City Of Bones

tape.”
    Bosch shook his head in frustration.
    “Jesus, why are you doing this? You know who the leak is, why are you wasting time?”
    Again there was a pause before she answered.
    “I needed to cover all bases. Detective, I need to run my investigation the way I see fit.”
    Now Bosch paused for a moment, wondering if he was missing something, if there was something else going on. He finally decided he couldn’t worry about it. He had to keep his eyes on the prize. His case.
    “Cover the bases, that’s great,” he said. “Well, I almost lost a confession today because I didn’t have my machine. I would appreciate it if you would get it back to me.”
    “I’m finished with it and am putting it in inter-office dispatch right now.”
    “Thank you. Good-bye.”
    He hung up, just as Edgar showed up at the table with three cups of coffee. It made Bosch think of something they should do.
    “Who’s got the watch down there?” he asked.
    “Mankiewicz was in there,” Edgar said. “So was Young.”
    Bosch poured the coffee from the Styrofoam container into the mug he got out of his drawer. He then picked up the phone and dialed the watch office. Mankiewicz answered.
    “You got anybody in the bat cave?”
    “Bosch? I thought you might take some time off.”
    “You thought wrong. What about the cave?”
    “No, nobody till about eight today. What do you need?”
    “I’m about to take a confession and don’t want any lawyer to be able to open the box once I wrap it. My guy smells like Ancient Age but I think he’s straight. I’d like to make a record of it, just the same.”
    “This the bones case?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Bring him down and I’ll do it. I’m certified.”
    “Thanks, Mank.”
    He hung up and looked at Edgar.
    “Let’s take him down to the cave and see what he blows. Just to be safe.”
    “Good idea.”
    They took their coffees into interview room 3, where they had earlier shackled Delacroix to the table’s center ring. They released him from the cuffs and let him take a few gulps of his coffee before walking him down the back hallway to the station’s small jail facility. The jail essentially consisted of two large holding cells for drunks and prostitutes. Arrestees of a higher order were usually transported to the main city or county jail. There was a small third cell that was known as the bat cave, as in blood alcohol testing.
    They met Mankiewicz in the hallway and followed him to the cave, where he turned on the Breathalyzer and instructed Delacroix to blow into a clear plastic tube attached to the machine. Bosch noticed that Mankiewicz had a black mourning ribbon across his badge for Brasher.
    In a few minutes they had the result. Delacroix blew a.003, not even close to the legal limit for driving. There was no standard set for giving a confession to murder.
    As they took Delacroix out of the tank Bosch felt Mankiewicz tap his arm from behind. He turned to face him while Edgar headed back up the hallway with Delacroix.
    Mankiewicz nodded.
    “Harry, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You know, about what happened out there.”
    Bosch knew he was talking about Brasher. He nodded back.
    “Yeah, thanks. It’s a tough one.”
    “I had to put her out there, you know. I knew she was green but-”
    “Hey, Mank, you did the right thing. Don’t second-guess anything.”
    Mankiewicz nodded.
    “I gotta go,” Bosch said.
    While Edgar returned Delacroix to his spot in the interview room Bosch went into the viewing room, focused the video camera through the one-way glass and put in a new cassette he took from the supply cabinet. He then turned on the camera as well as the backup sound recorder. Everything was set. He went back into the interview room to finish wrapping the package.

Chapter 37
    BOSCH identified the three occupants of the interview room and announced the date and time, even though both of these would be printed on the lower frame of the video being recorded of the session. He put a rights waiver form on the table and told Delacroix he wanted to advise him one more time of his rights. When he was finished he asked Delacroix to sign the form and then moved it to the side of the table. He took a gulp of coffee and started.
    “Mr. Delacroix, earlier today you expressed to me a desire to talk about what happened to your son, Arthur, in nineteen eighty. Do you still wish to speak to us about that?”
    “Yes.”
    “Let’s start with the basic questions and then we can go