“What does it mean?”

He turned to her.

“That if Elias was on to something and got close to identifying the killer — the real killer — then it wasn’t a cop who put him down.”

She thought a moment and said, “You’re only looking at it from one side.”

“What’s the other?”

“Say he was about to go to trial and pull the real killer out of his hat. Conclusively. That would put the lie to the police evidence, wouldn’t it? So proving Harris innocent would at the same time prove the cops framed him. If the real killer knew Howard was on to him, yes he could have come after him. But say a cop knew that Howard was going to prove that that cop framed Harris, he could have come at him, too.”

Bosch shook his head.

“It’s always the cops with you. Maybe the frame was in place before the cops even showed up.”

He shook his head again, more emphatically, as if warding off a thought.

“I don’t know what I’m saying. There was no frame. It’s too farfetched.”

Entrenkin watched him for a long moment.

“Whatever you say, Detective. Just never say I didn’t warn you.”

Bosch ignored her statement. He looked at the boxes on the floor. For the first time he noticed a two-wheeled trolley leaning against the wall near the door. Entrenkin followed his eyes to it.

“I called the security guy and told him we needed to move some boxes. He brought it up.”

Bosch nodded.

“I guess I better get this stuff to my car. Do you still have the search warrant or did Miss Langwiser take it? I need to fill out the receipt.”

“I have it and I’ve already catalogued the files. You just need to sign it.”

Bosch nodded and walked over to the trolley. He remembered something and turned back to her.

“What about the file we were looking at when you came in this morning? With the photo in it.”

“What about it? It’s in the box there.”

“Well, I mean . . . uh . . . what do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think about it. If you’re asking me if I believed Howard Elias was involved with that woman I would say no.”

“We asked his wife today if it was possible he was having an affair and she said no, it was not possible.”

“I get your point. But I still think it’s impossible. Howard was a well-known man in this city. First of all, he would hardly have to pay for sex. And secondly, he was smart enough to know that he would be vulnerable to extortion from these people if they recognized him.”

“Then what was the file doing in his desk?”