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The rest of the review went quickly after that. “We’re expectingresults from the DOJ tomorrow on our DNA capture from Monday,” Ballard said. “If it goes the way we expect it to, we’re going to have to set up a surveillance on the judge while I go to the PAB and get the okay for an arrest. Who’s coming in?”
All hands rose in response. Everybody wanted to be in on the kill, so to speak. Even Maddie Bosch raised a hand, although she would be working her patrol shift Friday night. Ballard appreciated the team’s enthusiasm but told them that it was highly unlikely that they would be involved in the arrest.
“For something like this—big case and big suspect—they’ll tell us to stand down, and SIS will come in, take over surveillance, and make the arrest,” she said.
That got a round of boos. SIS was the Special Investigation Section, which handled major-case arrests.
“Don’t worry, we’ll still get the credit for it,” Ballard said. “It’s still our case.”
She went on to thank the team for their dedication and hard work. As the meeting broke up, she invited Maddie to have a cup of coffee.
The cafeteria was largely empty except for a table full of men Ballard knew were academy instructors. Ballard got a coffee and Maddie got a bottle of sparkling water.
“Your dad is switching from coffee to tea,” Ballard said.
“Really?” Maddie said. “You saw him recently?”
Ballard realized her mistake.
“Uh, yeah, I asked him for some help on a case,” she said. “Advice. Did you tell him about joining the unit?”
“Not yet,” Maddie said. “Now that it’s official, I’ll call him.”
“Good. You should. But I sort of sense that there’s something else going on with you. Something in play you haven’t told me about. And so I just wanted to give you the chance to tell me now rather than later.”
“Wow. I guess you can really read people.”
“Comes with the territory. So what’s going on, Maddie?”
“Well—you have to hear me out, because this is going to sound… weird, I guess. And don’t laugh, but I think I might have solved the Black Dahlia case.”
Ballard had no urge to laugh at all. The fervency with which Maddie had said this told her that she was deadly serious.
“Tell me about it,” Ballard said.
21
BALLARD WAS EARLYpulling into the parking lot of Echo Park Storage. She thought about her activities at the You-Store-It in Santa Monica. The coincidence of it was not lost on her. Unrelated but similar things seemed to be happening in twos.
She parked and left the car running while she made another call to the number Gordon Olmstead had told her was his direct line. As before, it went straight to voicemail.
“It’s Renée,” Ballard said. “Again. Just wondering what’s happening. Give me a call.”
She disconnected. She wondered if her tone sounded too pleading. There was a hollow feeling building in her chest as she second-guessed herself for bringing Olmstead and the FBI into the Thomas Dehaven investigation. She tried to push the feeling aside by calling Harry.
He answered right away.
“Just checking to see if you’ve heard anything from Olmstead.”
“Yeah, he called a little while ago. He said they want to set up the gun buy for Saturday morning.”
Ballard was immediately annoyed that Bosch was in the loop but she wasn’t. At the same time, she understood that Bosch had to be inthe loop since he would be the tethered goat they’d use as bait in taking down Dehaven.
“Are you good with that?” she asked.
“The sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Bosch said. “But they need the time to set it all up and pick their spots.”
“Where is it going down?”
