Trunk Music

by their own.
    Everything was routine for a half hour. But then Chastain threw an unexpected pitch at them.
    “Detective Bosch, do you know a woman named Eleanor Wish?”
    Zane reached out a hand in front of Bosch to stop him from answering.
    “What is this shit, Chastain?”
    “Who have you been talking to, Chastain?” Bosch added.
    “Wait a minute, Harry,” Zane said. “Don’t say anything. Where’s this going, Chastain?”
    “It’s very clear from the orders from the chief. I’m investigating Bosch’s conduct during this investigation. As far as who I have been talking to or where I get my information, you are not privy to that at this point in the process.”
    “This is supposed to be about a supposedly planted gun that we all know is bullshit. That’s what we are here to answer.”
    “Do you wish to read the order from the chief again? It’s quite clear.”
    Zane looked at him a moment.
    “Give us five minutes so we can talk about this. Why don’t you go get the points of your teeth filed?”
    Chastain stood up and reached over and turned the tape recorder off. As he stepped to the door, he looked back at them with a smile.
    “This time I got you both. You won’t get out from under this one, Bosch. And Zane, well, I guess you can’t win them all, can you?”
    “You ought to know that better than me, you sanctimonious asshole. Get out of here and leave us alone.”
    After Chastain was gone, Zane bent over the tape recorder to make sure it was off. He then got up and checked the thermostat on the wall to make sure it wasn’t a secret listening device. After he was satisfied their conversation was private, he sat back down and asked Bosch about Eleanor Wish. Bosch told him about his encounters with Eleanor over the past few days but left out mention of the abduction and her subsequent confession.
    “One of those cops over there in Metro must’ve told him you shacked up with her,” Zane said. “That’s all he’s got. He’s going for an associating beef. If you admit it here, then he’s got you. But if that’s all he gets, then it’s a slap on the wrist at best. As long as he gets nothing else. But if you lie about it and say you weren’t with her when you were, and he can prove you were, then you’ve got a problem. So my advice is that you tell him, yeah, you know her and you’ve been with her. Fuck it, it’s nothing. Tell him it’s over, and if that’s all he’s got, then he’s a chickenshit asshole.”
    “I don’t know if it is or it isn’t.”
    “What?”
    “Over.”
    “Well, don’t tell him nothin’ about that unless he asks for it. Then use your best judgment. Ready?”
    Bosch nodded and Zane opened the door. Chastain was sitting outside at a desk.
    “Where ya been, Chastain?” Zane complained. “We’re waiting in here.”
    Chastain didn’t answer. He came in, turned the recorder back on and continued the Q and A.
    “Yes, I know Eleanor Wish,” Bosch said. “Yes, I’ve spent time with her over the last few days.”
    “How much time?”
    “I don’t know exactly. A couple of nights.”
    “While you were conducting the investigation?”
    “Not while I was conducting it. At night, when I was done for the day. We all don’t work around the clock like you, Chastain.”
    Bosch smiled at him without humor.
    “Was she a witness in this case?” Chastain asked with a tone that denoted that he was shocked that Bosch would cross that line.
    “Initially, I thought she might be a witness. After I located her and talked to her, I learned pretty quickly that she was not an evidentiary witness of any kind.”
    “But you did initially encounter her while you were in your capacity as an investigator on this case.”
    “That’s correct.”
    Chastain consulted his pad for a long moment before asking the next question.
    “Is this woman, that’s the convicted felon Eleanor Wish I am still talking about, is she living in your home at this time?”
    Bosch felt the bile rising in his throat. The personal invasion and Chastain’s tone were getting to him. He struggled to remain calm.
    “I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
    “You don’t know if someone is living in your house or not?”
    “Look, Chastain, she was there last night, okay? Is that what you want to hear? She was there. But whether she’ll be there tonight I don’t know. She’s got her own place in Vegas. She may have gone back today, I don’t know. I didn’t check. You want me to call