Resurrection Walk

“Good and bad,” he said. “The evidence is still here and when they did their testing, they only used half of the piece they got. So there is a pristine half in cold storage.”

“Okay, what’s the bad news?”

“Second-Place Silver stiffed them back then. After Lucinda went to prison, he didn’t need a report on the GSR and decided not to pay for it. So they don’t like him too much for that. They’re not giving up the evidence till somebody pays.”

“How much is the tab?”

“Fifteen hundred.”

“You have a credit card, Harry? Put it on that and expense it. You’ll get it back.”

“That’s what I thought. There’s one other thing. Silver is making noise about getting paid himself.”

“Fucking weasel. Nobody’s getting paid on this. Where is he? Let me talk to him.”

“Hold on. He’s with Cisco and Shami. I think Cisco wants to put him in a headlock and squeeze.”

“Yeah, not yet. Put Silver on and then see if they’ll take a credit card on the past invoice.”

“Hold on.”

I heard a door open and close and knew Harry had called me from his car. There was the sound of another door as he entered Applied Forensics. I heard some muffled voices and then Frank Silver was on the phone.

“Mick, you heard the good news?”

“I did. I also heard you’re making noise about wanting money.”

“This is only coming together because of me, and my time is money. I want a couple grand, that’s all.”

“First of all, we don’t know what we have there yet. Second, I’m going to have to pay the bill you skipped out on five years ago. And last and most important, you’re a witness in this case. If I pay you a dime before you testify and the AG finds out, you aren’t a witness anymore.”

“I told you, I’m not testifying. I’m not letting you throw me under the bus on an ineffective rap.”

“That ship has sailed, Frank. You don’t have to worry. That’s not why you’re a witness. If this pans out with Applied Forensics, I’m going to need you to get on the stand and set it up. Tell how the evidence got there and why it’s still there five years later. It’ll be your moment to be the hero.”

“I like that. But then I get paid.”

“Listen, there may be some CJA money when this is all said and done, but you don’t get paid until we all get paid.”

“‘CJA’? What’s that?”

“It’s federal money for defense lawyers — the Criminal Justice Act. It won’t be a lot but it will be something, and whatever we get, you’ll get it all. I’m about to talk to Judge Coelho and I’ll bring it up. Now put Harry back on the phone.”

“Okay, Mick. By the way, I like Harry. But I don’t like that big guy you got.”

“You’re not supposed to. Put Harry on.”

I stood up and paced in the hall while I waited. I was trying to contain my excitement over what this could mean. Bosch’s voice came back on the call.

“Mick?”

“Yeah. They taking your credit card?”

“Yeah, I gave it to them.”

“Okay, what’s Shami doing?”

“She’s on a tour of the lab now. They love her. I guess she’s sort of famous in her field.”

“That she is. When she’s finished with the tour, tell her to prep them for a court order directing them to test the evidence for DNA and then compare it to a sample that should be coming in by the end of the day.”

“Will do. And we want a rush on it, right?”

“We will pay for expedited testing. Need this back by Monday.”

“Okay. What about you?”

“I’m about to go see the judge to try to get this rolling.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

I disconnected and headed to the courtroom door.

36

The lights in the courtroom were out except for the bulb positioned above the clerk’s corral to the right of the judge’s bench. Coelho’s clerk was a young man fresh from USC Law named Gian Brown. He was more than used to me coming in over the past six months to drop off motions and subpoena requests for the judge. Brown told me each time that this task would be much easier on me if I just emailed the documents and requests, but I never did that. I wanted him to know me, to get used to me. I wanted him to like me. I learned he enjoyed a caramel macchiato on occasion and brought them to him from the building’s cafeteria, even though each time he protested that the gesture would earn me no favors with him or the judge. I always said that I wasn’t trying to procure favors because I didn’t need any.

But now I did.

“Mr. Haller, you do know that we’re dark today, right?” Brown asked.

“Must’ve forgotten,” I said.

He smiled and I smiled.

“Then, let me guess, you have a motion for us,” Brown said.

“I have an ask,” I said. “A big ask. I need to see the judge about an SDT that is very time-sensitive. Is she here?”

“Uh, she is,” Brown said. “But she’s got her Do Not Disturb on.”

He pointed to a small red light on a panel on the corral’s half wall. Next to it was the button he pushed when all parties were present and ready for the judge to enter the courtroom.

“Well, Gian, I need you to call her or buzz her because she’ll want to hear what I’ve got to say,” I said.

“Um...”