“No, I said it would be better for you to talk to us right now, right here. I don’t think you want us coming by your office, do you?”
Hoyle flung the door of his car open and it promptly swung back closed. Exasperated, he opened it again and held it.
“I’ve done nothing wrong and you are harassing me!”
He jumped in the car and slammed the door. He fired up the engine and took off from the curb, driving by Ballard and Bosch.
“If he thinks that was harassment, he hasn’t seen anything yet,” Ballard said.
Bosch stood next to her and they watched the Mercedes drive north on Occidental.
“Did I come on too strong?” Ballard asked.
“He thinks so,” said Bosch.
“Fuck ’im.”
“He’s probably calling his partners right now. Did you want that?”
“I wanted them to know I’m here.”
21
Ballard and Bosch went back to the church to see if the family was finished with the procession of well-wishers. There was no one at the door of the chapel. Ballard looked inside and saw the widow and the daughters but not the son, Gabriel.
“I need to find Gabriel so he can translate if needed,” she said. “Stay here in case they start to leave.”
“I’ll stall them,” Bosch said.
Ballard went back down the hallway and looked through the double doors leading to the larger cathedral. She saw Gabriel sitting in a pew by himself. She entered and quietly walked down the center aisle. Gabriel was using a penknife to scratch something into the wooden bench. It said “GOD S,” and she didn’t think after the last three days that he was working on the word “SAVES.”
“Gabriel,” she said. “Stop.”
He was so badly startled that he dropped the knife and it clattered to the marble floor. Ballard could see smeared tears on his face.
“Look,” she said. “I know what has happened to your family is horrible. If you want to help do something about it, help me talk to your mother. Come.”
She stepped back into the aisle. He hesitated, then started to reach down for his knife.
“Give me that,” Ballard said. “You don’t need it, and it will only get you into trouble. Let’s go talk to your mother.”
Gabriel came out of the pew and handed her the knife. He walked with his head down all the way to the chapel. Ballard folded the knife closed and put it in her pocket.
“What was done to your father wasn’t right,” Ballard said. “But he got out of the street life and that’s what he wanted for you. Don’t let him down, Gabriel.”
“I won’t,” Gabriel said.
“You told me the other night that your father had a partner — a white guy from Malibu. Did he come to the memorial today?”
“I think so. He was the white guy, right?”
“I don’t know, Gabriel. I’m asking you. Do you know his name?”
“No, I don’t remember it. I only saw him one time when he came to the shop.”
Bosch was waiting outside the door of the chapel. He nodded to Ballard, indicating that the rest of the family was still inside.
Ballard and Gabriel entered. Bosch followed but hung back by the door. Ballard reintroduced herself to the family and said she needed to ask some questions. She said Gabriel had volunteered to translate if necessary. The mother was named Josefina and she agreed to talk to Ballard. She looked as if the tears of the last days had left permanent lines on her brown face. She had the look that Ballard had seen a hundred times before on women whose men were taken by violence — the look that asks, How do I live? How do I take care of my family?
“First, I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to find out who did this to Javier,” Ballard began, speaking slowly. “We have some leads that we are following and hopefully they will bring us to an arrest. I can’t tell you everything we’re doing, so some of my questions might seem strange. I just ask you to be patient and to know the information you provide is important. Do you understand, or would you like Gabriel to translate?”
“I understand, yes,” Josefina said.
“Good. Thank you. Let me start with what we asked the other night at the hospital. Do you know of anyone who wanted to harm Javier?”
“No. Who would do this? Javier was good man.”
“Did he say anything recently about angry customers or employees?”
“No. Everybody happy. It was a happy place.”
“Did Javier have a will?”