The Harry Bosch Novels Vol Ii Part 9

"I will."

She opened the file and he noticed she had several bracelets on her left wrist. They were made of braided thread in many bright colors. He looked in the file and saw a photocopy of a small newspaper clipping. Bosch could tell by the size of the clip that it was one of the stories that gets buried in the back of the paper. She pa.s.sed it over to him.

"I think this is your Johnny Fox. The age is right but it does not describe him like you did. White trash, you said."

Bosch read the story. It was dated September 30, 1962.

CAMPAIGN WORKER VICTIM OF HIT AND RUN By Monte Kim, Times Times Staff Writer Staff Writer A 29-year-old campaign worker for a candidate for the district attorney's office was killed Sat.u.r.day when he was struck by a speeding car in Hollywood, the Los Angeles police reported.

campaign literature supporting district attorney hopeful Arno Conklin at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue when he was cut down by the speeding car as he crossed the street. campaign literature supporting district attorney hopeful Arno Conklin at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue when he was cut down by the speeding car as he crossed the street.

The victim was identified as Johnny Fox, who lived in an apartment on Ivar Street in Hollywood. Police said Fox had been distributing and his body was dragged for several yards by the car.

Fox was crossing the southbound lanes of La Brea about 2 p.m. when the car struck him. Police said it appeared Fox was killed on impact Conklin campaign manager Gordon Mittel said Fox had joined the campaign only a week ago. Fox was crossing the southbound lanes of La Brea about 2 p.m. when the car struck him. Police said it appeared Fox was killed on impact Conklin campaign manager Gordon Mittel said Fox had joined the campaign only a week ago.

The car that hit Fox slowed momentarily after the collision but then sped away, police said. Witnesses told investigators the car proceeded south on La Brea at a high rate of speed. Police have not located the vehicle and witnesses could not provide a clear description of the make and model year. Police said an investigation is continuing.

Reached at the district attorney's office, where he is in charge of the special investigation branch under retiring DA John Charles Stock, Conklin said he had not yet met Fox but regretted the death of the man working for his election. The candidate declined further comment. Reached at the district attorney's office, where he is in charge of the special investigation branch under retiring DA John Charles Stock, Conklin said he had not yet met Fox but regretted the death of the man working for his election. The candidate declined further comment.

Bosch studied the clip for a long moment after reading it.

"This Monte Kim, is he still at the paper?"

"Are you kidding? That's like a millennium ago. Back then the newsroom was a bunch of white guys sitting around in white shirts and ties."

Bosch looked down at his own shirt, then at her.

"Sorry," she said. "Anyway, he's not around. And I don't know about Conklin. A little before my time. Did he win?"

"Yeah. I think he had two terms, then I think he ran for attorney general or something and got his a.s.s handed to him. Something like that. I wasn't here then."

"I thought you said you've been here all your life."

"I went away for a while."

"Vietnam, right?"

"Right."

"Yeah, a lot of cops your age were there. Must've been a trip. Is that why you all became cops? So you could keep carrying guns?"

"Something like that."

"Anyway, if Conklin's still alive, he's probably an old man. But Mittel's still around. Obviously, you know that. He's probably in one of these booths eating with the mayor."

She smiled and he ignored it.

"Yeah, he's a big shot. What's the story on him?"

"Mittel? I don't know. First name on a big downtown law firm, friend of governors and senators and other powerful people. Last I heard, he's running the financing behind Robert Shepherd."

"Robert Shepherd? You mean that computer guy?"

"More like computer magnate. Yeah, don't you read the paper? Shepherd wants to run but doesn't want to use up his own money. Mittel is doing the fund-raising for an exploratory campaign."

"Run for what?"

"Jesus, Bosch, you don't read the paper or watch TV."

"I've been busy. Run for what?"

"Well, like any egomaniac I guess he wants to run for president. But for now he's looking at the Senate. Shepherd wants to be a third-party candidate. Says the Republicans are too far right and the Democrats too left. He's right down the middle. And from what I hear, if anybody can get the money together for him to do the third-candidate dance, it's Mittel."

"So Mittel wants to make himself a president."

"I guess. But what are you asking me about him for anyway? I'm a cop reporter. You're a cop. What's this have to do with Gordon Mittel?"

She pointed to the photocopy. Bosch became aware that he might have asked too many questions.

"I'm just trying to catch up," he said. "Like you said, I don't read the papers."

