The Burning Room (2014), a Novel by Michael Connelly

Detective Harry Bosch and his new partner, Detective Lucia Soto, work on a cold case, the ten years old shooting. Lucy herself is a survivor of a basement fire back to 23 years ago, the fire has killed her childhood friends. The unsolved story has motivated her to become a police officer.  The antagonist of the two cold cases are unpredictable.

This Detective Bosch series book contains 442 pages and published by Grand Central Publishing in 2014. It’s the first time for me to enjoy Mr. Connelly’s book, this crime novel really entertains. Instead of the detail, smart, and slow narration, the plot is rich of conspiracy.

The Burning Room (2014), a Novel by Michael Connelly

Lucia Soto was short, well-proportioned, and 110 pounds the most. She wore the kind of stylish suit that was in vogue with female detectives. She was only twenty-eight years old and had been on the force fewer than five years. She was Mexican-American and spoke both English and Spanish fluently. She also punched a more traditional ticket to the detective ranks when she became an overnight media sensation after a deadly shoot-out with armed robbers at a liquor store.

Captain George Crowder, the new commander of the Open-Unsolved Unit, decided the best way to handle the influx of new blood into the unit was to split up all existing partnerships and pair every detective who had experience with a new detective who had none. Harry Bosch was the oldest man in the unit and had the most years on the job. Harry the old pro was paired with the youngest Soto. When Crowder told him his new partner would be Lucia Soto, Bosh was pleased.

There was also a nice bonus for Bosch in being teamed with Soto. Because she was female, he would not have to share a hotel room when on the road on a case. They would get their own rooms. The travel component to a job on the cold case squad was high. The captain asked him to read the paper that morning. The newspaper was reporting that Orlando Merced had died. Ten years earlier, Merced became famous in Los Angeles as a victim—the unintended target of a shooting at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. Merced was thirty-one years old at the time and a member of a mariachi band for which he played the vihuela, the five string guitarlike instrument that is the mainstay of the traditional Mexican folk sound. He and his three bandmates were among the several mariachi waiting in plaza for jobs. 

Merced would have become just another victim in a city where the media hits and runs. But a simple twist of fate changed that. Merced and his band, Los Reyes Jalisco, had performed three months earlier at the wedding of city councilman Armando Zeyas. Zeyas was now ramping up a campaign for the mayor’s office.

Merced lived. The bullet damaged his spine and rendered him both a paraplegic and a cause. As the mayoral campaign took shape, Zeyas rolled him out in his wheel chair at all of his political rally and speeches. Then Zeyas served two terms. Crime went down as his promise. But the person who shot Orlando Merced never caught, and overtime the bullet took a steady toll on his body. Crowder had stated it was a homicide. He was giving the Merced investigation to Bosch and Soto. Crowder knew from the start that it was suspected the bullet that had struck Merced had come from a gang gun.

It was essentially going to be a Spanish-language case, and while Soto was obviously fluent, Bosch had limited skills in the language. They took the old case from Oscar Rodrigues and Benito Rojas. The investigation conducted by Rodrigues and Rojas may have been through ten years before but they never found a bullet shell from the shooting and the slug had remained inside Merced’s body now. The ten years old case. The coroner just took out the bullet out of the victim’s spine.   

The normal protocol at the lab was to submit a bullet or shell casing analysis and wait in the backlog sometimes for weeks, before getting an answer and a report. But this time bullet cases could be handled on a first-come first-served basis. Bosch checked in with the bullet lab supervisor and was assigned to a technician appropriately named Gun Chung. It was a Remington .308, a hunting rifle.

The unofficial cause of death is blood poisoning, which is directly links to the wounds. Merced suffered in the shooting, the police was therefore handling the investigation as a homicide. Bosch did not know what to do. He had no idea why, but Lucia was obviously copying the records of a murder that was not assigned to them. She was just randomly pulling and looking at cases. It was the 1993 Bonnie Brae Apartment fire case. Nine people-most of them children-perished in an unlicensed day-care center in the low-income complex’s basement and become trapped by flames and smoke. The children were her friend, she was trying to solve it. 

The video-and-data-imagery unit was on the third floor of the regional lab. Copeland was waiting for them in a video booth where there was a sound-and video board set up on a lab table in front of a multiscreen wall display. Copeland pointed at the center screen, which showed the music store. The three screens were right next to each other and so it was not difficult for Bosch to watch all three at once. Bosch’ eyes were primarily drawn to the center image, which showed Merced sitting on the table. He tried to pull his vision back to all three screens at the moment Merced was shot. The shot had come from a window- the second-floor in the Mariachi Hotel. They studied the trumpet player’s reaction. He showed no confusion. It was like he knew right away that Merced was shot, and the other guys tumbled to it late.

He was Angel Ojeda. Copeland ran the simulation, and the bullet again streaked into the picture as a red line hitting Merced. At the moment of impact the figure was Ojeda, the trumpeter, was in motion behind the table. It was clear that if the bullet had not hit Merced, it was on course to strike Ojeda. The animation Bailey Copeland had made that indicated the bullet that hit Merced might have been meant for Angel Ojeda.

Soto reported that she had already tracked two members of the mariachi band and they were both local, but Angel Ojeda - the one they most wanted to talk to – was proving difficult to find.  He had split from the band and apparently left Los Angeles very soon after the shooting. Hernandez, one of the band members was not helpful. He only said Ojeda was very handsome and that was also a consideration in adding him to the band.

Soto was seven when the smoke coming under the door. They tried to leave but they had to go back because the fire was in the stairwell and the stairs at the other end of the hallway were blocked. A fireman saved them. They did not read the reports. Soto was interviewed back then.

Alberto Cabral knew about Ojeda, he was the one who hire the young man. Ojeda went to Tulsa. When he quit the band he said he was going to Oklahoma to run his uncle’s bar. He knew his address because Cabral had sent him a money order with the last money he made with the band. El Chihuahua bar in Oklahoma.

Bosch’s daughter had a rare night at home. With Explorer meetings and activities and even a part-time volunteer job delivering diners to shut-ins, she seemed to use the house only for sleeping these days. And all the activities counted as a public service at her school would help round out her application package for college. She had her eye on Cal State, Los Angeles, where there were top criminal justice and forensics programs. Bosch was pleased with her choice because it was still in the city.

Trip to Tulsa

They got lucky on the first flight. The murder book s from both The Merced and Bonnie Brae cases were with them. Bosch was determined to use any downtime during the trip to review the Bonnie Brae case for Soto and continue to read and reread the reports on the original Merced investigation. 

The mandate of the Open-Unsolved Unit was to search old cases for new attack angels – those most often being areas where new forensic sciences could be applied. DNA and fingerprint technologies were the mainstays of this effort. And there was no such evidence in the Bonnie Brae case.

