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“There was nothing illegal about the application or the process. What would be illegal is if the individual approving the grant application received a kickback, or if they knew that the apartment was going to house trafficked women. But it’s bigger than Chen. This money isn’t tracked well, it’s handed out to nonprofits who have no requirement to document success. No transparency. Some may be doing good work. Others could be pocketing every dime and we wouldn’t know.”
“And this is what Violet Halliday was helping with? Because she works for the city, knows these things?”
“Yes, in part,” Elena said. “She’s a computer expert who rebuilt the crashed city hall system and intended to testify to the grand jury about what happened and prove—at least, that’s what we hoped—that the crash was intentional in order to hide corruption at the highest levels of city government.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What computer crash? What does that have to do with human trafficking or housing grants or anything?”
“Someone intentionally crashed city hall the same day as our raid on Chen,” Lex said. “Violet is the one who figured it out—and she has been working on rebuilding the destroyed system and finding the files that disappeared when the system was rebooted.”
Kara hated computers and technology, but she understood the gist of the issue. Violet was smart. She knew things. Information that Craig needed to prosecute.
“And now she’s missing,” Lex continued. “We’re looking for her, Will Lattimer is looking for her. With Chen and Craig dead, she’s the only one who knows those files exist and the only one who may be able to find them.”
“Then she’s in danger,” Kara said. “She could already be dead. You had her working for you? She’s not trained, and she’s not a cop. She’s a computer whiz, that’s it. And you put her undercover?”
“She’s a whistleblower. Works for the city and reporting on fraud and corruption,” Lex said.
“And she witnessed Chen’s murder! She’s hiding or already dead.” Kara couldn’t believe that they sounded so nonchalant about what they had Violet Halliday doing.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Elena said.
“I want to know what else is going on. Who are you investigating? What happened after I left LA? Who do you have undercover?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Elena said. “And even if I could, I don’t know that I would. You came in here accusing me of letting a dirty cop walk, and I resent that. Craig’s murder might jeopardize every single case stemming from Chen’s arrest. Every one of them! Eight months of work—undercover, investigatory, field work, grunt work. We’ve put in hundreds of man-hours since the raid. Do you think I don’t feel like the weight of the world is crashing down?”
Kara had never seen Elena this upset about anything. Angry, sure, but she was truly upset.
“Then read me in. Bring me into the operation. Fresh eyes—you know me, you know I’m an asset.”
“I can’t—not now.”
“Bullshit.”
“I can’t because the FBI is tugging on the Chen murder investigation and they want to interview you. If you’re under suspicion of a crime, any case you’re working could be tossed.”
“That’s bullshit. I was nowhere near Chen when he was killed. You know it.”
“Apparently my verification of your alibi isn’t good enough for the feds.”
“You can’t be serious.” Kara itched to pace; she forced herself to remain seated.
“They think LAPD has a conflict of interest,” Elena continued, sounding calmer, “and they mentioned your comment that you wished Chen had broken his neck when he fell.”
“Is this Bryce Thornton? This is a joke—he can’t come after me. I know for a fact that the FBI’s IA, whatever they call themselves, told him he couldn’t investigate me for anything.”
“ASAC Rebecca Chavez. I don’t know her, but she’s the one pushing. Called me, Campana talked to her, now the chief thinks we need to play nice. We’re not giving her the Chen homicide, but I have to sit down and tell her what I know.”
“Which is?”
“The cameras weren’t working. We have multiple witnesses with conflicting stories. We have a cop who was across the street, didn’t see the shooting itself, but saw Violet Halliday running from the scene. Multiple people saw her—she was carrying something. One person thought it was a gun. One person thought it was a briefcase. Another thought it was a phone. Two blocks south, we caught her on camera—she was indeed running—and she had nothing in her hand. We spent hours scouring the area and didn’t find anything she may have dropped—no gun, no phone, no briefcase. She had a messenger bag crosswise over her body, where she may have hidden something.”
“What would her motive be to kill Chen?”
“Anger at the system?” Lex offered.
Kara dismissed the comment. “I have far more anger than most people, but I have never killed anyone in cold blood.”
“I don’t believe she killed him,” Elena said. “Another witness stated that she saw a man wearing a face mask covering his mouth and nose walking away from the bodies. People still wear them sometimes, and no one gives them a second look anymore. She gave a decent description—white male, about forty with brown hair and maybe six feet tall. But that could fit any number of people. She didn’t see a gun.”
