“That’s good, but the burglary is the least of our problems. It’s the shooting they want to burn him for. What else did you see?”
“The property report. Anthony had a condom in his pocket along with breath mints and a house key.”
“Which of course supports his story, not theirs.”
“But what he didn’t have is important. No burglary tools, no gloves. There are no gloves in the evidence report. This is why they sent the fingerprint tech into the house. If he wasn’t wearing gloves then they should have found his prints in there. And if they didn’t, then...”
“Good, Harry. That’s the first thing I’ll ask about when I get to the DA.”
“The radio transcript you have here is also important. When the chase starts, Dexter’s partner Garrity calls out a description. She says the suspect is a white male in dark clothes. Then after Dexter gets shot, he gets on the radio and says the suspect is GOA and wearing a USC hoodie.”
“‘GOA’?”
“Cop code for ‘gone on arrival.’ It means he ran. But the important thing is the hoodie. USC hoodies are usually maroon with gold letters. How come Garrity didn’t get the USC part when they first saw the guy?”
“Maybe his back was to them and they couldn’t see.”
“Possibly, but it’s a discrepancy. Another is if there are no prints putting him in the house.”
“Right. That’s a good start, Harry. I think I can work with that. Anything else?”
Bosch hesitated. He believed there were more significant inconsistencies in the police reports and possibly even something more wrong with what had gone down that night on Valerie Avenue. But somehow he felt guilty about giving this information to a defense attorney. And then Aronson asked the question he was most reticent about answering.
“So then who shot Dexter?” she said. “You think the real burglar came up from behind or something? Anthony said he didn’t see anybody else.”
“No, I don’t think that’s what happened,” Bosch said. “I think the real burglar probably cut between a couple of the houses and hid out in a backyard until it was clear.”
“Then what happened? The reports say there’s gunshot residue on Anthony’s hands.”
“The GSR can be explained. I think there is a possibility that Dexter shot himself and blamed Anthony so he wouldn’t lose his job.”
“Harry, you’re a fucking genius.”
“I’m not telling you this as some kind of defense strategy. Based on these reports, I think it could have happened.”
“Okay,” Aronson said. Her tone was deadly serious. “Walk me through it.”
“Look, again, I’m not saying this is what happened, okay?” Bosch said. “I don’t know what happened. But it wouldn’t be the first time that some dumbass cop shot himself and tried to blame somebody else for it. If you admit you shot yourself by accident, you’re pretty much done in the department. It’s time to find a new job.”
“I understand. Just walk me through what could have happened and I’ll take it from there.”
“Well, we know from Anthony that Dexter had his weapon out and drew down on him. It was an adrenaline-fueled chase and then arrest. Before approaching him, he made Anthony get on his knees and lace his fingers behind his head. The procedure would then be to grab and hold the suspect’s wrists with one hand and holster your weapon with the other. Then you cuff the suspect. According to the transcript of the radio calls, Dexter said the suspect was code four, which means in custody. And then eight seconds later he makes the officer-down call.”
“Oh my God, Dexter shot himself!”
Aronson was almost gleeful in her response as she saw an open route to successfully defending her sister’s kid.
“I don’t know what happened,” Bosch said. “And neither do you. But a couple things. The first is that Anthony did not have Dexter’s handcuffs on his wrists when he was caught later. So whatever happened, it happened before Dexter was able to handcuff him. Then you have the trajectory of the bullet that was fired.”
“Down through his foot,” Aronson said.
“After wounding the outside of his right calf. Definite downward trajectory. What you need to find out is if Dexter is right-handed and holstered his weapon on his right side. It could mean he unintentionally fired the gun while attempting to holster it. Remember, it was a high-tension, adrenalized moment. It’s happened before.”
“And he’s willing to send a sixteen-year-old boy to prison to cover his own fuckup.”
“Maybe. There was nothing in what you got that said how long he’s been with the LAPD. I’m guessing not long. Accidental discharge is usually a rookie mistake. This could also explain the GSR on Anthony. He was in a kneeling position, hands behind his head, Dexter right behind him. Depending on how tall Dexter is, this position puts Anthony’s hands and right arm close to a right-handed discharge of the weapon.”
“Oh my God... I’ll be getting all that information before the end of the day.”
“Well, keep in mind that if you’re looking at it this way, FID probably is too. That fingerprint report is important.”
“Harry, I can’t thank you enough for this.”
“You can thank me by keeping me out of it.”
“You don’t have to worry. You are completely out. But I have to go. They just signaled me that they’ve put Anthony in the attorney-client room.”
“Okay, good luck.”
Aronson disconnected. Bosch took the file off the hood and got back into the driver’s seat of the Navigator. Haller and Lorna were apparently finished with the casework and engaged in small talk about Haller’s daughter, Hayley, who was studying for the bar exam after having finished law school at USC.
“You’ll have to change the firm’s name to Haller, Haller, and Associates,” Lorna said.
“I don’t think she wants to pursue criminal law,” Haller said. “She wants to go into environmental law and help save the planet.”
“Good intentions, but boring as hell.”
“She’ll find her way.”
“All right, boys, I’m out of here. Mickey, I’ll let you know about the guitar fraud. Hopefully he can pay the retainer.”
“Hopefully.”
Bosch heard Lorna pull up the door handle to get out.
“Hold it,” he said.
He checked the side-view mirror to make sure she wasn’t about to swing the door out into traffic.
“Okay, you’re clear,” he said.
“Thanks, Harry,” Lorna said.
She got out and closed the door.
“Would it have killed you to get out and open the door for her?” Haller asked.
“Probably not,” Bosch said. “My bad. Where to now?”
“That’s it,” Haller said. “I’m done for the day and you can take me home.”
Bosch checked the dash clock. It wasn’t yet two, and this would be an early work stop. He didn’t put the car in gear. He waited and soon Haller realized why.
“Oh, right,” he said.
He got out and then got back in, this time in the front seat, moving the Anthony Marcus file to the dashboard.
“You come up with anything on this case?” he asked. “Looked like you did most of the talking on that call.”
“I think so,” Bosch said. “Gave her a pathway, you could say.”
“Well, good. I hope it didn’t darken your soul, having to do that.”
“A bit. But I’ll deal with it. Just remember, that was a one-off, Mick, and it was easy. But I’m going back to the haystack now.”
“Which is exactly where I need you. Find me the needle.”
Bosch checked the side-view, pulled away from the curb, and headed toward Haller’s home. After a few minutes of silence, Bosch spoke.
“On that Ochoa negotiation with the city attorney, what do you stand to make from that?”