The third man was Ronin Clarke, representing the Midnight Men task force since Neumayer was on vacation and Lisa Moore was on the outs with Lieutenant Robinson-Reynolds. The investigation had been designated a task force following the media frenzy that exploded after the story had been leaked to the Times. The three detectives normally assigned to the CAPs squad had also been assigned to the task force.
There were three different digital recorders on the table ready to capture the interview. Ballard had been given a Lybarger admonishment by Sanderson. This court-approved warning compelled her to answer questions about the shooting on Citrus Avenue for administrative investigative purposes only. If a criminal prosecution should arise from Ballard’s actions, then nothing she said in the interview could be used against her in a court of law. Ballard had thoroughly briefed her attorney on what had happened in Hannah Stovall’s house and what had led to the double shooting.
Boswell was now going to try to head things off at the pass.
“Let me just start by saying Ms. Ballard is not going to answer any questions from Force Investigation,” she said. “She — ”
“She’s taking the Fifth?” Sanderson asked. “She does that and she loses her job.”
“That’s what I was about to tell you if you didn’t interrupt. Ms. Ballard — you notice I didn’t say Detective Ballard — does not work for the LAPD and therefore FID has no standing in the matter on Citrus Avenue.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sanderson said.
“Earlier today, before the incident on Citrus Avenue, Ms. Ballard sent her resignation in an email to her immediate supervisor,” Boswell said. “If you check with Lieutenant Robinson-Reynolds, you will be able to confirm the email and the time it was sent. This means that Ballard was no longer a police officer at the time of the shooting of the two intruders to the house on Citrus. She was a private citizen and acted in defense of her life when two armed men broke into the home where she was lawfully permitted to be.”
“This is bullshit,” Sanderson said.
He looked at Dupree and nodded toward the door. Dupree got up and left the room, most likely to find Robinson-Reynolds, whom Ballard had seen in his office when she was brought to the Hollywood detective bureau for questioning.
“No, these are the facts, Captain,” Boswell said. “Ms. Ballard can show you her side of the email if you wish. Meantime, she is more than willing to tell Detective Clarke what happened and where a follow-up investigation might be warranted.”
“This is some kind of trick and we’re not going to play games,” Sanderson said. “She answers the questions or we go to the D.A. with it.”
Boswell scoffed.
“You can do that, of course,” she said. “But what will you go to the D.A. with? It is easily established through the home’s owner that she gave Ballard permission to be inside her home. She voluntarily gave her the keys to both her home and car. The physical evidence at the scene clearly shows a break-in and that Ballard, fearing for her safety, fired on two intruders who will soon be officially identified as the serial rapists known as the Midnight Men. So, let’s see, you are going to ask the elected district attorney to prosecute, for whatever reason, the woman who killed these two rapists after they broke into the house where she was alone? Well, all I can say is good luck with that, Captain.”
Clarke’s eyes betrayed that he was trying to repress a smile beneath his mask. The door to the room then opened and Dupree stepped back in. He closed the door but stayed standing. Sanderson looked at him and Dupree nodded. He had confirmed the resignation email to Robinson-Reynolds.
Sanderson stood up.
“This interview is now over,” he said.
He grabbed his recorder, turned it off, and followed Dupree out of the room. Clarke didn’t move and looked like he was still working on keeping a straight face.
“That leaves you, Detective Clarke,” Boswell said.
“I’d like to talk to Renée,” he said. “But I need to — ”
The door was flung open, cutting Clarke off. Lieutenant Robinson-Reynolds stepped in. He stared at Ballard while talking to Clarke.
“Was she advised?” he asked.
“She got the Lybarger but not Miranda, if that’s what you mean,” Clarke said. “But she’s willing to talk and says there is a follow-up we — ”
“No, we’re not talking,” Robinson-Reynolds said. “This is over. For now. Step out.”
Clarke stood up, grabbed his recorder, and left the room.
Robinson-Reynolds continued to stare at Ballard.
“Turn that off,” he said.
Ballard started to reach for the last recorder.
“No,” Boswell said. “I don’t think that’s a — ”
“Turn it off,” Robinson-Reynold said. “And you can go. I have something to say to Ballard that doesn’t leave this room.”
Boswell turned to Ballard.
“You want me to stay, I’ll stay,” she said.
“That’s okay, I’ll listen,” Ballard said.
“I’ll be right outside.”
“Thanks.”
Boswell got up and left the room. Ballard turned off the recorder.
“Ballard,” Robinson-Reynolds said. “I find it hard to believe that you set this up to kill those two assholes. But if I find out you did, I’m coming after you.”
Ballard held his gaze for a long moment before replying.
“And you’d be wrong — just like you’re wrong about me leaking to the Times,” she said. “And men like those two? They got off easy. I’d rather they rotted in prison the rest of their lives than get off the way they did.”
“Well, we’ll see about them,” he said. “And I already know who the leak to the Times was.”
“Who?”
Robinson-Reynolds didn’t answer. He left the door open as he left.
“Nice working with you, too,” Ballard said to the empty room.
She pocketed her recorder and stepped out herself. Boswell was waiting for her in the squad room. Ballard saw Lisa Moore and Ronin Clarke at the CAPs pod along with the others assigned to the task force. The whole team had been called in to handle the investigation of the two men Ballard had shot. If Robinson-Reynolds had unmasked Moore as the leak to the Times, he had apparently not done anything about it yet.
“He say anything I should know about?” Boswell asked.
“Nothing worth repeating,” Ballard said. “Thanks for what you did in there. You kicked ass.”
“I’ve been going head-to-head with Sanderson for four years. He’s all bluster. The only thing intimidating about him is his breath, and thank god he had to wear a mask.”
Ballard couldn’t hold back her smile, even if it was hidden by her own mask.
“So he was the smoker,” Ballard said. “I thought it was Dupree.”
“Nope, Sanderson,” Boswell said. “So, now, the bad news. I can no longer represent you since you are no longer an officer.”
“Right. I understand.”
“I can recommend a good lawyer on the outside should you need one.”
“Thanks.”
“I don’t think you will, because I don’t think there’s any question about your actions. They were the definition of self-defense. And taking off my lawyer hat for a moment here, it was you who kicked ass today, Renée.”
“Things didn’t turn out the way I’d planned.”
“Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“No, I think I have somebody waiting out there.”
“Okay. Pleasure doing business with you.”
They bumped fists and Boswell headed to the front exit. Ballard walked over to the Sex Assault pod. Lisa Moore did not look up, though Ballard knew she had seen her approach. Clarke now had his mask off. He used his thumb and forefinger to pantomime shooting a gun, blowing into the barrel, then holstering the weapon like an Old West shooter.
“You guys get IDs on those two yet?” Ballard asked.
“Working on it,” Clarke said. “But L-T gave us orders. We can’t talk to you now.”
Ballard nodded.
“Yeah, I get it,” she said.
She left the squad room for what she assumed would be the last time, heading toward the front exit, which took her by the lieutenant’s office. Robinson-Reynolds was behind his desk, mask off, talking on his landline. She held his eyes as she walked by. She said nothing.
Bosch was waiting in front of the station, leaning against the side of his old Cherokee.
“All good?” he asked.
“For now,” Ballard said. “But this isn’t over.”
45