The Reversal Read Online Free PDF Page B

win.
    “That’s bullshit and I am not talking about doing anything un—”
    The door opened and Harry Bosch stepped in, pushing the door with his back because he was carrying two large boxes in his hands.
    “Sorry, I’m late,” he said.
    He put the boxes down on the table. I could tell the larger one was a carton from evidence archives. I guessed that the smaller one contained the police file on the original investigation.
    “It took them three days to find the murder box. It was on the ’eighty-five aisle instead of ’eighty-six.”
    He looked at me and then at Maggie and then back at me.
    “So what’d I miss? War break out in the war room?”
    “We were talking about prosecutorial tactics and it turns out we have opposing views.”
    “Imagine that.”
    He took the chair at the end of the table. I could tell he was going to have more to say. He lifted the top off the murder box and pulled out three accordion files and put them on the table. He then moved the box to the floor.
    “You know, Mick, while we’re airing out our differences… I think before you pulled me into this little soap opera, you should’ve told me a few things up front.”
    “Like what, Harry?”
    “Like that this whole goddamn thing is about money and not murder.”
    “What are you talking about? What money?”
    Bosch just stared at me without responding.
    “You’re talking about Jessup’s lawsuit?” I asked.
    “That’s right,” he said. “I had an interesting discussion with Jessup today on the drive down. Got me thinking and it crossed my mind that if we jam this guy into a deal, the lawsuit against the city and county goes away because a guy who admits to murder isn’t going to be able to sue and claim he was railroaded. So I guess what I want to know is what we’re really doing here. Are we trying to put a murder suspect on trial or are we just trying to save the city and county a few million bucks?”
    I noticed Maggie’s posture straighten as she considered the same thing.
    “You gotta be kidding me,” she said. “If that—”
    “Hold on, hold on,” I interjected. “Let’s be cool about this. I don’t think that’s the case here, okay? It’s not that I haven’t thought about it but Williams didn’t say one word about going for a dispo on this case. He told me to take it to trial. In fact, he assumes it will go to trial for the same reason you just mentioned. Jessup will never take a dispo for time served or anything else because there is no pot of gold in that. No book, no movie, no payout from the city. If he wants the money, he’s got to go to trial and win.”
    Maggie nodded slowly as if weighing a valid supposition. Bosch didn’t seem appeased at all.
    “But how would you know what Williams is up to?” he asked. “You’re an outsider. They could’ve brought you in, wound you up and pointed you in the right direction and then sat back to watch you go.”
    “He’s right,” Maggie added. “Jessup doesn’t even have a defense attorney. As soon as he does he’ll start talking deal.”
    I raised my hands in a calming gesture.
    “Look, at the press conference today. I threw out that we were going for the death penalty. I just did that to see how Williams would react. He didn’t expect it and afterward he pressed me in the hallway. He told me that it wasn’t a decision I got to make. I told him it was just strategy, that I wanted Jessup to start thinking about a deal. And it gave Williams pause. He didn’t see it. If he was thinking of a deal just to blow up the civil action, I would have been able to read it. I’m good at reading people.”
    I could tell I still hadn’t quite won Bosch over.
    “Remember last year, with the two men from Hong Kong who wanted your ass on the next plane to China? I read them right and I played them right.”
    In his eyes I saw Bosch relent. That China story was a reminder that he owed me one and I was collecting.
    “Okay,” he said. “So what do we