“I signed it because I wanted to get back to work. If I was going to argue with him about what words he used, I was never going to get back to work.”
“Tell me, Detective, did the psychiatrist who examined you and made that report know about your mother?”
Bosch hesitated.
“I don’t know,” he finally answered. “I didn’t tell him. I don’t know if he would have had the information previously.”
He could hardly concentrate on his words, for his mind was scrambling.
“What happened to your mother?”
He looked directly at Chandler for a long moment before answering. She didn’t look away.
“As was testified to earlier, she was killed. I was eleven. It happened in Hollywood.”
“And no one was ever arrested, correct?”
“That is correct. Can we go on to something else? This has already been testified about.”
Bosch looked over at Belk who got the point and stood up and objected to Chandler’s repetitive line of questioning.
“Detective Bosch, do you want a break?” Judge Keyes asked. “To sort of calm down a little?”
“No, Judge, I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I can’t restrict proper cross-examination. The objection is overruled.”
The judge nodded to Chandler.
“I’m sorry to ask such personal questions, but, after she was gone, did your father raise you?”
“You’re not sorry. You-”
“Detective Bosch!” the judge boomed. “We cannot have this. You must answer the questions asked of you. Say nothing else. Just answer the questions.”
“No. I never knew my father. I was put in the youth hall and then foster homes.”
“Any brothers or sisters?”
“No.”
“So the man who strangled your mother not only took the one closest to you, he destroyed much of your life at that point?”
“I’d say so.”
“Did the crime have something to do with your becoming a policeman?”
Bosch found he could no longer look at the jury. He knew his face had turned red. And he felt as if he were dying under a magnifying glass.
“I don’t know. I never really analyzed myself to that extent.”
“Did it have something to do with the satisfaction you felt in killing Mr. Church?”
“As I said before, if there was any satisfaction-you keep using that word-it was that I was satisfied with closing the case. To use your word, the man was a monster. He was a killer. I was satisfied we stopped him, wouldn’t you be?”
“You’re answering the questions, Detective Bosch,” Chandler said. “The question I now have is, did you stop the killings? All of them?”
Belk jumped up and asked for a sidebar conference. The judge said to the jurors, “We’re going to take that break now after all. We’ll call you back when we’re ready.”
17
Belk asked for a discussion of his objection to Chandler’s question out of earshot of the press, so the judge convened a hearing in his chambers. The hearing included the judge, Chandler, Belk, Bosch, the court reporter and the court clerk. They had to drag a couple of chairs in from the courtroom, then they all took places around the judge’s huge desk. It was dark mahogany and looked like a box a small foreign car could have come in.
The first thing the judge did was light a cigarette. When Bosch saw Chandler follow suit, he did the same. The judge pushed the ashtray on his desk to the corner so they all could get at it.
“So, Mr. Belk, it’s your party,” the judge said.
“Your Honor, I am concerned with the direction Miss Chandler is taking this.”
“Call her Ms. Chandler, Mr. Belk. You know she prefers it. As far as which way she’s going, how can you tell from one question?”
It was obvious to Bosch that Belk may have objected too soon. It was unclear how much information Chandler had, aside from the note. But Bosch thought Belk’s tap-dancing around the problem was a waste of time.
“Judge,” he said. “If I answer that last question it will compromise an ongoing investigation.”
The judge leaned back in his padded leather chair.
“How so?” he asked.
“We believe there is another killer,” Bosch said. “The body found this week was identified yesterday and it has been determined that she could not have been killed by Church. She was alive up until two years ago. The-”
“The method used by the killer was identical to that of the real Dollmaker,” Belk interjected. “The police believe there is a follower, someone who knew how Church killed and followed the same pattern. There is evidence to suggest the follower was responsible for the seventh and eleventh victims previously attributed to Church.”
Bosch said, “The follower would have to be someone close to the original investigation, someone who knew the details.”
Belk said, “If you allow her to open this line of questioning, it will be reported by the media and it will tip off the follower. He will know how close he is to being revealed.”
The judge was silent as he considered all of this for a moment.
“That all sounds real interesting and I wish you all the best of luck catching this follower, as you call him,” he finally said. “But the problem you have, Mr. Belk, is that you haven’t given me any legal reason to stop your client from answering the question Ms. Chandler put to him. No one wants to compromise an investigation. But you put your client on the stand.”
“That’s if there is a second killer,” Chandler said. “It’s obvious there was only one killer and it wasn’t Church. They’ve come up with this elaborate-”
“Ms. Chandler,” the judge interrupted. “That’s for the jury to decide. Save your argument for them. Mr. Belk, the problem is this is your witness. You called him and you’ve left him open to this line of questioning. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m certainly not going to clear the media out of there. Off the record here, Miss Penny.”
The judge watched the court reporter lift her fingers from the keys.
“Mr. Belk, you’re fucked-’scuse the language, ladies. He’s gonna answer the question and the one after that and the one after that. Okay, we’re back on.”
The reporter put her fingers back on the keys.
“Your Honor, this can’t-”
“I’ve made my ruling, Mr. Belk. Anything else?”
Belk then surprised Bosch.
“We would like a continuance.”
“What?”
“Your Honor, plaintiff opposes,” Chandler said.
“I know you do,” the judge said. “What are you talking about, Mr. Belk?”
