The Drop

and waited as she unfolded the page and scanned it.
    “What’s this?” she said.
    “It’s Irving’s proof of innocence.”
    “It’s a piece of paper, Harry. This could have been slapped together at any time. It’s not proof of anything.”
    “Except you and I and the chief, we all know it’s real. It’s true.”
    “Speak for yourself. This is worthless.”
    She refolded it and handed it back. Bosch put it back in his pocket.
    “You used me, Kiz. To get to Irving. You used his son’s death. You used the things I found out. All to get a bullshit story in the newspaper you hoped would knock him to the mat.”
    She didn’t respond for a long time and when she did, it was just the company line. Not an acknowledgment of anything.
    “Thirty days, Harry. Irving is a thorn in the department’s side. If we can get rid of him, we can build a bigger and better department. And that makes it a safer and better city.”
    Bosch stood up straight and cast his eyes back out at the view. The reds were turning purple. It was getting dark.
    “Sure, why not?” he said. “But if you have to become him to get rid of him, what’s the difference?”
    Rider banged her palms lightly on the railing, a signal that she had said enough and was finished with this conversation.
    “I’m going to go, Harry. I have to get back.”
    “Sure.”
    “Thanks for the water.”
    “Yeah.”
    He heard her steps on the wood planking as she moved toward the sliding door.
    “So was what you said to me the other day bullshit, Kiz?” he asked, his back still turned to her. “Was that just part of the play?”
    The steps stopped, but she didn’t say anything.
    “When I called you and told you about Hardy. You talked about the noble work we do. You said, ‘This is why we do this.’ Was that just a line, Kiz?”
    It was a while before she spoke. Bosch knew she was looking at him and waiting for him to turn and look at her. But he couldn’t do it.
    “No,” she finally said. “It wasn’t just a line. It was the truth. And someday you may appreciate that I do what I need to do so that you can do what you need to do.”
    She waited for his response but he said nothing.
    He heard the door slide open and then close. She was gone. Bosch looked out at the fading light and waited a moment before speaking.
    “I don’t think so,” he said.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    This story was in part suggested by Robert McDonald. For that the author is very grateful.
    Many others contributed to this work and they are also gratefully acknowledged. They include Asya Muchnick, Bill Massey, Michael Pietsch, Pamela Marshall, Dennis Wojciechowski, Jay Stein, Rick Jackson, Tim Marcia, John Houghton, Terrill Lee Lankford, Jane Davis, Heather Rizzo and Linda Connelly. Many thanks to all.

A LSO BY M ICHAEL C ONNELLY

    Fiction
    The Black Echo
    The Black Ice
    The Concrete Blonde
    The Last Coyote
    The Poet
    Trunk Music
    Blood Work
    Angels Flight
    Void Moon
    A Darkness More Than Night
    City of Bones
    Chasing the Dime
    Lost Light
    The Narrows
    The Closers
    The Lincoln Lawyer
    Echo Park
    The Overlook
    The Brass Verdict
    The Scarecrow
    Nine Dragons
    The Reversal
    The Fifth Witness

    Non-Fiction
    Crime Beat

    E-books
    Suicide Run
    Angle of Investigation

Copyright

    AN ORION EBOOK

    First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Orion Books.
This eBook first published in 2011 by Orion Books.
Copyright © 2011 by Hieronymus, Inc.

    The moral right of Michael Connelly to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

    All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

    A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

    ISBN: 978 1 4091 3430 5

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