The Drop - Michael Connelly [5]
“No, Sunset Strip. You’re going to be told to go to a scene and take over a case. And you’re not going to like it.”
“Look, Lieutenant, I just got a case this morning. I don’t need another one.”
He thought that using her formal title would communicate his wariness. Forthwiths and assignments out of the OCP always carried high jingo—political overtones. It was sometimes hard to navigate your way through it.
“He’s not going to give you a choice here, Harry.”
“He” being the chief of police.
“What’s the case?”
“A jumper at the Chateau Marmont.”
“Who was it?”
“Harry, I think you should wait for the chief to call you. I just wanted to—”
“Who was it, Kiz? If you know anything about me, I think you know I can keep a secret until it’s no longer a secret.”
She paused before answering.
“From what I understand, there is not a lot that is recognizable—he came down seven floors onto concrete. But the initial ID is George Thomas Irving. Age forty-six of eight—”
“Irving as in Irvin Irving? As in Councilman Irvin Irving?”
“Scourge of the LAPD in general and one Detective Harry Bosch in particular. Yes, one and the same. It’s his son, and Councilman Irving has insisted to the chief that you take over the investigation. The chief said no problem.”
Bosch paused with his mouth open for a moment before responding.
“Why does Irving want me? He’s spent most of his careers in police and politics trying to end mine.”
“This I don’t know, Harry. I only know that he wants you.”
“When did this come in?”
“The call came in at about five forty-five this morning. My understanding is that it is unclear when it actually happened.”
Bosch checked his watch. The case was more than three hours old. That was quite late to be coming into a death investigation. He’d be starting out at a disadvantage.
“What’s to investigate?” he asked. “You said it was a jumper.”
“Hollywood originally responded and they were going to wrap it up as a suicide. The councilman arrived and is not ready to sign off on that. That’s why he wants you.”
“And does the chief understand that I have a history with Irving that—”
“Yes, he does. He also understands that he needs every vote he can get on the council if we ever want to get overtime flowing to the department again.”
Bosch saw his boss, Lieutenant Duvall, enter the hallway from the Open-Unsolved Unit’s door. She made a There you are! gesture and started toward him.
“Looks like I’m about to get the official word,” Bosch said into the phone. “Thanks for the heads-up, Kiz. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but thanks. If you hear anything else, let me know.”
“Harry, you be careful with this. Irving’s old but he’s still got teeth.”
“I know that.”
Bosch closed his phone just as Duvall got to him, holding out a piece of paper.
“Sorry, Harry, change of plans. You and Chu need to go to this address and take a live case.”
“What are you talking about?”
Bosch looked at the address. It was the Chateau Marmont.
“Orders from the chief’s office. You and Chu are to proceed code three and take over a case. That’s all I know. That and that the chief himself is there, waiting.”
“What about the case you just gave us?”
“Move it to the back burner for now. I want you on it, but just get to it when you can.”
She pointed to the piece of paper in his hand.
“That’s the priority.”
“You sure about this, Lieutenant?”
“Of course I’m sure. The chief called me directly and he’s going to call you. So grab Chu and get going.”
3
As expected, Chu was full of questions while they were driving out of downtown on the 101 freeway. They had been partnered for nearly two years and by now Bosch was more than used to the manifestation of Chu’s insecurities in a nonstop verbal outpouring of questions, comments and observations. He usually spoke about one thing while his real concern was something else. Sometimes Bosch took it easy on him and told him what he wanted to know. Sometimes he let things play out till they became excruciating to his young partner.
“Harry, what the hell is going on? We got one case this morning and