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“I understand. Uh, it was your parents in Wichita who reported her missing from Los Angeles?”
“Yes. I remember my father went out there to look for her because he didn’t think the police were trying very hard to find her. But he didn’t find anything and when he came back… he wasn’t the same man. He’d sit in the dark by himself a lot. I remember we felt helpless. There was nothing we could do but wait and hope and pray. We thought someday that she would just come home or call and say she was all right. We waited… but that never happened. My mother stopped coming out of her room. I remember having to make dinner for my father and me.”
“Martha told us you have photos of your sister from back then. Do you have them now? Could you show us?”
“I have these. This one is the whole family. That’s Elyse. She was a beautiful girl. Everyone said she should be in the movies.”
Ballard did not have to see the expression on the face of the old woman holding up the photos to know the pain of waiting that she and her family had been through.
“This one my father took when Lysie—that’s what I called her—was leaving on the train for Los Angeles. She called it the City of Angels.”
“Mrs. Fanning, we’re going to arrange to get copies of those photos. We would also like to show you a photo to see if you can confirm that it’s Elyse.”
Ballard watched Hatteras hold up what was likely the last photo taken of Elyse Ford when she was alive and unscathed.
“Yes,” the old woman said. “That’s Elyse.”
“Are you sure?” Maddie said.
“That’s my big sister. I’d know her anywhere.”
“Okay. Thank you for confirming that for us.”
“Did you find her?”
“No, ma’am, we haven’t. But, uh, we believe she was a victim of a man we’re investigating. I’m very sorry.”
“I guess our waiting is over. Did this man… make her suffer?”
“We don’t know, ma’am,” Maddie said.
Ballard could tell by the looks on the faces of Maddie and Hatteras that the two women on the screen were crying. She could hear Elyse’s sister and niece attempting to console each other. There were never enough decades to ease the pain of the murder victim’s loved ones.
“Has there been an arrest?” the older woman managed to ask. “How did you find her picture?”
“No, there is no arrest,” Maddie said. “We believe the man is dead now. We found your sister’s photos in the things he kept in storage.”
“There are other photos? Can we please see them?”
Ballard saw Maddie lean her head back as she realized her mistake. “Uh, we can’t show you those right now, ma’am,” she said.
“If you only have photos, how can you be sure that this man killed my sister?” the old woman asked.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you everything we know, Mrs. Fanning. But we are sure this man killed your sister. We know it was a long time ago, but we’re very sorry for your loss.”
“I never thought we would know.”
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of such upsetting news. We will be in touch through Martha as the investigation continues.”
“Thank you.”
Martha also thanked them, then they all said goodbye, and the Zoom ended. Ballard got up and walked over to Maddie and Hatteras with the photo-analysis report.
“Good job,” she said. “Those are not easy.”
Maddie just nodded. She looked a little shaken. Ballard put the report down on the desk.
“The photo analysis came back as a ninety-two percent probability that the woman in the photo is Elizabeth Short.”
