He nodded to Dellacroce, who removed the search warrant from his coat pocket once again and handed it to the guard.
“That’s Mr. Elias’s office,” the guard said.
“We know,” Dellacroce said.
“What’s going on?” the guard asked. “Why do you have to search his place?”
“We can’t tell you that right now,” Bosch said. “We need you to answer a couple questions, though. When’s your shift start? Were you here when Mr. Elias left last night?”
“Yeah, I was here. I work a six-to-six shift. I watched them leave about eleven last night.”
“Them?”
“Yeah, him and a couple other guys. I locked the door right after they went through. The place was empty after that – ’cept for me.”
“Do you know who the other guys were?”
“One was Mr. Elias’s assistant or a whatchamacallit.”
“Secretary? Clerk?”
“Yeah, clerk. That’s it. Like a young student who helped him with the cases.”
“You know his name?”
“Nah, I never asked.”
“Okay, what about the other guy? Who was he?”
“Don’t know that one.”
“Had you seen him around here before?”
“Yeah, the last couple nights they left together. And a few times before that I think I saw him going or coming by hisself.”
“Did he have an office here?”
“No, not that I know of.”
“Was he Elias’s client?”
“How would I know?”
“A black guy, white guy?”
“Black.”
“What did he look like?”
“Well, I didn’t get a real good look at him.”
“You said you’ve seen him around here before. What did he look like?”
“He was just a normal-looking guy. He…”
Bosch was growing impatient but wasn’t sure why. The guard seemed to be doing the best he could. It was routine in police work to find witnesses unable to describe people they had gotten a good look at. Bosch took the search warrant out of the guard’s hand and handed it back to Dellacroce. Langwiser asked to see it and began reading it while Bosch continued with the guard.
“What’s your name?”
“Robert Courtland. I’m on the waiting list for the academy.”
Bosch nodded. Most security guards in this town were waiting for a police job somewhere. The fact that Courtland, a black man, was not already in the academy told Bosch that there was a problem somewhere in his application. The department was going out of its way to attract minorities to the ranks. For Courtland to be wait- listed there had to be something. Bosch guessed he had probably admitted smoking marijuana or didn’t meet the minimum educational requirements, maybe even had a juvenile record.
“Close your eyes, Robert.”
“What?”
“Just close your eyes and relax. Think of the man you saw. Tell me what he looks like.”
Courtland did as he was told and after a moment came up with an improved but still sketchy description.
“He’s about the same height as Mr. Elias. But he had his head shaved. It was slick. He got one of them soul chips, too.”
“Soul chip?”
“You know, like a little beard under his lip.”
He opened his eyes.
“That’s it.”
“That’s it?” Bosch said in a friendly, cajoling tone. “Robert, how’re you going to make it into the cops. We need more than that. How old was this guy?”
“I don’t know. Thirty or forty.”
“That’s a help. Only ten years difference. Was he thin? Fat?”
“Thin but with muscles. You know, the guy was built.”
“I think he’s describing Michael Harris,” Rider said. Bosch looked at her. Harris was the plaintiff in the Black Warrior case.
“It fits,” Rider said. “The case starts Monday. They were probably working late, getting ready for court.”
Bosch nodded and was about to dismiss Courtland when Langwiser suddenly spoke while still reading the last page of the search warrant.
“I think we have a problem with the warrant.”
Now everyone looked at her.
“Okay, Robert,” Bosch said to Courtland. “We’ll be all right from here. Thanks for your help.”
“You sure? You want me to go up with you, unlock the door or something?”
“No, we have a key. We’ll be all right.”
“Okay, then. I’ll be in the security office around behind the stairs if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
Courtland started walking back the way he had come but then stopped and turned around.
“Oh, you know, all five of you better not take the elevator up at once. That’s probably too much weight on that old thing.”
“Thanks, Robert,” Bosch said.
He waited until the guard had gone around the staircase and was out of sight before turning back to Langwiser.
“Miss Langwiser, you probably haven’t gone out on too many crime scenes before,” he said. “But here’s a tip, never announce that there is a problem with a search warrant in front of somebody who isn’t a cop.”
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t – ”
“What’s wrong with the warrant?” Dellacroce said, his voice showing he was upset by the apparent challenge to his work. “The judge didn’t see anything wrong with it. The judge said it was fine.”
Langwiser looked down at the three-page warrant in her hand and waved it, its pages fluttering like a falling pigeon.
“I just think that with a case like this we better be damn sure of what we’re doing before we go in there and start opening up files.”
“We have to go into the files,” Bosch said. “That’s where most of the suspects will be.”
“I understand that. But these are confidential files relating to lawsuits against the police department. They contain privileged information that only an attorney and his client should have. Don’t you see? It could be argued that by opening a single file you’ve violated the rights of Elias’s clients.”
“All we want is to find the man’s killer. We don’t care about his pending cases. I hope to Christ that the killer’s name isn’t in those files and that it isn’t a cop. But what if it is and what if in those files Elias kept copies or notes on threats? What if through his own investigations he learned something about somebody that could be a motive for his killing? You see, we need to look at the files.”
“All of that is understandable. But if a judge later rules the search was inappropriate you won’t be able to use anything you find up there. You want to run that risk?”
She turned away from them and looked toward the door.
“I have to find a phone and make a call about this,” she said. “I can’t let you open that office yet. Not in good conscience.”
Bosch blew out his breath in exasperation. He silently chastised himself for calling in a lawyer too soon. He
