A Darkness More Than Night

returned through the rear door of the courtroom, Bosch read the judge’s decision in their faces. Fowkkes looked dour, with his eyes downcast. Kretzler and Langwiser came back smiling.
    After the jurors were brought back and the trial resumed, Langwiser went directly in for the hit. She asked the court reporter to read back the last question before the objection.
    “‘Did you examine this case?’” the reporter read.
    “Let’s strike that,” Langwiser said. “Let’s not confuse the issue. Detective, the one female case of the sixteen you found in the medical examiner’s records, what was the name of the deceased in that case?”
    “Alicia Lopez.”
    “Can you tell us a little bit about her?”
    “She was twenty-four and lived in Culver City. She worked as an administrative assistant to the vice president of production at Sony Pictures, also in Culver City. She was found dead in her bed on the twentieth of May, nineteen ninety-eight.”
    “She lived alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “What were the circumstances of her death?”
    “She was found in her bed by a coworker who became concerned when she had missed two days of work following the weekend without calling in. The coroner estimated she had been dead three to four days by the time she was found. Decomposition of the body was extensive.”
    “Ms. Langwiser?” Judge Houghton interrupted. “It was agreed that you would lay foundation connecting the cases quickly.”
    “I’m right there, Your Honor. Thank you. Detective, did anything about this case alert you or draw your attention in any way?”
    “Several things. I looked at photos taken at the death scene and though decomposition was extensive I was able to note that the victim in this case was in a posture closely paralleling that of the victim in the present case. I also noted that the ligature in the Lopez case was also used without a buffering, which was the same with the present case. I also knew from our backgrounding investigation of Mr. Storey that at the time of Ms. Lopez’s death he was making a film for a company called Cold House Films, a company which was being financed in part by Sony Pictures.”
    In the moment following his answer Bosch noticed that the courtroom had become unusually still and silent. No one was whispering in the gallery or clearing their throat. It was as if everyone – jurors, lawyers, spectators and media – all decided to hold their breath at once. Bosch glanced at the jurors and saw that almost all of them were looking at the defense table. Bosch looked there as well and saw Storey, his face still aimed downward, silently seething. Langwiser finally broke the silence.
    “Detective, did you make further inquiries about the Lopez case?”
    “Yes, I spoke to the detective who handled it for the Culver City Police Department. I also made inquiries about Ms. Lopez’s job at Sony.”
    “And what did you learn about her that would have bearing on the present case?”
    “I learned that at the time of her death she was acting as a liaison between the studio and the field production of the film David Storey was directing.”
    “Do you recall the name of that film?”
    “The Fifth Horizon.”
    “Where was it being filmed?”
    “In Los Angeles. Mostly in Venice.”
    “And as a liaison would Ms. Lopez have had any direct contact with Mr. Storey?”
    “Yes. She spoke with him by phone or in person every day of the shoot.”
    Again the silence seemed to be roaring. Langwiser milked it for as long as she could and then started driving home the nails.
    “Let me see if I have all of this straight, Detective. Your testimony is that in the past five years there has been only one death of a female in Los Angeles County attributed to autoerotic asphyxia and that the present case involving the death of Jody Krementz was staged to appear as an autoerotic asphyxia?”
    “Objection,” Fowkkes interjected. “Asked and answered.”
    “Overruled,” Houghton said without argument from Langwiser. “The witness may answer.”
    “Yes,” Bosch said. “Correct.”
    “And that both of these women knew the defendant, David Storey?”
    “Correct.”
    “And that both of these deaths show similarities to a photograph of an autoerotic death contained in a book known at one time to be in the defendant’s collection at home?”
    “Correct.”
    Bosch looked over at Storey as he said it, hoping he would look up so that they could lock eyes one more time.
    “What did the Culver