There were only three cars in the lot. One of them was a white four-door with what looked like paint damage on its side. He studied the car and soon realized the damage was actually fresh paint. A bad match of flat white paint had been sprayed on the driver’s side doors to cover the graffiti. He knew it was Dr. Stone’s car and that she was still at work inside. He noted that graffiti had also been white-washed along the back wall of the building. A ladder was leaning against the wall next to a door marked with the same sort of warning signs he had seen up front earlier in the day.
Bosch turned off his car and got out.
Twenty minutes later he was leaning on the back of the white car in the lot when the rear door of the apartment building opened and Dr. Stone emerged. She was escorted by a man and they both stopped short when they saw Bosch. The man took a protective step in front of Stone but then she put her hand on his arm.
“It’s okay, Rico. He’s the detective who was here earlier.”
She continued walking toward her car. Bosch stood up straight.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to talk to you.”
This last part slowed her down as she considered it. She then turned to her escort.
“Thank you, Rico. I’ll be all right with Detective Bosch. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Rico headed back to the door and used a key to open it. Stone waited until he was back in the building before addressing Bosch.
“Detective, what are you doing? How did you get back here?”
“I got back here the same way the gangbangers with the paint did. You have a security problem.”
He pointed through the fence to the green trash bin.
“Kind of defeats the purpose of the fence when you have a Dumpster pushed up against it like that. Gives them a climbing platform. If I could get over at my age, it would be a piece of cake for those fifteen-year-olds.”
Her mouth opened slightly as she looked at the fence line, and the obvious dawned on her. She then looked at Bosch.
“You came back just to check the security of our parking lot?”
“No, I came back to apologize.”
“For what?”
“The attitude. You’re trying to do a good thing here and I acted as though you were part of the problem. I’m sorry for that.”
She was clearly taken aback.
“I still can’t tell you about Clayton Pell.”
“I know. That’s not why I’m here. I’m already punched out for the day.”
She pointed to the Mustang on the other side of the fence.
“Is that your car? How are you going to get back to it?”
“It’s mine. Now, if I were a TW boy I’d take that ladder you’ve conveniently provided and climb back over. But climbing in was enough for me. I’m hoping you’ll just unlock the padlock on that gate and let me out.”
She smiled and it was disarming. A few strands of her carefully pulled-back hair had come loose and were framing her face.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a key to that gate. I wouldn’t mind seeing you make that climb but why don’t I just drive you around?”
“Sounds good.”
He got into the passenger side of her car and they drove out through the gate and onto Woodman.
“Who is Rico?” Bosch asked.
“He’s our overnight orderly,” Stone said. “Works six to six.”
“Is he from the neighborhood?”
“Yes, but he’s a good kid. We trust him. Anything happens or anybody acts up, he calls me or the director right away.”
“Good.”
They came down the alley and she stopped behind his car.
“The problem is, the trash bin is on wheels,” she said. “We can push it away from the fence but they can push it right back.”
“Can’t you expand that gate and keep it inside the compound?”
“If we put that in the budget, we’ll probably get it approved in about three years.”
Bosch nodded. Every bureaucracy was in budget crisis.
“Have Rico take the lid off the Dumpster. Then they’ll have nothing to stand on. It might make a difference.”
She nodded.
“Might be worth a try.”
“And keep having Rico walk you out.”
“Oh, I do. Every night.”
He nodded and put his hand on the door handle. He decided to go with his instincts. He had seen no ring on her finger.
“Where’s home from here, north or south?”
“Oh, south. I live in North Hollywood.”
“Well, I’m heading to Jerry’s Deli to pick up some chicken noodle soup for my daughter. You want to meet me there and maybe get something to eat?”