She called the number from the divorce filing and reached a robot answering service that asked her to leave a message and assured her that Ms. Edwards would call back as soon as possible. Ballard left a message.
“My name is Renée Ballard, I’m a detective with the LAPD and I need Evelyn Edwards to call me back tonight. I am investigating a violent crime involving one of her clients. Please call me back.”
Ballard disconnected the call and sat unmoving for a long moment, half expecting Edwards to call back immediately. Yet she knew that was unlikely. She started thinking about next moves and the need to start a cross-referencing file into which she would put the data she would receive from the three victims of the Midnight Men.
She opened a new file folder on her laptop, but before she could even name it, her phone buzzed. It was Evelyn Edwards.
“Sorry to interrupt your Friday night.”
“Detective, I must say, that was not the kind of message one would like to receive on any night. Which of my clients has been victimized?”
“Cindy Carpenter. You handled her divorce two years ago.”
“Yes, she’s my client. What happened?”
“She was the victim of a home invasion. Because we have an open investigation, I’m not going to go into details. I hope you understand that.”
There was a moment during which Edwards read between the lines.
“Is Cynthia okay?” she asked.
“She’s safe and doing better,” Ballard said.
“Was it Reginald?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because I don’t understand why you would call me if this didn’t have anything to do with her divorce and her ex-husband.”
“I can tell you that her ex-husband is not a suspect at this time. But any thorough investigation includes looking at all possibilities, so that’s what we’re doing. I looked up the divorce records and saw that they were sealed. This is what brings me to call you.”
“Yes, the records are sealed for a good reason. I would be in violation of a court order as well as my obligations to attorney-client privilege and confidentiality if I were to discuss such matters with you.”
“I thought maybe there was a work-around on that, that you could tell me about the relationship without breaking the seal, so to speak.”
“Did you not ask Cynthia?”
“I did and she was reluctant to talk about it today. I didn’t want to press it. She’s had a difficult day.”
“What are you not telling me, Detective?”
It was always the lawyer who wanted to ask questions instead of answer them. Ballard ignored this.
“Can you tell me this … ” Ballard said. “Who asked the judge to seal the records?”
There was a long pause while Edwards apparently reviewed the rules of law to determine if she could answer.
“I can tell you that I asked that the judge seal the record,” she finally said. “And that request would have been in open court.”
Ballard got the hint.
“You know I am not going to be able to find a transcript of that hearing on a Friday night,” Ballard said. “Maybe not even on Monday. Would it break the rules for you to summarize why you asked the judge in open court to seal the record?”
“Without first consulting my client, I will only tell you this,” Edwards said. “The cause of action in the divorce contained allegations of things Mr. Carpenter did to my client to humiliate her. Terrible things. She didn’t want those allegations contained in any public record. The judge agreed, the file was sealed — and that’s all I can tell you.”
“Reggie’s a bad guy, isn’t he?”
It was a shot in the dark. Ballard thought maybe she’d get a response, but Edwards didn’t bite.
“What else can I do for you, Detective Ballard?” she asked instead.
“I appreciate your time, Ms. Edwards. Thank you for calling me back.”
“Not at all. I hope you get whoever it was who committed this crime.”
“I intend to.”
Ballard disconnected. She leaned back in her chair to consider what she had learned from Edwards and the call to Reginald Carpenter. She had just pulled on a string without much reason other than her gut feeling about the way Cindy Carpenter talked about her ex. But this case was about two serial rapists who had attacked three different women. That this would connect to Reginald Carpenter, whether he was an abusive husband or not, seemed far-fetched. Plus, he claimed he had been in Palm Springs. She doubted he would have mentioned that to a detective if it could not be backed up.