Trunk Music - Michael Connelly [122]
Bosch smiled at him without humor.
“Was she a witness in this case?” Chastain asked with a tone that denoted that he was shocked that Bosch would cross that line.
“Initially, I thought she might be a witness. After I located her and talked to her, I learned pretty quickly that she was not an evidentiary witness of any kind.”
“But you did initially encounter her while you were in your capacity as an investigator on this case.”
“That’s correct.”
Chastain consulted his pad for a long moment before asking the next question.
“Is this woman, that’s the convicted felon Eleanor Wish I am still talking about, is she living in your home at this time?”
Bosch felt the bile rising in his throat. The personal invasion and Chastain’s tone were getting to him. He struggled to remain calm.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
“You don’t know if someone is living in your house or not?”
“Look, Chastain, she was there last night, okay? Is that what you want to hear? She was there. But whether she’ll be there tonight I don’t know. She’s got her own place in Vegas. She may have gone back today, I don’t know. I didn’t check. You want me to call and ask her if she is officially living in my home at this time, I will.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. I think I have everything I need for the time being.”
He then went directly into the standard IAD end-of-interview spiel.
“Detective Bosch, you will be informed of the results of the ongoing investigation into your conduct. If departmental charges are filed, you will be informed of the scheduling of a Board of Rights hearing in which three captains will hear evidence. You will be allowed to choose one of those captains, I will select a second and the third will be chosen at random. Any questions?”
“Just one. How can you call yourself a cop when all you do is sit up here and conduct these bullshit investigations into bullshit?”
Zane reached over and put a hand on Bosch’s forearm to quiet him.
“No, that’s okay,” Chastain said, waving off Zane’s effort to calm things. “I don’t mind answering. In fact, I get that question a lot, Bosch. Funny, but it always seems I get it from the cops I happen to be investigating. Anyway, the answer is that I take pride in what I do because I represent the public, and if there is no one to police the police then there is no one to keep the abuse of their wide powers in check. I serve a valuable purpose in this society, Detective Bosch. I’m proud of what I do. Can you say the same?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bosch said. “I’m sure that sounds great on tape for whoever listens to it. I get the feeling you probably sit alone at night and listen to it yourself. Over and over again. After a while, you believe it. But let me ask you this, Chastain. Who polices the police who police the police?”
Bosch stood up and Zane followed. The interview was over.
After leaving IAD and thanking Zane for his help, Bosch went down to the SID lab on the third floor to see Art Donovan. The criminologist had just come back from a crime scene and was sorting through evidence bags and checking the material against an evidence list. He looked up as Bosch was approaching.
“How’d you get in here, Harry?”
“I know the combination.”
Most detectives who worked RHD knew the door-lock combo. Bosch hadn’t worked RHD in five years and they still hadn’t changed it.
“See,” Donovan said. “That’s how the trouble starts.”
“What trouble?”
“You coming in here while I’m handling evidence. Next thing you know some wiseass defense lawyer says it got tainted and I look like an asshole on national TV.”
“You’re paranoid, Artie. Besides, we’re not due for another trial of the century for at least a few years.”
“Funny. What do you want, Harry?”
“You’re the second guy who said I was funny today. What happened with my shoe prints and all the rest of the stuff?”
“The Aliso case?”
“No, the Lindbergh case. What do you think?”
“Well, I heard that Aliso wasn’t yours anymore. I’m supposed to have everything ready for the FBI to pick