"The tire markings tell us that the victim pulled the tow truck onto the shoulder about thirty yards west of this point," Allmand said. "This was likely to avoid the disabled vehicle already on the shoulder. The tow truck was then backed down the shoulder to this position here. The driver put the transmission in park and set the parking brake before exiting the truck. If he was in a hurry, as some of the ancillary information indicates, he may have gone right to the tail here to lower the towing assembly. This is where he got it.
"The disabled car was obviously not disabled. The driver floored the accelerator and it lurched forward, striking the tow truck driver and pinning him against the back of the truck and the tow assembly. To get ready for the tow the vic would have bent over here to free the hook assembly. He was likely doing this when he was struck, and this would explain the head injuries. He went face first into the assembly. There's blood on the tow arm. "
Allmand ran the red eye of his laser over the tow truck's hook assembly to illustrate.
"The car then backed up," he continued. "And that's where you get the striated markings on the asphalt here. He then moved forward for another strike. The victim was probably already fatally injured from the first impact. But he wasn't dead yet. It is likely he fell to the ground after the first impact and with his last strength crawled under the truck to avoid the second impact. Either way, the vehicle did strike the tow truck a second time. And of course, the victim succumbed to his injuries while beneath the truck."
Allmand paused there for questions but he was met only with grim silence. Bosch could think of nothing to ask. Unchecked, Allmand finished up his report by pointing to two tire lines made in the gravel and asphalt.
"You've got a wheel base on the striking vehicle that is not very wide," he said. "That will cut it down some. It's probably going to be a little foreign job. I took measurements, and as soon as I consult my manufacturers' catalogs I will be able to come up with a list of cars those treads could have come from. I'll let you know."
When no one said anything Allmand used his laser to circle a small oil spot on the asphalt.
"Additionally, the striking vehicle was leaking oil. Not a big deal, but if it becomes important for a prosecutor to be able to say how long the killer sat here and waited for the victim, then we can time the leak once the vehicle is recovered and come up with a rough estimate of how long it would have taken to make this little spot here."
Pratt nodded.
"Good to know," he said.
Pratt thanked Allmand and asked the assistant medical examiner, Ravi Patel, to report on his preliminary examination of the body. Patel began by listing the numerous broken bones and injuries that were obvious from external examination of the body. He said the impact had likely fractured Mackey's skull, crushed the orbit of his left eye and dislocated his jaw. His hips were crushed along with the left side of his upper torso. His left arm and left thigh were broken as well.
"It is likely these injuries were sustained in one initial impact," he said. "The victim was likely standing and the impact came from the right rear side."
"Would he have been able to crawl under the truck?" Rick Jackson asked.
"It is possible," Patel answered. "We have seen the instinct for survival allow people to do amazing things. I won't know until I open him up, but what we often see in cases like this is that the compression perforates the lungs. The lungs fill with blood. This takes time. He could have crawled to what he thought was safety."
And then drowned on the side of the freeway, Bosch thought.
Next to report was the lead SID investigator, who happened to be Ravi Patel's brother, Raj. Bosch knew them both from previous cases and knew they were both among the best.
Raj Patel gave the basics of the crime scene investigation and reported that Mackey's efforts to save his life by crawling under the truck could ultimately allow the investigators to catch his killer.
"The second impact on the truck was without the body as a buffer, you see. It was metal on metal. We have both metal and paint transference and we have collected several samples. If you find the vehicle that did this, we can match it with one hundred percent accuracy."
That was one piece of light in all the darkness, Bosch thought.
After Patel finished his report the crime scene began to break up, with the investigators heading out to follow various assignments Pratt wanted completed before the entire unit was to meet at the Pacific Dining Car at 9 a.m. to discuss the case.
Marcia and Jackson were assigned to search Mackey's home. This would entail rousting a judge from sleep and getting a search warrant signed, because Mackey shared the home with William Burkhart and Burkhart was a possible suspect in the killing. The home-with Burkhart presumed to be in it-was under surveillance at the time Mackey was cut down on the freeway. Nevertheless, Burkhart could have directed someone else to carry out the killing and was viewed as a suspect until cleared of involvement.
One of the first calls Bosch and Rider had made after finding Mackey beneath the tow truck was to Kehoe and Bradshaw, the two RHD detectives watching the home on Mariano Street. They immediately went to the house and took Burkhart and a woman identified as Belinda Messier into custody.
They were now waiting to be interviewed at Parker Center and Bosch and Rider drew that assignment from Pratt.
