“Detective!” Li exclaimed. “I was just about to call you! He was here! That man you showed me was here!”
“I know. I was following him. Are you all right?”
“Just scared, that’s all.”
“What happened?”
Li hesitated for a moment to gather his words.
“Sit down and calm down,” Bosch said. “Then you can tell me. Who are you?”
Bosch pointed at the man seated at the other desk.
“This is Eugene, my assistant manager.”
The man stood up and offered his hand to Bosch.
“Eugene Lam, Detective.”
Bosch shook his hand.
“You were here when Chang came in?” he asked.
“Chang?” Li responded.
“That’s his name. The man in the photograph I showed you.”
“Yes, Eugene and I were both here. He just walked into the office.”
“What did he want?”
“He said I had to pay the triad now. He said my father was gone and I had to pay now. He said he would come back in one week and I had to pay.”
“Did he say anything about your father’s murder?”
“He just said that he was gone and now I had to pay.”
“Did he say what would happen if you didn’t pay?”
“He didn’t have to.”
Bosch nodded. Li was right. The threat was implicit, especially after what had happened to Li’s father. Bosch was excited. Chang’s coming to Robert Li widened the possibilities. He was attempting to extort Li and that could lead to an arrest that could ultimately lead to a murder charge.
Harry turned to Lam.
“And you witnessed this-everything that was said?”
Lam was clearly hesitant but then nodded. Bosch thought that maybe he was reluctant to be involved.
“You did or you didn’t, Eugene? You just told me you were here.”
Lam nodded again before responding.
“Yes, I saw the man, but…I don’t speak Chinese. I understand a little bit but not that much.”
Bosch turned to Li.
“He spoke to you in Chinese?”
Li nodded.
“Yes.”
“But you understood him and it was clear he was telling you that you had to start making weekly payments now that your father is gone.”
“Yes, that was clear. But…”
“But what?”
“Are you going to arrest this man? Will I have to appear in court?”
He was clearly scared of the possibility.
“Look, it’s too early to tell whether this ever even leaves this room. We don’t want the guy for extortion. If he killed your father, that’s what we want him for. And I am sure you will do what you need to do to help us put your father’s killer away.”
Li nodded but Bosch could still see the hesitation. Considering what had happened to his father, Robert clearly didn’t want to cross Chang or the triad.
“I need to make a quick call to my partner,” Bosch said. “I’m going to step out and make it, then I’ll be back in here.”
Bosch left the office and closed the door. He called Chu.
“You got him?”
“Yes, he’s heading back to the freeway. What happened?”
“He told Li he had to start making the payments his father had been making. To the triad.”
“Holy shit! We’ve got our case!”
“Don’t get too excited. A case of extortion maybe-and that’s only if the kid cooperates. We’re still a long way from a murder charge.”
Chu didn’t respond and Bosch suddenly felt bad about raining on his excitement.
“But you’re right,” he said. “We’re getting closer. Which way is he headed”
“He’s in the right lane for the southbound one oh one. It looks like he’s in a hurry. He’s tailgating the guy in front of him but it’s not doing him any good.”
It looked like Chang was heading back the way he had come.
“Okay. I’m going to talk to these guys a little longer and then I’ll clear. Call me when Chang stops somewhere.”
“‘These guys’? Who else besides Robert Li?”
“His assistant manager. Eugene Lam. He was in the office when Chang came in and told Li how things were going to be. Only, Chang was speaking Chinese and Lam only knows English. He won’t be a good witness other than to place Chang in the store?’s office.”
“Okay, Harry,” Chu said. “We’re on the freeway now.”
“Stay with him and I’ll call you as soon as I clear,” Bosch said.
Bosch closed the phone and went back into the office. Li and Lam were still at their desks, waiting for him.
“Do you have video surveillance in the store?” he asked first.
“Yes,” Li said. “Same system we have in the south end store. Only we have more cameras in this location. It records in multiplex. Eight screens at once.”
Bosch looked up at the ceiling and the upper walls.
“There is no camera in here, right?”
“No, Detective,” Li said. “Not in the office.”
“Well, I’m still going to need the disc so we can prove Chang came back here to see you.”
Li nodded hesitantly, like a boy being pulled onto the dance floor by somebody he didn’t want to dance with.
“Eugene, would you go get the disc for Detective Bosch?” he said.
“No,” Bosch said quickly. “I need to witness you pulling the disc. Chain of evidence and custody. I’ll go with you.”
“No problem.”
Bosch spent another fifteen minutes in the store. He first watched the playback of the surveillance video and confirmed that Chang had come in and made his way back to Li’s office, then left after three minutes off camera with Li and Lam. He then collected the disc and returned to the office to go over Li’s account of what happened with Chang one more time. Li’s reluctance seemed to grow with Bosch’s more detailed questioning. Harry began to believe that the murder victim’s son would eventually refuse to cooperate with a prosecution. Still, there was another positive aspect to this latest development. Chang’s attempted extortion could be used in other ways. It could provide probable cause. And with probable cause Bosch could arrest Chang and search his belongings for evidence in the murder, whether Li eventually cooperated with a prosecution or not.
As he walked out the store’s automatic door, Bosch was excited. The case had new life. He pulled his phone and checked on the suspect.
“We’re all the way back to his apartment,” Chu said. “No stops. I think he might be in for the night.”
“It’s too early. It’s not even dark.”
“Well, all I can tell you is that he booked it home. He pulled the curtains closed, too.”
“Okay. I’m heading that way.”
“You mind picking me up a tofu dog on the way, Harry?”
“No, you’re on your own there, Chu.”
Chu laughed.
“Figures,” he said.
Bosch closed the phone. Chu had obviously caught the case excitement, too.
15
Chang didn’t come out of his apartment until nine Friday morning. And when he did, he was carrying something that immediately put Bosch on high alert.
A large suitcase.
Bosch phoned Chu to make sure he was awake. They had split the overnight surveillance into four-hour shifts, each man taking a sleeping stint in his car. Chu had the four-to-eight sleep shift but Bosch hadn’t heard from him yet.
“You awake? Chang’s making a move.”
Chu still had sleep in his voice.
“Yeah, what move? You were supposed to call me at eight.”
“He put a suitcase in his car. He’s running. I think he was tipped.”
“To us?”
“No, to buying shares of Microsoft. Don’t play stupid.”
“Harry, who would tip him?”
Chang got into the car and started backing out of his space in the apartment complex parking lot.
“That’s a good goddamn question,” Bosch said. “But if anybody has the answer it’s you.”
“Are you suggesting I tipped off the subject of a major investigation?”