He had assumed the blood on Li’s face was expectorant. Blood that had come up from his destroyed lungs in his last fitful gasps for air. But how could that happen without getting blood on his teeth?
He put the photo down and moved across the mosaic to the victim’s right hand. It had dropped down at his side. There was blood on the fingers and thumb, a drip line to the palm of his hand.
Bosch looked back at the blood smeared on the face. He suddenly realized that Li had touched his bloody hand to his mouth. This meant a double transfer had taken place. Li had touched his hand to his chest, getting blood on it, and had then transferred blood from his hand to his mouth.
The question was why. Were these movements part of the final death throes, or had Li done something else?
Bosch pulled his cell and called the investigators’ line at the medical examiner’s office. He had it on speed dial. He checked his watch as the phone rang. It was ten past midnight.
“Coroner’s.”
“Is Cassel still there?”
Max Cassel was the investigator who had worked the scene at Fortune Liquors and collected the body.
“No, he just-wait a minute, there he is.”
The call was put on hold and then Cassel picked up.
“I don’t care who you are, I’m out the door. I just came back in because I forgot my coffee warmer.”
Bosch knew Cassel lived at least an hour’s commute out in Palmdale. Coffee mugs with warmers you plugged into the cigarette lighter were a must for downtown workers with long drive times.
“It’s Bosch. You put my guy in a drawer already?”
“Nope, all the drawers are taken. He’s in icebox three. But I’m done with him and going home, Bosch.”
“I understand. I just have one quick question. Did you check his mouth?”
“What do you mean, check his mouth? Of course I checked his mouth. That’s my job.”
“And there was nothing there? Nothing in the mouth or throat?”
“No, there was something there all right.”
Bosch felt the adrenaline start to kick in.
“Why didn’t you tell me? What was it?”
“His tongue.”
The adrenaline dried up and Bosch felt deflated as Cassel chuckled. Harry thought he had been on to something.
“Very funny. What about blood?”
“Yes, there was a small amount of blood on the tongue and in the throat. It’s noted in my report, which you will get tomorrow.”
“But three shots. His lungs must’ve looked like Swiss cheese. Wouldn’t there be a lot of blood”
“Not if he was already dead. Not if the first shot blew up the heart and it stopped beating. Look, I gotta go, Bosch. You’re on the sked tomorrow at two with Laksmi. Ask her these questions.”
“I will. But I’m talking to you now. I think we missed something.”
“What are you talking about?”
Bosch stared at the photos in front of him, his eyes moving from the hand to the face.
“I think he put something in his mouth.”
“Who did?”
“The victim. Mr. Li.”
There was a pause while Cassel considered this and probably also considered whether he had missed anything.
“Well, if he did, I did not see it in the mouth or throat. If it was something he swallowed, then that is not my jurisdiction. It’s -Laksmi’s and she’ll find it-whatever it is-tomorrow.”
“Would you make a note so she’ll see it?”
“Bosch, I’m trying to get out of here. You can tell her when you come for the cut.”
“I know, but just in case, make a note.”
“Fine, whatever, I’ll make a note. You know nobody’s gettin’ overtime around here anymore, Bosch.”
“Yeah, I know. Same over here. Thanks, Max.”
Bosch closed the phone and decided to put the photos aside for the time being. The autopsy would determine if his conclusion was correct, and there was nothing he could do about it until then.
There were two plastic evidence envelopes that contained the two discs that had been found next to the recorder. Each was in a flat plastic case. Each case was marked with a date scribbled with a Sharpie. One was marked 9/01, exactly a week earlier, and the other was dated 8/27. Bosch took the discs over to the AV equipment at the far end of the meeting room and put the 8/27 disc into the DVD player first.
The images were contained on a split screen. One camera angle showed the front of the store, including the cash register counter, and the other was on the rear of the store. A time and date stamp ran across the top. The activities in the