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She left the cage and Bosch sat down in front of the computer. He touched the space bar and the screen came to life. On it was the MacLaren intake report for Charles Edgar Lamb. It was dated May 1, 1963, and identified Lamb as a thirteen-year-old Negro born in Los Angeles and declared a ward of the county after his parents abandoned him and the grandmother who was raising him in Watts died. In the three months prior to his arrival at MacLaren, he had been cared for by a sister who was only one year older. A photo of Lamb was attached. He stared sullenly at the camera. Bosch stared back at him for several moments before moving on.

After the intake report there were several disciplinary reports in the file stretching through 1964 and into 1965. Lamb had been punished multiple times for fighting and for stealing food from other wards. Bosch knew that both these offenses were common, and the reports on the fighting did not distinguish between aggressor and defender. The punishment was always the same: The offender was sent to the isolation space under the stairs that the kids called the hollow. Sometimes both combatants were put in the hollow together so they could work out their differences in the dark.

Bosch counted nine disciplinary reports for fighting in Lamb’s file. Most didn’t say who the other combatant was, but on two of the handwritten reports another child’s name was mentioned: Kevin Rance. Harry remembered him. He was big for his age, with ruddy cheeks. Kids called him Rancid but never to his face unless their intention was to throw down with him. Apparently, Lamb did intend that on occasion.

Two of the disciplinary reports cited staff members as victims of Lamb’s aggression. These reports noted dates and times but did not include the names of the staffers allegedly assaulted. Bosch took a small notebook out of his jacket pocket and wrote the salient details down. He knew from his own experiences at MacLaren that when a kid was disciplined for assaulting staff, it could mean a lot of things, and it was often what was put in the report when the alleged victim was actually the aggressor. Those who were sent to the hollow didn’t get to write the reports.

The final disciplinary report involved an unnamed staff member as victim. The document that followed was the report of Lamb’s death dated the very next day, April 2, 1965. The account was basic, simply stating that he was found unresponsive in the sleeping quarters at the seven a.m. wake-up. It referred the death investigation to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

That was all the discovery file on Charles Lamb contained. Bosch printed the reports and then stepped out of the cage and went over to Lorna’s workstation. She was typing something, and he waited to speak until she stopped and turned to him.

“Find what you need?” she asked.

“Uh, no, not really,” Bosch said. “I was wondering if you could help me with something in there.”

“The printer jammed again?”

“No, it’s working. I want to ask you how to search for something.”

“Sure.”

She got up and they went back to the cage. Bosch signaled her to the seat in front of the computer.

“Okay, I have a specific date,” he said. “Actually, two dates. Is it possible to search through all the discovery for reports filed on those two dates?”

Lorna took a moment to comprehend the request and then nodded.

“I think so,” she said. “Let’s try. Give me the first date.”

“April first, 1965,” Bosch said. “The second date is the next day.”

“Okay, let’s start with April Fools’.”

Lorna began typing. Soon the screen filled with lists of reports. She scrolled down and then onto a second screen.

“Fifty-nine entries,” Lorna said. “Are you looking for something in particular?”

“No, I want them all,” Bosch said. “Can you print them out?”

“I just have to open each one and print it.”

“Well, I could do that if you have to get back to what — ”

“No, it’s fine. Let me do it so I can get to the next day too.”

“Thank you.”

Lorna went to work, and the big printer started humming and delivering pages into the tray on top of the reports Bosch had already printed. Lorna was an adept typist and opened and printed each file much faster than Bosch could ever hope to do. A few minutes later, Lorna searched for the April 2 reports, and there were even more of those.

“Okay, I think you can take over from here,” she said. “You’ve got seventy-two results on April second. Must’ve been a busy day at MacLaren.”

“Yeah,” Bosch said. “Thank you, Lorna.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.”

She relinquished the seat and left the cage. Bosch sat down and started opening and printing files one by one. He did not read any of them as he went. He was focused on getting the printing done. His plan was to review everything back at his own workstation — his home. He preferred it to being in a cage.

Before he was finished with the task, Mickey Haller arrived from court.