Trunk Music

million dollars. It was all in cash and there was so much that he couldn’t fit it all into his briefcase. He had to put about half of it in his suit bag.”
    He paused for a few moments. He could tell the story was playing in her internal theater. Her eyes had that faraway look in them. He remembered that look from her movie. But this time it was for real. He hadn’t even finished the interview, but she was already making plans. He could see it.
    “Was the money marked by the FBI?” she asked. “I mean, could they trace it that way?”
    “No, unfortunately their agent did not have it long enough to do that. There was too much of it, frankly. But the transaction did take place in an office with a hidden video camera. There is no doubt, Tony left there with a million dollars. Uh…”
    Bosch paused to open his briefcase and quickly consult a page from a file.
    “…actually, it was a million, seventy-six thousand. All in cash.”
    Veronica’s eyes went down to the floor as she nodded. Bosch studied her but his concentration was interrupted when he thought he heard a sound from somewhere in the house. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe there was someone else there. They had never asked.
    “Did you hear that?” Bosch asked.
    “What?”
    “I thought I heard something. Are you alone in the house?”
    “Yes.”
    “I thought I heard a bump or something.”
    “You want me to look around?” Edgar offered.
    “Oh, no,” Veronica said quickly, “…uh, it probably was just the cat.”
    Bosch didn’t remember seeing any sign of a cat when he had been in the house before. He glanced at Kiz and saw her almost imperceptibly turn her head to signal she didn’t remember a cat either. He decided to let it go for the time being.
    “Anyway,” he said, “that’s why we’re canvassing and that’s why we’re here. We need to ask you some questions. They might go over some of the same ground we’ve covered before but, like I said, we’re kind of starting over. It won’t take too much longer. Then you’ll be able to go to the stables.”
    “Fine. Go ahead.”
    “Would you mind if I have a drink of water first?”
    “No, of course not. I’m sorry, I should have asked. Anybody else want something?”
    “I’ll pass,” Edgar said.
    “I’m fine,” Rider said.
    Veronica Aliso stood up and headed toward the hallway. Bosch gave her a head start and then stood up and followed.
    “You did ask,” he said to her back. “But I turned it down. I didn’t think I’d get thirsty.”
    He followed her into the kitchen, where she opened a cabinet and took down a glass. Bosch looked around. It was a large kitchen with stainless-steel appliances and black granite countertops. There was a center island with a sink in it.
    “Tap water’d be fine for me,” he said, taking the glass from her and filling it at the island.
    He turned and leaned against the counter and drank from it. He then poured the rest out and put the glass on the counter.
    “That’s all you want?”
    “Yes. Just needed something to wash the dust down, I guess.”
    He smiled and she didn’t.
    “Well then, should we go back to the living room?” she asked.
    “That’d be fine.”
    He followed her out of the kitchen. Just before he entered the hallway, he turned back and his eyes swept across the gray-tiled floor. He didn’t see what he thought should be there.
    Bosch spent the next fifteen minutes asking mostly questions that had been asked six days earlier and that had little bearing on the case now. He was going through the motions, the finishing touches. The trap was baited and this was his way of quietly stepping back from it. Finally, when he thought he had said and asked enough, Bosch closed the notebook in which he had been scribbling notes he’d never look at again and stood up. He thanked her for her time and Veronica Aliso walked the three detectives to the door. Bosch was the last one out, and as he stepped over the threshold she spoke to him. He somehow knew that she would. There were parts to her act that had to be played as well.
    “Keep me informed, Detective Bosch. Please keep me informed.”
    Bosch turned and looked back at her.
    “Oh, I will. If anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.”
    Bosch drove Edgar and Rider back to their car. He didn’t speak about the interview until he pulled in behind it.
    “So what do you think?” he asked as he got out his cigarettes.
    “I think we sunk the hook but good,”