Trunk Music

and ask her if she is officially living in my home at this time, I will.”
    “I don’t think that’s necessary. I think I have everything I need for the time being.”
    He then went directly into the standard IAD end-of-interview spiel.
    “Detective Bosch, you will be informed of the results of the ongoing investigation into your conduct. If departmental charges are filed, you will be informed of the scheduling of a Board of Rights hearing in which three captains will hear evidence. You will be allowed to choose one of those captains, I will select a second and the third will be chosen at random. Any questions?”
    “Just one. How can you call yourself a cop when all you do is sit up here and conduct these bullshit investigations into bullshit?”
    Zane reached over and put a hand on Bosch’s forearm to quiet him.
    “No, that’s okay,” Chastain said, waving off Zane’s effort to calm things. “I don’t mind answering. In fact, I get that question a lot, Bosch. Funny, but it always seems I get it from the cops I happen to be investigating. Anyway, the answer is that I take pride in what I do because I represent the public, and if there is no one to police the police then there is no one to keep the abuse of their wide powers in check. I serve a valuable purpose in this society, Detective Bosch. I’m proud of what I do. Can you say the same?”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bosch said. “I’m sure that sounds great on tape for whoever listens to it. I get the feeling you probably sit alone at night and listen to it yourself. Over and over again. After a while, you believe it. But let me ask you this, Chastain. Who polices the police who police the police?”
    Bosch stood up and Zane followed. The interview was over.
    After leaving IAD and thanking Zane for his help, Bosch went down to the SID lab on the third floor to see Art Donovan. The criminologist had just come back from a crime scene and was sorting through evidence bags and checking the material against an evidence list. He looked up as Bosch was approaching.
    “How’d you get in here, Harry?”
    “I know the combination.”
    Most detectives who worked RHD knew the door-lock combo. Bosch hadn’t worked RHD in five years and they still hadn’t changed it.
    “See,” Donovan said. “That’s how the trouble starts.”
    “What trouble?”
    “You coming in here while I’m handling evidence. Next thing you know some wiseass defense lawyer says it got tainted and I look like an asshole on national TV.”
    “You’re paranoid, Artie. Besides, we’re not due for another trial of the century for at least a few years.”
    “Funny. What do you want, Harry?”
    “You’re the second guy who said I was funny today. What happened with my shoe prints and all the rest of the stuff?”
    “The Aliso case?”
    “No, the Lindbergh case. What do you think?”
    “Well, I heard that Aliso wasn’t yours anymore. I’m supposed to have everything ready for the FBI to pick up.”
    “When is that?”
    Donovan looked up from what he was doing for the first time.
    “They just said they’d send somebody by five.”
    “Then it’s still my case until they show up. What about the shoe prints you pulled?”
    “There’s nothing about them. I sent copies to the bureau’s crime lab in D.C. to see if they could ID the make and model.”
    “And?”
    “And nothing. I haven’t heard back. Bosch, every department in the country sends shit to them. You know that. And last I heard, they don’t drop everything they’re doing when a package from the LAPD comes in. It will probably be next week sometime before I hear back. If I’m lucky.”
    “Shit.”
    “It’s too late to call the East Coast now, anyway. Maybe Monday. I didn’t know they suddenly became so important to you. Communication, Harry, that’s the secret. You ought to try it sometime.”
    “Never mind that, do you still have a set of copies?”
    “Yup.”
    “Can I get a set?”
    “Sure can, but you’re going to have to wait about twenty minutes or so till I’m done with this.”
    “Come on, Artie, it’s probably just sitting in a file cabinet or something. It’ll take you thirty seconds.”
    “Would you leave me alone?” Donovan said with exasperation. “I’m serious, Harry. Yes, it’s sitting in a file and it would only take me half a minute to get it for you. But if I leave what I’m doing here, I could get crucified when I testify in this case. I can see it now, some shyster all