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“We don’t want any trouble,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I am the police,” Ballard said. “This man is under arrest and the open house is over.”
SUNDAY, 12:00 P.M.
56
THE PRESS CONFERENCEon the tenth floor of the PAB started precisely on time. As choreographed by the captain of the media relations unit, Ballard led her full team from the Open-Unsolved Unit into the windowless press room. They were followed by Goring and Dubose and then Captain Gandle and the police chief himself, Carl Detry.
Detry was only two years into the job, having been appointed by the mayor and approved by the L.A. Police Commission after the prior chief’s surprise retirement. Detry’s tenure had started out rough with the political clash caused by his endorsement of Ernest O’Fallon’s opponent for district attorney. He had backed the wrong horse and O’Fallon never missed a chance to take the chief and the LAPD to task for any misdeeds. But Detry had come up through the ranks and knew the importance of the media. He knew how a press conference announcing the arrest of a serial predator could swing the needle of approval toward his department and himself. By city law, a police chief was appointed for a five-year term with a possible second term to follow with the police commission’s approval. So far, no chief in the modern era had posted a full ten years in the job. If Detry wanted to buck the trend, he needed to court and keep the media on his side.
Detry moved to the microphone. It was Sunday and a slow news day. That meant every seat in front of him was taken, and the raised stage in the back of the room was crowded with TV cameras on tripods and their operating crews.
Detry was tall and handsome. He wore a uniform instead of a suit with four stars on the collar; he was the image of LAPD pride and progressiveness. He was Black and from the city’s south side. He had said that as a teenager, he saw his community burn during the 1992 riots, and he had decided to join the LAPD instead of a gang. And now here he was, thirty years after earning the badge, leading the department that many believed had advanced little beyond those days of discord.
“I’m here today with good and bad news,” Detry began. “We have arrested a predator who struck fear into our community for many years. But we lost a good person during the investigation. Her loss is a reminder that to protect and serve this community, there are always dangers, and we must remain ever vigilant.”
He got down to business, identifying Andrew Bennett as the Pillowcase Rapist and the killer of Colleen Hatteras, a volunteer with the Open-Unsolved Unit. Detry said that Bennett was linked to Hatteras’s murder through ballistics and preliminary DNA results. He outlined how these connections were made and ended with the news that Detectives Goring and Dubose would present the case to the district attorney’s office in the morning.
Detry said he would take a few questions, but the overwhelming response from reporters were requests for someone to talk about the volunteer who had lost her life. Detry turned to his left and then to his right and signaled Ballard to the podium.
Ballard stepped forward and lowered the microphone.
“Colleen Hatteras was with us on the unit since we started two years ago,” she said. “She played a significant part in every case weworked, every case we cleared, including this one. Colleen’s work led to the identification of Andrew Bennett as our suspect and—”
“What went wrong?” a reporter interrupted.
Ballard looked down, composing an answer.
“Colleen did nothing wrong,” she said. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her. She didn’t bring it on herself.”
“Then why was she killed?” the reporter persisted.
“I take responsibility for that,” Ballard said. “It’s my unit and I didn’t do enough to safeguard my team. I mean, these are volunteers, and I should have been a better leader.”
“But how did this guy get to her?” the reporter asked, insistent. “Did she—”
“We don’t know,” Ballard said, forcefully cutting him off. “We don’t know yet.”
Ballard felt a hand touch her arm and saw the chief coming to her rescue. He gently moved her away from the microphone and took over.
“Those details as well as the rest of the evidence will become public when we go to trial,” Detry said. “For now, we’ve said what we can say at this time. With great sacrifice, a grave threat to the community has been removed by the diligent efforts of your police department. Thank you for being here and that’s all for today.”
As reporters shouted questions, the chief started ushering those behind the podium toward the door to the assembly room. Once they were all back there and the door was closed on the shouting, Detry turned to Ballard.
“Tell me this case isn’t going to crash and burn,” he said.
“Chief, it’s solid,” Ballard said. “He’s the guy. He confessed. And when we get the DNA back from the DOJ, it will be bulletproof.”
Gandle pushed his way past Laffont and Maddie Bosch to get close.
“We’ve got this, Chief,” he said.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Captain,” Detry said. “And Detective.”
The chief turned and headed to the door that led to his suite of offices.
“Ballard, I’ll be down in my office,” Gandle said. “Stop by.”
