The Narrows

seemingly not important now is all-important later. What is cryptic and unconnected now becomes the magnifying glass through which things become clear later.

CHAPTER 14
    You can always tell who the locals are. They're the ones who sit inside and work crossword puzzles while the ferry makes the ninety-minute crossing. The tourists are usually up top or lining the bow or stern with their cameras and last glimpses of the island as it shrinks in the mist behind them. On the first boat out the next morning I was inside with the locals. But I was working a puzzle of a different kind. I sat with the file in which Terry McCaleb had made his case notations open on my lap. I also had the chronology I had worked up the night before. I studied it, hoping to commit as much of it as I could to memory. An instant command of case details is required for the successful completion of an investigation.

    Jan. 7-McC reads about missing men in Nevada, calls
    Vegas Metro
    Jan. 9-Vegas Metro not interested Feb. 2-Hinton, Vegas Sun. Who called who? Feb. 13-half-day charter with Jordan Shandy
    Feb. 19-charter with Finder
    Feb. 22-GPS stolen/sheriff's report
    Feb. 27-McC creates photo file
    March 1?-McC on mainland for three-day period
    March 28-Last charter. McC on The Following Sea
    with meds March 31-McC dies

    I now added what I had learned an hour earlier from Graciela. The same credit-card records I had asked her to gather in regard to her husband's movements contained her purchases as well. There was a Visa charge attributed to a Nordstrom department store on February 21. When I asked about it she said she had made the purchase at the Promenade. I asked if she had been back since then and she said no.
    As I added the date into the chronology I noted that it was the day before the GPS device was reported stolen from The Following Sea. This meant it was likely the same day it was stolen. The photo stalker had been on the ferry with Graciela on the way back to the island. Could he have been the one who snuck onboard The Following Sea that night and took the GPS device? If so, why? And if so, could this also have been the night that Terry McCaleb's medicine was tampered with, real capsules exchanged for dummies?
    I circled the letters GPS on the chronology. What was the significance of this device and this theft? I wondered if I was putting too much emphasis on this. Perhaps Buddy Lockridge's theory was the correct one, the de- vice had simply been stolen by Finder, a competitor. Perhaps that was all it was, but the proximity to the mall stalking of Graciela made me think otherwise. My instincts told me there was a connection. I just didn't have it yet.
    Despite that, I felt as though I was getting close to something. The chronology was very helpful in allowing me to see connections and the timeliness of things. There was more still to add and I remembered I had intended to follow up with phone calls to Las Vegas this morning. I opened my cell phone and checked the battery. I had been unable to recharge it on The Following Sea. Now I was running out of juice. I had maybe one last call on it before it died. I punched in the number for the Missing Persons unit at Vegas Metro. The call went through and I asked for Detective Ritz. I was put on hold for nearly three minutes, during which time the phone started to beep every minute, warning me it was running low on power.
    "This is Detective Ritz, how can I help you?" "Detective, my name is Bosch. I'm LAPD retired. Homicide mostly. I'm doing a favor for a friend. Her husband passed away last month and I'm sort of putting his things in order. I came across a file of his that had your name and number in it and a newspaper article about one of your cases."
    "What case?"
    "The six missing men."
    "And what was your friend's husband's name?"
    "Terry McCaleb. He was FBI retired. He worked-"
    "Oh, him."
    "You knew him?" "I talked to him on the phone once. That doesn't qualify as knowing him."
    "You talked about the missing men?"
    "Look, what did you say your name is?"
    "Harry Bosch."
    "Well, listen, Harry Bosch, I don't know you and I don't know what you are doing, but it's usually not my practice to talk about open cases over the phone with strangers."
    "I could come see you."
    "That wouldn't change things."
    "You know he's dead, don't you?"
    "McCaleb? I heard he had a heart attack and he was out on his boat and nobody could get to him in time. It sounded stupid. What's a guy with a heart transplant