the case to a point where he was now reliant on the work of others. He had to wait for others to identify the triad bagman. He had to wait for others to decide whether to use the bullet casing as a test case for their new fingerprint technology. He had to wait for somebody to call.
Bosch was most at home in a case when he was pushing the action himself, setting the track for others to follow. He wasn’t a sideman. He had to drive the beat. And at this juncture he had pushed it just about as far as he could. He started thinking about his next moves and the options were few. He could start hitting Chinese-owned businesses in South L.A. with the photo of the triad bagman. But he knew it would likely be an exercise in futility. The cultural divide was wide. No one would willingly identify a triad member to the police.
Nevertheless, he was prepared to go that route if nothing else broke soon. It would at least keep him moving. Momentum was momentum, whether you found it in music or on the street or in the beat of your own heart.
As the light started to disappear from the sky, Bosch reached into his pocket and pulled out the book of matches he always carried. He thumbed it open and studied the fortune. Since the night he first read it he had taken it seriously. He believed that he was a man who had found refuge in himself. Over time, at least.
His cell rang as he was chewing his last bite. He pulled the phone and checked the screen. The ID was blocked but he answered anyway.
“Bosch.”
“Harry, David Chu. You sound like you’re eating. Where are you?”
His voice was tight with excitement.
“I’m at home. Where are you”
“Monterey Park. We got him!”
Bosch paused for a moment. Monterey Park was a city in the east county where nearly three-quarters of the population was Chinese. Fifteen minutes from downtown, it was like a foreign country with impenetrable language and culture.
“Who have you got?” he finally asked.
“Our guy. The suspect.”
“You mean you got an ID?”
“We got more than an ID. We got him. We’re looking right at him.”
There were several things about what Chu was saying that immediately bothered Bosch.
“First of all, who is we?”
“I’m with the MPPD. They IDed our guy off the video and then took me right to him.”
Bosch could feel the pulse pounding in his temple. No doubt, getting the ID of the triad bagman-if it was legit-was a big step in the investigation. But everything else he was hearing wasn’t. Bringing another police department into the case and moving in on the suspect were potentially fatal mistakes and should never have been even considered without the lead investigator’s knowledge and approval. But Bosch knew he couldn’t go off on Chu. Not yet. He had to stay calm and do his best to contain a bad situation.
“Detective Chu, listen closely to me. Did you make contact with the suspect?”
“Contact? No, not yet. We were waiting for the right moment. He’s not alone right now.”
Thank God for that, Bosch thought but didn’t say.
“Has the suspect seen you?”
“No, Harry, we’re across the street.”
Bosch let out some more air. He was beginning to think that the situation might be salvageable.
“Okay, I want you to hold where you are and tell me what moves you’ve made and where exactly we’re at. How did you get to Monterey Park”
“The AGU has a strong relationship with Monterey Park’s gang detail. Tonight after work I took by the photo of our guy to see if anybody recognized him. I got a positive ID from the third guy I showed it to.”
“The third guy. Who was that?”
“Detective Tao. I’m with him and his partner right now.”
“Okay, give me the name you got.”
“Bo-Jing Chang.”
He spelled the name out.
“So the last name is Chang?” Bosch asked.
“Right. And according to their intel, he’s in Yung Kim-Brave Knife. It fits with the tattoo.”
“Okay, what else?”
“That’s it at the moment. He’s supposedly a low-level guy. All these guys have real jobs. He works at a used-car lot here in MP. He has been here since ’ninety-five and has dual citizenship. No arrest record-over here, at least.”
“And you got a twenty on him right now?”
“I’m watching him play cards. Brave Knife is mostly centered here in MP. And there’s a club here where they like to get together at the end of the day. Tao and Herrera took