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Ballard snapped out of her fugue and realized that this man had done so much for her.
“And Dan, thank you,” she said. “You went all out for her. For me. She might not have been worth it, but cop to cop, I appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Farley said. “That’s what we do here. And this is oneof the better endings, believe me. You take care, Renée, and I hope knowing your mother is still alive leads to something good between you two.”
“Yeah, me too. Thank you.”
She continued the drive west but passed by the transition to the south 405 that would have taken her back to Ahmanson. Instead, she continued west and took the curve through the tunnel where the freeway became the Pacific Coast Highway.
She headed toward the water.
FRIDAY, 9:00 A.M.
51
HER HAIR STILLwet from a morning surf at Trancas, Ballard entered the unit at Ahmanson, Starbucks cup in her hand. She expected to see Colleen Hatteras in place at the raft, but instead she saw Maddie Bosch.
“Maddie, what are you doing here?” she said. “It’s Friday. You have a shift tonight.”
Maddie looked up from her screen.
“I know, but I had to come in,” she said. “We already got results from the FFI and it’s a match. No qualifiers, no percentages. It’s a confirmed match. The woman in Thawyer’s photos is Elizabeth Short.”
Ballard put her cup and computer bag on her desk and walked around to Maddie’s station.
“Show me what you’ve got,” she said.
Maddie pushed her screen back so Ballard, who was standing, had a good angle on it. There was a document on the screen with letterhead from the Film Forensics Institute. It was addressed to Officer Madeline Bosch. It stated that Cameriere ear analysis between the photos submitted confirmed a match. It was the same woman in each photo. The letter said that two technicians, Paul Buckley and James Camp, conducted independent analyses of the photos and came tothe same conclusion and that both techs were qualified experts who would be available to testify in court about their findings.
“Okay, this is good,” Ballard said.
“Who do we submit to?” Maddie asked. “Plovc, or do we go right to the DA with it?”
“We start with Carol. We need to stay in our lane. If it goes across the street to the DA again, she has to take it over.”
“Okay.”
“Send that to me and I’ll send it and follow with a call. I want it in front of them today.”
Ballard looked around to check the raft once more. There was no one else in yet, not even Hatteras.
“You haven’t seen Colleen, have you?” she asked.
“Not since yesterday,” Maddie said. “You need me to do something?”
“No, it’s just that she’s usually here.”
“She’s probably at home sulking because you’re so mean to her.”
“Really? You think I’m mean to her?”
Maddie smiled. “I’m just kidding,” she said. “She just gets too in-your-face, you know what I mean?”
“Of course I do,” Ballard said. “That’s why I’m so mean to her.”
Maddie laughed and then got serious.
“Will you let me know how Plovc or anybody in the DA’s office responds to the ear match?”