The Bonnie Brae fire did most of its damage with smoke. The fire gutted the trash room and spread only into the basement hallway. The fire and the attendant smoke cut off the escape route of the children and teachers in the makeshift and unlicensed day-care facility in one of the basement rooms.

A key reason the case had gone unsolved for so long was that a precious two weeks went by before the fire was determined to be arson. The kind of delay in a homicide investigation was usually too hard to overcome. Most cases not solved in forty-eight hours were never solved. A two-week delay in an investigation made the odds of success even longer.

Despite the fire department’s declaration that the fire was accidental, patrol officer out of Rampart Division started picking up street talk from snitched that cause was intentional. The story repeated by many in the snitch world was that the Pico-Union La Raza gang had been having issues with the manager at Bonnie Brae over his refusal to let the gang openly sell drugs in the complex. The word was that the fire had been meant as a warning to the manager that there would be consequences if he continued to thwart the gang’s drug enterprises. The deaths that resulted were unintentional.

It was nothing more than street talk until lab analysis of samples of the charred rubble from the burned-out trash bin came back from the state fire lab. Gas chromatography testing found at least two IRLs- ignitable liquid residues—in all batches of samples collected from the trash bin at the fire scene. The accelerants were listed in the report as petroleum and something called Varsol. The report concluded that there was no reasonable explanation for the presence of those chemicals in large quantities in the trash bin, and the case became an arson investigation. Varsol was expensive.

The only thing that came close was a gallon container of Varsol from an auto-repair shop where one of the gang members, an apprentice mechanic name Victor Chapa was employed. Though the manager of the Bonnie Brae complex could not identify him as one of the gang members who threatened him, and Chapa provided and airtight alibi, he was still seen as the man who most likely obtained the fuel and probably built the firebomb.

It was part of the Open-Unsolved Unit’s travel protocol for detectives to check in with the locals and explain what they were in town for and where they planned to go. Detective Ricky Childers led them to the bar in Little Mexico. The place was a twenty-minute drive east from downtown. Bosch swiveled his focus and took in the faces, looking for one that approximated the ten year-old photo of Angel Ojeda’s driver’s license from California.

Bosch was sure it was him, but the man stayed behind the bar insisted he was Francisco Bernal. He handed a photocopy of a Permanent Resident Card identifying the man as Francisco Bernal. They had let Ojeda cook for close to an hour before Bosch entered the room. They had removed the handcuffs. Bosch had checked with immigration and the printout there was fake.

Ojeda got the wrong woman. She was married to the man who had the house. He was very rich and very powerful man. He had made her a prenup. Ojeda loved her, the rich man found his wife’s game. He had threatened Ojeda to leave Maria, but he did not stop. His band had played at his wedding. Bruce Broussard wanted to be mayor, one of Zeyas’s opponents.

Soto browsed Broussard. The profile of Broussard described him as a local businessman who had been an important fund-riser for local politician for many years. The accompanying photo was a shot taken on the night of the mayor’s election and it showed Zeyas with his arm around Broussard’s shoulders. A smiling woman standing nearby was identified as Maria Broussard. She was much younger than her husband. But Ojeda said the fund-riser where he met Maria was not for Zeyas. Soto had identified their next investigative target, Charles Broussard.

As he landed, he called for Virginia Skinner. She was one of few veteran reporters had left in its downtown newsroom. She was covering local and state politics and government was what she wanted all along and where she had stayed to this day. In the same year Charles Broussard went from being for Robert Inglin in January to being all in for Zeyas in May, only a month after Orlando Merced was shot.

Back to the article news about Bonnie Brae fire, Bosch found an armed robbers hit mid-city check casher at the same page. A bank robbery. The robbery suspects were white and they did not see the connection to a Pico-Union firetrap where only Hispanic lived. The robbery took place fifteen minutes after the fire was reported.

It was a line he borrowed from his daughter, Madeline. And it was his friend Bennett with call-back when his cell buzzed. A real tragedy had happened. A guy had killed his best friend when he mistook him for a deer o something in the brush. The shooter was Charles Andrew Broussard, the victim was David Willman. He was the manager of the ranch and Broussard was the owner. 

Charles had Willman shoot Merced, then he killed Willman. Charles’s maid was I the house and overheard Borussard and his friend Willman talking about the shooting at Mariachi Plaza. When Zeyas put up the reward, and she tried to call instead of the police. The call wet to Spivak. She never got the reward, but was threatened by Spivak. Charles was trying to kill his maid when Bosch and Soto arrived. Suddenly two shots echoed loudly off the concrete walls and in all directions. The bullets hit Broussard. Bosch knew his spine had been shattered, all the body’s infrastructure crashing in an instant. Maria Broussard tried to get to the stairs, but Bosch whispered into her ear that her husband was dead.

The Zeyas for Governor exploratory committee was in the process of opening new offices. Connor Spivak welcomed him, the detectives introduced Detective Rodrigues and Rojas, the original investigators o Merced case. He helped facilitate the murder for hire. Spivak was under arrest for accessory to murder, he had the information that could led to the arrest of Broussard and Willman. 

Bosch had investigated Burrows, the security, and Maxim Boiko, the manager of the bank. Both of them were linked to Ana Acevedo, the woman who opened the door for the robbers. The two men have visited Ana’s apartment at Bonnie Brae frequently. Anna also had admitted that they were her boyfriends in the original investigation twenty three years ago. In fact, the fire was set at the same day when the bank robbery happened.  Anna had quit, and disappeared

Boiko had her address, it was a photo copy of an Internal Revenue Service W-2 form for 1993 earnings and deductions. It was made out the name of Ana Maria Acevedo and carried an address in Calexico, California, on it.  They checked on the tablet and the Google Street View pointed a large building of Spanish mission that looked like a school, the Sister of the Sacred Promised Covenant. 

Ana Acevedo aka Sister Esther Gonzales killed by the narcos. They came into the village where she was dragged her out. It was said she was an informant for Judicial Policia. Her body was found on the side of a road. The body was supposedly coming across the border the day for burial in cemetery behind the convent. They got to the Sister of Sacred Promised Covenant. Ana wrote a note for her funeral instructions. She found the written letter on the stone Redemption for the Children.

Bosch dug further into the old box that owned by Ana. A folded document that was revealed to be birth certificate for Esther Maria Gonzalez. It was printed on heavy-stock paper and appeared legitimate, but Bosch had no doubt that it was phony. Instead, he found a faded newsprint depicting side-by-side photos of two men. He had no trouble recognizing the two bank robbers. Bosch remembered that day of the shoot-out. He was there and was put on the evidence team. There was the army blanket in the backseat covering up a few more guns and there was a Molotov cocktail held under the seatbelt. Ana was the player. She played Burrows (the security guard) and Boiko (the bank manager) like a pro. 

