AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s the point. We know it’s solved. We’re still going to call the Fords in Wichita and give them final answers. Okay, the DA won’t sign off on this because he doesn’t want to give our chief the win, but that doesn’t matter. We know what we know.”
“It matters to me.”
Ballard realized that it mattered to Maddie in part because the Black Dahlia case could launch her career and get her into the detective ranks sooner rather than later. Ballard suddenly felt bad about trying to educate her on the politics of the department.
“Look,” Ballard said, “people in the department will know what you did. Captain Gandle already does. When we get back, let’s see what we’ve got and what we could still get to make the case sobulletproof that the DA won’t have any choice but to sign off on it. We’re already close. There’s got to be something else. Something we haven’t thought of yet.”
Maddie responded in a dejected voice. “We already gave them enough,” she said.
“True—from our point of view. But O’Fallon’s a political animal. We have to think about it from his perspective and bring in something so important that the case becomes a liability to him if hedoesn’tsign off on it.”
“Don’t you think if there was such a thing, we would have already found it?”
“Maybe. But there were photos of other victims. Let’s confirm another one. Or two more, whatever it takes. Then we go back to the DA.”
They passed a freeway sign announcing the exit to Zzyzx. Ballard opened her phone contacts and called Carol Plovc. She put the call on speaker so Maddie could hear.
“Carol, what happened?”
“Renée, I’m sorry. It was completely taken away from me. I brought it across the street to Nicki Gallant, and I had no idea she was going to take it up to O’Fallon. I knew as soon as that happened it would be a reject. I’m sorry.”
“Did you get anything back? Deficiencies? What can we do?”
“Nothing, and I don’t expect there to be any feedback. It’s the photo analysis. Like I told you, there’s reasonable doubt in the numbers.”
“Okay, Carol. Thanks for the effort.”
“If it were up to me, I would have signed off.”
“I know.”
Ballard disconnected.
“If she would have signed off on it, why did she send it across the street?” Maddie asked.
“Politics,” Ballard said. “She was in a lose-lose situation. If she signed off on it, O’Fallon would probably have demoted her. So she sent it across the street to die.”
The frustration in the car was palpable. Ballard and Maddie fell into silence. They had a hundred miles to go and nothing more to say.
THURSDAY, 9:12 A.M.
46
EVERYONE ON THEteam had already fulfilled their weekly time commitments, but Ballard arrived at Ahmanson to find Hatteras at her desk. Hatteras could always be counted on for three to five days a week, but today Ballard had asked her to come in. She knew Hatteras had worked into the night Wednesday to locate Victor Best, Andrew Bennett, and Taylor Weeks. Ballard had been too tired after returning from Vegas to take her report and asked for a morning meeting instead.
“Colleen, sorry I’m late,” Ballard said. “I got hung up at the lab.”
“You took in the swab from Van Ness?” Hatteras asked.
Ballard put her bag down at her desk.
“I did,” she said. “I’m going to go up and get coffee, then we can talk. You want a cup?”
“No, I’m good,” Hatteras said.
Ballard opened a drawer at her desk and pulled out a coffee mug. It was a memento from her days in the Robbery-Homicide Division. Printed on it was a familiar slogan:LAPD HOMICIDE—OUR DAY BEGINS WHEN YOUR DAY ENDS.
She headed up to the coffee room on the second floor. While shewas pouring, she got a call from Captain Gandle. Reluctantly, she accepted it. Any call with the captain these days felt adversarial.
