The Concrete Blonde (hb-3)

judge agreed to strike Bosch’s comment about the mystery of life. Belk asked a few more questions about the shooting scene and then moved on to the investigation of Church.
    “You were no longer part of that, correct?”
    “No, as is routine I was assigned desk duty while my actions in the shooting were investigated.”
    “Well, were you made aware of the results of the task force’s investigation into Church’s background?”
    “Generally. Because I had a stake in the outcome, I was kept informed.”
    “What did you learn?”
    “That the makeup found in the bathroom cabinet was tied to nine of the victims.”
    “Did you ever have any doubts yourself or hear of any doubts from other investigators as to whether Norman Church was responsible for the deaths of those women?”
    “For those nine? No, no doubts at all. Ever.”
    “Well, Detective Bosch, you heard Mr. Wieczorek testify about being with Mr. Church on the night the eleventh victim, Shirleen Kemp, was killed. You saw the videotape presented as evidence. Didn’t that raise any doubts?”
    “It does about that case. But Shirleen Kemp was not among the nine whose makeup was found in Church’s apartment. There is no doubt in my mind or in anybody’s on the task force that Church killed those nine women.”
    Chandler objected to Bosch speaking for the rest of the task force and the judge sustained it. Belk changed the subject, not wanting to venture any further into the area of victims seven and eleven. His strategy was to avoid any reference to a second killer, leaving that to Chandler to take a swing at on cross-examination, if she wanted to.
    “You were disciplined for not going in with backup. Do you feel the department handled the matter correctly?”
    “No.”
    “How so?”
    “As I explained, I did not believe I had a choice in what I did. If I had to do it again-even knowing I would be transferred as a result-I would do the same thing. I would have to. If there had been another woman in there, another victim, and I had saved her, I probably would have been promoted.”
    When Belk didn’t immediately ask a follow-up question, Bosch continued.
    “I believe the transfer was a political necessity. The bottom line was, I shot an unarmed man. It did not matter that the man I shot was a serial killer, a monster. Besides, I was carrying baggage from-”
    “That will be fine-”
    “Run—ins with-”
    “Detective Bosch.”
    Bosch stopped. He had made his point.
    “So what you are saying is you don’t have any regrets about what happened in the apartment, correct?”
    “No, that’s not correct.”
    This apparently surprised Belk. He looked down at his notes. He had asked a question he expected a different reply to. But he realized he had to follow through.
    “What do you regret?”
    “That Church made that move. He drew the fire. There was nothing I could do but respond. I wanted to stop the killings. I didn’t want to kill him to do that. But that’s the way it turned out. It was his play.”
    Belk showed his relief by breathing heavily into the microphone before saying he had no further questions.
    Judge Keyes said there would be a ten-minute break before cross-examination began. Bosch returned to the defense table, where Belk whispered that he thought they had done well. Bosch didn’t respond.
    “I think everything is going to ride on her cross. If you can get through it without heavy damage I think we’ve got it.”
    “What about when she brings up the follower, introduces the note?”
    “I don’t see how she can. If she does, she’ll be flying blind.”
    “No, she won’t. She’s got a source in the department. Someone fed her stuff about the note.”
    “I’ll ask for a sidebar conference if it gets to that point.”
    That wasn’t very encouraging. Bosch looked at the clock, trying to gauge whether he had time for a smoke. He didn’t think so and got up and went back to the witness stand. He passed behind Chandler, who was writing on a legal pad.
    “Great mystery of life,” she said without looking up.
    “Yeah,” Bosch said without looking back at her.
    As he sat and waited, he saw Bremmer come in, followed by the guy from the
Daily News
and a couple of wire service reporters. Somebody had put out the word that the top act was about to begin. Cameras were not allowed in federal court, so one of the stations had sent a sketch artist over.
    From the witness seat, Bosch watched Chandler working. He guessed she was