"Her husband was alone in the store while she went home to prepare their supper. When she came back she thought the store was empty. Then she found him behind the counter. She saw no one in the store when she came in. She parked in the back and used a key to open the back door."

Bosch nodded as he computed all of this.

"How long was she gone? Ask her what time it was when she left the store."

Chu did as instructed and turned back to Bosch with the answer.

"She leaves at two-thirty every day to pick up the supper. Then she comes back."

"Are there other employees?"

"No, I asked that already. Just her husband and Mrs. Li. They work every day eleven to ten. Closed Sundays."

A typical immigrant story, Bosch thought. They just weren't counting on the bullets coming at the end of it.

Bosch heard voices coming from the front of the store and ducked his head into the rear hallway. The forensics team from SID had arrived and was going to work.

He turned back into the storage room where the interview with Mrs. Li was continuing.

"Chu," Bosch interrupted.

The ACU detective looked up from him.

"Ask about the son. Was he at home when she called?"

"I already asked. There is another store. It's in the Valley. He was working there. The family lives together in the middle. In the Wilshire District."

It seemed clear to Bosch that Chu knew what he was doing. He didn't need Bosch to prompt him with questions.

"Okay, we're going back up front. You deal with her and after her son arrives it might be better to take everybody downtown. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Chu said.

"Good. Tell me if you need anything."

Bosch and Ferras went down the hall and to the front of the store. Bosch already knew every body on the forensics team. A team from the medical examiner's office had also arrived to doc.u.ment the death scene and collect the body.

Bosch and Ferras decided to split up at that point. Bosch would stay on scene. As lead detective he would monitor the collection of forensic evidence and the removal of the body. Ferras would leave the store and go knock on doors. The liquor store was located in a commercial area of small businesses. He would go door-to-door in an effort to find someone who had heard or seen something related to the killing. Both investigators knew this would likely be a fruitless effort, but it was one that needed to be made. A description of a car or a suspicious person could be the piece of the puzzle that would eventually break the case. It was basic homicide work.

Two minutes after Ferras left, Bosch heard a commotion coming from outside at the front of the store. He stepped out and saw two of Lucas's patrol officers trying to physically detain a man at the yellow tape. The struggling man was Asian and in his mid-twenties. He wore a tight-fitting T-shirt that displayed powerful arms and shoulders. Bosch quickly stepped toward the problem.

"Okay, stop it right there," he said forcefully, so no one would doubt who was in charge of this situation.

"Let him go," he added.

"I want to see my father," the young man said.

"Well, that's not the way to go about doing it."

Bosch stepped closer and nodded to the two patrolmen.

"I'll take care of Mr. Li now."

They left Bosch and the victim's son alone.

"What is your full name, Mr. Li?"

"Robert Li. I want to see my father."

"I understand that. I'm going to let you see your father if you really want to. But you can't until it's clear. I'm the detective in charge of this whole thing and I can't even see your father yet. So I need you to calm down. The only way you will get what you want is if you calm down."

The young man looked down at the ground and nodded. Bosch reached out and touched him on the shoulder.

"Okay, good," Bosch said.

"Where's my mother?"

"She's inside in the back room being interviewed by a detective."

"Can I at least see her?"

"Yes, you can. I'll walk you back there in a minute. I just need to ask you a few questions first. Is that okay?"

"Fine. Go ahead."

"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Harry Bosch. I'm the lead detective on this. I'm going to find whoever killed your father. I promise you that."

"Don't tell me promises you don't intend to keep. You didn't even know him. You don't care. He's just anothernever mind."

"Another what?"

"I said never mind."

Bosch stared at him for a moment before responding.

"How old are you, Robert?"

"I'm twenty-six and I would like to see my mother now."

He made a move to turn and head toward the back of the store but Bosch grabbed him on the arm. The younger man was stronger, but Bosch had a strength in his grip that was surprising. The young man stopped and looked down at the hand on his arm.

"Let me show you something and then I'll take you to your mother."

He let go of Li's arm and then pulled the matchbook from his pocket. He handed it over. Li looked at it with no surprise.

"What about it? We used to give these away until the economy went bad and we couldn't afford the extras."

Bosch took the matchbook back and nodded.

"I got it in your father's store twelve years ago," he said. "I guess you were about fourteen years old then. We almost had a riot in this city. Happened right here. This intersection."

"I remember. They looted the store and beat up my father. He should have never reopened here. My mother and me, we told him to open a store up in the Valley, but he wouldn't listen. He wasn't going to let anybody drive him out and now look what happened."

He gestured helplessly toward the front of the store.

"Yeah, well, I was here that night, too," Bosch said. "Twelve years ago. A riot started but it ended pretty quick. Right here. One casualty."

"A cop. I know. They pulled him right out of his car."

"I was in that car, but they didn't get to me. And when I got to this spot I was safe. I needed a smoke and I went into your father's store. He was there behind the counter, but the looters had taken every last pack of cigarettes in the place."

Bosch held up the book of matches.

"I found plenty of matches but no cigarettes. And then your father reached into his pocket and pulled out his own. He had one last smoke left and he gave it to me."

Bosch nodded. That was the story. That was it.

"I didn't know your father, Robert. But I'm going to find the person who killed him. I promise you that."

Robert Li nodded.

"Okay, let's go see your mother now."

ALSO BY MICHAEL CONNELLY

The Harry Bosch Novels

The Black Echo

The Black Ice

The Concrete Blonde

The Last Coyote

Trunk Music

Angels Flight

A Darkness More than Night

City of Bones

Lost Light

The Narrows

The Closers

Echo Park

The Overlook

Other Novels

The Poet