Trunk Music - Michael Connelly [121]
In a dull and laborious drone, Chastain read prepared questions from a legal pad and Bosch slowly and carefully answered them with as few words as possible. It was a game. Bosch had played it before. In the fifteen minutes they had before reporting to IAD, Zane had counseled Bosch on how it would go and how they should proceed. Like a good criminal defense lawyer, he never directly asked Harry if he had planted the gun. Zane didn’t really care. He simply looked at IAD as the enemy, as a group of bad cops with the sole purpose of going after good cops. Zane was part of the old school who thought all cops were inherently good and though sometimes the job turned them bad, they should not be persecuted by their own.
Everything was routine for a half hour. But then Chastain threw an unexpected pitch at them.
“Detective Bosch, do you know a woman named Eleanor Wish?”
Zane reached out a hand in front of Bosch to stop him from answering.
“What is this shit, Chastain?”
“Who have you been talking to, Chastain?” Bosch added.
“Wait a minute, Harry,” Zane said. “Don’t say anything. Where’s this going, Chastain?”
“It’s very clear from the orders from the chief. I’m investigating Bosch’s conduct during this investigation. As far as who I have been talking to or where I get my information, you are not privy to that at this point in the process.”
“This is supposed to be about a supposedly planted gun that we all know is bullshit. That’s what we are here to answer.”
“Do you wish to read the order from the chief again? It’s quite clear.”
Zane looked at him a moment.
“Give us five minutes so we can talk about this. Why don’t you go get the points of your teeth filed?”
Chastain stood up and reached over and turned the tape recorder off. As he stepped to the door, he looked back at them with a smile.
“This time I got you both. You won’t get out from under this one, Bosch. And Zane, well, I guess you can’t win them all, can you?”
“You ought to know that better than me, you sanctimonious asshole. Get out of here and leave us alone.”
After Chastain was gone, Zane bent over the tape recorder to make sure it was off. He then got up and checked the thermostat on the wall to make sure it wasn’t a secret listening device. After he was satisfied their conversation was private, he sat back down and asked Bosch about Eleanor Wish. Bosch told him about his encounters with Eleanor over the past few days but left out mention of the abduction and her subsequent confession.
“One of those cops over there in Metro must’ve told him you shacked up with her,” Zane said. “That’s all he’s got. He’s going for an associating beef. If you admit it here, then he’s got you. But if that’s all he gets, then it’s a slap on the wrist at best. As long as he gets nothing else. But if you lie about it and say you weren’t with her when you were, and he can prove you were, then you’ve got a problem. So my advice is that you tell him, yeah, you know her and you’ve been with her. Fuck it, it’s nothing. Tell him it’s over, and if that’s all he’s got, then he’s a chickenshit asshole.”
“I don’t know if it is or it isn’t.”
“What?”
“Over.”
“Well, don’t tell him nothin’ about that unless he asks for it. Then use your best judgment. Ready?”
Bosch nodded and Zane opened the door. Chastain was sitting outside at a desk.
“Where ya been, Chastain?” Zane complained. “We’re waiting in here.”
Chastain didn’t answer. He came in, turned the recorder back on and continued the Q and A.
“Yes, I know Eleanor Wish,” Bosch said. “Yes, I’ve spent time with her over the last few days.”
“How much time?”
“I don’t know exactly. A couple of nights.”
“While you were conducting the investigation?”
“Not while I was conducting it. At night, when I was done for the