Read 9 Dragons for Free Online

gets back more than he gives.”
    On the screen Li was taking bills out of the cash register.
    “Look, he puts the guy’s money in the drawer and then he starts giving him money back, including what the guy gave him in the first place. So he gets the beer and smokes for free and then all the money.”
    Bosch nodded. Ferras was good.
    “How much does he get?” Gandle asked.
    It was a good question because the video image was too grainy to make out the denominations on the currency being exchanged.
    “There are four slots in the drawer,” Bosch said. “So you’ve got ones, fives, tens and twenties. I slowed this down last night. He puts the customer’s bill in the fourth slot. A carton of smokes and a beer, we assume that is the slot for twenties. If that is the case, he gives him a one, a five, a ten and then eleven twenties. Ten twenties if you don’t count the one the customer put in first.”
    “It’s a payoff,” Ferras said.
    “Two hundred thirty-six dollars?” Gandle asked. “Seems like an odd payoff and you can see there’s still money in the drawer. So it was like a set amount.”
    “Actually,” Ferras said, “two
sixteen
if you subtract the twenty the customer gives in the first place.”
    “Right,” Bosch said.
    The three of them stared at the frozen screen for a few moments without speaking.
    “So, Harry,” Gandle finally said. “You got to sleep on this for a couple hours. What’s it mean?”
    Bosch pointed to the time stamp on the top of the screen.
    “This payoff was made exactly one week before the murder. Three o’clock on Tuesday a week ago. This Tuesday at about three Mr. Li gets shot. Maybe this week he decided not to pay.”
    “Or he didn’t have the money to pay,” Ferras offered. “The son told us yesterday that business has been way down and opening the store in the Valley has nearly bankrupted them.”
    “So the old man says no and gets popped,” Gandle said. “Isn’t that a bit extreme? You kill the guy and as they say in high finance, you’ve lost your funding stream.”
    Ferras shrugged.
    “There’s always the wife and the son,” he said. “They’d get the message.”
    “They’re coming in at ten to sign statements,” Bosch added.
    Gandle nodded.
    “So how are you going to handle this?” he asked.
    “We’ll put Mrs. Li with Chu, the guy from AGU, and Ignacio and I will talk to the son. We find out what it’s about.”
    Gandle’s usually dour expression brightened. He was pleased with the progress of the case and the lead that had surfaced.
    “Okay, gentlemen, I want to know,” he said.
    “When we know,” Bosch said.
    Gandle left the meeting room, and Bosch and Ferras were left standing in front of the screen.
    “Nice going, Harry. You made him happy.”
    “He’ll be happier if we clear this thing.”
    “What do you think?”
    “I think we have some work to do before the Li family gets here. You check with the lab and see what they’ve got done. See if they’re finished with the cash register. Bring it over here if you can.”
    “What about you?”
    Bosch turned the screen off and ejected the disc.
    “I’m going to go have a talk with Detective Chu.”
    “You think he held something back on us?”
    “That’s what I’m going to find out.”

6
    T he AGU was part of the Gang and Operations Support Division, from which many undercover investigations and officers were directed. As such the GOSD was located in an unmarked building several blocks away from the PAB. Bosch decided to walk because he knew it would take longer to get his car out of the garage, fight the traffic and then have to find another place to park. He got to the front door of the AGU office at eight-thirty, pressed the buzzer but nobody answered. He pulled his phone, ready to try to call Detective Chu, when a familiar voice came from behind him.
    “Good morning, Detective Bosch. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
    Bosch turned. It was Chu, arriving with his