“Hard to miss it. But I don’t know them. I’m small-time compared to that.”

“Yeah, well, you gotta start somewhere, get what’m saying? Maybe we can work out something here. What do you like?”

He gestured toward the six flatbed ATVs that all looked the same to Bosch. All of them were green, and the only differences he could perceive were whether they had roll bars or complete cages and how badly beaten-up and scratched the beds were. There was no fancy plastic stand with price tags.

“They only come in green, huh?” Bosch asked.

“Only green on our used line right now,” Banks replied. “This is John Deere. We’re proud to be green. But if you want to talk about something new, we can order you one in camo.”

Bosch nodded thoughtfully.

“I want a cage,” he said.

“All right, safety first,” Banks said. “Good choice there.”

“Yeah,” Bosch said. “Always safety first. Let’s go take a look at that one inside again.”

“No problem.”

An hour later Bosch returned to his car, seemingly having come close to buying the ATV in the showroom but ultimately backing away, saying he needed to think about it. Banks was left frustrated by coming so close to a sale, but he tried to salvage things for another day. He gave Bosch his card and encouraged him to call back. He said he’d go over the manager’s head and ask the big boss to discount the new ATV further than the rebates and coupons. He told Bosch that he and the big boss were tight and that the relationship went back twenty-five years.

There had been no purpose to the encounter other than for Bosch to get close to Banks and try to take his measure, maybe move him a little bit out of his comfort zone. The real move would come later, when part two of his plan began.

Bosch started the rental car and pulled away from the curb, just in case Banks was watching him go. He then drove two blocks up Crows Landing, made a U-turn, and came back down to the dealership. He parked half a block short of it and on the other side of the street this time, but still with a view of Banks at his desk.

Banks never got another live customer the rest of the day. He worked the phones and computer sporadically, but it didn’t look to Bosch as though he had much success. He fidgeted nervously in his seat, repeatedly drumming his fingers on the desk and getting up and down to refill his coffee cup from the back. Twice Bosch saw him sneak a pour out of a pint bottle taken from a desk drawer into his coffee.