The Black Echo

Bosch watches the vault and looks through the military file on Meadows that St. Louis mailed to him directly, noting things that are missing from the file Wish gave him. A 1973 letter from a congressman thanks Meadows for his hospitality in Saigon and mentions that Meadows was recommended by Lieutenant Rourke. Bosch is stunned to learn that Rourke was Meadows’s commanding officer in Saigon: “[T]here are no coincidences” (323).

Bosch calls Rourke and accuses him of knowing Meadows. He insinuates that Rourke has not put a SWAT team into the tunnels like he said he would. Rourke denies it, claiming he doesn’t remember Meadows from Vietnam. Bosch calls FBI dispatch to see if there really was SWAT surveillance. There is, so now Bosch suspects that the vault is either a decoy or a way to send Franklin and Delgado into a trap while Rourke steals the diamonds from Tran directly. Bosch shows the congressman’s letter to Wish, and they discuss whether Rourke is the inside man.

The vault alarm goes off. As agreed, Bosch tells the patrol to call the Beverly Hills police captain and treat it like it is a false alarm and instructs the vault manager to reset the alarm without opening the vault. Soon after, Lewis and Clarke intercept the vault manager at a diner. The manager tells them that there might be people in the vault but Bosch told him to wait. Lewis and Clarke suspect that Bosch is masterminding the burglary, so Lewis orders the vault manager to open the vault.

FBI agents watching the vault building radio Bosch and Wish and tell them that the vault manager is returning with two police officers and is opening the vault. Bosch and Wish sprint to the vault, yelling for the manager to stop, but the glass is soundproof and they are too late. They watch in horror as Lewis, Clarke, and the manager are shot with automatic rifles by Franklin and Delgado from inside the vault. Franklin and Delgado then jump into the tunnels, but Bosch manages to shoot Franklin. Lewis is dead, Clarke is dying, and the vault manager is scared but not hit.

Despite Wish’s protestations, Bosch jumps into the tunnels to pursue Franklin and Delgado. Wish warns him that “there may be more than two” (340). In the darkness of the tunnel, Bosch uses old army tactics to protect himself. He quickly realizes that Rourke mispositioned the tunnel SWAT team, so Bosch is on his own. As he crawls, he looks for trip wires and sees Franklin’s trail of blood. He finds a small room that Franklin and Delgado lived in while digging, noting that there are only supplies for two. Further down, Bosch finds Franklin, dead from the gunshot. Bosch takes Franklin’s night vision goggles and M-16 rifle and continues down the tunnels.

Bosch catches up with Delgado, who shoots him in the shoulder. Bosch loses the goggles, flashlight, and rifle and his own gun. Delgado flees, but Bosch can hear him run into someone else. Two men talk; then there is a single shot. Whoever survived the confrontation walks toward Bosch. It is Rourke. He points a gun at Bosch and laments that his plan was perfect if not for the “coincidence” that Bosch was called in on the Meadows case (351). Anyone else would have written off Meadows as an overdose, and nobody would’ve known about the diamonds.

To keep him talking, Bosch keeps asking Rourke questions, confirming suspicions that he already had about the case. Rourke gloats that his share of the diamonds has increased since Franklin and Delgado are dead. Rourke is about to kill Bosch, but, at the last possible moment, Wish shoots Rourke from behind. Bosch passes out.