Based on the comment from Beau Bentley about being in a firefight only a week before, Bosch figured the story had been written and then held almost a week by the BT before publication. That meant Anneke Jespersen had probably been on board the ship sometime during the first week of March.

Bosch had initially not viewed the Saudi Princess story as significant. But now with the connection established between Jespersen and the members of 237th Company on the ship, things were different. He realized he was looking at the names of two potential witnesses. He pulled his phone and called Chu. The call went to message. Chu was off duty and had probably shut down for the night. Bosch left a message in a low voice so he wouldn’t disturb the other patrons in the restaurant.

“Dave, it’s me. I’m going to need you to take a stab at a couple names. I got them out of a nineteen ninety-one news story, but what the hell, give it a try. The first name is Beau Bentley and he is or was from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The second is Charlotte Jackson. She was listed as from Atlanta. Both were soldiers in Desert Storm. I don’t know what branch. The story didn’t say. Bentley was twenty-two then, so he’s forty-two or forty-three now. I’ve got no age on Jackson, but she could be anywhere from, I’d say, thirty-nine to maybe fifty years old. See what you can do and let me know. Thanks, partner.”

Bosch disconnected and looked toward the front door of the restaurant. Still no sign of Hannah Stone. He went back to his phone and shot a quick text to his daughter to ask if she had gotten something to eat, then went back to the file folder.

He leafed through the biographical material his partner had drawn up on the five men. Four of the reports contained a driver’s license photo at the top. Drummond’s DL was not included, because his law enforcement status kept him out of the DMV computer. Bosch stopped on the sheet for Christopher Henderson. Chu had handwritten DECEASED in large letters next to the photo.