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“Whoa, who was that?” Hatteras said.
Ballard glanced up to see Hatteras looking over the partition, as usual.
“Never mind, Colleen,” Ballard said. “Just some jerk. Is Paul back yet?”
“Here,” Masser said.
Ballard turned in her chair and saw him walking in. He held up a document and came right to Ballard’s station.
“Got a copy of the birth certificate,” he said.
He put the document on her desk and pointed to the date of birth for Nicholas Purcell and then to a second date in a box markedRECORDED. The birth certificate had been recorded two days after his birth at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank.
“What’s it mean?” Hatteras asked.
“It means Nicholas Purcell was not adopted,” Masser said. “To adopt, a judge issues a decree, and a new birth certificate is created. The giveaway is that it’s usually weeks between the date of birth and the date of recording at the county registrar. Two days between dates means no adoption. Nicholas is the son of Jonathan and Vivian Purcell.”
“So that means… the judge is definitely our guy?” Hatteras said.
Masser nodded. “Looks like it,” he said.
“But we stick with protocol,” Ballard said. “We wait for the DNA confirmation.”
“And we should have that by Friday,” Masser said.
“Then we make our move,” Ballard said.
They fell into a solemn silence for a long moment, the gravity of knowing they were going after a superior court judge weighing on them. Masser finally broke the silence, but only to add more weight to their thoughts.
“The repercussions will be massive,” he said. “Any case he ruled on will be vulnerable to appeal. I guess it’s lucky he’s always been on the civil side. But still, the appeals that come out of this will clog things up for years.”
“That’s not our concern,” Ballard said. “If he’s the guy, he’s the guy, and we take him down.”
“Absolutely,” Masser said.
Hatteras cleared her throat to draw Ballard’s attention.
“What is it, Colleen?”
“Well, one thing you should know is that I’ve been building a heritage pattern using—”
“You mean a family tree?”
“Yes, the genetic tree, starting with the DNA sequence we got from Darcy.”
“Nicholas’s DNA.”
“Right. And what’s strange is that I’m not connecting anything to the judge so far.”
“What are you saying? We might be barking up the wrong family tree?”
“Funny, but yes, something doesn’t fit. I feel like I should be making connections, and so far they’re not there.”
“Well, keep at it, Colleen. It will probably be Friday before we know anything for sure about the DNA.”
“Okay, boss.”
“And don’t call me that.”