Bosch arrived in the squad room to find Soto already in place at her desk. She had come in to write the Bonnie Brae investigative summary that would be submitted to Captain Crowder for approval. It was her story and it was time to tell it. It would, however reveal that when she had applied to the Department, she had left out any mention of the Bonnie Brae fire as a motivating factor in her decision to become a police officer.

The Merced shooting case was closed, though Zeyas was free. There was no independent corroborating evidence. The case closed. Unpredictable, Captain Crowder asked him to put his weapon and badge. The TV monitor showed Bosch entered the room. He tossed something into the trash can and proceeded to the shelves holding the robbery journals. Harry Bosch broke into a captain’s room, he was suspended pending further investigation. Bosch gathered up a few belongings, he had no idea if he would ever got back to his desk again. Before he got exit door, he heard clapping behind him.   

*****

February 28, 2018

Sekapur Sirih

Novel kriminal berseri Detektif Bosch ini sangat mudah diikuti dan dihantarkan dengan bahasa yang cerdas dan narasi perlahan dan detail. Karya ini menggambarkan penulis Connelly benar-benar seorang yang teliti dan sabar. Detektif Bosch yang sudah tua, hampir memasuki masa pensiun diberi tugas di unitnya yakni Unit Kasus Tak Terpecahkan. Bagian yang menangani kasus yang tidak terpecahkan. Pemberitaan heboh kembali dengan kematian korban penembakan sepuluh tahun lalu, yang paling miris peluru itu telah bersarang sepuluh tahun pada tubuh pria itu, seusia dengan kasusnya. Si penembak tidak pernah tertangkap. Dengan tekun dibantu oleh rekan barunya Lucia Soto, seorang detektif muda, namun telah memiliki reputasi bagus, memecahkan kasus peti es tersebut.

Bagi Anda pengemar novel detektif, novel ini sangat tepat dimiliki. Di samping disampaikan dengan narasi dan percakapan mudah dimengerti, setiap bagian di dibanjiri intrik dan kejutan di luar dugaan menarik perhatian membawa rasa penasaran mengetahui siapakah pelaku. Fiksi ini memuat 442 halaman yang diterbitkan oleh Grand Central Publishing tahun 2014.

Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia, the Burning Room (2014), novel karya Michael Connely; ringkasan

Detektif Bosch tidak menolak saat dipasangkan dengan Lucia Soto, detektif muda berusia dua puluh delapan tahun. Bosch sendiri akan menghadapai masa pensiun, di masa akhir karirnya ia bertugas pada Unit Kasus Tidak Terpecahkan, bagian menangani kasus-kasus yang tidak terpecahkan.

Pemberitaan surat kabar akan kematian Merced, seorang korban penembakan sepuluh tahun silam. Peluru telah bersarang selama sepuluh tahun di tubuh lelaki Meksiko itu, seiring dengan usia kejadian penembakan di Hotel Mariachi, kembali ke sepuluh tahun sebelumnya.

Kapten Crowder menugaskan Bosch dan Lucia menangani kasus penembakan tersebut. Betapa mencengangkan, ketika didapati bahwa peluru tersebut adalah peluru berburu. Bosch meminta semua berkas dan mempelajarinya termasuk rekaman kamera pemantau dari pihak hotel. Setelah mendapat ijin dan mewawancarai dua detektif yang menangani kasus itu, Bosch sangat terbantu dengan hasil wawancara dengan para saksi dan bukti-bukti berkas dan hasil rekaman CCTV.

Petugas forensik, Gun Chung mendapati jikalau peluru itu ditembkkan dari senapan berburu. Bosch dan Lucia dengan mendapat surat persetujuan dari hakim menyelidiki tempat kejadian, baik hotel dan gedung di sekitar kejadian. Sepuluh tahun tidak banyak yang berubah, hotel masih berdiri teguh, begitu juga sekitarnya. Bosch mempelajari trajektori peluru setelah memutar rekaman video dari kamera pemantau penembakan berkali-kali. Tembakan berasal dari jendela kamar, lantai dua Hotel Mariachi.

Suasana tenang berubah seketika menjadi kacau, lima anggota bang Mariachi (musik khas Meksiko) berpencar. Kerumunan yang tengah merayakan ulang tahun anggota keluarga orang ternama, pengusaha Zeyas, di tempat itu. Anggota band Orlando Merced, terjatuh kena peluru. Empat teman lainnya panik, Bosch mendapati hal ganjil. mempelajari reaksi seorang anggota band. Pemuda itu sepertinya kaget, melihat dan seolah mencari tahu arah penembak. Kalau saja tembakan itu meleset, maka dia yang akan menjadi korban. Pengalaman Bosch di lapangan sangat beralasan untuk mencurigai gelagat pemuda itu. Reaksi seolah mengetahui tembakan itu.

Sebagian berspekulasi tembakan itu hanyalah tembakan acak dari kelompok gang narkoba di sekitar yang ingin memberi pelajaran pada publik, Merced hanyalah korban penembakan tidak disengaja, mengingat Merced hanyalah anggota pemusik band, bukan siapa-siapa. Media sempat pula, menaruh curiga Merced hanyalah dijadikan alat politik oleh Zeyas. Politisi Zeyas memanfaatkan kepincangan Merced selama dalam masa kampanyenya. Akhirnya ia pun terpilih menjadi walikota dua periode. Janji kampanyenya untuk menertibkan geng narkoba dan kartel benar terbukti, kotanya aman semenjak ia duduk di kursi walikota. Tapi penembak Merced tidak pernah terungkap.

Belakangan Merced meninggal akibat infeksi peluru yng bersarang selam sepuluh tahun dalam tubuhnya. Kapten Crowder dan Bosch pun sepakat ini jelas pembunuhan. Merced tewas karena infeksi peluru, penembaknya sendiri tidak  pernah tertangkap. Bosch pun tidak percaya itu sebuah kecelakan peluru menyasar atau penembakan tidak sengaja. Setelah menginvestigasi dan mewawancari sejumlah saksi dan empat anggota band musik, kecurigaan bertumpu pada satu anggota band yang meninggalkan kota itu beberapa saat setelah kejadian. 

Angel Ojeda, personel band yang paling muda dan rupawan, dari keterangan teman bandnya, ia merantau ke Tulsa bekerja pada bar pamannya di Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dengan tidak mudah, hanya berbekal nama sebuah bar tanpa alamat dan foto diri dari SIM, Bosch dan Soto tidak menyerah dan terbang ke Tulsa. Tiba dengan pesawat pertama, mereka terlebih dahulu menghubungi kantor polisi terdekat dan mencari tahu Ojeda dan bar yang dimaksud. Tidak terlalu sulit menemukan bar itu, memang komunitas warga Meksiko.

