52

52

THE TWO DETECTIVES from West Bureau assigned to the murder of Colleen Hatteras were Charlotte Goring and Winston Dubose. Ballard knew Goring slightly from a loosely affiliated group of the department's female homicide cops that met irregularly at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood, usually when one had just had a major misogynistic encounter with the patriarchy and needed a therapeutic sharing session or legal advice. Ballard and Goring had both been in that spot and shared but had never worked a case together. The fact was that Ballard had no idea whether Goring or Dubose, whom she didn't know at all, were good at their jobs.

Ballard sat in her Defender outside the house while the detectives took their first survey of the crime scene with the criminalists and the coroner's investigators. As she waited, she took calls from every member of her unit, all of them stunned by the news and asking questions Ballard could not yet answer. Who killed Colleen and why? Most of them said they wanted to come to the scene, but Ballard dissuaded them, saying it would only complicate things. She did tell each to expect a call from the investigators, who would likely be looking for any possible reason for Colleen's murder and would surely want to question her colleagues.

The last to call was Maddie Bosch, and after that conversation, Ballard was left to wait with dark thoughts crashing in on her about her own possible culpability. Hatteras had been a volunteer who gave her all to the unit. Had Ballard not trained her well enough? Had Colleen made a mistake that Ballard missed and that had cost her her life? Had Ballard, through her own actions, somehow caused this?

Ballard knew that the death of a volunteer in Open-Unsolved guaranteed an internal review of the entire unit and the department's decision two years earlier to follow the law enforcement trend of using non-cop volunteers in cold-case squads. The conclusion would obviously be that it had been a mistake. Ballard knew that the whole operation could be shut down because of this. But those thoughts were secondary to the pitiful image of Colleen slumped in the closet. She could not get it out of her head.

Her phone buzzed and she saw that the call was from Captain Gandle.

"Captain."

"Renée, I just got your message. I'm in the car and I'm coming out."

"Uh, okay."

"West Bureau is handling it for now, but I want to be there. This is going to be a shitshow. You know that, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you talked to the detectives yet?"

"Just briefly when they arrived. They're in the house. They told me to wait in my car."

"Good. That's good. I informed the chief's adjutant. I haven't heard back. But this is going to be a shitshow. I guarantee that."

"Yes, you said that."

"Any idea what she was doing?"

Ballard hesitated for a moment. The question raised the dark thoughts again.

"Well, yeah," Ballard said. "She was working for me."

"I know that, Ballard," Gandle said. "But what exactly was she working on?"

"She was on the Pillowcase Rapist case. We all were. I told you. We're looking at four different persons of interest. But none of them knew it except maybe the guy in Vegas, and he wouldn't have done this. Not after we were just there."

"Could it have been something else? Something that had nothing to do with your unit or its cases?"

"Anything is possible at the moment, I guess. But I don't know what else it could be."

"You told me when you wanted her for the unit that she was already working cases on the internet."

"She was, yes."

"Well, maybe it was one of those."

Ballard could see the company line on this forming: Hatteras was killed because of some misstep she had made before she volunteered for the LAPD. That would put the department in the clear.

"I doubt it," Ballard said. "She tripped a wire somewhere while she was working for me."

"We don't know that," Gandle said. "Not for sure."

Ballard saw Goring come through the open door of the house and stride toward the Defender.

"Uh, Captain, I think I have to go," Ballard said. "Detective Goring is heading toward me. I think she'll want to question me now."

"Okay, I'll let you go," Gandle said. "I'm still an hour out. The traffic sucks."

"I'll tell the detectives you're coming."

"Roger that."

Ballard disconnected and watched Goring cross in front of the car and open the passenger door. The automatic step deployed and she climbed in.

"Renée, how are you doing?"

"Uh, not good. A woman I've worked with closely for the past two years is in there dead. Murdered."

"Yeah, not good. I'm going to tape this conversation, okay?"

"Sure."

Goring put her cell phone on the center console's storage compartment. She opened a recording app and pressed the red button. She gave the date and time and named those in the car and then got down to it.

"Let's start with Colleen. Tell me who she was."

"She's a—she was a divorced mother of two girls who are both away at college. I'm not sure where. About three or four years ago, after her kids were in high school, she took some online courses in IGG—do you know what that is?"

"The genetic-tracing stuff."

"Yes, investigative genetic genealogy. She took classes and then started basically being a citizen sleuth online. Her thing was helping to identify unnamed victims of murder. Mostly women. There's a whole network out there of people—mostly women—who are proficient at this. She became part of this network and that's when I became aware of her. I was putting together an all-volunteer cold-case team and I started floating around online looking at some of these people. I reached out to her when I learned she was local. She came in, I vetted her, then gave her the job. She did some really good work for us. Right up to the end."

Goring had taken a notebook out and was jotting a couple of things down, even though she was still recording everything said.

"Okay," she said. "What do you mean, ‘right up to the end'? What was she working on?"

