The Drop

thing as coincidence.”
    Bosch shrugged.
    “What’s the coincidence, Harry?”
    “The choke hold task force I was on back then? Deputy Chief Irvin Irving was in command. We worked it out of Central Division. It was the first time Irving and I directly crossed paths.”
    “Well, as coincidences go, that’s kind of weak.”
    “Probably so. But it means Irving will recognize the significance of the crescent marks on his son’s back if he is told about them or shown a photo. And I don’t want the councilman to know about this yet.”
    Rider looked at him sharply.
    “Harry, he’s all over the chief about this. He’s all over me. He’s already called three times today about the autopsy. And you want to withhold this from him?”
    “I don’t want it out there in the open. I want whoever did this to think they’re in the clear. That way they won’t see me coming.”
    “Harry, I don’t know about this.”
    “Look, who knows what Irving will do with it if he knows? He might end up talking about it with the wrong person or having a press conference and then it gets out and we’ve lost our edge on it.”
    “But you are going to have to go to him with it to conduct your homicide investigation. He’ll know then.”
    “Eventually he’ll have to know. But for now we tell him the jury is still out. We’re waiting on the tox results from autopsy. Even with a high-jingo rush, that will take two weeks. Meantime, we are simply leaving no stone unturned, conducting a thorough investigation into all the possibilities. He doesn’t need to know about this, Kiz. Not right now.”
    Bosch held up the photo. Rider rubbed her mouth as she considered his request.
    “I don’t think you should even tell the chief,” Bosch added.
    “I’m not going there,” she responded immediately. “The day I start withholding from him is the day I don’t deserve the job.”
    Bosch shrugged.
    “Suit yourself. Just keep it from leaving the building.”
    She nodded, having come to a decision.
    “I’ll give you forty-eight hours and then we reevaluate. Thursday morning I want to know where you are on this and we decide again then.”
    It was what Bosch was hoping to get. Just a head start.
    “Fine. Thursday.”
    “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear from you till Thursday. I want to be kept up-to-date. If something else breaks, you call me.”
    “Got it.”
    “Where do you go from here on it?”
    “We’re working on a warrant for Irving’s office. He had an office manager who probably knew a lot of the secrets. And the enemies. We need to sit down with her but I want to do that in the office so she can show us through the files and whatever else is there.”
    Rider nodded in approval.
    “Good. Where’s your partner?”
    “He’s writing up the warrant. We’re making sure we’re clean, every step of the way.”
    “That’s smart. Does he know about the choke hold?”
    “Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. But he’ll know by the end of the day.”
    “I appreciate that, Harry. I have to get back to my budget meeting and figuring out how to do more with less.”
    “Yeah, good luck with that.”
    “And you be careful. This could lead to some dark places.”
    Bosch ejected the tape.
    “Don’t I know it,” he said.

16

    B ecause George Irving had maintained his legal practice and license with the California bar, getting a search warrant allowing the investigators access to his office and files took most of Tuesday afternoon and evening. The legal document was finally signed and issued by superior court judge Stephen Fluharty after a special master was appointed to review any documents that were viewed or seized by the police. The special master was an attorney himself and as such was not governed by the need for speed that homicide investigators working an active case were accustomed to. He set the time of the search for a leisurely 10 A.M . start on Wednesday.
    Irving and Associates was housed in a two-room office on Spring Street across from the Los Angeles Times parking garage. That put George Irving just two blocks from City Hall. It also put his office even closer to the Police Administration Building. Bosch and Chu walked over Wednesday morning, arriving to find no police officer on the door and someone inside.
    They entered and found a woman in her seventies in the front room, boxing files. She identified herself as Dana Rosen, George Irving’s office manager. Bosch had called her the evening