The Drop

why he wants you.”
    “And does the chief understand that I have a history with Irving that—”
    “Yes, he does. He also understands that he needs every vote he can get on the council if we ever want to get overtime flowing to the department again.”
    Bosch saw his boss, Lieutenant Duvall, enter the hallway from the Open-Unsolved Unit’s door. She made a There you are! gesture and started toward him.
    “Looks like I’m about to get the official word,” Bosch said into the phone. “Thanks for the heads-up, Kiz. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but thanks. If you hear anything else, let me know.”
    “Harry, you be careful with this. Irving’s old but he’s still got teeth.”
    “I know that.”
    Bosch closed his phone just as Duvall got to him, holding out a piece of paper.
    “Sorry, Harry, change of plans. You and Chu need to go to this address and take a live case.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Bosch looked at the address. It was the Chateau Marmont.
    “Orders from the chief’s office. You and Chu are to proceed code three and take over a case. That’s all I know. That and that the chief himself is there, waiting.”
    “What about the case you just gave us?”
    “Move it to the back burner for now. I want you on it, but just get to it when you can.”
    She pointed to the piece of paper in his hand.
    “That’s the priority.”
    “You sure about this, Lieutenant?”
    “Of course I’m sure. The chief called me directly and he’s going to call you. So grab Chu and get going.”

3

    A s expected, Chu was full of questions while they were driving out of downtown on the 101 freeway. They had been partnered for nearly two years and by now Bosch was more than used to the manifestation of Chu’s insecurities in a nonstop verbal outpouring of questions, comments and observations. He usually spoke about one thing while his real concern was something else. Sometimes Bosch took it easy on him and told him what he wanted to know. Sometimes he let things play out till they became excruciating to his young partner.
    “Harry, what the hell is going on? We got one case this morning and now they say we have another?”
    “The LAPD is a paramilitary organization, Chu. That means when someone of higher rank tells you to do something, you do it. The order came down from the chief and we’re following it. That’s what’s going on. We’ll eventually get back to the cold hit. But for now we have a live one and it’s the priority.”
    “Sounds like bullshit politics.”
    “High jingo.”
    “What’s that?”
    “The confluence of police and politics. We are investigating the death of Councilman Irvin Irving’s son. You know about Irving, right?”
    “Yeah, he was a deputy chief when I came on. Then he quit and ran for the council.”
    “Well, he didn’t voluntarily quit. He was forced out and ran for the council so he could seek his revenge on the department. Pure and simple, he lives for one thing—putting the boot to the LAPD. You should also know that back in the day, he had a particular dislike for me. We had a few collisions, you could say.”
    “Then why would he want you on his son’s case?”
    “We’ll be finding that out pretty soon.”
    “What did the lieutenant tell you about this case? Is it suicide?”
    “She didn’t tell me anything. She just gave me the address.”
    He decided not to reveal anything else he knew about the case. To do so might also reveal that he had a source inside the OCP. He didn’t want to share that with Chu yet and had always kept his monthly lunches with Kiz Rider private.
    “This all sounds a little spooky.”
    Bosch’s phone buzzed and he checked the screen. The ID was blocked but he took the call. It was the chief of police. Bosch had known him for years and had even worked cases with him. He had come up through the ranks, including a long stint in RHD as both an investigator and supervisor. He had been chief for only a couple years and still had the support of the rank and file.
    “Harry, it’s Marty. What’s your location?”
    “We’re on the one-oh-one. We left as soon as I got the word.”
    “I need to clear before the media gets wind of this, which won’t be long now. No need to turn this from a one-ring to a three-ring circus. As you no doubt have been told, the victim is the son of Councilman Irving. The councilman insisted that I bring you into this.”
    “Why?”
    “He hasn’t really expressed his reasons to me. I know you