Lelaki berada di belakang bar itu dikenal pelanggannya dengan nama Fransisco Bernal, tapi bagi Bosch ia adalah Angel Ojeda. Awalnya pria itu mengaku bahwa dia tidak bermaksud memalsukan identitas, hanya menyeragamkan namanya dengan nama belakang pamannya. Sisa ketampanannya masih tersirat di wajahnya, Bosch dan Lucy pun mengakuinya. Mulanya, ia enggan bekerja sama dengan Bosch, tapi sang detektif mengancam akan mendeportasi dirinya jika tidak kerjasama. Pemalsuan identitas adalah masalah serius, apalagi dilakukan seorang Meksiko.  Akhirnya Angel Ojeda pun menuturkan versinya.

Seorang kaya dan terpandang mengadakan pesta pernikahan, Ojeda dan kelompok musiknya diundang untuk memberikan hiburan. Semenjak itu, Maria Broussard, istri pemilik pesta, telah jatuh cinta padanya, Ojeda pun merasakan gelora cinta yang sama. Keduanya kerap bertemu di sebuah hotel, hingga suatu ketika Charles Broussard mendapati keduanya. Pengusaha itu telah memperingatkan untuk tidak menemui istri cantiknya lagi, namun Ojeda bersikeras.

Maria jauh lebih muda dari suaminya, wanita cantik itu telah menandatangani perjanjian pranikah, ia sulit meninggalkan Charles, namun hatinya lebih nyaman dengan Ojeda muda. Ia tahu tembakan itu untuk dirinya, dan ia tidak yakin penembakan itu ada hubungannya dengan calon walikota Zeyas, karena saat itu Broussard sendiri mendukung lawan politik Zeyas.

Di sela-sela waktu luangnya, Soto membaca ulang berkas terbakarnya sebuah gedung yang menewaskan sejumlah anak-anak dan pengasuhnya. Korban anak-anak yang menjadi temannya juga, sebuah tempat penitipan anak terletak di lantai dasar sebuah apartemen. Penitipan anak ilegal untuk anak-anak Meksiko, Lucy masih mengingat jelas teriakan temannya yang terbakar, ia beruntung petugas pemadam kebakaran menolongnya. Ia juga heran kenapa teman lainnya tidak diselamatkan.

Bosch sendiri kaget mengetahui bahwa Lucy adalah korban selamat dari peristiwa kebakaran Apartemen Bonnie Brae 1993. Detektif tua itu dapat memaklumi perasaan kehilangan dalam diri Lucy. Kasus kebakaran itu tidak pernah terselesaikan, tidak ada pelaku yang ditangkap. Bosch sendiri memiliki putri semata wayang, sebentar lagi memasuki dunia kampus. Madeline super sibuk dengan ambisinya masuk ke universitas negeri di Los Angeles. Kasus ini murni keinginan Lucy, di luar tugas utama mereka mengusut penembakan Merced. Rupanya Bosch juga berminat membantu Lucy memecahkan kasus itu.

Pengakuan dari Ojeda telah mengerucutkan ke arah pelaku penembakan. Nama Braussard memiliki catatan. Teman dekatnya, teman sejak sekolah Willman terbunuh tidak sengaja oleh peluru berburu. Ia menyangka seekor rusa, dengan cekatan tangannya membidik temannya sendiri. Willman juga menjadi manajer peternakan yang dimiliki oleh Charles. Ia tewas seketika, dan Charles tidak pernah menjadi tersangka, kejadian itu hanyalah kecelakaan.

Bosch dan Lucy mendatangi janda Willman, Bosch mendapati temuan baru. Senjata berburu yang dipakai Willman sama dengan senjata diduga digunakan penembak Merced. Karena kasus ini sedang heboh di media, Zeyas sendiri mengadakan sayembara siapa penembak Merced membuat banyaknya telepon yang masuk dan mengaku si A sampai Z pelakunya, adapula yang mengaku bahwa ia tahu pelakunya adalah Charles Broussard. Bosch menyelidiki sebuah nomor telepon dan didapati dari rumah Charles, telepon dari seorang wanita. Bosch dan Lucy mengikuti gerak-gerik Maria Broussard. Dan mereka menduga yang menelepon adalah Maria.

Bosch sempat menghampiri Maria di tempat perbelanjaan, wanita itu menolak bicara dengannya. Dengan membawa surat ijin, Bosch dan Lucy memasuki kediaman Charles. Dari lantai dua, mereka mendengar tangisan dan teriakan wanita, ringisan orang yang sedang dianiaya. Chales membelasah dan memegang pistol ke arah pembantunya. Maria telah menelepon suaminya dan memberitahu bahwa seseorang di dalam rumahnya telah berkhianat melapor ke polisi. Beruntung Bosch tiba di saat tepat, dua kali tembakan melumpuhkan Charles.

Bosch tidak mengelak ketika Bosch mengungkap kejahatannya. Kecemburuan memicunya hendak menghabisi nyawa selingkuhan istrinya, Ojeda. Peluru itu salah sasar, Willam sahabat sekaligus karyawannya disuruh menembak Ojeda. Charles pun merekayasa kematian sahabatnya itu pada saat berburu. Pembantunya tidak sengaja mendengar percakapan penembakan Merced, wanita itu tergiur hadiah sayembara Zeyas. Namun yang mengangkat telepon kala itu adalah Spivak anak buah Zeyas. Semenjak itu pula Charles diperas oleh Spivak dan Zeyas. Walikota duduk hingga dua kali periode, berbekal uang perasan dari Charles.  

Maria berteriak mendapati suaminya tewas tergeletak di lantai. Zeyas menerima hukuman, tapi Zeyas terbebas dengan alasan tidak ada bukti langsung menahannya. Kasus ditutup. Bosch dan Lucy kembali ke kasus terbakarnya apartemen, mereka mendapati pada saat yang bersamaan ada perampokan bank. Pelaku tidak pernah didapat, menggali kembali perampokan kedua detektif berhasil mendatangi mantan satpam bank dan menejer bank kala itu. Ana Acevedo pegawai bank yang membukakn pintu pada kawanan perampok tiba-tiba keluar dari bank. Semenjak itu tidak ada kabar darinya. Catatan hasil wawancara 23 tahun sebelumnya, ia mengaku menjalin asmara dengan Satpam Burrows dan Menejer Maxim Boiko.  Saksi di apartemen juga mengatakan satpam dan manajer Boiko kerap berkunjung ke apartemen Ana.  

