Nine Dragons Read Online Free PDF

table, set himself up in front of the television and moved the playback speed to four times real time. He figured it would take him less than three hours to knock off the first disc. He would then go home, get a few hours sleep and be back at the same time as everybody else in the morning.
    “Sounds like a plan,” he said to himself.

5
    B osch was roughly dragged out of sleep and opened his eyes to see Lieutenant Gandle staring down at him. It took Harry a moment to clear his head and understand where he was.
    “Lieutenant?”
    “What are you doing in my office, Bosch?”
    Bosch sat up on the couch.
    “I… I was watching video in the boardroom and it got so late it wasn’t worth going home. What time is it now?”
    “Almost seven but that still doesn’t explain why you’re in my office. When I left yesterday, I locked my door.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, really.”
    Bosch nodded and acted like he was still clearing his head. He was happy he’d put his picks back in his wallet after he’d opened the door. Gandle had the only couch in RHD.
    “Maybe the office cleaners came by and forgot to lock it,” he offered.
    “No, they don’t have a key. Look, Harry, I don’t mind people using the couch to sleep. But if the door is locked, it’s for a reason. I can’t have people opening my door after I’ve locked it.”
    “You’re right, Lieutenant. You think maybe we can get a couch out in the squad?”
    “I’ll work on it but that’s not the point.”
    Bosch stood up.
    “I get the point. I’m going back to work now.”
    “Not so fast. Tell me about this video that kept you here all night.”
    Bosch briefly explained what he had seen when he spent five hours viewing the two discs through the middle of the night and how John Li had unintentionally left behind what looked like a solid lead.
    “You want me to set it up for you in the conference room?”
    “Why don’t you wait till your partner’s here. We can all look at it together. Go get some coffee first.”
    Bosch left Gandle and walked through the squad room. It was an impersonal maze of cubicles and sound barriers. It whispered like an insurance office and the truth was, it was so quiet that at times Bosch had trouble concentrating. It was still deserted but would now start to fill up quickly. Gandle was always the first man in. He liked to set the precedent for the squad.
    Harry went down to the cafeteria, which had opened at seven but was empty because the bulk of the police department’s personnel were still working out of Parker Center. The move to the new Police Administration Building was progressing slowly. First some detective squads, then administrators and then the rest. It was a soft opening and the building would not be formally dedicated for another two months. For now it meant there were no lines in the cafeteria but there wasn’t a full menu either. Bosch got the cop’s breakfast: two doughnuts and a coffee. He also picked up a coffee for Ferras. He ate the doughnuts quickly while putting cream and sugar in his partner’s cup and then took the elevator back up. As expected, when he got back to the squad his partner was at his desk. Bosch put one of the coffees down in front of him and walked over to his own cubicle.
    “Thanks, Harry,” Ferras said. “I should have known you’d be here before—hey, you wore that suit yesterday. Don’t tell me you’ve been working all night.”
    Bosch sat down.
    “I got a couple hours on the lieutenant’s couch. What time are Mrs. Li and her son coming in today?”
    “I told them ten. Why?”
    “I think I’ve got something we need to pursue. I watched the extra discs from the store’s cameras last night.”
    “What did you find?”
    “Grab your coffee and I’ll show you. The lieutenant wants to see it, too.”
    Ten minutes later Bosch was standing with the remote control in front of the AV equipment while Ferras and Gandle sat at the end of the boardroom table. He cued the disc marked