the news and shook his head.
“Great,” he said to Chu. “How come we didn’t know there was a daughter?”
“We didn’t ask the right questions yesterday,” Chu said.
“You were the one asking questions yesterday. Ask Mia where she lives.”
The young woman cleared her throat and looked up at Bosch.
“I live with my mother and father,” she said. “Or I did until yesterday. I guess now I live with just my mother.”
Bosch felt embarrassed that he had assumed she spoke no English and she had heard and understood his annoyed response to her showing up.
“Sorry. It’s just that we need all the information we can get.”
He looked at the other two detectives.
“Okay, we are going to need to interview Mia. Detective Chu, why don’t you continue with the plan and take Mrs. Li into an interview room to go over her statement. I will talk with Mia and, Ignacio, you wait for Robert to show up.”
He turned back to Mia.
“Do you know how long your brother is delayed?”
“He should be on his way. He said he was going to leave the store by ten.”
“Which store?”
“His store. In the Valley.”
“Okay, Mia, why don’t you come with me, and your mother can go with Detective Chu.”
Mia spoke in Chinese to her mother and they proceeded toward the bank of interview rooms at the back of the squad. Bosch grabbed a yellow legal pad and the file containing the print off the camera video before leading the way. Ferras was left behind.
“Harry, you want me to start with the son when he gets here?” he asked.
“No,” Bosch said. “Come and get me. I’ll be in room two.”
Bosch led the victim’s daughter to a small, windowless room with a table in the middle. They sat down on either side of it and Bosch tried to put a pleasant expression on his face. It was hard. The morning was starting off with a surprise and he didn’t like surprises coming up in his murder investigations.
“Okay, Mia,” Bosch said. “Let’s start over. I am Detective Bosch. I am assigned as lead investigator on the case involving the murder of your father. I am very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
She had her eyes cast down to the tabletop.
“Can you tell me your full name?”
“Mia-ling Li.”
Her name had been westernized with her given name first and the family name last. But she had not taken a wholly western name like her father and brother. Bosch wondered if this was because the men were expected to integrate into western society while the women were held back from it.
“When is your birthday?”
“February fourteenth, nineteen eighty.”
“Valentine’s Day.”
Bosch smiled. He didn’t know why. He was just trying to start the relationship over. Then he wondered if they even had Valentine’s Day in China. He moved on with his thoughts and did the math. He realized that while she was still very attractive, Mia was younger than she looked, and only a few years older than her brother, Robert.
“You came here with your parents? When was that?”
“In nineteen eighty-two.”
“You were only two.”
“Yes.”
“And your father opened the store then?”
“He didn’t open it. He bought it from someone else and he renamed it Fortune Liquors. Before, it was called something else.”
“Okay. Are there any other brothers or sisters besides you and Robert?”
“No, just us.”
“Okay, good. Now, you said you have been living with your parents. For how long?”
She looked up briefly and then back down.
“My whole life. Except for about two years when I was younger.”
“Were you married?”
“No. What does this have to do with who killed my father? Shouldn’t you be finding the killer?”
“I’m sorry, Mia. I just need to get some basic information and then, yes, I will be out there looking for the killer. Have you talked to your brother? Did he tell you I knew your father?”
“He said you met him one time. You didn’t even really meet him. That’s not knowing him.”
Bosch nodded.
“You’re right. That was an exaggeration. I didn’t know him but because of the situation we were in when I…met him, I feel like I sort of knew him. I want to find his killer, Mia. And I will. I just need you and your family to help me wherever you can.”
“I understand.”
“Don’t hold anything back, because you never know what might help us.”
“I won’t.”
“Okay, what do you do for a living”
“I take care of my parents.”
“You mean at home? You stay home and take care of your parents”
Now she looked up and right into his eyes. Her pupils were