“Bosch, what do you want?”
It took him some time to stop laughing. He finally said, “Just checking in. Did you call Ray Mora?”
“Nah, I called over to Ad-Vice and they said he wasn’t working tonight. I was going to talk to him tomorrow. How’d you do?”
“I think I’ve got a name. I’ll give Mora a call at home so he can pull what they have on her first thing.”
He told Edgar the name and heard the other detective laugh.
“Well, at least it’s original. How-what makes you think it’s her?”
Bosch answered in a low voice in case his voice was carrying to the bedroom.
“I saw a loop and I have a box from a video with her picture on it. It looks like the plaster face you got. A little off on the wig. But I think it’s her. I’ll drop the box off on your desk on my way into court tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
“Maybe Mora can get an early start on getting her real name and prints over to you. She probably had an adult entertainment license. All right if I call him?”
“That’s cool. You know him.”
They hung up. Bosch didn’t have a home number for Mora. He called Detective Services and gave his name and badge number and asked to be put through. It took about five minutes and then Mora answered after three rings. He seemed out of breath.
“It’s Bosch, you gotta minute?”
“Bosch, yeah, Bosch, what’s up, man?”
“How’s business?”
“Still sucks.”
He laughed at what Bosch guessed was an insider’s joke.
“Actually, it goes further down all the time-no pun intended. Video ruined it, Bosch. Made it too big. The industry got big, the quality got small. Nobody cares about quality anymore.”
Mora was talking more like a supporter of the porno industry than a watchdog.
“I miss the days when it was in those smoky theaters on Cahuenga and Highland. We had a better handle on things then. At least, I did. So how’s court? I hear you guys caught another one that looks like the Dollmaker. What’s going on with that? How could-”
“That’s why I’m calling. I’ve got a name-I think she was from your side of the tracks. The victim.”
“Give it to me.”
“Magna Cum Loudly. Maybe known as Maggie, too.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that one. She was around a while ago and then, you’re right, she disappeared or dropped out.”
Bosch waited for more. He thought he heard a voice in the background-in person or on TV and Mora told him to hold on a minute. He couldn’t make out what had been said or whether it was a man or a woman. It made him wonder what Mora had been doing when he called. There were rumors floating around the department about Mora having gotten too close to the subject he was expert in. It was a common cop malady. Still, he knew Mora had successfully fended off any attempts to transfer him in the early years of his assignment. Now, he had so much expertise, it would be ridiculous to move him. It would be like taking Orel Hershiser off the Dodgers pitching staff and putting him in the outfield. He was good at what he did. He had to be left there.
“Um, Harry, I don’t know. I think she was around a couple years ago. What I’m saying is, if it’s her, then it couldn’t have been Church. You know what I’m saying? I don’t know how that plays with what you’ve got working on this.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ray. If Church didn’t do her, somebody else did. We still gotta get him.”
“Right. So I’ll get on it. By the way, how’d you make her?”
Bosch told him about his visit to X Marks the Spot.
“Yeah, I know them guys. The big one, that’s Carlo Pinzi the capo’s nephew, Jimmie Pinzi. They call him Jimmie Pins. He may act big and dumb but he’s really the little guy Pinkie’s boss. Watches over the place for his uncle. The little one’s called Pinkie on account of those glasses he wears. Pinkie and Pins. It’s all an act. Anyway, they charged you about forty beans too many for that video.”
“That’s what I guessed. Oh, and I was going to ask you, there’s no copyright on the video box. Would that be on the video or is there any way I can figure out when this was made?”
“Usually they don’t put the copyright on the box. Customers want fresh meat. So the players figure the customer sees a copyright on the box that’s a couple years old, then they’ll buy something else. It’s a fast business. Perishable goods. So no dates. Sometimes they’re not even on the video cartridge. Anyway, I’ve got catalogs at the office going back twelve years. I can find a date, no problem.”
“Thanks, Ray. I might not make it by. A guy from the homicide table, Jerry Edgar, might come by to see you. I got court.”
“That’s fine, Harry.”
Bosch had nothing else to ask and was about to say good-bye when Mora spoke in the silence.
“You know, I think about it a lot.”
“What?”
“The task force. I wish I hadn’t taken off early that night and I was there with you. Who knows, maybe we’d have gotten this guy alive.”
“Yeah.”
“Be no trial then-I mean, for you.”
Bosch was silent as he looked at the picture on the back of video box. The woman’s face turned to the side, just like the plaster face. It was her. He felt sure of it.
“Ray, with only this name-Magna Cum Loudly-can you still get a real name, get prints?”
“Sure can. No matter what anybody thinks of the product, there is legit stuff and illegit stuff out there. This girl Maggie looks like she had graduated to the legit world. She was out of loops and that shit and was in mainstream adult video. That means she probably had an agent, had an adult entertainment license. They gotta get ’em to prove they’re eighteen. So her license will have her real name on it. I can go through them and find her-they got their pictures on them. Might take me a couple hours but I can find her.”
“Okay, good, will you do that in the morning and, if Edgar doesn’t come by, get the prints to him at Hollywood homicide?”
“Jerry Edgar. I’ll do it.”
Neither spoke for a few moments as they thought about what they were doing.
“Hey, Harry?”
“Yeah.”
“The paper said that there was a new note, that true?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it legit? Did we fuck up?”
“I don’t know yet, Ray, but I appreciate you saying ‘we.’ A lot of people just want to point at me.”
“Yeah, listen, I ought to tell you, I got subpoenaed today by that Money bitch.”
It didn’t surprise Bosch, since Mora had been on the Dollmaker task force.
“Don’t worry about it. She’s probably papered everybody who was on the task force.”
“Okay.”
“But try to keep this new stuff under your hat if you can.”
“As long as I can.”
“She’s got to know what to ask before she can ask it. I’m just looking for some time to work with this, see what it means.”