But as they turned to walk up the slope of the freeway exit to Rider's car, Pratt asked them to hold up. He then huddled with them and spoke so no one else remaining at the scene could hear.
"I guess I don't have to tell you two that we're going to get some heat on this," he said.
"We know," Rider said.
"I don't know what form the review will take but I think you can count on a review," Pratt said.
"We'll be ready," Rider said.
"You might want to talk about that on the way downtown," Pratt suggested. "Make sure everybody's on the same page."
Bosch knew Pratt was telling them to get their story straight so that it could be presented in unison and in the light that served them best, even if they were interviewed separately.
"We'll be all right," Rider said.
Pratt glanced at Bosch and then looked away, back at the tow truck.
"I know," Bosch said. "I'm a boot. If somebody takes a fall for this it will be me. That's okay. The whole thing was my idea."
"Harry," Rider said. "That's not -"
"It was my plan," Bosch said, cutting her off. "I'm the one."
"Well, you might not have to be the one," Pratt said. "The sooner we get this thing put together the better off we'll be. Success makes a lot of bad shit go away. So let's close this fucker by breakfast."
"You got it, Boss," Rider said.
As Bosch and Rider headed up the slope they didn't speak.
33
PARKER CENTER WAS DESERTED when they arrived. Though several investigative units operated from the headquarters building, it was primarily filled each day with command staff and support services. It didn't come alive until after sunup. In the elevator Bosch and Rider split up, Bosch going directly to the Robbery-Homicide Division on the third floor to relieve Kehoe and Bradshaw, while Rider made a stop by the Open-Unsolved office to pick up the file she had put together earlier on William Burkhart.
"See you in a few," she said to Bosch as he stepped off. "I hope Kehoe and Bradshaw made some coffee."
Bosch turned the corner out of the elevator alcove and headed down the hallway to the double doors of RHD. A voice from behind stopped him.
"What did I tell you about retreads?"
Bosch turned. It was Irving, coming from the opposite hallway. There was nothing down that way but computer services. Bosch guessed that he had been waiting in the hallway. He tried not to show surprise that Irving apparently already knew about what had happened on the freeway.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I wanted to get an early start. It's going to be a big day."
"Is that right?"
&
nbsp; "That's right. And I'll give you fair warning. In the morning the media will be alerted to this middle-of-the-night fuckup of yours. The reporters will be told how you used this man Mackey as bait, only to let him be killed in a most horrible way. They will ask questions about how a retired detective could have been allowed back into the department to do this. But don't worry. These questions will most likely be addressed to the chief of police who set it all in motion."
Bosch laughed and shook his head, acting as though he didn't feel the threat.
"Is that all?" he asked.
"I will also be urging the commander of the Internal Affairs Division to open an investigation into how you conducted this investigation, Detective Bosch. I wouldn't get too used to being back."
Bosch took a step toward Irving, hoping to turn some of the threat back at him.
"Good, Chief, you do that. I hope you also prepare the commander for what I will be telling his investigators as well as the reporters about your own culpability in all of this."
There was a long pause before Irving bit.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"This man you're so worried about being used as bait was cut loose by you seventeen years ago, Chief. Cut loose so you could make your deal with Richard Ross. Mackey should've been in jail. Instead he used the gun from one of his little burglaries to kill an innocent sixteen-year-old girl."
Bosch waited but Irving didn't say anything.
"That's right," Bosch said. "I might have Roland Mackey's blood on my hands but you've got Rebecca Verloren's on yours. You want to go to the media and IAD with it? Fine, take your best shot and we'll see how it all comes out."
A pinched look formed in Irving's eyes. He took a step toward Bosch until their faces were only inches apart.
"You are wrong, Bosch. All of those kids back then, they were cleared of involvement in Verloren."
"Yeah, how? Who cleared them? Green and Garcia sure didn't. They were pushed away from them by you. Just like the girl's father. You and one of your dogs scared him away from it, too."
Bosch pointed a finger at his chest.
"You let murderers walk so you could keep your little deal intact."
An urgency entered Irving's voice when he responded.
"You are completely wrong on this," he said. "Do you really think that we would let murderers walk?"
Bosch shook his head, stepped back and almost laughed.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"Listen to me, Bosch. We checked alibis on every last one of those boys. They were all clean. For some of them, we were the alibi because we were still watching them. But we made sure every member of that group was clean on this, then we told Green and Garcia to back off. The father was told, too, but he wouldn't stand down."
"So you pushed him down, right, Chief? Pushed him into a hole."
"Things had to be done. The city was very tense back then. We couldn't have her father running around saying things that weren't true."
