The Drop

way of knowing if the camera used had been set with the proper date.
    In most of the photos the individual who was depicted alone or with Hardy or with a man’s body assumed to be Hardy’s was clearly alive in the photograph. He or she was either engaged in a sex act or in some cases smiling directly at the camera. In other cases the depiction was of a person looking in fear and sometimes pain at the camera.
    Photos that had individual identifiers were placed in a priority category. These were victims who wore distinctive jewelry or had tattoos or facial moles. These markers would help the investigators seek identities later in the investigation.
    Bosch could feel his insides being hollowed by the process. The eyes of the victims were the most difficult. So many of them looked at the camera with eyes showing that they knew they were not going to live. It tapped into a deep well of helpless rage in Bosch. For years Hardy had cut a bloody trail across the landscape and no one had seen it. Now they were left to make piles out of photographs.
    At one point there was a knock on the door and Teddy Baker came in, holding a file.
    “I thought you might want to see this,” she said. “They took it at MDC during booking.”
    She opened the file and put an 8 × 10 photo down on the table. It depicted a man’s back. Spread from shoulder blade to shoulder blade was a depiction of a cemetery with black crosses across the landscape. Some of the crosses were old and faded, the ink having spread with the skin. Some of the crosses were sharply drawn and looked new. In a black script beneath the image were the words Bene Decessit .
    Bosch had seen RIP tattoos before, but usually they were on gangbangers trying to keep track of the body counts of their own homies. This was new and yet not surprising. It also didn’t come as a surprise that Hardy had found a tattoo artist who apparently didn’t think the cemetery image was suspicious enough to contact authorities.
    “That’s your boy,” Baker said.
    “And did you count the crosses?” Bosch asked.
    “Yeah. There’s thirty-seven of them.”
    Bosch had not told her or the others that Hardy had said his number was thirty-seven. He had only told Kiz Rider that. He ran his finger below the words on Hardy’s back.
    “Yeah,” Baker said. “We Googled it. It’s Latin. Means ‘died well.’ Like they all died well.”
    Bosch nodded.
    “Sweet,” Chu said. “The guy’s fucked up.”
    “Can we put the photo in the package?” Bosch asked.
    “It’s all yours.”
    Bosch put the photo to the side of the table. He would include it in the charging package he would take to the DA.
    “Okay. Thanks, Teddy,” he said.
    He was dismissing her. He wanted to get back to the photo work. He needed to find Lily.
    “Do you guys need some help?” Baker said. “Gandle didn’t give us a piece of anything. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.”
    She and Kehoe had been driving Hardy to the MDC for booking when Gandle had given out assignments. It was quickly becoming the kind of case everyone wanted a part of.
    “I think we got this, Teddy,” Bosch said quickly before his partner could tell her to join them. “Maybe the others could use a hand with the videos.”
    “Okay, thanks. I’ll check with them.”
    Bosch interpreted her tone to mean that she thought he was being a selfish prick. She went to the door but then turned back to them.
    “You know what’s weird so far?” she asked.
    “What’s weird?” Bosch responded.
    “No bodies. There’s DNA in that town house. But where are all the bodies? Where did he hide them?”
    “Some were found,” Bosch said. “Like Lily Price. Others he hid. That’s his last chit. By the time we’re finished with this, that’s all Hardy will have left to trade. He gives up the bodies, we give up the death penalty.”
    “Think the DA will go for it?”
    “I hope not.”
    She left the room then and Bosch got back to work with the photos.
    “Harry, what’s up?” Chu said. “We’ve got about a thousand photos still to look through.”
    “I know that,” Bosch said.
    “So, why couldn’t we use her? She and Kehoe are part of OU. They’re just looking for something to do.”
    “I don’t know. I just think that if Lily Price is in here somewhere, then we should find her. Know what I mean?”
    “I guess so.”
    Bosch relented.
    “Go get her. Bring her back.”
    “No, that’s okay. I understand.”
    They went back to work, silently