Resurrection Walk

01:43:42 — Officer Dexter: Suspect is GOA, going west on Valerie. Maroon USC hoodie.

After Bosch reviewed everything in the file, he had some definite thoughts about what had gone down in the shooting. He checked the rearview mirror. Haller and Lorna were now talking about clients who had not yet paid for legal services rendered. It was too close a space to carry on two separate conversations.

“I’m going to step out and call Jennifer,” Bosch said.

“Thank you, Harry,” Haller said.

4

Bosch put the file containing the Marcus case reports on the hood of the Navigator and called Aronson. She answered right away.

“Harry, I’m waiting to see Anthony at the detention center. They’re going to take me back anytime now.”

“Okay, you can call me later. I looked at the records you sent on his case.”

“Thank you so much. Did you see anything?”

“Listen, I don’t want my name mixed up in this. Are we clear on that? Whatever you do with what I tell you, it doesn’t include me. Okay?”

“Of course. I already agreed to that. It goes no further than this call.”

Bosch was silent for a long moment as he decided whether to trust her.

“Are you still there?” Aronson said.

“Yes, I’m here,” Bosch said. “So, you said you were going to call the prosecutor to see if there was any update on discovery. Did you do that?”

“Uh, no, not yet.”

“Well, the chrono says they brought a print tech to the house your client supposedly broke into.”

“Which he says he didn’t do.”

“Right. But the chrono doesn’t say what the tech found. They were obviously looking for a print from your client in the house because that would tie him to the burglary and catch him in a direct lie in his initial statement. So you’ve got to get a report on what the print guy found, if anything.”

“Okay, I’ll get on that. What else?”

“I looked at the Google Maps of the area where this went down, and the house at the corner of Valley Circle and Valerie Avenue has a hedge that runs the lot lines.”

“Okay. What does that mean?”

“Well, Dexter chased the burglary suspect up Valley Circle and then he followed when the guy turned left onto Valerie. Because of the hedge, he would have lost sight of the suspect.”

“Which supports Anthony’s claim that he’s not the burglar Dexter was chasing.”

“Possibly, yeah.”

“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.”