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“I meant, do you have it there, or is it in evidence archives?” Hatteras said. “I’d like to see the original.”
“It’s here,” Bosch said.
He opened the thickest murder book because he knew it contained the plastic sleeves holding the photos from the case. The letter was sealed in one of the sleeves. He opened the binder’s rings, slipped out the sleeve with the McShane letter, and handed it to Hatteras.
She looked at it for a moment, holding the sleeve at the edges with two hands.
“Can I take it out?” she asked.
“Why?” Bosch asked. “It’s evidence.”
“I want to hold it,” Hatteras said.
“It was processed back then, right?” Ballard said.
“Yes,” Bosch said. “No prints, but the signature was matched to McShane’s. He sent it.”
“I mean, she can take it out,” Ballard said. “It’s been processed.”
“I guess,” Bosch said. “Whatever.”
He watched Hatteras open the sleeve and slip the document out. She then held it the same way with two hands, no gloves. But she wasn’t reading it. Bosch saw that her eyes were closed.
Bosch turned to Ballard, a puzzled look on his face. Before either could speak, Hatteras did.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” she said.
“What?” Bosch asked.
“McShane,” Hatteras said. “I think he was telling the truth when he wrote that he was innocent but couldn’t prove it.”
“What are you talking about?” Bosch said. “You weren’t even read—”
It hit Bosch then. But Ballard spoke before he could.
“Harry, let’s sidebar this for the moment,” she said. “I think it would be best if everybody went back to their own cases now, and I’ll finish showing Harry around the facility.”
Masser returned the brochure to Bosch, followed by Hatteras handing him the McShane letter, back in its protective sleeve.
Ballard stood up.
“Let’s start with our interview room,” she said.
Ballard started walking toward the aisle that led to the archive room entrance. Bosch put the brochure and letter sleeve back on the binder rings, snapped them closed, and then followed her.
8
BALLARD STEPPED INTO the interview room, bracing for what she knew would be coming from Bosch but acting like everything was routine and normal. Bosch closed the door after following her in.
“You put a psychic on the team?” he said. “Are you kidding me? You brought me in to work with a psychic? Are we going to hold séances to talk to the dead and ask them who killed the Gallagher family?”
“Harry, settle down,” Ballard said. “I knew you would lose your shit about Hatteras. I didn’t expect it to come out so fast. And for the record, she calls herself an ‘empath,’ not a psychic, okay?”
Bosch shook his head.
“Whatever,” he said. “It’s still kooky shit. You know you can never use her in court. She’ll get torn apart and it will shred the case. I don’t want her anywhere near Gallagher. She’ll taint it with this mumbo jumbo.”
Ballard didn’t respond at first. She waited for Bosch to settle and be quiet. She then pulled out one of the chairs at the interview table and sat.
