9 Dragons

Chang is leaving because he is innocent of the charges you tried to concoct against him. He is returning to Hong Kong because of LAPD harassment. Because of you, he is unable to continue enjoying the life he has known here for several years.”
    Bosch stepped out of their way and let them pass to the car.
    “You are full of shit, Wing. Take your camera and shove it up your ass.”
    Chang got into the backseat of the Escalade first, then Wing signaled the cameraman to get into the front seat.
    “We have your threat on film now, Detective,” Wing said. “Remember that.”
    Wing got in next to Chang and closed the door. Bosch stood there and watched the big SUV glide off, probably taking Chang directly to the airport to complete his legal escape.
    When Bosch got back to the school, he went to the assistant principal’s office to check in. Sue Bambrough had agreed that morning to allow Madeline to audit eighth-grade classes and see if she liked the school. When he stepped in, Bambrough asked him to sit down and then proceeded to tell him that his daughter was still in class and assimilating quite well. Bosch was surprised. She had been in L.A. a little more than twelve hours after losing her mother and spending a harrowing weekend in captivity. Bosch had feared that the drop-off at the school might be disastrous.
    Bosch already knew Bambrough. A couple of years earlier, a neighbor who had a child attending the school asked him to speak to the kid’s class about police work and crime. Bambrough was a bright, hands-on administrator who had interviewed Bosch at length before allowing him to address any students. Bosch had rarely been grilled so thoroughly by defense attorneys in court. She had taken a hard line on the quality of police work in the city but her arguments were well thought out and articulate. Bosch respected her.
    “Class ends in ten minutes,” Bambrough said. “I’ll take you to her then. There is something I would like to talk to you about first, Detective Bosch.”
    “I told you last time, call me Harry. What is it you want to talk about?”
    “Well, your daughter’s quite a storyteller. She was overheard during the midmorning break telling other students that she just moved here from Hong Kong because her mother was murdered and she got kidnapped. My concern is that she’s self-aggrandizing in order to-”
    “It’s true. All of it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She was abducted and her mother was killed trying to res-cue her.”
    “Oh, dear God! When did this happen”
    Bosch regretted not telling Bambrough the whole story when they had talked that morning. He had simply told her that his daughter was going to be living with him and wanted to check the school out.
    “Over the weekend,” he answered. “We arrived from Hong Kong last night.”
    Bambrough looked like she had taken a punch.
    “Over the weekend? Are you telling me the truth?”
    “Of course I am. She’s been through a lot. I know it might be too soon to put her in school, but this morning I had…an appointment I couldn’t avoid. I’ll take her home now and if she wants to come back in a few days, I’ll let you know.”
    “Well, what about counseling? What about a physical examination”
    “I’m working on all of that.”
    “Don’t be afraid to get her help. Children like to talk about things. It’s just that sometimes it’s not to their parents. I have found that children have an innate ability to know what they need in order to heal themselves and survive. Without her mother and with you being new at full-time parenting, Madeline may need an outside party to talk to.”
    Bosch nodded at the end of the lecture.
    “She’ll get whatever she needs. What would I need to do if she wants to go to school here?”
    “Just call me. You’re in the district and we have the space. There will be some minor paperwork for enrollment and we’ll have to get her transcript from Hong Kong. You’ll need her birth certificate and that’s about it.”
    Bosch realized that his daughter’s birth certificate was probably back in the apartment in Hong Kong.
    “I don’t have her birth certificate. I’ll have to apply for one. I think she was born in Las Vegas.”
    “You think?”
    “I, uh, didn’t meet her until she was already four. At the time, she lived with her mother in Las Vegas and I assume she was born there. I can ask her.”
    Bambrough looked even more puzzled.
    “I have her passport,” Bosch offered.