The Black Ice (hb-2)

seven and he thought maybe she had gone out for dinner, but then she picked up on the sixth ring.
    “It’s Bosch. A bad time?”
    “What do you want?” Teresa said. “Where are you? Everybody’s looking for you, you know.”
    “I heard. But I’m outta town. I was just calling ’cause I heard they found my friend Lucius Porter.”
    “Yeah, they did. Sorry. I just got back from the cut.”
    “Yeah, I figured you’d do it.”
    And then silence before she said, “Harry, why do I get the feeling you want-that you aren’t calling just because he was your friend?”
    “Well…”
    “Oh, shit, here we go again, right?”
    “No. I just wanted to know how he got it is all. He was a friend. I worked with him. Never mind.”
    “I don’t know why I let you do this to me. Shit. Mexican necktie, Harry. There, you happy? Got all you need now?”
    “Garrote?”
    “Yes. Steel baling wire, wrapped at the ends around two wooden pegs. I’m sure you’ve seen it before. Do I get to read this in the
Times
tomorrow, too?”
    He was silent until he was sure she was done. He looked from the bed to the open window and saw the daylight was now completely gone. The sky was a deep red wine. He thought of the man at Poe’s. Three tears.
    “Did you do a compar-”
    “Comparison to the Jimmy Kapps case? Yes. We’re way ahead of you, but it won’t be done for a few days.”
    “How come?”
    “Because it takes that long to do wood-fiber testing between the dowel pegs and alloy-content analysis on the baling wire. We did do a cut analysis on the wire, though. It looks very good.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning it looks like the wire on the garrote used to kill Porter was cut from the same length of wire used to kill Kapps. The ends match. It’s not one hundred percent because similar pliers will leave similar cut tracings. So we are doing the metal-alloy comparison. We’ll know in a few days.”
    She seemed so matter-of-fact about it all. He was surprised she was still angry with him. The television reports of the night before seemed to be in her favor. He didn’t know what to say. He had gone from being at ease in bed with her to being nervous on the phone with her.
    “Thanks, Teresa,” he finally said. “I’ll see you.”
    “Harry?” she said before he could hang up.
    “Yeah?”
    “When you get back, I don’t think you should call me again. I think we should keep it professional. If we see each other in the suite, then that’s fine. But let’s leave it there.”
    He didn’t say anything.
    “Okay?”
    “Sure.”
    They hung up. Bosch sat without moving for several minutes. Finally, he picked the phone up again and dialed the direct line into the glass box. Pounds picked up immediately.
    “It’s Bosch.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Mexicali. You left messages?”
    “I called the hotel on your tape. They said you never checked in.”
    “I decided to stay on the other side of the border.”
    “Never mind the bullshit. Porter is dead.”
    “What!” Bosch tried his best to make it seem real. “What happened? I just saw him yesterday. He-”
    “Never mind the bullshit, Bosch. What are you doing down there?”
    “You told me to go where the case followed. It led here.”
    “I never told you to go to Mexico.” He was yelling. “I want you back here ten minutes ago. This does not look good for you. We have a bartender that so help me Christ is ready to put your dick in the dirt on this. He-hang on.”
    “Bosch,” a new voice on the line said. “Assistant Chief Irving here. What is your location?”
    “I’m in Mexicali.”
    “I want you in my office at oh eight hundred tomorrow.”
    Bosch didn’t hesitate. He knew he could not show any weakness.
    “Can’t do that, Chief. I have some unfinished business here that’ll probably take me through tomorrow at least.”
    “We are talking about a fellow officer’s murder here, Detective. I don’t know if you realize this, but you could be in danger yourself.”
    “I know what I am doing. It’s a fellow officer’s murder that brings me here. Remember? Or doesn’t Moore matter?”
    Irving ignored that.
    “You are refusing my direct order to return?”
    “Look, Chief, I don’t care what some bartender is telling you, you know I wasn’t the doer.”
    “I never said that. But your conversation already reveals that you know more about this than you should if you were not involved.”
    “All I’m saying is that the answer to a lot of