The Overlook

crime. A prosecutor could use him to connect the dots for the jury and that made him valuable, whether or not he could ID the shooter.
    After Bosch had consulted with Lieutenant Gandle, it was decided that they shouldn’t lose track of the young drifter. Gandle approved a hotel voucher that would keep Mitford in the Mark Twain for four days. By then things would be clearer in regard to which way the case was going to go.
    Bosch and Ferras got into the Crown Victoria that Ferras had earlier checked out of the car shed and headed down Wilcox to Sunset. Bosch was behind the wheel. At the light he got out his cell phone. He hadn’t heard back from Rachel Walling, so he called the number her partner had given him. Brenner answered right away and Bosch proceeded cautiously.
    “Just checking in,” he said. “We still on for the meeting at nine?”
    Bosch wanted to make sure he was still part of the investigation before updating Brenner on anything.
    “Uh, yes… yes, we’re still on for the meeting but it’s been pushed back.”
    “Till when?”
    “I think it’s ten now. We’ll let you know.”
    The answer didn’t make it sound like the meeting with the locals was a done deal. He decided to press Brenner.
    “Where will it be? At Tactical?”
    Bosch knew from working with Walling before that the Tactical unit was off campus in a secret location. He wanted to see if Brenner would slip.
    “No, in the federal building downtown. Fourteenth floor. Just ask for the TIU meeting. How helpful was the witness?”
    Bosch decided to hold his cards close until he had a better idea of his standing.
    “He saw the shooting from a distance. Then he saw the transfer. He said one man did it all, killed Stanley Kent and then moved the pig from the Porsche to the back of another vehicle. The other guy waited in another car and just watched.”
    “You get any plates from him?”
    “No, no plates. Mrs. Kent ’s car was probably the one used to make the transfer. That way there would be no cesium trace in their own car.”
    “What about the suspect he did see?”
    “Like I said, he couldn’t ID him. He was still wearing a ski mask. Other than that, nada.”
    There was a pause before Brenner responded.
    “Too bad,” he said. “What did you do with him?”
    “The kid? We just dropped him off.”
    “Where’s he live?”
    “ Halifax, Canada.”
    “Bosch, you know what I mean.”
    Bosch noticed the change in tone. That and the use of his last name. He didn’t think Brenner was casually asking about Jesse Mitford’s exact location.
    “He’s got no local address,” he replied. “He’s a drifter. We just dropped him off at the Denny’s on Sunset. That’s where he wanted to go. We gave him a twenty to cover breakfast.”
    Bosch felt Ferras staring at him as he lied.
    “Can you hold a second, Harry?” Brenner said. “I’ve got another call coming in here. It might be Washington.”
    Back to first names, Bosch noted.
    “Sure, Jack, but I can just go.”
    “No, hold on.”
    Bosch heard the line go to music and he looked over at Ferras. His partner started to speak.
    “Why’d you tell him we-”
    Bosch held a finger to his lips and Ferras stopped.
    “Just hold it a second,” Bosch said.
    Half a minute went by while Bosch waited. A saxophone version of “What a Wonderful World” started to play on the phone. Bosch had always loved the line about the dark sacred night.
    The light finally changed and Bosch turned onto Sunset. Then Brenner came back on the line.
    “Harry? Sorry about that. That was Washington. As you can imagine, they’re all over this thing.”
    Bosch decided to draw things out into the open.
    “What’s new on your end?”
    “Not a lot. Homeland is sending a fleet of choppers with equipment that can track a radiation trail. They’ll start up at the overlook and try to pick up a signature specific to cesium. But the reality is it’s got to come out of the pig before they’ll pick up a signal. Meantime, we’re organizing the status meeting so that we can make sure everybody’s on the same page.”
    “That’s all the big G has accomplished?”
    “Well, we’re just getting organized. I told you how it would be. Alphabet soup.”
    “Right. You called it pandemonium. The feds are good at that.”
    “No, I’m not sure I said all of that. But there’s always a learning curve. I think after the meeting we’ll be hitting this thing on all cylinders.”
    Bosch now knew for sure that things