want one thing. I want my team to run with the original case. Stacey Kincaid. We’ll take the original murder book and review everything RHD did on the case. Then we’ll take everything Elias did and go from there.”
Lindell’s eyes narrowed their focus as he wondered what this meant. Bosch continued.
“It looks like Elias’s plan was to go into court this week and try to prove that Michael Harris didn’t kill her. He was going to name her killer and – ”
“Who?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. We don’t know. He was keeping it in his head instead of his files. But that’s why I want the case. Because if he had a bead on somebody, that somebody’s a pretty good suspect for the Angels Flight murders.”
Lindell looked down at his smoking coffee and was quiet a long moment.
“Sounds like lawyer bullshit to me. Grandstanding. How was he gonna find the killer if you guys on the PD didn’t? That is, if the killer really wasn’t Michael Harris, like every cop and white person in this town believes.”
Bosch hiked his shoulders.
“Even if he was wrong – even if he was going to name somebody as a smoke screen, it could have made him a target.”
He purposely wasn’t telling Lindell everything – particularly about the mystery notes. He wanted the FBI agent to think that Bosch’s team would be chasing rainbows while he would be commanding the real investigation.
“So you run with that and I chase down bad cops, is that the deal?”
“Pretty much. Chastain should have a head start for you. First of all, he’s the most familiar with the Black Warrior thing. He handled the IAD investigation on it. And – ”
“Yeah, but he cleared everybody on it.”
“Maybe he messed up. Or maybe he was told to clear everybody.”
Lindell nodded that he understood the suggestion.
“Also, his crew was supposedly going through Elias’s files yesterday and making a list. And I just brought in five more boxes of files. From all of that you’ll get a list of guys to talk to. I think you’re in good shape.”
“If I’m in such great shape why are you giving this side of things to me?”
“ ’Cause I’m a nice guy.”
“Bosch, you’re holding out.”
“I just have a hunch, that’s all.”
“That what, Harris really was framed?”
“I don’t know. But something wasn’t right with the case. I want to find out what it was.”
“So meantime I’m stuck with Chastain and his crew.”
“Yup. That’s the deal.”
“Well, what am I going to do with them? You just told me Chastain’s a leak.”
“Send them out for coffee and then run away and hide.”
Lindell laughed.
“This is what I would do,” Bosch then added on a serious note. “I’d put two of them on Elias and two on Perez. You know, doing the paper, managing the evidence, taking the autopsies – which will probably be today anyway. That will keep them busy and out of your way. Regardless of whether it’s them or not, you’ve got to put at least one body on Perez. We’ve treated her as an also-ran, which she obviously was. But you gotta do the due diligence on it or it can come back on you if you ever go to court and the lawyer asks why Perez wasn’t pursued as the primary target.”
“Right, right. We gotta cover all the bases.”
“Right.”
Lindell nodded but said nothing further.
“So come on, do we have a deal?” Bosch prompted.
“Yeah. Sounds like a plan to me. But I want to know what you and your people are doing. You keep in touch.”
“You got it. Oh, and by the way, one of the IAD guys is a Spanish speaker. Fuentes. Put him on Perez.”
Lindell nodded and pushed back from the table. He left his coffee cup there, untouched. Bosch took his with him.
On his way through the anteroom to Irving’s conference room, Bosch noticed that the deputy chief’s adjutant was not at his desk. He saw a telephone message pad on the blotter and reached down and grabbed it as he passed by. He put it in his pocket and entered the conference room.
Bosch’s partners and the IAD men were now in the conference room. Irving was there also. It was very crowded. After some brief introductions the floor was turned over to Bosch, who briefed the newcomers and Irving on the investigation up to that point. He left out specific details about the visit to Regina Lampley’s apartment, making that part of the investigation appear to be at a dead end. He also