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“So, let me get this straight. Renée Ballard put a serial killer on her own cold case team.”
“No. It wasn’t her call. He wasn’t her choice.”
“Then who?”
“You should maybe call Nelson Hastings at the councilman’s office and ask him that question.”
Bosch could hear Russell’s muffled laugh even though it was apparent she had put her hand over the phone. Then she came back clear.
“This is just too fucking good,” she said.
“Remember, confirm it on your own,” Bosch said. “Not from me.”
“Don’t worry, Harry. I will. You trust me? You used to.”
“That was a long time ago. I’ll know if I can trust you when I read the paper tomorrow.”
“You’ll see it online at ten.”
“I don’t subscribe.”
“Then wait till tomorrow. But let’s get that drink soon.”
“You do this right, and drinks are on me.”
“That’s a deal. And I gotta go. Deadline’s in an hour, and thanks to you, I still have a lot of work to do.”
“Happy hunting.”
Bosch disconnected and looked down into the pass again. Nothing was moving. The city’s arteries were clogged.
41
BALLARD WANTED TO be the first one in to work, but as she entered the archive room, she heard the rhythmic mechanical sounds of a multipage job being printed in the copy room. She looked in and found Bosch sliding documents over the three rings of a binder as more were being printed.
“Harry, what are you doing here?”
He looked at her for a long moment before answering.
“Uh, I work here. Unless I’m fired and they didn’t tell me.”
“No, I meant, I thought you’d take some time. To heal up.”
“Two days was enough. I’m fine. I’m good.”
“Last time I saw you, that knee looked kind of wobbly.”
“I bought one of those compression sleeves at CVS. It works pretty good. But you should see the mark it leaves on my leg.”
Ballard stepped all the way in and looked at the binder. He was obviously putting together a murder book.
“So what’s this?” she asked.
“I’m copying the files I don’t have on the Gallagher Family case,” he said. “I’m going to start back on it.”
“I thought we were clear on copying files, and yet here you are.”
Bosch said nothing as he put a stack of documents back on therings of one of the original murder books. Ballard put the box she was carrying down on a counter next to the binder Bosch was stacking.