Keduanya mengaku tidak terlibat dengan perampokan itu, apalagi dengan pembakaran. Rumor beredar pembakaran dilakukan oleh geng narkoba yang berselisih dengan pengelola apartemen. Pengelola apartemen resah dengan peredaran narkoba di lingkungannya. Diduga geng mengamuk dan ingin memberi pelajaran dengan menaruh zat varsol di dalam tempat sampah. Mereka tidak sengaja membakar anak-anak itu.

Ana Acevedo sulit dicari, keterangan dari Boiko dengan memberi nomor IRS, nomor itu memberi petunjuk sebuah alamat. Sebuah gedung biara atau semacam sekolah. Bosch dan Lucy berkendara selama dua jam mendatangi biara dan tidak ada orang bernama Ana di sana. Tapi kepala biara mengenal wajah dari SIM itu adalah Suster Esther Maria Gonzalez, sebuatan akrab Suster Esi.

Suster itu sekarang sedang bertugas mengajar anak-anak terlantar di Meksiko, dua minggu lagi dijadwalkan akan pulang ke Amerika. Bosch mengungkapkan temuannya ini pada bosnya Kapten Crowder, niat Bosch menyusul Suster Esi pun diurungkan oleh Crowder, mereka diminta menunggu kepulangan suster itu.  

Bosch terhentak mendapat telepon dari kepala suster. Tubuh Ana aka Suster Esi ditemukan tewas di pinggir jalan. Setelah dianiaya anggota kartel, ia dibunuh. Ana dituduh menjadi mata-mata kepolisian. Bosch pun ikut dalam upacara pemakaman dan memastikan mayat dalam peti adalah tubuh Ana. Mereka pun diijinkan menggeledah barang-barang mendiang Ana. Dari tulisan-tulisan bermakna penyesalan dan kutipan ayat-ayat Alkitab tentang pertobatan dan barang-barang yang ditemukan menunjukkan Ana adalah salah satu anggota otak perampokan dan pembakaran apartemen.

Kala perampokan terjadi, Bosch bertugas di unit barang bukti, ia kembali teringat barang bukti yang berada di belakang mobil perampok ditutupi kain loreng adalah sejumlah Molotov. Waktu perampokan dan terbakarnya gedung tidak berselang lama. Ana adalah pemain profesional, ia telah mempermainkan Burrows dan Boiko. Menebus kesalahannya, ia bergabung dengan biara dan mengajar anak–anak terlantar.

Dua kasus telah selesai dan ditutup dengan sempurna, Kapten Crowder puas dengan pekerjaan anak buahnya. Tiba-tiba seorang petugas meminta Bosch melepaskan senjata dan lencananya, ia disuspen selama masa investigasi. Sebuah video mempertontonkan Bosch memaksa masuk ke ruangan bos Divisi Perampokan, ia terlihat membuang sesuatu ke tempat sampah dan mengambil Jurnal Perampokan. Aturan adalah aturan, Kapten Crowder menyayangkan tindakan tidak perlu Bosch, Lucy juga sangat kaget. Detektif Bosch mengumpulkan barang-barang miliknya terutama foto putrinya Madeline, tepuk tangan bangga dari rekan-rekannya mengiringi kepergiannya.

*****

28 Februari 2018

No Man’s Land (2016), David Baldacci: summary

The strong plot draws the attention and detail narration has allowed me to meet the characters on the scene, and I also found myself like watching crime action film. As usual, Mr. Baldacci brings reader to military installation to discover the crime acts. Jackie’s disappearing had accused her husband as killer. Thirty years old case reopens and leads agent Puller (an army investigator, army cop) and his partner Veronica Knox to military project to find the truth about his missing mother. Paul Rogers, the experimental soldier, just released from prison. Rogers and Puller discovers a trail of deception. This is the John Puller Series, the 579-page fiction printed by Pan Books in New York in 2007, the original edition published in 2016.

No Man’s Land (2016), David Baldacci: summary

Rogers was six feet one inches tall and tipped the scale at one hundred and eighty pounds, hardly any of it was fat. He was over fifty years old, from the neck down he looked like an anatomical chart, each muscle hardened and defined as it melded into its neighbor. The prisoners watched mutely as he passed, then the whispers started up once more. He was led to the front entrance of the prison and handed a packet of materials outlining his duties and responsibilities as a parole.

He only got ten years for killing somebody. Paul Rogers had spoken maybe five words since he had been in prison. When he first came there a couple of toughest inmates tried to go alpha on him. One ended up paralyzed, and the other sat in a wheelchair dribbling water down his front, because Rogers permanently damaged his brain. He used bare hands that made him cred. Nobody bothered him after that.

John Puller

Puller sat and watched his father, who was sleeping in his bed. His father had been born to lead men into battle. And he had done so with considerable success over several decades, earning virtually every medal, ribbon, commendation, and rank promotion the service offered. The doctors described it as dementia transitioning to something else.

His older son, Robert Puller, once incarcerated in a military prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, had been formally cleared of all charges of treason and his record expunged. Then he had been reinstated as an officer in United States Air Force. Bobby was overseas on a new assignment that would keep him away several months. John Puller himself was an army CID, military cop. He had just come off an investigation in Germany, and not so long after his arrival Ted Hull, a CID (Criminal Investigation Command) officer, and Colonel David Shorr, knocked his door.

A letter had driven the two investigators to meet John. It was an envelope from a terminally ill Lynda Demirjian. Almost like a deathbed statement from an old lady who suffered from final-stage pancreatic cancer, she wrote to CID. John knew the woman, he thought back around thirty years ago. Mrs. Demirjian’s husband, Stan, served at Fort Monroe with John’s father. Stan served with his father over in Vietnam. She was accusing his father of murdering his mother. But it was ridiculous to John, his father was not even in the country when his father was missing. But the investigator uncovered additional travel records and vouchers that showed his father, who was scheduled to travel back stateside via military transport flew back on a private jet.

Paul Rogers

On the second day of freedom he had stolen a car from an automotive repair place. Two days later he was eight hundred miles closer to his destination. He actually felt than ten years of his life locked up in a cage was payment enough. He lacked of money. The next morning he stopped at a construction site and offered his services for hundred dollars for ten solid hours of labor. His tasks was to haul bags of cement from a truck to a construction elevator. He could carry more fifty-pound bags than three other workers.

He could survive without eating for a long time, he also could survive without liquids for a long time too although the average person would became dehydrate and die fairy quickly. Paul Rogers was not a human anymore, he was like a wild animal. The wound on his arm did not bother him, but the pain in his head came and went without warning.

He headed to the gun show he had seen advertised on the billboard. In some states gun shows had to do background checks.

He had crossed into Virginia, and he reached a small town in mountainous southwest Virginia. He found a local library, sat at computer terminal. He searched a man named Chris Ballard. Thirty years ago it had had an entirely different focus.  He had printed out a picture of Ballard. The man was still in his fifties in the photo, the age when Rogers had known him. Then he remembered a woman, she would be in her late fifties now. She was Claire Jericho.

