Pell orchestrates a revenge scheme after learning that Hardy will never be charged for his child sex abuse. Pell attacks a police officer and is sent to the same jail where Hardy is being held. As both men are transferred on a bus to court for arraignment hearings, Pell attacks and seriously wounds Hardy. Bosch intuits Pell's scheme and saves Hardy's life, but later wonders if he should have let Pell kill Hardy. Bosch receives a warning from his former partner Kiz Rider who now works as an assistant to the LAPD chief: the Hardy case must be delayed until after an upcoming election, in efforts to prevent Irving from being re-elected. Irving's many political enemies want to see him defeated; they hope the taxi-licensing scandal will harm his prospects and want to temporarily suppress the Hardy case to keep the taxi scandal in the news. Bosch finds such political maneuvering distasteful, but knows it's part of the job and feels content knowing Hardy will never be free. Bosch and Chu eventually reconcile, after Bosch's temper cools and Chu makes some impressive discoveries during the investigations and also comes to Bosch's defense during the showdown with Irving. "Like His Creator, a Busy Guy", New York Times, November 23, 2011. Accessed 3 January 2014.
