After forty-five minutes, the ceremony ended and the immediate family left the chapel first to form a receiving line outside the door. Ballard hung back and watched from one of the archways that lined the walkway that ran down the side of the church.
She soon saw Javier Raffa’s silent partner, Dr. Dennis Hoyle, emerge in the line from the chapel. Ballard recognized him from the studio photos on his family dentistry website. He was all angles: thin, sharp shoulders and elbows. He had graying hair and a salt-and-pepper goatee.
Ballard realized this might be the best time to talk to him, when he least expected to be questioned by the police. She quickly texted Bosch her plan and then watched when it was Hoyle’s turn to go down the family line. It was clear he was meeting them for the first time, even the widow. He hugged none of them and gave the widow a two-handed sympathy grasp. He leaned forward to say something to her or possibly identify himself, but Ballard’s read on the widow’s facial expression and body language was that she had no idea who he was.
Javier Raffa’s son, Gabriel, was at the end of the receiving line. Hoyle simply nodded once and gave the young man a hang-in-there clap on the shoulder, then headed away with a look of pure relief on his face. Ballard used her arm to hold her jacket closed over the badge on her belt. She let Hoyle pass by and then turned to follow him.
As Hoyle headed toward the street, Ballard could see Bosch standing out on the sidewalk. He was wearing a suit, just in case he needed to go into the memorial service. But the suit also worked for what they were about to do.
Ballard followed Hoyle out and picked up speed to catch up. Bosch positioned himself in the middle of the sidewalk, slowing Hoyle down as he decided which way to go.
“Dr. Hoyle?” Ballard said.
Hoyle spun around as if shocked that anyone in this part of town would know him by name.
“Uh, yes?” he said.
Ballard pulled her jacket open to show the badge as well as her gun holstered on her hip.
“I’m Detective Ballard with the LAPD. This is my colleague Harry Bosch.”
She gestured to Bosch, who was now behind Hoyle. The dentist whipped back to look at Bosch and then forward again at Ballard.
“Yes?” he said.
“I’m investigating the murder of Javier Raffa,” Ballard said. “I would like to ask you a few questions, if you have the time.”
“Me?” Hoyle said. “Why would you want to ask me questions?”
“Well, for starters, you were his partner, were you not?”
“Well, yes, but I don’t know anything about what happened. I mean, I wasn’t even there.”
“That’s okay. We need to be thorough and talk to anybody who knew him. If you were his partner, you must have known him pretty well.”
“It was a business investment, that’s all.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. Where are you parked? Maybe we should get away from the church and talk.”
“Um, I’m over here but I — ”
“Lead the way.”
Hoyle drove a four-door Mercedes and by coincidence had parked right behind Bosch’s old Jeep. Neither Bosch nor Ballard mentioned this, because it would possibly put cracks in the charade that Bosch was an LAPD detective. When they got to Hoyle’s car, he pulled the remote key from his pocket and unlocked the doors. He then turned to Ballard and Bosch.
“You know, right now is not a good time to talk,” he said. “I’ve just been to my friend’s memorial and I’m kind of emotional about it. I just want to go home. Can we — ”
“How did you know?” Ballard interrupted.
“How did I know he was dead?” Hoyle said. “It was in the paper — online.”
Ballard paused for a moment in case Hoyle sputtered out something else. He didn’t.
“No, I mean how did you know he was looking for a partner?” she said. “An investor. Somebody to buy him out of the gang.”
For a second, Hoyle’s eyes widened. He was surprised by her knowledge.
“I … Well, I have advisers for this sort of thing,” Hoyle said.
“Really?” Ballard asked. “Who is that? I’d like to speak to them.”
“I told you, now is not a good time. Can I go?”
Ballard held her hands wide as if to say she wasn’t keeping him from leaving.
“So I can go?” Hoyle said.
“It would be better for you, Dr. Hoyle, if we cleared some of this up now,” Ballard said.
“Cleared up what? You just said I could go.”