Title: "Follow the Money"
Directed by: Alex Zakrzewski
Written by: William N Fordes and Joe Gonzalez
Air Date: March 11, 2016
Previous: Exit Time
Next: Queen of Martyrs
Guest Starring: Matthew Lillard, Leisha Hailey, John Marshall Jones
"Follow the Money" is the 8th episode of the second season of Bosch.
The episode opens with Coniff and Espinosa investigating the murder of Eddie Arceneaux. Despite the scene being staged to look like a suicide, they find evidence of foul play, including bruise marks from the zip ties Bosch and Irving used to restrain him (with the zip ties being found in Eddie's trash). Coniff and Espinosa are incensed when the chief of detectives, Frank Silva, makes clear he intends to write this off as a suicide for political purposes.
Irvin Irving tells Bosch that the fix is in: George Irving's death will be ruled a case of wrong place at the wrong time, while Arceneaux's death will be ruled a suicide. Bosch concludes that Nash is covering his tracks while he waits to get the payoff from Tony Allen's estate.
Eleanor's tip to the FBI paid off, as the Bureau found the body of their agent in the desert. Agent Griffin tells Eleanor that while he can't yet get her re-hired to the FBI, he has lifted the red flag on her file and gotten her a letter of recommendation from the director of the Los Angeles field office. Later, Eleanor tells Harry all about this, and says she's considering getting back into law enforcement.
Luke Rykov, whose true name is Luke Goshen, meets Bosch down in Santa Monica to thank him for the tip about the missing agent. He tells Harry that his investigation revealed that Tony Allen stole a lot of the money he was laundering for Joey Marks—somewhere on the neighborhood of $4 million. He also mentions that Carl Nash's story of Marks coming down from Vegas to demand his money back from Allen is true, and that's where Nash probably got the idea to kill Allen and pin the murder on the Mafiya. (It might have worked if he hadn't planted the gun on an undercover FBI agent.) The money, it seems, is still missing.
The cops arrive at Nash's house with a warrant, but find Nash's gun safe empty and the envelope of incriminating photos (the one that Irving and Bosch found on an illegal search) gone. They realize that Nash is on the run.
The next morning, Harry and Edgar are staking out Veronica's house when Edgar gets word that Allen's estate has gone through probate. The guard calls Veronica's number but gets no answer. Harry and Edgar review security footage and realize that Veronica snuck out the night before in a delivery truck. The two detectives call out an alert and race for the bank where Tony Allen had a safety deposit box.
Veronica's at the bank. Nash and his crew are there watching. Also arriving at the bank are Joey Marks and his goons. Veronica opens the box, expecting to find four million dollars, but instead finds nothing but a picture of Tony and Layla.
After leaving the bank a shocked Veronica is met by Marks's Mook. Before she has the chance to show him her empty suitcase, Nash's crew swoops in. A gunfight erupts, which becomes a three-way shootout as Bosch and Edgar arrive. Marks, his men, and two of Nash's crew are all killed, while O'Grady is wounded and subsequently captured. Nash takes a bullet in the thigh but carjacks another vehicle and escapes. Veronica survives unscathed but is arrested.
Tropes:
- Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: The bank shootout is between Nash's crew, who want Tony Allen's money for themselves, and Marks's crew, who want the skimmed mob money back.
- Dies Wide Open: Eddie Arceneaux, found dead in his recliner in a staged suicide.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: Carl Nash dramatically flips the safety off his submachine gun as he advances into the shootout.
- Oh, Crap!: The normally unflappable Veronica has to sit down on the floor of the safety deposit box room to steady herself, after finding out that Tony's money is gone.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the novel Trunk Music Veronica was killed in the parking lot shootout. In the show, she survives unharmed.
- Stealing from the Till: Rykov/Goshen explains that a little skimming is expected, but Tony Allen stole four million dollars from Joey Marks.
- Take That!: Not only did Layla make off with the money, she stuck the knife in by leaving a picture of herself and Tony in the box.
- Title Drop: When Bosch says that if they find where the money is hidden, they'll find Nash, Irving says "Follow the money." Bosch nods and says "Follow the fucking money."