Paul Rogers had walked around the perimeter of Fort  Monroe. 

The place had been his playground of sorts thirty years ago. He had been in his twenties, alone, confused and intimidated. A world memories had flooded back to him as soon as he had seen Fort Monroe. He had stopped in front of what was known back then as Building Q. It was set off in a remote part of fort. There was a high perimeter fence with concertina wire. There were gates with armed guards. Building Q was not empty. The parking lot inside the fence was full of cars, the lights inside were on. 

Lynda Demirjian

Lynda has been a wonderful wife and mother and grandmother. Stan Demirjian disagreed with his wife’s accusing, but Lynda insisted that Puller Sr. was the murderer of his own wife. John’s father was a hard man, he was used to commanding men in the most difficult thing. He was used to whatever he said being done. It did not work in a marriage. Jackie was afraid he would do something to her. Jackie was thinking about leaving her husband.

Jacqueline Puller, known to all as Jackie, did not possess a submissive personality. According to Lynda, Puller Sr. was not out of the country on the day Jackie disappeared. Jackie was sawing him. As an investigator, John Puller, knew that when folks planned to leave, and he had traced several who done so, they usually left some sort of note. They also took a suitcase with clothes and other essentials. His mother had done nothing of those things.

Lucy Bristow did not seem familiar to Puller. The old woman remembered Jackie very well. She also remembered John and his brother. She claimed that everyone at Fort Monroe knew John Puller Sr. Jackie was an Air Force brat. She was nice and polite to everyone. She met Puller Sr. at some military function. Puller Sr. was not the easiest person to live with.

Paul Rogers

Rogers stared up at the sign taped to the door of a bar called the Grunt. He was there about the bouncer job. The boss, Helen Myers, hired him as the bouncer. Five hundred dollars a night, during the days, and he would still have time after he clocked out at two to do what needing ding. It was good scenario for him all the way around. His searchers becoming more advanced. Now eighty, Ballard was retiring to a more leisurely life on the sandy beaches of North Carolina. His only lad to Claire Jericho was Chris Ballard.

She was tall, around five-nine with a lean, athletic build topped by auburn hair had grown out some since Puller last seen her. Veronica Knox carried scars from a sharpnel wound on one of her hips and butt cheeks from a too close encounter. She worked in American intelligence. Puller had never been fully clear for which agency.

One of the men from the group came up to Rogers. He was tall, good-looking, with thick, curly brown hair, and he wore a carefree, arrogant expression. Name’s Josh Quentin. He was on the VIP list. It was the first time Rogers met him. He saw Helen Myers head up the stairs. She went into the same room.

He knew exactly where he was going and wanted to get there quickly and unobtrusively. There were few who could move with more stealth than Rogers. The building Q was just up a head, it was eight stories high, perhaps the tallest building there.

His memory had been good. It had been the same when Rogers had been there. A reception area near the front doors signed Atalanta Group. 

On first day investigation, Knox found that there was serial murders in Williamsburg. A serial killer got on an active military installation. The case never solved. Four women was found scattered round the area. All the women murdered were single.

Puller and Knox droved due west across Virginia. They were on their way to see retired CID special agent Vincent DiRenzo. He only remembered at the time John’s mother disappeared there was a series murders. The higher-ups stopped him to check into the serial killings to see if they were possibly connected to his mother.

He was driving two hours to accomplish his mission. He found a home behind a high wall and steel gates. This was the palatial retirement home of Chris Ballard. He saw Josh Quentin there. Before he had viciously killed a man in a bar fight and gone to prison for ten years, he had killed others. He had no fear. But he had only remind himself that he had killed the couple in alley only tried to kill him. And Donohue the gun dealer would still be alive if he had just stayed in his truck.

He did not know the young woman, but she was working for Ballard. Now he had found a beautiful young lady who wanted him. For the first time he really looked  at her. Not as a potential lead. Not as a way to get to Jericho.

The Grunt was already three-quarters full, but Puller ha little difficulty finding the woman. A good looking woman passed in front of his vision. She was dressed professionally, unlike most of the other women, and seemed closer to Puller’s age. He walked over to the woman. She was Helen Myers. He also met woman there named Anne Shepard from Atalanta Group. She told him about program in the Building Q and her boss Josh Quentin. Atalanta produced exoskeleton hardware and basically building the super soldier. Before she came to Atalanta she worked at another contractor on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Project.    

After Anne and John made a deal, Puller watched her hurry across the street, get into her car and quickly drive off. Puller was about to get out of his car when he heard screams and gunfire. People was running past him, away from the gunfire. John kept sweeping his weapon his weapon and listening for sirens. More gunfire was coming from inside the bar. Four men were on the floor. Paul the bouncer was in process of disarming one guy who was far bigger and younger than he was. Behind him was Suzanne Davis. Helen Myers emerged from under the bar. Shaky and pale. Puller lowered his gun when they could all hear the sirens.

Homicide detectives showed up about twenty minutes later and started to officially process the scene. The attackers looked Eastern European and their weapon and the serial numbers had been professionally removed. They were pros and some kind of criminal hit team. They were after Paul Rogers. 

Josh Quentin was so scared. John saw Helen Myers rush out from the back of the bar. He moved behind her but kept well back. The drive was not a long one. But it was surprising for Puller. Myers drove into Fort Monroe and made her way to the gate at Building Q. Before she even got out of the car one of the exterior doors of the building opened and there appeared Josh Quentin. He was still dressed in the same suit.

Agent Puller got an unknown number at his phone. It was Claire Jericho, the Atlanta’s boss wanted to meet him. John and Knox were escorted into Building Q by one of the armed guards who had been posted outside. The building was clearly closed for the night, the workers having apparently all gone home; the parking lot was empty of cars. Framed in the doorway was a petite woman in her late fifties with sort graying hair, dark glasses, and dressed in a navy blue skirt and matching jacket and a white high-collared blouse. She looked to Puller like a veteran banker or lawyer.

Jericho had discovered John’s interaction with her employee, Anne Shepard. He had interviewed Anne and the result was she was terminated. John told her about the serial murderers and his mother’s disappearing. Knox and Puller got nothing from her. They were sitting in his car and driving out the parking lot of the building. They did not know what was about to happen, the vehicle was uncontrollable and hit a bump. By now the car as under the surface and water was pouring in from crevices all over the vehicle. In another moment their mouths would open and the water would rush in, fill their lungs.

