9 Dragons

everything is reverse. You understand”
    “Yeah.”
    “Okay, so all the signs should be backwards but these letters aren’t backwards. Of course, with the
O
you can’t tell. It’s the same forward or backwards. But this
N
is not backwards, Harry. So when you remember this is a reverse reflection, then that means-”
    “The sign is backwards?”
    “Yes. It would have to be in order for it to show up correctly in a reflection.”
    Bosch nodded. She was right. It was strange but not something he had the time to dwell on at the moment. He knew it was time to get moving. He wanted to call Eleanor and tell her he thought their daughter was being held in Kowloon. Maybe it would connect with something on her end. It was a start at least.
    “Can I get that copy?”
    “I’m already printing it. It takes a couple minutes because it’s a high-res printer.”
    “Got it.”
    Bosch stared at the image on the screen, looking for any other details that would help. Most notable was a partial reflection of the building his daughter was held in. A line of air-conditioning units protruded beneath the windows. That meant it was an older building and that might help him draw a bead on the place.
    “Kowloon,” Starkey said. “Sounds sort of ominous.”
    “My daughter told me it means ‘Nine Dragons.’”
    “See, I told you. Who would name their neighborhood Nine Dragons unless they wanted to scare people away?”
    “It comes from a legend. During one of the old dynasties the emperor was supposedly just a boy who got chased by the Mongols into the area that is now Hong Kong. He saw the eight mountain peaks that surrounded it and wanted to call the place Eight Dragons. But one of the men who guarded him reminded him that the emperor was a dragon too. So they called it Nine Dragons. Kowloon.”
    “Your daughter told you this?”
    “Yeah. She learned it in school.”
    Silence followed. Bosch could hear the printer working somewhere behind him. Starkey got up and went behind a stack of boxes and pulled the printout of the window reflection out of the high-resolution graphics printer.
    She handed it to Bosch. It was a glossy reprint on photo paper. It was as clear as the image on the computer screen.
    “Thanks, Barbara.”
    “I’m not done, Harry. Like I said, I’m going to look at every frame of that video-thirty per second-and if there’s something else that will help, I’ll find it. I’ll also take the audio track apart.”
    Bosch just nodded and looked down at the printout in his hand.
    “You’ll find her, Harry. I know you will.”
    “Yeah, me, too.”

20
    B osch called his ex-wife on the speed dial while on the way back to the PAB. She answered the call with an urgent question.
    “Harry, anything”
    “Not a lot but we’re working on it. I am pretty sure the video I was sent was shot in Kowloon. Does that mean anything to you”
    “No. Kowloon? Why there?”
    “I have no idea. But we may be able to find the place.”
    “You mean the police will?”
    “No, I mean you and me, Eleanor. When I come. In fact, I still need to book my flight. Have you called anybody? What have you got?”
    “I don’t have anything!”
she yelled, surprising Bosch. “My daughter is somewhere out there and I don’t have anything! The police don’t even believe me!”
    “What are you talking about? You called them?”
    “Yes, I called them. I can’t sit here and just wait for you to show up tomorrow. I called the Triad Bureau.”
    Bosch felt his insides tighten. He couldn’t bring himself to trust strangers, experts though they might be, with his daughter’s life.
    “What did they say?”
    “They put my name into the computer and got a hit. The police have a file on me. Who I am, who I work for. And they knew about the time before. When I thought she was kidnapped and it turned out she was staying at her friend’s. So they didn’t believe me. They think she ran away again and her friends are lying to me. They said to wait a day and call back if she doesn’t show up.”
    “Did you tell them about the video?”
    “I told them but they didn’t care. They said if there is no ransom demand, then it was probably staged by her and her friends to get attention. They don’t believe me!”
    She started crying in frustration and fear but Bosch considered the police reaction and thought it could work in their favor.
    “Eleanor, listen to me, I think this is good.”
    “Good? How could it be good? The police are not