"We were all working a case," Ballard said. "You probably are too young to have been in the department at the time, but do you remember the Pillowcase Rapist?"

"Oh, yeah, I was going to Pierce College in the Valley when that was going on. He did a bunch of rapes and then just disappeared, right?"

"Yeah. The last one was a rape and murder. We were on that because we had gotten a solid genetic lead. Our focus was on four men who were all high-school classmates in Pasadena. Class of '99."

Ballard watched Goring's eyes sharpen.

"These four men," she said. "Did they know you were looking at them?"

"It's possible," Ballard said. "We interviewed one in Vegas on Wednesday and he let us take a DNA swab. I felt we threw enough of a scare into him to convince him not to give the others a heads-up."

Goring made a hmm sound that Ballard took as questioning her actions.

"He voluntarily gave us the swab," Ballard said. "He wouldn't have done that if he was the guy. I don't see where he'd have any interest in warning the others, even if he knew that one was probably the suspect we were looking for."

Ballard didn't like her own tone of protest and defensiveness.

"You never know," Goring said. "You said ‘we.' Did Hatteras go with you over there?"

"Oh, no, that was Maddie Bosch—the other sworn officer in the unit. I wouldn't have taken Colleen on something like that. She worked exclusively in the office, though she was not happy about it."

"In what way?"

"She… wanted to go into the field and follow through on some of the leads she came up with through IGG. I told her many times that that wasn't what I'd brought her into the unit to do."

"And how did she take that?"

Ballard's phone buzzed and she saw that the call was from Carol Plovc. She sent the call to voicemail.

"Sorry about that," she said. "To answer your question, Colleen was frustrated by not being able to go into the field. I told her more than once that she would need more training if she was ever going to go out on an investigation."

Goring waited for further explanation but that was all Ballard offered.

"Okay," she finally said. "Let's go back to what put these four guys on your radar. You said it was a genetic link?"

Ballard spent the next ten minutes explaining the genetic connection between a man arrested recently for domestic violence and the rampage of the Pillowcase Rapist. She told Goring about the 1999 prom at the Huntington, Mallory Richardson's vulnerable position in a hotel room, and the fact that at least four boys and maybe more had access to the room. She said the working theory was that someone used that access to enter the room and have sex with Mallory, leading to the birth of the man who had been arrested twenty-four years later.

Goring just listened and took notes until Ballard was finished.

"So you got a swab from the guy in Vegas—what about the other three suspects?" Goring asked. "Have you had any contact with them?"

"We weren't really calling them suspects," Ballard said. "Not yet. More like persons of interest at this point."

"Okay, but have you made contact with any of them?"

"Well, one is dead. Colleen found that out. He was killed in a car accident a couple years ago. But the coroner's office took blood at the time and still had it because of a court case that came out of the incident. I picked up a sample and the lab now has it for DNA analysis. We think the third guy has been living in Hawaii since before the rapes stopped here. And the fourth—"

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, I talked to him yesterday," Ballard said. "I deked him on a phone call and he told me he moved to Hawaii in 2003. The last Pillowcase rape and murder was in late 2005."

"‘ Deked '? What's that mean?"

"Decoyed. The twenty-fifth reunion of their class at St. Vincent's is coming up. I told the guy in Hawaii that I was a reporter for the paper in Pasadena doing a where-are-they-now story on the class. He bought it and I did the interview. He was very detailed about his history since St. Vincent's. Went to chef school up in wine country and moved to Hawaii right after for a job."

"And you believed him?"

"Well, we haven't independently confirmed anything yet, but yeah, my feeling is that he was telling the truth. I hit him up out of the blue, and for him to provide the details he did… I'm thinking he couldn't have made it up on the spot."

"And the fourth guy?"

"We haven't approached him yet. He sells houses down in Laguna Beach. The last thing I told Colleen to do was see if he had any open houses this weekend. I thought we'd go down and take a look at him, maybe get a chance to collect some DNA."

"When you say ‘we,' are you talking about you and Officer Bosch again?"

"Uh, no, I actually did throw that out to Colleen. Wait, no. I mean, I did make her the offer when I left a phone message today, but I don't think she ever got it."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I saw the body. I saw the lividity. I think she was dead long before I left that message."

Goring nodded and then looked at the notes she had written. Through the windshield, Ballard saw the two investigators from the coroner's office squeeze through the front door, carrying the body bag containing Colleen Hatteras. Ballard looked down at the steering wheel.

"I'm going to need the names of these four persons of interest," Goring said. "And any reports you've written up."

"Sure," Ballard said. "I don't have a lot. Today was supposed to be my paperwork day. I did write up a summary of the Vegas trip I can give you."

"I'll take it. Let me ask you a question. When you deked the guy in Hawaii, was Hatteras there?"

Ballard hesitated before answering.

"Uh, she was there for part of it," she said. "But she left while I was in the middle of it."

Goring wrote a note. Ballard watched the morgue men put the body bag in the back of their van.

