Opening paragraphs..........................

From across the aisle Harry Bosch looked into his partner's cubicle and watched him conduct his daily ritual of straightening the corners of his stacks of files, clearing the paperwork from the center of his desk and finally placing his rinsed-out coffee cup in a desk drawer.  Bosch checked his watch and saw it was only three-forty.  It seemed that each day, Ignacio Ferras began the ritual a minute or two earlier than he had the day before.  It was only Tuesday, the day after the Labor Day weekend and the start of a short week, and already he was edging toward the early exit.  This routing was always prompted by a phone call from home.  There was a wife waiting there with a toddler and a brand-new set of twins.  She watched the clock like the owner of a candy store watches the fat kids.  She needed the break and she needed her husband home to deliver it.  Even across the aisle from his partner, and with the four-foot sound walls separating work spaces in the new squad room, Bosch could usually hear both sides of the call.  It always began with "When are you coming home?"
-Michael Connelly,  Nine Dragons