9 Dragons

Lau,
L-A-U.
DOB is nine-nine-eighty-two.”
    “What’s he in the computer for?”
    “He was pulled over on a deuce two years ago in Venice.”
    “That’s all he’s got?”
    “Yeah. Other than that he’s clean.”
    “What about an address?”
    “The address on his DL is eighteen Quarterdeck in Venice. Unit eleven.”
    Bosch copied the information into his pocket notebook.
    “Okay, and this print you pulled, it’s solid, right?”
    “No doubt, Harry. It came up glowing like Christmas. This technology is amazing. It’s going to change things.”
    “And they want to use this as the test case for California?”
    “I wouldn’t jump the gun on that just yet. My supervisor wants to first see how this plays in your case. You know, whether this guy is your shooter and what other evidence there is. We’re looking for a case where the technology is an integral piece in the prosecution.”
    “Well, you’ll know it when I know it, Teri. Thanks for this. We’re going to move on it right now.”
    “Good luck, Harry.”
    Bosch hung up. He first looked over the cubicle wall at the conference room. The blinds were down but open. He could see Haller gesturing toward the two men from Hong Kong. Bosch checked his partner’s cubicle once more but it was still empty. He made a decision and picked up the phone again.
    David Chu was in the AGU office and took Bosch’s call. Harry updated him on the latest piece of information to come out of latent prints and told him to run Henry Lau’s name through the triad files. In the meantime, Bosch said, he was heading over to pick Chu up.
    “Where are we going?” Chu asked.
    “To go find this guy.”
    Bosch hung up and headed to the conference room, not to take part in whatever was being discussed, but to inform Gandle of what appeared to be a major breakthrough in the case.
    When he opened the door, Gandle put his it’s-about-time look on his face. Bosch signaled him to step out again.
    “Harry, these men still have questions for you,” Gandle said.
    “They’ll have to wait. We’ve caught a break on the Li case and I need to move on it. Now.”
    Gandle got up and started toward the door.
    “Harry, I think I can handle this,” Haller said from his seat. “But there’s one question you need to answer.”
    Bosch looked at him and Haller nodded, meaning the remaining question was a safe one.
    “What?”
    “Do you want your ex-wife’s body transported to Los Angeles?”
    The question gave Bosch pause. The immediate answer was yes, but the hesitation was in measuring the consequences for his daughter.
    “Yes,” he finally said. “Send her to me.”
    He let Gandle step out and then closed the door.
    “What happened?” Gandle asked.
    Chu was waiting out front of the AGU building when Bosch pulled up. He was holding a briefcase, which made Bosch think that he had found some information on Henry Lau. He hopped in and Bosch took off.
    “We’re starting in Venice?” Chu asked.
    “That’s right. What did you find on Lau?”
    “Nothing?.”
    Bosch looked over at him.
    “Nothing?”
    “As far as we know, he’s clean. I could not find his name anywhere in our intelligence files. I also talked to some people and made some calls. Nothing. By the way, I did print out his DL photo.”
    He leaned down and opened his briefcase and pulled out the color printout of Lau’s driver’s license photo. He handed it to Bosch, who stole quick glances at it as he drove. They got on the Broadway entrance to the 101 and took it up to the 110. The freeways were congested downtown.
    Lau had smiled at the camera. He had a fresh face and a stylish cut to his hair. It was hard to connect the face with triad work, particularly the cold-blooded murder of a liquor store owner. The address in Venice didn’t fit well either.
    “I also checked with ATF. Henry Lau is the registered owner of a nine-millimeter Glock Model Nineteen. Not only did he load it, he owns it.”
    “When did he buy it?”
    “Six years ago, the day after he turned twenty-one.”
    To Bosch that meant they were getting warm. Lau owned the right gun and his purchase of the weapon as soon as he was of legal age most likely indicated that he had had a long-term desire to acquire a weapon. That made him a traveler in the world Bosch knew. His connection to John Li and Bo-Jing Chang would become apparent once they had him in custody and started taking apart his life.
    They connected to the 10 and headed west toward the