Page 105 of Resurrection Walk

“Guy’s a loser,” Cisco said.

“Yeah,” I said. “But we need to play along or we may not get our evidence.”

Bosch returned with the file from the Lincoln. I quickly brought him up to date.

“So we wait until tomorrow?” he asked.

“Let’s see what’s in the file first,” I said.

I opened the file and flipped through the early motions of the case until I found Silver’s request for an independent analysis of evidence. The request was approved with an order from superior court judge Adam Castle to transfer one of the collected GSR pads to an independent lab called Applied Forensics in Van Nuys.

“We might have just gotten lucky,” I said. “One of the GSR pads was transferred to Applied Forensics. Silver got a court order for the transfer, so it’s likely that Applied Forensics would not have been allowed to destroy or transfer the evidence without a court order. And if such an order existed, it would be in this file. It means the evidence should still be there, even after five years.”

“Then how do we get it?” Cisco asked.

“We don’t,” I said. “I’ve never used Applied Forensics, but they’ve pitched me for my business. They have a full DNA lab. All we need to do is get Silver to tell them to test the evidence for touch DNA.”

“Not just that,” Arslanian said. “There will likely be touch DNA from whoever wiped the padsandwhoever was wiped. We need to get Lucinda’s DNA to the lab for a comparison.”

“Do we have her DNA?” Cisco asked.

“Not yet,” I said. “But I have a plan for getting it. The question is, can we get a comparison done by Monday, when we’re back in court?”

“If I stay on top of Applied Forensics we can,” Arslanian said. “I’ll camp out there and walk them through it.”

“No, Shami, you need to get back home,” I said.

“Please let me do this,” she said. “I need to.”

I nodded.

“Okay,” I said. “So you three go to Applied Forensics in the morning. Silver will likely go there too, so be there as soon as they’re open. I’ll go see the judge. I’ll wait to hear from you before I knock on her door.”

“How do we know Silver won’t try to run a game on us?” Bosch asked.

“I’ll call him in the morning,” I said. “If he becomes a problem, Cisco will make him see the light.”

Everyone looked at Cisco. He gave us a nod.

35

ON WEDNESDAY MORNINGat ten I was posted on the hallway bench outside Judge Coelho’s courtroom. I knew the courtroom would be dark now that the habeas hearing was continued. While I was checking my phone for messages, the courtroom door opened and out stepped one of the journalists who had attended the hearing Monday and Tuesday. She was young, dark-haired, and attractive and had a serious air about her. I had not recognized her among the other journalists I knew from previous trials and cases.

“Mr. Haller, I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. “I mean, with the case put over till Monday.”

“I need to see the clerk about something,” I said. “You’re a journalist, right? You were here both days of the hearing.”

“Yes, Britta Shoot,” she said as she held out her hand.

I shook it.

“Shoot?” I asked. “Really?”

“Yes,” she said. “I know, it’s a little coincidental since this case is about a shooting.”

“Who do you work for?”

“For myself mostly — I’m a freelancer. But I’ve had my stories published in theNew York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker,a lot of publications. I often write about technology and I’m working on a book about geofencing, how it’s increasingly being used by law enforcement — and some defense attorneys like yourself — and the Fourth Amendment privacy issues and all of that.”

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