Paul Rogers now was hidden in a large clump of bushes. He decided he would stay there until he saw Claire Jericho walk out of the building Q. Rogers stared straight ahead, amazed at what Puller was doing on the water before his car began to sink. Rogers reached inside and grabbed Puller’s arm and the waist of Knox. John asked the bouncer about the four women who were killed thirty years ago. Paul admitted it was five women and he killed them all. His last victim was Audrey Moore, and he hardly to recall Jackie Puller. Puller and Paul now had the same enemy. Jericho had made Rogers as an experimental soldier and sent him to jail. John’s mother was only a person in wrong time and wrong place.

Dimitri, or Rogers rather, had just killed Audrey Moore. Jackie Puller came along and saw Rogers, the dead woman and everything. Jackie apparently cried out, and turned to run. One of the guards reacted badly, he struck her with his gun. She died. The medical examiner concluded that she had died from a blunt force trauma to the head. Jackie Puller did not leave her husband and kids, she was killed thirty years ago. They reburied her at Fort Monroe.

Jericho killed herself, but Bobby Puller got a look at the postmortem report on her. Her spine was crushed, a ring was found in her stomach. The woman got out her car and walked up to the door. Suzanne Davis looked at Paul Rogers. He was pale. He touched the spot on his head. They had taken out the implant.

***

February 22, 2018

Sepatah Kata

Penulis Baldacci kembali membawa pembacanya ke area proyek pendukung peralatan militer, menguak kejahatan atas pembunuhan empat orang wanita muda dan kehilangan seorang istri pejabat militer, tak lain juga ibu Agen Puller, tokoh utama. Ayah Agen John Puller telah dituduh membunuh istrinya, sepucuk surat dari kawan lama wanita hilang Jackie Puller. Seorang wanita tua yang tengah terbaring lemah di ambang kematiannya, menuduh Puller senior telah membunuh Jackie. Kasus berumur tiga puluh tahun itu dibuka kembali.

Paul Rogers, seorang napi, baru saja menikmati kebebasannya, mencari keadilan pada orang yang menjadikannya seorang monster. Rogers dan Puller kini memiliki musuh bersama.  

Selain plotnya kuat, kisah ringan dan mengibur ini tepat dijadikan pilihan dalam mengisi waktu luang apalagi dalam perjalanan kereta. Di samping itu, tulisannya sangat mudah dipahami, bahkan seolah-olah kita tengah berada dalam cerita kejadian, terkadang juga seperti melihat film kriminal laga Hollywood. Novel setebal 579 halaman ini, merupakan novel ke empat dari serial the John Puller, diterbitkan Pan Books 2017 dan cetakan pertamanya tahun 2016.

Terjemahan Ringkasan/Resume dalam Bahasa Indonesia: No Man’s Land (2016)

Paul Rogers

Lelaki tinggi kokoh baru saja melewati pintu penjara, sipir penjaga mengingatkannya untuk tidak kembali dan menjaga diri. Ia masih dalam parol, percobaan dan wajib lapor. Baju baru, dan beberapa barag lamanya serta uang sebanyak 300 dolar diberi padanya sebagai modal ongkos, uang yang juga merupakan upah jerih payah selama di penjara. Sorotan wajah dan ototnya menyiratkan ketakutan pada tiap orang yang melihat lelaki berumur 50 tahunan itu.

Tak ada satu pun teman penjaranya yang berani mendekatinya. Napi aneh, hanya ada lima kalimat dilontarkan selama ia dalam penjara selama sepuluh tahun.

Ia menaiki bus dan sepasang anak muda telah menguntitinya dan bermaksud mengambil uangnya. Andai saja, anak muda itu tidak berusaha membunuhnya, tentu saja keduanya masih hidup. Rogers pun berhasil mencuri mobil, dan melarikannya ke tempat tujuan di Fort Monroe. Tempatnya terakhir sebelum ia menjalani hukuman penjara karena membunuh dalam perkelahaian di bar. Ia ingin menghukum orang yang menciptakannya jadi sadis. Ingatan masa lalu kembali membanjiri pikirannya.

Tubuh besarnya memudahkannya mendapat pekerjaan sebagai kemanan di bar. Kehandalan dan ketahanan tubuhnya tidak makan dan tidak minum menegaskan dia bukanlah manusia biasa. Dia manusia super, namun ia masih merasakan sakitnya dijadikan kelinci dalam percobaan tentara super. Implan yang ditanam pada kepalanya membuat ia kesakitan bertahun-tahun. Paul Rogers bekerja hanya di malam hari, selebihnya ia gunakan mencari keberadaan Claire Jericho dan Chris Ballard yang menjadikannya menjadi monster dan hewan buas.

Ia tidak salah, rupanya Bar Grunt tempatnya bekerja dipenuhi pekerja Gedung Q, orang-orang militer dan rekanan. Dengan mudah ia menyusuri kediaman Ballard sang pemilik Atalanta Group, yakni organisasi besar bekerja sama dengan militer Amerika sebagai pendukung program peralatan militer dan tentara. Mereka melakukan riset dan percobaan dalam menciptakan peralatan kemiliteran dan tentara tangguh dan handal.

Agen John Puller

John Puller baru saja mendarat dari Jerman, saat ia tiba di rumah mendapati ayahnya sedang terbaring di tempat tidur. Ayahnya menderita dimensia. Pada masa mudanya ayahnya adalah seorang pejabat militer, orang yang cukup disegani dan dikenal tegas dan fokus pada pekerjaannya. John dan kakaknya Robert juga berkarir dalam dunia militer. John sendiri sebagai penyidik militer. Sama sekali, ia tidak menyangka kehadiran dua orang investigator mengubah harinya. Ayahnya telah dituduh membunuh ibunya, padahal ayahnya punya alibi.

Kasus hilangnya Jackie Puller tiga puluh tahun silam telah menyengsarakan dua anak kecil dan Puller Senior.  John terheran tidak percaya ayahnya dituduh membunuh ibunya. Sepucuk surat datang ke penyidik militer, seorang wanita tua bernama Lynda Demirjian telah melaporkan Puller Senior sebagai pembunuh Jackie sahabatnya. Ia mengaku melihat Puller saat hari kejadian, di mana dalam laporan Puller disebut telah ke luar kota. Setelah dicek ulang, ada laporan menyebut Puller telah pulang hari yang sama dengan menaiki pesawat militer, beberapa lama sebelum istrinya dinyatakan hilang.

Sebagai orang tua menderita kanker pankreas dan dinyatakan sekarat, Lynda yang juga merupakan istri bawahan Puller mengaku tidak tenang sebelum mengatakan hal sebenarnya bahwa pembunuh Jackie adalah Puller, ia melihat sendiri Puller hari itu tidak berada di luar kota. Bukti baru catatan perjalanan pesawat militer tersebut membuka kasus kembali.  

