave me. We pulled a print off it and everybody around here’s pretty excited. We got a match on the DOJ computer, too. So give me a call as soon as you