Angels Flight

catching her eye.
    “We’re going to see the Kincaids,” Bosch said.
    “How come so soon?”
    “Turns out one of them was Harris’s alibi.”
    “What?”
    Bosch explained the license plate discovery Pelfry and Elias had made.
    “One out of four,” she said.
    “What do you mean?”
    “We now know what one out of four of the mystery notes means.”
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “I was thinking about the first two. I think they’re connected and I’ve got an idea about ‘dot the i.’ I’m going to go online and check it out. You know what a hypertext link is?”
    “I don’t speak that language, Kiz. I still type with two fingers.”
    “I know. I’ll explain it when you get back here. Maybe I’ll know if I have something.”
    “Okay. Good luck.”
    He was about to hang up.
    “Oh, Harry?”
    “What?”
    “You gotta call from Carla Entrenkin. She said she needed to talk to you. I was going to give her your pager but then I thought you might not want that. She might start paging you every time she gets a wild hair.”
    “That’s fine. Did she leave a number?”
    She gave it to him and they hung up.
    “We’re going to the Kincaids’?” Edgar asked.
    “Yeah, I just decided. Get on the radio and run the plate on that white Volvo. See what name’s on it. I’ve got to make a call.”
    Bosch called the number Carla Entrenkin had left and she answered after two rings.
    “It’s Bosch.”
    “Detective…”
    “You called?”
    “Yes, uh, I just wanted to apologize about last night. I was upset at what I saw on the television and… and I think I spoke too soon. I’ve done some checking and I think I was wrong about what I said.”
    “You were.”
    “Well, I’m sorry.”
    “Okay, Inspector, I appreciate you calling. I better – ”
    “How is the investigation going?”
    “It’s going. Have you talked to Chief Irving?”
    “Yes, I have. He told me that they are questioning Detective Sheehan.”
    “Don’t hold your breath on that.”
    “I’m not. What about what you are pursuing? I was told you are reinvestigating the original case. The murder of Stacey Kincaid.”
    “Well, we can now prove Harris didn’t do it. You were right about that. Elias was going to go into court and clear him. He didn’t do it. We now just have to prove somebody else did. And my money is still on that somebody being the one who also did Elias. I have to go now, Inspector.”
    “Will you call me if you make significant progress?”
    Bosch thought about this for a few moments. Dealing with Carla Entrenkin somehow gave him the feel of consorting with the enemy.
    “Yes,” he finally said. “I’ll call if there is significant progress.”
    “Thank you, Detective.”
    “Don’t mention it.”

Chapter 25
    THE Los Angeles car czar and his wife now lived off Mulholland Drive in an exclusive development called The Summit. It was a gated and guarded neighborhood of side-by-side millionaires with spectacular homes that looked down from the Santa Monica Mountains and north across the basin of the San Fernando Valley. The Kincaids had moved from Brentwood to these gated hills after their daughter’s murder. It was a move toward security that was too late for the little girl.
    Bosch and Edgar had called ahead and were welcomed at the gatehouse. There they were given directions along a curving development road to a huge French Provincial mansion built on a piece of property that must have been the summit of The Summit. A Latina maid answered the door and led them to a living room that was bigger than Bosch’s entire house. It had two fireplaces and three distinct groupings of furniture. Bosch wasn’t sure what the purpose of this could be. The long northern wall of the room was almost entirely glass. It revealed an expansive view across the Valley. Bosch had a hill house but the difference in views was a couple of thousand feet in altitude and maybe ten million dollars in attitude. The maid told them that the Kincaids would be with them shortly.
    Bosch and Edgar stepped to the window, which they were meant to do. The rich kept you waiting so you could feel free to admire all that they had.
    “Jetliner views,” Edgar said.
    “What’s that?”
    “It’s what they call it when you’re this high up. Jetliner views.”
    Bosch nodded. Edgar had sold real estate as a side job with his wife a few years back, until it threatened to turn his police work into a side job.
    Bosch could see across the Valley to the Santa