“I told you it was a weak play,” Gandle said. “We know he’s a smart kid. He had to have been wearing gloves when he reloaded the gun. Once he knew you were playing him, you lost.”

“Yeah, well,” Bosch said. “I thought it was the best we had.”

“I agree,” Chu said, showing his support for Bosch.

“We’re still going to have to kick him loose,” Gandle said. “We know he had the opportunity to take the gun but we have no proof that he actually did. Opportunity is not enough. You can’t go to court with just that.”

“Is that what Cook said?”

“That’s what he was thinking.”

Abner Cook was the deputy DA who had come over from the CCB to observe in the AV room.

“Where is he, anyway?”

As if to answer for himself, Cook called Bosch’s name from across the squad room.

“Get back here!”

Bosch straightened up and looked over the cubicle partition. Cook was frantically waving from the door of the AV room. Harry got up and started walking toward him.

“He’s calling for you,” Cook said. “Get back in there!”

Bosch picked up speed as he moved toward the interview room door, then he slowed and composed himself before opening the door and calmly stepping back in.

“What is it?” he said. “We called your lawyer and he’s on the way.”

“What about the deal? Is it still good?”

“For the moment. The DA’s about to leave.”

“Bring him in. I want the deal.”

Bosch stepped all the way in and closed the door.

“What are you giving us, Eugene? If you want the deal, I’ve got to know what you’re going to give me. I’ll bring in the DA when I know what’s on the table.”

Lam nodded.

“I’ll give you Robert Li…and his sister. The whole thing was their plan. The old man was stubborn and wouldn’t change. They needed to close that store and open another in the Valley. One that made money. But he said no. He always said no and finally Rob couldn’t take it anymore.”

Bosch slid back into his seat, trying to hide his surprise about Mia’s involvement.

“And the sister was part of this?”

“She was the one who planned it. Except…”

“Except what?”

“She wanted me to hit them both. The mother and father. She wanted me to show up early and hit ’em both. But Robert told me no. He didn’t want his mother hurt.”

“Whose idea was it to make it look like a triad hit?”

“That was her idea and then Robert sort of planned it. They knew the police would go for it.”

Bosch nodded. He hardly knew Mia but knew enough about her story to feel sad about the whole thing.

He glanced up at the overhead camera, hoping his stare would send the message to Gandle that he needed to put somebody on locating Mia Li so arrest teams could move in simultaneously.

Bosch brought his eyes back down to Lam. He was staring down dejectedly at the table.

“What about you, Eugene? Why’d you get involved in this?”

Lam shook his head. Bosch could read the regret in his face.

“I don’t know. Robert said he was going to lay me off because his father’s store was losing too much money. He told me I could save my job…and that when they opened the second store in the Valley it would be mine to run.”

It was no more pitiful an answer than any other Bosch had heard over the years. There were no surprises left when it came to motivations for murder.

He tried to think of any loose ends he should try to cover before Abner Cook came in and sealed the deal.

“What about Henry Lau? Did he give you the gun or did you take it without him knowing?”

“We took it-I took it. We were playing poker one night at his place and I said I had to go to the bathroom. I went into the bedroom and got it. I knew where he kept the key to the box. I took it and then I put it back afterward-the next time we played. It was part of the plan. We didn’t think he’d ever know.”

That seemed entirely plausible to Bosch. But Harry knew that once the deal was formally struck and signed off on by Cook and Lam, he would be able to question Lam in more detail about all things pertaining to the case. He just had one last aspect to cover before bringing Cook in.

“What about Hong Kong?” he asked.

Lam looked confused by the question.

“Hong Kong?” he asked. “What about it?”

“Which one of you had the connection over there?”

Lam shook his head in bewilderment. It seemed real to Bosch.

“I don’t know what you mean. My family is in New York, not Hong Kong. I have no connection there and as far as I know, neither does Robert or Mia. Hong Kong wasn’t mentioned.”

Bosch thought about this. Now he was confused. Something didn’t connect here.

“You’re saying that as far as you know, neither Robert nor Mia made any calls to anyone over there about the case or any of the investigators involved?”

“Not as far as I know. I really don’t think they know anybody.”

“What about Monterey Park? The triad Mr. Li was paying off.”

“We knew about them and Robert knew when Chang came to collect every week. That’s how he planned it. I waited and when I saw Chang leave the store I went in. Robert told me to take the disc out of the machine but to leave the other discs there. He knew one had Chang on it and the police would see it as a clue.”

A nice bit of manipulation on Robert’s part, Bosch thought. And he had gone for it, just as planned.

“What did you two tell Chang when he came to the store the other night?”

“That was part of the plan, too. Robert knew he would come to collect from him.”

He looked down and away from Bosch’s eyes. He seemed embarrassed.

“So what did you say to him?” Bosch prompted.

“Robert told him that the police had shown us his photo and that they told us that he committed the murder. He told him the police were looking for him and would arrest him. We thought that would make him run. He would leave town and it would look like he had done the crime. If he went back to China and disappeared, it would help us.”

Bosch stared at Lam as the meaning and ramifications of the statement slowly sank into the dark blood in his heart. He had been totally manipulated every step of the way.

“Who called me?” he asked. “Who called and told me to back off the case?”

Lam slowly nodded.

“That was me,” he said. “Robert wrote a script for me and I made that call from a pay phone downtown. I’m sorry, Detective Bosch. I didn’t want to scare you but I had to do what Robert told me to do.”

Bosch nodded. He was sorry too, but not for the same reasons.

46

An hour later Bosch and Cook emerged from the interview room with a full confession and agreement of cooperation from Eugene Lam. Cook said he would be filing charges immediately against the young killer as well as Robert and Mia Li. Cook said there was more than enough evidence to proceed with arrests of the sister and brother.

Bosch gathered with Chu, Gandle and four other detectives in the conference room to discuss the arrest procedures. Ferras was still watching Robert Li but Gandle said that a detective sent to the Li home in the Wilshire District had reported back that the family car was gone and there appeared to be no one home.

“Do we wait for Mia to show up or do we take Robert down now, before he starts wondering about Lam?” Gandle asked.

“I think we’ve got to move,” Bosch said. “He already has to be wondering where Lam is. If he starts getting suspicious, he might run.”

Gandle looked around the room for objections. There were none.

“Okay, then let’s mount up,” he said. “We take down Robert in the store and then we go find Mia. I want these people booked before the end of the day. Harry, check with your partner and confirm Robert’s location. Tell him we’re on the way. I’ll ride up with you and Chu.”

It was unusual for the lieutenant to want to leave the office. But the case had transcended routine. He apparently wanted to be there when it was closed by arrest.