The Drop(67)

“Yeah.”

Mason stood up and headed toward the back hallway, his head down. Bosch watched him go and wondered about the vagaries of relationships and investigations. He had come to the division expecting to confront a cop who was bent, who had crossed the line. Instead, he now viewed Mason as another victim of Irvin Irving.

And at the top of the list of Irving’s victims was his own son. Mason might not have to worry about confronting the councilman. Bosch might get there first.





25




George Irving’s Thursday morning funeral was crowded. But it was hard for Bosch to tell if all the people were there to mourn the loss of George Irving or to buttress their ties to his father, the city councilman. Many of the city’s political elite were there, along with the command staff of the police department. Even Councilman Irving’s opponent in the upcoming election—the guy who didn’t have a chance—was present. It was as if a truce in politics had been called so respect could be shown for the dead.

Bosch stood on the periphery of the graveside gathering and watched the parade of who’s who make their way to Irvin Irving and the rest of the dead man’s family to offer condolences. It was Bosch’s first look at Chad Irving, the third generation of the family. He clearly favored his mother in his looks. He stood next to her with his head down, barely looking up whenever someone offered a hand or a grip of the upper arm. He seemed bereft, whereas his mother was tearless and stoic, possibly operating behind a pharmaceutical haze.

Bosch was so intent on studying the family and political permutations of the scene that he didn’t notice Kiz Rider slip away from the police chief’s side. She came up on Harry’s left as silent as an assassin.

“Harry?”

Bosch turned.

“Lieutenant Rider. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I came with the chief.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Big mistake.”

“Why’s that?”

“I wouldn’t be showing support for Irvin Irving right about now. That’s all.”

“Have things advanced since our discussion yesterday?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Bosch summarized his interview of Robert Mason and the clear implication that the councilman was complicit in the effort to move the Hollywood taxi franchise from B&W to Regent. He said that effort likely triggered the events that led to George Irving’s death.

“Will Mason testify?”

Bosch shrugged.

“I never asked him but he knows the score. He’s a cop and he likes his job—enough to end his friendship with George Irving when he realized he was being used. He knows if he’s called to testify and he refuses, then his career is over. I think he’ll testify. I’m surprised he’s not here today. I thought maybe there might be some fireworks.”

Rider scanned the crowd. The service was over and people were starting to drift off amid the tombstones, heading to their cars.

“We don’t want fireworks here, Harry. If you see him, you head him off.”

“It’s over. He didn’t come.”

“So what’s your next move?”

“Today’s the big day. I’m going to bring McQuillen in for a conversation.”

“You don’t have enough to charge him.”

“Probably not. I’ve got a forensics team at the hotel right now with my partner. They’re taking a second run at it. If we can put McQuillen in that suite or on the fire escape, it’s over.”

“A big ‘if.’”

“There’s also his watch and the possibility of matching it to the wounds on the back.”

Rider nodded.

“That might work, but as you mentioned before, it won’t be conclusive. We’ll have our experts say it’s a match. He’ll have his experts say it’s not.”

“Yeah. Listen, Lieutenant, I think I’m about to have some company. You might want to move out of the way.”

She scanned the remaining crowd.

“Who?”

“Irving’s been watching me without really watching me. I think he’s going to come over. He’s waiting for you to leave, I think.”

“All right, then I’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Harry.”

“If that’s what it takes. See you, Kiz.”

“Stay in contact.”

“Roger that.”

She walked off and headed toward a clot of people surrounding the chief of police. Almost immediately Irvin Irving took advantage of seeing Bosch alone and headed toward him.

Before Bosch could address him, Irving said what was on his mind.

“It’s a devastating thing to put your son in the ground and not even know why he was taken.”