could have pulled money out of it in other ways.”
“Probably. And then there was the guy he was paying off. If he was handing him two bills and change a week, that would add up. That would be ten grand off the top on an annual basis.”
Bosch told Ferras what he had learned from Chu and that he was hoping the AGU could come up with an ID. They both agreed that the focal point of the investigation was shifting toward the man in the grainy printout from the store’s surveillance camera. The triad bagman. Meanwhile, the possible gangbanger who had argued with John Li the Saturday before his murder still needed to be identified and interviewed, but the contradictions between the crime scene and an anger/revenge-type killing put that lead into second position.
They went to work on the statements and other voluminous paperwork that accompanied every murder investigation. Chu arrived first at ten o’clock, making his way right to Bosch’s desk unannounced.
“Yee-ling isn’t here yet?” he asked by way of greeting.
Bosch looked up from his work.
“Who’s Yee-ling?”
“Yee-ling Li, the mother.”
Bosch realized he had not known the full name of the victim’s wife. This bothered him because it was an indication of how little he really knew about the case.
“She’s not here yet. You come up with anything over there?”
“I checked through our photo albums. Didn’t see our guy. But we’re making inquiries.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that. What exactly does ‘making inquiries’ mean?”
“It means that the AGU has a network of connections within the community and we will make discreet inquiries about who this man is and what Mr. Li’s affiliation was.”
“Affiliation” Ferras asked. “He was being extorted. His affiliation was that he was a victim.”
“Detective Ferras,” Chu said patiently. “You are looking at it from the typical western point of view. As I explained to Detective Bosch this morning, Mr. Li may have had a lifelong relationship with a triad society. It is called quang xi, in his native dialect. It has no direct translation but it has to do with one’s social network, and a triad relationship would be included in that.”
Ferras just stared at Chu for a long moment.
“Whatever,” he finally said. “Over here I think we call that bullshit. The vic had lived here almost thirty years. I don’t care what they call it in China. Over here it’s extortion.”
Bosch admired his young partner’s adamant reaction. He was contemplating joining the fray, when the phone on his desk rang and he picked it up.
“Bosch.”
“This is Rogers downstairs. You’ve got two visitors, both named Li. They say they have an appointment.”
“Send them up.”
“On the way.”
Bosch hung up.
“Okay, they’re on their way up. This is how I want to play this. Chu, you take the old lady into one of the interview rooms and go over her statement and have her sign it. After she signs it I want you to ask her about the payoff and the guy on the video. Show her his photo. And don’t let her play dumb. She’s got to know about it. Her husband had to have talked about it.”
“You’d be surprised,” Chu said. “Husbands and wives wouldn’t necessarily talk about this.”
“Well, do your best. She could know a lot whether she and her husband talked about it or not. Ferras and I will talk to the son. I want to find out if he’s paying protection at the store up in the Valley. If so, that could be where we grab our guy.”
Bosch looked across the squad room and saw Mrs. Li enter but she was not with her son. She was with a younger woman. Bosch raised his hand to draw their attention and waved them over.
“Chu, who is this?”
Chu turned around as the two women approached. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t know. As the two women got closer Bosch saw that the younger woman was in her midthirties and attractive in an understated, hair-behind-the-ears sort of way. She was Asian. She was dressed in blue jeans and a white blouse. She walked a half step behind Mrs. Li with her eyes cast down on the floor. The initial impression Bosch got was that she was an employee. A maid pressed into service as a driver. But the deskman downstairs had said they were both named Li.
Chu spoke to Mrs. Li in Chinese. After she responded, he translated.
“This is Mr. and Mrs. Li’s daughter, Mia. She drove her mother here because Robert Li is delayed.”
Bosch was immediately frustrated by