The Concrete Blonde (hb-3)

“Isn’t it true, Detective Bosch, that the whole thing-this pinning all the murders on Norman Church-was an elaborate cover-up that is now unraveling with the discovery of the woman in the concrete this week?”
    “No, it is not true. Nothing is unraveling. Church was a killer and he deserved what he got.”
    Bosch mentally flinched and closed his eyes as soon as the words were out of his mouth. She had done it. He opened his eyes and looked at Chandler. Her eyes seemed flat and blank, emotionless.
    Softly, she said, “You say he deserved what he got. When were you appointed judge, jury and executioner?”
    Bosch drank more water from the cup.
    “What I meant was that it was his play. Whatever happened to him, he was ultimately responsible. You put something in play like that and you have to accept the consequences.”
    “Like Rodney King deserved what he got?”
    “Objection!” Belk shouted.
    “Like Andre Galton deserved what he got?”
    “Objection!”
    “Sustained, sustained,” the judge said. “All right now, Ms. Chandler, you-”
    “They’re not the same.”
    “Detective Bosch, I sustained the objections. That means don’t answer.”
    “No further questions at this time, Your Honor,” Chandler said.
    Bosch watched her walk to the plaintiff’s table and drop her tablet onto the wooden surface. The loose strand of hair was there at the back of her neck. He was sure now that even that detail was part of her carefully planned and orchestrated performance during the trial. After she sat down, Deborah Church reached over and squeezed her arm. Chandler didn’t smile or make any gesture in return.
    Belk did what he could to repair the damage on redirect examination, asking more details about the heinous nature of the crimes, and the shooting and investigation of Church. But it seemed as if no one was listening. The courtroom had been sucked into a vacuum created by Chandler’s cross-examination.
    Belk was apparently so ineffective that Chandler didn’t bother to ask anything on recross and Bosch was excused from the witness seat. He felt as if the walk back to the defense table covered at least a mile.
    “Next witness, Mr. Belk?” the judge asked.
    “Your Honor, can I have a few minutes?”
    “Surely.”
    Belk turned to Bosch and whispered, “We’re going to rest, you have a problem with that?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “There is no one else to call, unless you want to get other members of the task force over here. They’ll say the same thing you did and get the same treatment from Chandler. I’d rather leave that alone.”
    “What about bringing Locke back? He’ll back me up on everything I said about the follower.”
    “Too risky. He is a psychologist, for everything we get him to say is a possibility, she’ll also get him to concede it is possibly not. He hasn’t been deposed on this matter and we won’t know for sure what he would say. Besides, I think we need to stay off the second killer. It’s confusing the jury and we-”
    “Mr. Belk,” the judge said. “We’re waiting.”
    Belk stood up and said, “Your Honor, the defense rests.”
    The judge stared a long moment at Belk before turning to the jury and telling them they were excused for the day because the lawyers would need the afternoon to prepare closing arguments and he would need time to prepare jury instructions.
    After the jury filed out, Chandler went to the lectern. She asked for a directed verdict in favor of the plaintiff, which the judge denied. Belk did the same thing, asking for a verdict in favor of the defendant. In a seemingly sarcastic tone, the judge told him to sit down.
    Bosch met Sylvia in the hallway outside after the crowded courtroom took several minutes to empty. There was a large gathering of reporters around the two lawyers and Bosch took her arm and moved her down the hall.
    “I told you not to come here, Sylvia.”
    “I know, but I felt I had to come. I wanted you to know that I support you no matter what. Harry, I know things about you the jury will never know. No matter how she tries to portray you, I know you. Don’t forget that.”
    She was wearing a black dress with a silvery-white pattern that Bosch liked. She looked very beautiful.
    “I, uh, I-how long were you here?”
    “For most of it. I’m glad I came. I know it was rough, but I saw the goodness of what you are come through all the harshness of what you sometimes have to do.”
    He just looked at her a moment.
    “Be