Robin and the defence lawyer had moved off to one side, talking in low voices. At times they argued, at times they sat in silence, staring at each other across the table. It went on for quite a while before they both broke into smiles and shook hands.
Felix found the whole thing baffling. Yet judging by the other officers' lack of reaction, this was nothing unusual. In the end he went straight to Carles.
"Boss, what are the deputy chief and the lawyer talking about?"
Carles glanced at him. So when there's work, I'm the boss; when there isn't, I'm just 'Carles', am I?
Even so, he answered.
"Like I said before — Zhang Yue's likely just a distributor, not a kingpin. Putting her behind bars won't change much. And she's got two underage kids. Even if this goes to court, she may not get a heavy sentence.
"So here's the plan: we work out a three-way deal with the DA's office and Zhang Yue. We stick to charging her for the few transactions where we can prove the buyer's identity; the DA won't push for a felony; and in return she gives us the intel we want. That way she gets home sooner and regains custody of her children."
Felix stared at him. "A plea bargain?"
"Exactly. Let me give you the short version, partner. In California, recreational marijuana's legal — but possession over 22 grams is still illegal. We found a lot in her car, but not an extreme amount.
"She's got a medical card. She and her lawyer can say it's for personal medical use, just a large supply. That's still an offence — unlawful possession of a controlled substance — but marijuana isn't like cocaine or heroin. If she'd been carrying those, it would be an open-and-shut felony for possession of large quantities of narcotics.
"She sells in small amounts. We can't realistically track every sale she's ever made. Without the total weight, it's not enough for 'supply of narcotics'. At best, it's distribution of a controlled substance.
"She's mentally ill, unarmed, didn't resist arrest, is a minority, a divorced woman, and the sole parent of two young children. Her stack of mitigating factors is almost complete.
"And the main thing — she's not our endgame. We want the supplier. If we push her too hard, she clams up and we get nothing. That's a loss for us.
"So we trade leniency for intel. The DA gets to show they're enforcing the law with a human touch; the lawyer gets to prove he's worth his fee. The key point? We know this, the DA knows this, the lawyer knows this — but Zhang Yue probably doesn't.
"Picture a woman in her position. Her lawyer tells her he's fought tooth and nail to secure a 'great deal': give up some information and the heavy charges disappear. We and the DA nod in agreement. What does she do? She tells us everything.
"And everyone walks away with what they wanted. Four-way win."
Felix thought for a moment. "And the kid we arrested this morning?"
"Him? He'll be charged with possession and sale of narcotics. He can enjoy his time inside. Should've hired a lawyer."
Carles shrugged. "That's America, partner."
As a cop who dreamed of hunting down evil, Felix still felt a pang of frustration. But then again — no matter how hard it was to enforce ultimate responsibility in the real world, that wasn't his problem. As long as someone's guilt marker above their head was red or black, he could take them down. The only trick was making sure nobody could tie it back to Felix.
Several men in suits entered the station and shook hands with Deputy Chief Robin. Prosecutors from the DA's office. They went together into the interview room where Zhang Yue was being held. When they finally emerged — Robin, the prosecutors, and Zhang Yue's lawyer — they were all smiling, chatting warmly like old friends.
Filthy deal, Felix thought, spitting the words in his head.
One of the prosecutors suddenly pointed in his direction, murmuring something to a man who looked like the leader. The man glanced at Felix, said nothing, spoke briefly to Robin, and then left.
Felix had no idea what to make of it, so he turned to Mark, who was playing Spider Solitaire on his computer.
"Simple," Mark said without looking up. "You think you're some kind of saint? You've shot three people dead in just over two weeks. Your name's already reached the DA's office. You only got away clean because your cases were tidy. Otherwise? You'd be feeling it."
You realise you're begging to get punched, right, Mark?
Felix was already plotting how to bleed two dinners out of him when Carles called everyone into the conference room.
Once the officers were gathered, Carles began.
"'Night Angel' has told us how she got her marijuana and related products.
"She first spotted a coded job advert on a Chinese-language forum here in L.A. She contacted the poster via an app called Weixin. To place an order, she'd message her supplier on Weixin with what she wanted and how much, then transfer payment through the app.
"The supplier would send the goods by FedEx. No face-to-face contact. She doesn't even know if it's a man or a woman.
"Not a problem for us. When we searched her house, we found old FedEx packaging she hadn't thrown away. We believe these boxes once held marijuana. From the sender details, we've identified an address right here in Temple City. I'll give you the specifics shortly.
"The next team will set up discreet surveillance on that location."
An officer raised a hand. "Are we sure the sender is the same person she calls her supplier? Could be a whole network behind it."
"I don't know, partner. But Zhang Yue said some orders came up short — one or two packages missing. She argued with the supplier, then decided FedEx staff had stolen them. Knowing what was inside, she didn't dare report it.
"So I'm betting someone will be willing to help us point out exactly which person — or people — are doing the sending. If it's a cartel and beyond our scope, we'll decide whether to call in backup or hand it off.
"If the supplier's sending from far away every time, that's one thing. But Zhang Yue said every package's return address was the same. I doubt anyone would go out of their way to post from the same far-off location each time.
"My guess? The supplier still doesn't know 'Night Angel' is in custody. The arrest was quiet and quick. I'll go to FedEx and get their cooperation, have her place another order on Weixin, and then we'll be ready to follow the trail."