Behind the counter were shelves where high-end liquors were stored, which had to be asked for by customers. Bosch saw six rows of Hennessy. He knew the expensive cognac was favored by high-rolling gang members. He was pretty sure the location of Fortune Liquors would put it in the territory of the Hoover Street Crips.
Bosch noticed two things and stepped closer to the counter.
The cash register had been turned askew on the counter, revealing a square of grit and dust on the Formica where it had been located. Bosch reasoned that the killer had pulled it toward him while he took the money from the drawer. This was a significant assumption because it meant that Mr. Li had not opened the drawer and given the robber the money. This likely meant he had already been shot. This could be significant in an eventual prosecution in proving intent to kill. More important, it gave Bosch a better idea of what had happened in the store.
Bosch reached into his pocket and pulled out the glasses he wore for close work. He put them on and without touching anything leaned over the counter to study the cash register’s keyboard. He saw no button that said open or any other obvious indication of how to open the cash drawer. Bosch was unsure how to open the register. Then how did the killer know?
He straightened up and looked at the shelves of bottles on the wall behind the counter. The Hennessy was front and center, with easy access for Mr. Li when Hoover boys came in. But the rows were flush. No bottle was missing.
Again Bosch leaned forward across the counter. This time he tried to reach across to one of the bottles of Hennessy. He realized that if he put his hand down on the counter for balance he would be able to reach the row and take one of the bottles easily.
“Harry?”
Bosch straightened back up and turned to his partner.
“The sergeant was right,” Ferras said. “The camera system records to disc. There’s no disc in the machine. It was either pulled or he wasn’t recording to disc and the camera was just for show.”
“Probably not likely. Are there any backup discs?”
“There’s a couple back there on the counter but it’s a one-disc system. It just records over and over on the same disc. I worked robbery way back when and we saw a lot of these. They last about a day and then it records over it. You pull the disc if you want to check something but you have to do it in the same day.”
“Okay, make sure we get those extra discs.”
Lucas came back in through the front door.
“ACU is here,” he said. “Should I send him in?”
Bosch looked at Lucas for a long moment before answering.
“No,” he finally said. “I’ll be right out.”