"Okay," Goring said. "Just a couple more things. What made you come here today to check on her?"

"I thought it was unusual that she hadn't come to the unit this morning," Ballard said. "Her husband left her back in September, and with her kids in college, she didn't have much to do. She was at the squad at least three days a week, more often four or five days a week. So I emailed and left phone messages, and when she didn't respond, I started thinking something might be wrong. Nothing like this but that maybe she was upset with me or something. I ate lunch by the airport—at the Melody—and just thought I would drop by. I wasn't expecting anything, but then I pulled in and saw the garage was up and the door to the house was open."

"That set off the Spidey senses."

"You could say so, yeah."

"Did you see anything in the house that could help us?"

"Not really. It looked like her computer was taken. It shouldn't have had anything from work on it. People in the unit use department computers. It's a rule."

"The killer might not have known that."

"True."

"There's a dust pattern on the desk that indicates there was also a backup hard drive taken."

"I didn't see her phone anywhere, and when I called it, it didn't ring in the house."

"It's gone. We're already working on getting her records. But that'll take some time."

Ballard nodded as a thought came to her that she didn't want to share with Goring. "So," she said. "What else can I tell you?"

"Her ex, did she ever talk about him?" Goring asked. "Should we jump on that angle?"

"She didn't talk about the divorce much. She wasn't blindsided by it, I know that. And she never said anything about being in fear of him. He left her the house and he pays for the kids' college and all of that. For what it was, it seemed amicable."

"Do you know if she had a gun?"

"A gun? No. I mean, I didn't know about one. Why do you ask?"

"Just trying to determine whether she might have been shot with her own gun. We'll check ATF—"

"Wait, she was shot? I didn't see that."

"Once behind the left ear. Point-blank. There wasn't a lot of blood, and her hair covered the wound."

"I saw the mouse cord around her neck."

"We're thinking that could have been some kind of control or coercive thing used before the killing. We did find the casing. It was in her hair. A nine-mil Federal Premium. The criminalist in there says the firing-pin stamp looks like a Glock's. We'll get that confirmed by the gun unit."

Ballard just nodded. She was consumed by thoughts of Colleen's last moments. She had been tortured, and Ballard had to wonder what she had told her killer.

"I think that's it for now," Goring said. "I'm sure we'll have more later. Are you going back to the office?"

"As soon as I'm cleared, yeah. My captain is supposedly coming here."

"Who's that, Gandle? He thinks RHD is taking this?"

"He didn't say so."

"Good, because that's been settled. It would be a conflict of interest, since your unit falls under RHD. My LT says it's ours to keep."

"No argument from me."

"Good. We'll want to take a look at the victim's workspace and get into her computer there."

"You may need the tech unit to get into it. It's password-protected."

"Not a problem."

"When are you coming?"

"As soon as we're done here, we'll head over. One of us, at least."

"I'll make sure it's undisturbed. Am I clear now?"

"You're clear. Let me give you my card in case you think of anything else." She picked up her phone, pulled a card from its case, and handed it to Ballard.

"Thanks," Ballard said. "When Captain Gandle shows up, tell him I went back to Ahmanson to protect possible evidence."

Goring turned off the recording app.

"Will do," she said. "And Renée, you look like you're carrying this on yourself. It's not on you. Okay?"

"We'll see," Ballard said. "But thanks for saying that."

"You know, I haven't seen you the past few sessions at the Beanery."

"Oh, yeah, well, been kind of busy. But I'll be back."

"Good. Us girls need to stick together."

"You got that right."

Goring opened her door and got out. Ballard watched her go back up the front walk and through the open door of the house.

She pulled her phone and called Anders Persson.

"Renée? Please tell me they've made an arrest."

"No, not yet. They're just starting. What are you doing right now, Anders?"

"Now? Not much. I mean, I can't believe this, you know? She called me last night and told me you were angry about the password."

"Never mind that now. You know Colleen's cell number, right?"

"Sure, but—"

"I want you to see if you can get into her account. I want to know what calls she received and what calls she made in the last forty-eight hours."

"Uh… isn't that the kind of thing you—"

"I know I told you no hacking, but we both know you didn't listen. And this is different, Anders. This is Colleen. Her phone is missing and it will take the investigators on the case a week to get a search warrant and get the carrier to come across with the account records. I don't want to waste that much time. Can you do it?"

"Uh, sure, I can do that, but… you know…"

"If you don't want to do it, just tell me, Anders. You and Colleen were close. I thought you'd want to help get whoever the sick fuck is who did this."

"No, I do. I do. I can do this. I'm on it. No worries."

"Okay, Anders, thanks. Talk only to me about it and don't leave a trail. You got that? No trail."

"Got it."

She disconnected and started the engine. She knew she was crossing a line with the request to Persson. She had a feeling there were going to be other lines to cross as well. But she told herself essentially the same thing she had just told Anders: This was Colleen. One of us. And we will cross every line we have to.