9 Dragons

away from Bosch’s eyes. He seemed embarrassed.
    “So what did you say to him?” Bosch prompted.
    “Robert told him that the police had shown us his photo and that they told us that he committed the murder. He told him the police were looking for him and would arrest him. We thought that would make him run. He would leave town and it would look like he had done the crime. If he went back to China and disappeared, it would help us.”
    Bosch stared at Lam as the meaning and ramifications of the statement slowly sank into the dark blood in his heart. He had been totally manipulated every step of the way.
    “Who called me?” he asked. “Who called and told me to back off the case?”
    Lam slowly nodded.
    “That was me,” he said. “Robert wrote a script for me and I made that call from a pay phone downtown. I’m sorry, Detective Bosch. I didn’t want to scare you but I had to do what Robert told me to do.”
    Bosch nodded. He was sorry too, but not for the same reasons.

46
    A n hour later Bosch and Cook emerged from the interview room with a full confession and agreement of cooperation from Eugene Lam. Cook said he would be filing charges immediately against the young killer as well as Robert and Mia Li. Cook said there was more than enough evidence to proceed with arrests of the sister and brother.
    Bosch gathered with Chu, Gandle and four other detectives in the conference room to discuss the arrest procedures. Ferras was still watching Robert Li but Gandle said that a detective sent to the Li home in the Wilshire District had reported back that the family car was gone and there appeared to be no one home.
    “Do we wait for Mia to show up or do we take Robert down now, before he starts wondering about Lam?” Gandle asked.
    “I think we’ve got to move,” Bosch said. “He already has to be wondering where Lam is. If he starts getting suspicious, he might run.”
    Gandle looked around the room for objections. There were none.
    “Okay, then let’s mount up,” he said. “We take down Robert in the store and then we go find Mia. I want these people booked before the end of the day. Harry, check with your partner and confirm Robert’s location. Tell him we’re on the way. I’ll ride up with you and Chu.”
    It was unusual for the lieutenant to want to leave the office. But the case had transcended routine. He apparently wanted to be there when it was closed by arrest.
    Everybody stood up and started to file out of the conference room. Bosch and Gandle lagged behind. Harry pulled his phone and hit a speed dial button for Ferras. At last check-in, he was still in his car, watching Fortune Fine Foods & Liquor from across the street.
    “You know what I still don’t get, Harry” Gandle asked.
    “No, what don’t you get?”
    “Who took your daughter? Lam claims he doesn’t know anything about it. And at this point he has no reason to lie. Do you still think it was Chang’s people, even though we now know he was clear on the killing”
    The call was answered before Bosch could respond to Gandle.
    “Ferras.”
    “It’s me,” Bosch said. “Where’s Li?”
    He held a finger up to Gandle, holding him while he took the call.
    “He’s in the store,” Ferras said. “You know, we need to talk, Harry.”
    Bosch could tell by the tension in his partner’s voice that it wasn’t Robert Li that Ferras wanted to talk about. While he was sitting there in his car alone all morning, something was festering in his brain.
    “We’ll talk later. Right now we have to move. We turned Lam. He gave us everything. Robert
and
his sister. She was part of this. Is she in the store?”
    “Not that I saw. She dropped off the mother but then she drove off.”
    “When was this?”
    “About an hour ago.”
    Tired of waiting and needing to get ready to join the arrest teams, Gandle headed off toward his office and Bosch was left thinking that he was safe for the time being from having to answer the lieutenant’s question. Now he just had to deal with Ferras.
    “Okay, sit tight,” he said. “And let me know if anything changes.”
    “You know what, Harry?”
    “What, Ignacio?” he responded impatiently.
    “You didn’t give me a chance, man.”
    There was a whining tone in his voice that set Bosch on edge.
    “What chance? What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about you telling the lieutenant you wanted a new partner. You should’ve given me another chance. He’s trying to move me to autos, you