The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #4; Harry Bosch Universe, #4)

by Michael Connelly

Bosch opened the refrigerator and retrieved a can of Coca-Cola, then stood in the doorway of the aging appliance letting its breath cool him while he studied its contents for something suitable for dinner. He knew exactly what was on the shelves and in the drawers but still he looked. It was as if he hoped for the surprise appearance of a forgotten steak or chicken breast. He followed this routine with the refrigerator often. It was the ritual of a man who was alone. He knew this also.

OUR DAY BEGINS WHEN YOUR DAY ENDS

The binder contained the case file on the October 28, 1961, homicide of Marjorie Phillips Lowe. His mother.

Of course, there had been incredible technological advances in the past thirty-five years but he believed there were some things that were always the same and always would remain the same. The legwork, the art of interviewing and listening, knowing when to trust an instinct or a hunch. Those were things that didn’t change, that couldn’t.

UM stood for unfit mother. The irony was not lost on him even after so many years. The boy had been taken from a presumably unfit mother and placed in an equally unfit system of child protection.

You see, the past is what you make of it. You can use it to hurt yourself or others or you can use it to make yourself strong.

“I’d like that. I’d like to stay in touch.” “I’d like that, too.” He headed toward the door knowing that they wouldn’t stay in touch. Time had eroded the bond between them. They were strangers who shared the same story. On the outside step he turned and looked back at her.

Loneliness had been the trash can fire he huddled around for most of his life.

We’ve even got a name for what’s going on here. The blue angst. And you have it, Harry.”

There is a basic rule of nature. No living thing sacrifices itself or hurts itself needlessly. It’s the will of survival

He began formulating a theory. For Bosch, this was one of the most important components of homicide investigation. Take the facts and shake them down into hypothesis. The key was not to become beholden to any one theory. Theories changed and you had to change with them.

“The civilized people in the world, the ones who hide behind culture and art and politics… and even the law, they’re the ones to watch out for. They’ve got that perfect disguise goin’ for them, you know? But they’re the most vicious. They’re the most dangerous people on earth.”

“I think, young man, that you only run into a person that is a perfect fit once in your life. When you find the one that you think fits, then grab on for dear life. And it’s no matter what she’s done in the past. None of that matters. Only the holding on matters.”

But it still amazes me how one’s life can change forever in a few moments of uncontrolled rage.

What is jealousy but a reflection of your own failures? I was jealous and angry and I struck at her.

“Stop beating yourself to death with it,” she said. “The past is like a club and you can only hit yourself in the head with it so many times before there is serious and permanent damage.