The Drop

Black and White, and right away the guy starts giving me shit about collusion and all this and I’m thinking, Yeah, yeah, yeah, just touch your nose with your forefinger, asshole. But then he says, ‘You and Irving Junior are doing this to us’ and I’m like, What the hell? So I get in his face and tell him to tell me exactly what he means by that. And that’s when I found out my friend Georgie was repping another cab company putting the move on Black and White.”
    Bosch leaned forward, closer to Mason, and put his elbows on his knees. They were getting to the center of it now.
    “What did you do?”
    “I confronted him. I went to George and gave him every way out, but at the end of the day, there was no way out. I felt he and his father had used me and I told him that. I told him we weren’t friends anymore and that was the last time I saw him.”
    Bosch nodded.
    “And this is why you think he killed himself.”
    Mason scoffed.
    “No, man. If he used me like that, then I wasn’t really that important in his life. I think he killed himself for other reasons. I think Chad leaving was a big thing . . . and maybe there were other things. The family had secrets, you know what I mean?”
    Mason didn’t know about McQuillen or the marks on George Irving’s back. Bosch decided that this wasn’t the time for him to find out.
    “Okay, Mason, you have anything else for me?”
    Mason shook his head.
    “You didn’t confront the councilman about all of this, did you?”
    “Not yet.”
    Bosch thought about that.
    “You going to the funeral tomorrow?”
    “I haven’t decided yet. Tomorrow morning, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’ll guess I’ll decide then. We were friends a long time. Things just sort of went wrong at the end.”
    “Well, maybe I’ll see you there. You can go now. I appreciate you telling the story.”
    “Yeah.”
    Mason stood up and headed toward the back hallway, his head down. Bosch watched him go and wondered about the vagaries of relationships and investigations. He had come to the division expecting to confront a cop who was bent, who had crossed the line. Instead, he now viewed Mason as another victim of Irvin Irving.
    And at the top of the list of Irving’s victims was his own son. Mason might not have to worry about confronting the councilman. Bosch might get there first.

25

    G eorge Irving’s Thursday morning funeral was crowded. But it was hard for Bosch to tell if all the people were there to mourn the loss of George Irving or to buttress their ties to his father, the city councilman. Many of the city’s political elite were there, along with the command staff of the police department. Even Councilman Irving’s opponent in the upcoming election—the guy who didn’t have a chance—was present. It was as if a truce in politics had been called so respect could be shown for the dead.
    Bosch stood on the periphery of the graveside gathering and watched the parade of who’s who make their way to Irvin Irving and the rest of the dead man’s family to offer condolences. It was Bosch’s first look at Chad Irving, the third generation of the family. He clearly favored his mother in his looks. He stood next to her with his head down, barely looking up whenever someone offered a hand or a grip of the upper arm. He seemed bereft, whereas his mother was tearless and stoic, possibly operating behind a pharmaceutical haze.
    Bosch was so intent on studying the family and political permutations of the scene that he didn’t notice Kiz Rider slip away from the police chief’s side. She came up on Harry’s left as silent as an assassin.
    “Harry?”
    Bosch turned.
    “Lieutenant Rider. I’m surprised to see you here.”
    “I came with the chief.”
    “Yeah, I saw that. Big mistake.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “I wouldn’t be showing support for Irvin Irving right about now. That’s all.”
    “Have things advanced since our discussion yesterday?”
    “Yeah, you could say that.”
    Bosch summarized his interview of Robert Mason and the clear implication that the councilman was complicit in the effort to move the Hollywood taxi franchise from B&W to Regent. He said that effort likely triggered the events that led to George Irving’s death.
    “Will Mason testify?”
    Bosch shrugged.
    “I never asked him but he knows the score. He’s a cop and he likes his job—enough to end his friendship with George Irving when he realized he was being used. He knows if he’s called to