"That's paper, paper, not papers," she said smiling. "I better not catch you reading or talking to the not papers," she said smiling. "I better not catch you reading or talking to the Daily Snews. Daily Snews."

"h.e.l.l hath no fury like a reporter scorned, right?"

"Something like that."

He felt a.s.sured that he had deflected her suspicions. He held up the photocopy.

"There was no follow-up to this? They never caught anybody?"

"I guess not or there would be a story."

"Can I keep this?"

"Sure."

"You feel like taking another walk back to the morgue?"

"For what?"

"Stories about Conklin."

"There will be hundreds, Bosch. You said he was DA for two terms."

"I only want stories from before he was elected. And if you have the time, throw in stories on Mittel, too."

"You know, you're asking a lot. I could get in trouble if they knew I was doing clip searches for a cop."

She put on a fake pout and he ignored that, too. He knew what she was driving at.

"You want to tell me what this is about, Bosch?"

He still didn't say anything.

"I didn't think so. Well, look, I've got two interviews to do this afternoon. I'm going to be gone. What I can do is get an intern to get the clips together and leave it all for you with the guard in the globe lobby. It will be in an envelope so n.o.body will know what it is. Would that be okay?"

He nodded. He'd been to Times Square before on a handful of occasions, usually meetings with reporters. It was a block-sized building with two lobbies. The centerpiece of the lobby at the First and Spring entrance was a huge globe that never stopped rotating, just as the news never stopped happening.

"You'll just leave it under my name? Won't that get you in trouble? You know, like you said, being too friendly with a cop. That's got to be against the rules over there."

She smiled at his sarcasm.

"Don't worry. If an editor or somebody asks, I'll just say it's an investment in the future. You better remember that, Bosch. Friendship is a two-way street."

"Don't worry. I never forget that."

He leaned forward across the table so he was up close to her face.

"I want you to remember something, too. One of the reasons I'm not telling you why I need this stuff is because I'm not sure what it means. If anything. But don't you get too curious. Don't you go making any calls. You do that, and you might mess things up. I might get hurt. You might get hurt. Got it?"

"Got it."

The man with the waxed mustache appeared at the side of the table with their plates.

Chapter 12

"I noticed you arrived early today. Am I to take that as a sign that you want to be here?"

"Not especially. I was downtown having lunch with a friend, so I just came over."

"Well, it's good to hear you were out with a friend. I think that is good."

Carmen Hinojos was behind her desk. The notebook was out and open but she sat with her hands clasped together in front of her. It was as if she was going out of her way to make no move that could be construed as threatening to the dialogue.

"What happened to your hand?"

Bosch held it up and looked at the bandages on his fingers.

"I hit it with a hammer. I was working on my house."

"That's too bad. I hope it's okay."

"I'll live."

"Why are you so dressed up? I hope you don't feel you have to do that for these sessions."

"No. I ... I just like following my routine. Even if I'm not going to work, I got dressed like I was."

"I understand."

After she made an offer of coffee or water and Bosch declined, she got the session going.

"Tell me, what would you like to talk about today?"

"I don't care. You're the boss."

"I'd rather that you not look at the relationship in that way. I'm not your boss, Detective Bosch. I'm just a facilitator, someone to help you talk about whatever you want, whatever you want to get off your chest."

Bosch was silent. He couldn't think of anything to volunteer. Carmen Hinojos drummed her pencil on her yellow tablet for a few moments before taking up the slack.

"Nothing at all, huh?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

"Then why don't we talk about yesterday. When I called you, to remind you of our session today, you obviously seemed upset about something. Was that when you hit your hand?"

"No, that wasn't it."

He stopped but she said nothing and he decided to give in a little bit. He had to admit to himself that there was something about her that he liked. She was not threatening and he believed she was telling the truth when she said she was there only to help him.

"What happened when you called was that I had found out earlier that my partner, you know, my partner before all of this, had been paired up with a new man. I've been replaced already."

"And how'd that make you feel?"

"You heard how I was. I was mad about it. I think anybody would be. Then I called my partner up later and he treated me like yesterday's news. I taught that guy a lot and ..."

"And what?"

"I don't know. It hurt, I guess."

"I see."

"No, I don't think you do. You'd have to be me to see it the way I did."

"I guess that's true. But I can sympathize. Let's leave it at that. Let me ask you this. Shouldn't you have expected your partner to be paired up again? After all, isn't it a department rule that detectives work in pairs? You are on leave for a so-far-unknown period of time. Wasn't it a given that he'd get a new partner, whether permanent or otherwise?"