"Don't give me that good-of-the-community bullshit, Chief. You had your deal, that's all you cared about. You had Ross and IAD in your pocket and you wanted to keep it that way. Only you were dead wrong. The DNA proves it. Mackey was good for Verloren and your investigation was for shit."
"No, wait just a minute. It only proves one thing. That he had the gun. I read the story you planted in the paper today, too. The DNA connects him to the gun, not to the murder."
Bosch waved him off. He knew there was no sense going back and forth with Irving. His only hope was that his own threat to go to the media and IAD would neutralize Irving's threat. He believed they were at a stalemate.
"Who checked the alibis?" he asked calmly.
Irving didn't answer.
"Let me guess. McClellan. He's got his prints all over this."
Again Irving didn't answer. It was like he had drifted off into the memory of seventeen years before.
"Chief, I want you to call your dog. I know he still works for you. Tell him I want to know about the alibis. I want details. I want reports. I want everything he's got by seven a.m. today or that's it. We do what we have to do and we see where the chips fall."
Bosch was about to turn away when Irving finally spoke.
"There are no alibi reports," he said. "There never would have been any."
Bosch heard the elevator open and Rider soon rounded the corner, carrying a file. She stopped dead when she saw the confrontation. She said nothing.
"No reports?" Bosch said to Irving. "Then you better hope he's got a good memory. Good night, Chief."
Bosch turned and started down the hall. Rider hurried to catch up to him. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure Irving was not following. After they turned in through the double doors to RHD, she spoke.
"Are we in trouble, Harry? Is he going to turn this against the man up on six?"
Bosch looked at her. The mix of dread and fear on her face told him how important his answer was going to be.
"Not if I can help it," he told her.
34
WILLIAM BURKHART and Belinda Messier were being held in separate interview rooms. Bosch and Rider decided to take Messier first so that Burkhart would have to sit and wait and wonder. It would also give them time to let Marcia and Jackson get the warrant and get into the house on Mariano. What they found might be helpful during the interview with Burkhart.
Belinda Messier had come up in the investigation before. The number on the cell phone Mackey carried around was registered to her. In the briefing Kehoe and Bradshaw had given Bosch and Rider upon their arrival she was described as Burkhart's girlfriend. She had volunteered as much when the RHD detectives had taken both of them into custody. She told them little else after that.
Belinda Messier was a petite woman with mousy blonde hair that framed her face. Her look belied the hard case she turned out to be. She asked to see an attorney the moment Rider and Bosch entered the room.
"Why do you want to see an attorney?" Bosch asked. "Do you think you are under arrest?"
"Are you telling me I can leave?"
She stood up.
"Sit down," Bosch said. "Roland Mackey was killed tonight and you could be in danger, too. You're in protective custody. That means you're not getting out of here until we get some things straight."
"I don't know anything about it. I was with Billy all night until you people showed up."
Over the next forty-five minutes Messier gave up information only grudgingly. She explained that she knew Mackey through Burkhart and that she agreed to apply for cell phone service and turn the phone over to Mackey because he didn't have a viable credit report. She told the detectives that Burkhart did not work and lived off a damages award he had received after a car accident two years before. He bought the house on Mariano Street with the payout and charged Mackey rent. Messier said she didn't live in the house but spent many nights there visiting Burkhart. When asked about Burkhart and Mackey's past ties to white power groups, she feigned surprise. When asked about the tiny swastika tattooed on the webbing between her right thumb and forefinger, she said she thought it was a Navajo good luck symbol.
"Do you know who killed Roland Mackey?" Bosch asked after the long preamble of questions.
"No," she said. "He was a real nice guy. That's all I know."
"What did your boyfriend say after Mackey called him?"
"Nothin'. He just told me he was going to stay up and talk to Ro about something when he came home. He said they might go out for some privacy."
"That's all?"
"Yeah, that's what he said."
They went at her several times and from several different angles, with Bosch and Rider trading the lead back and forth, but the interview produced nothing of real value to the investigation.
Burkhart was next, but before going into the interview Bosch called Marcia and Jackson for an update.
"You guys in the house yet?" Bosch asked Marcia.
"Yeah, we're in. We have
n't found anything yet."
"What about a cell phone?"
"No cell phone so far. Do you think Burkhart could have slipped out on Kehoe and Bradshaw?"
"Anything's possible but I doubt it. They weren't sleeping."
They were silent a moment as they thought about things and then Marcia spoke.
"How long was it between the time Mackey got it and you called Kehoe and Bradshaw and told them to take Burkhart in?"
The Closers Page 30