“Yes, my employees gave me a gift certificate for Christmas and I used it one day when I got off work early. Nothing happened.”
“Male or female masseuse?”
“Female.”
“All right. I will probably have more questions after I look through this.”
What she did not say was that she might have questions after she cross-referenced Carpenter’s answers with those from the other two victims.
“So, did you find out anything about the streetlighting guys?” Cindy asked.
“No, not yet,” Ballard said.
“Do you think it was them?”
“It could have been. The questionnaire is important because we need to find out where your attackers crossed paths with you. We want to try to understand who would target you, and why.”
Carpenter slapped her hand down on her thigh like she was fed up.
“Why is it my fault?” she said angrily. “Why is it because of something I did?”
“I’m not saying that,” Ballard said quickly. “I’m not saying that at all.”
Ballard felt her phone buzz. She checked the screen and saw that it was the inside line at Hollywood Station. It was the watch commander and she realized she had left the rover in the charging dock in her city car. She put the phone away without answering the call.
“Well, it sure seems like it,” Carpenter said.
“Then I’m sorry,” Ballard said. “So let me make it clear: You did nothing to deserve or attract this. What happened to you was not your fault in any way. We’re talking about the attackers here. I’m trying to learn where and under what circumstances these sick, twisted individuals decided to choose you. That’s all, and I don’t want you thinking that I’m looking at it any other way.”
Carpenter had her face turned away again. She murmured a response.
“Okay,” she said.
“I know that sometimes the investigation is just an ongoing reminder of what you were put through,” said Ballard. “But it’s a necessary evil, because we want to catch these assholes and put them away.”
“I know. And I’m sorry I’m being a bitch.”
“You’re not, Cindy. And you have nothing to be sorry about. At all.”
Ballard stood up and folded the Lambkin questionnaire in half.
“You’re going?” Carpenter asked.
After turning her face from her and repeatedly pushing back at her questions, Carpenter now seemed upset that Ballard was leaving.
“It looks like I have another call,” Ballard said. “I need to go. But I can check in later if you want me to.”
“Okay.”
“Are you working tomorrow?”
“No, I’m off.”
“Okay, I’ll check in with you if I have anything to report.”
Ballard left the house and headed to her car, looking at her phone for a message from the watch office. There was none. When she got to her car, she looked back at the streetlight at the front corner of Cindy Carpenter’s property. It was still out.
19
Before she got to her city ride Ballard’s phone buzzed again. This time it was her detective commander calling. This meant that the watch commander had roused Robinson-Reynolds at home to complain that she was not responding to radio or cell calls.
“L-T,” she said. “I’m about to check in with the watch commander.”
“What the hell, Ballard?” Robinson-Reynolds said.
“I was with my rape victim. She was very emotional and it wasn’t a good time to take the call. Plus I pulled a dead rover when I left the station. It’s charging in my car.”
“Well, they fucking need you at a scene.”
“I’m on my way. What is it? Where is it?”
“I don’t know, some kind of an assault in Thai Town. Get the details from the watch commander.”
“I’ll call him next.”
“I don’t like getting calls about my people, Ballard. You know that.”
“I do, L-T. It won’t happen — ”
Robinson-Reynolds disconnected.
“ — again.”
She had hoped to keep him on the line so she could update him on the cases she was working. Now she would have to wait till Monday. A lot could happen between now and then.
It was a good thing Ballard liked working alone, because the department had a freeze on promotions and hiring until the world cleared the pandemic. But what made solo work difficult was not having a partner to divvy up responsibilities with. Ballard had to cover everything and still fight to keep the cases she wanted to keep. Once in the car, she called the watch lieutenant on the rover. She chose this because the conversation would go out live on the radio. A cell call would have given him carte blanche to harangue her for not answering the initial calls.