Sebagai agen penyidik militer, John ingin membuktikan sendiri apa yang sesungguhnya terjadi tiga puluh tahun silam. Ia memulai dengan menemui Lynda Demijian dan suami Lynda sendiri tidak yakin tuduhan istrinya. Menurut Lynda, Jackie sudah tidak tahan dengan perlakukan suaminya, dan berniat ingin menceraikan. Ibu John juga tengah jatuh cinta dan tertarik pada periwira lain yang telah beristri.

John sendiri belum pernah menikah, belum tahu mendalami permasalah dan konflik dalam pernikahan. Namun dari kasus yang ia tangani, umumnya istri atau suami yang sengaja meninggalkan suaminya, tentu membawa barang-barang atau baju dan meninggalkan pesan. Hal ini tidak terjadi pada ibu John. Dia dinyatakan hilang hari itu hingga tiga puluh tahun, dibilang mati atau dibunuh, mayat ataupun tulang belulangnya tidak pernah ditemukan.

John mengajak rekannya Veronica Knox mencari kebenaran ke tempat kejadian di Fort Monroe. Dari file-file masa lalu, masa yang hampir bersamaan Fort Monroe telah dihebohkan dengan peristiwa pembunuhan berantai yang menewaskan empat gadis dan tidak pernah terungkap pelakunya. John dan Knox pun mendatangi detektif yang menangani dan keterangan detektif pensiunan itu menyatakan bahwa penyidikan telah dihentikan oleh pejabat tinggi militer dari atas. John dan Knox mencium berkaitan dengan militer, hingga membawa mereka pada nama Chris Ballard dan Gedung Q, yang dikenal sebagai tempat organisasi Atalanta Grup melakukan riset dan pengembangan militer bekerjasama dengan DARPA.

Masuk ke Bar Grunt, membawanya berkenalan dengan Helen Myers pemilik bar dan wanita lain bernama Anne Shepard sebagai pegawai di Gedung Q. John mendapat banyak informasi dari Anne, dan hanya beberapa saat meninggalkan bar, lonsongan tembakan bertubi-tubi keluar dari dalam bar. Ada empat anak muda pengunjung bar yang tewas tergeletak di lantai, situasi mendadak ricuh. John melihat penyerang itu menghendaki kematian Paul Roger. Tanpa sengaja Paul dan John bekerja sama menembak balik para penyerang.

Ketika detektif tiba, Paul telah menghilang. John mengidentifikasi penyerang adalah sekelompok pembunuh profesional beraut Eropah Timur. John makin mempertanyakan kenapa tembakan itu mengejar Paul Rogers, hanya petugas keamanan bar, oleh sekelomok pembunuh profesional. Rogers terluka. John Puller dan Knox semakin mencurigai keterlibatan militer dengan kematian pembunuhan berantai dan mencari kemungkinan indikasi keterkaitan dengan hilangnya ibu John.

Sebuah telepon tidak dikenal menghubungi John, ia mengenalkan dirinya Claire Jericho dan meminta ingin bertemu dengan John Puller. John dan Knox pun diundang ke gedung Q. Pemimpin organisasi Atalanta itu mendapat laporan interaksi John dengan salah seorang karyawannya bernama Anne Shepard. Wanita berumur lima puluhan itu menanyakan tujuan Puller. Knox pun menanyakan pembunuhan berantai empat wanita tiga puluh tahun.

Jericho cukup kaget mengetahui John telah mencari keberadaan ibunya.  Mereka tidak mendaptkan apa-apa, hanya berupa keangkuhan dan jawaban tidak relevan dengan pembunuhan itu. Hanya beberapa menit mengendarai kendaraannya, John tidak mampu mengendalikan mobil, ada yang telah merusak mobilnya, dan ia menabrak pembatas dan terperosot ke dalam air. Bagi orang yang menyaksikan kejadiannya, keduanya sudah pasti tewas. Dari kejauhan, perlahan mobil tenggelam.

Roger yang tengah mengamati pergerakan Jericho, dan mengendus di rerumputan tak jauh dari gedung Q. Ia melihat mobil John, sempat berprasangka buruk pada John telah menguntitinya. Tanpa diduga John dan Knox telah pingsan menelan air. Paul Rogers menyelamatkan keduanya. Mereka kini dalam tim yang sama dan memiliki musuh yang sama. Paul pun menceritakan jati dirinya, Rogers pun mengaku ia yang membunuh wanita itu. Tapi ia sendiri diperintahkan, itu bukan dirinya. Ballard telah mengubahnya menjadi sadis dan dikendalikan dirinya dikendalikan oleh mereka. Semua yang dibunuhnya adalah gadis, tidak satu pun ibu-ibu. Paul bahkan mengaku korbannya berjumlah lima orang. Ia tidak pernah melihat foto ibu John yang disodorkan padanya.

Paul membunuh Ballard tua yang sudah berumur delapan puluhan, dan membuatnya seolah bunuh diri. Rogers, Paul dan Knox berada pada tempatnya yang sama dengan Jericho. Wanita itu pun menjelaskan bahwa ia mengetahui kematian ibu John. Ketika Rogers membunuh korban terakhirnya bernama Audrey, ibu John melihat kejadian itu, petugas kemanan segera mengamankannya, dengan panik memukulkan kepalanya dengan senjata.

Jackie Puller tewas seketika, Jericho saat itu bahkan tidak di tempat, tapi ia mengetahui dan melakukan penguburan yang layak. Kematian itu pun ditutup rapat demi mengamankan proyek mereka. Claire Jericho juga mengenal ayah dan ibu John, ketika itu ia berusia dua puluhan. Jackie Puller telah berada pada tempat dan jam yang salah. Kasus pun terungkap, Jericho tidak ditangkap, namun ia dinyatakan tewas bunuh diri. Robert Puller mendapat laporan otopsi bahwa sebuah cincin bertuliskan inisial namanya ditemukan di dalam perutnya. John sudah menduga, itu perbuatan Rogers.

John, Robert dan ayah mereka melakukan upacara pemakaman ulang untuk ibu mereka. Belakang juga diketahui pemilik Bar Grunt Helen Myers adalah putri Claire Jericho. Josh Quentin lelaki flamboyan tamu VIP bar adalah pekerja Claire Jericho. Terjadi perkelahian di antara mereka, Suzanne Davis, teman wanita Josh, berkhianat dan membela Rogers yang kini menjadi temannya. Suzanne sendiri adalah anak adopsi Chris Ballard yang banyak membantu Rogers dalam menuntaskan misinya.

Rogers tidak membiarkan Claire Jericho yang telah menghancurkan hidupnya terbebas, ia telah menghukumnya. Balutan luka masih membekas di kepala Rogers, implan di kepalanya telah diambil. Ia kini normal dan bebas menghirup udara dengan kekasihnya Suzanne Davis.

***

22 Februari 2018