Josefina’s face showed confusion. Ballard looked at Gabriel, trying to think of how to explain. Bosch called from the back of the chapel.
“Ultimo testamento.”
Ballard looked back at him and nodded, realizing he’d had many such conversations in his years as a homicide detective. She looked back at Josefina, who spoke to her son in Spanish.
“She doesn’t know,” Gabriel said.
“Did he have a lawyer?” Ballard asked. “Abogado?”
“Sí, sí, sí,” Josefina said. “Dario Calvente es su abogado.”
Ballard nodded.
“Thank you,” she said. “We’re going to call on him and he may ask you for permission to talk to us.”
Gabriel translated and Josefina nodded.
“Did Mr. Calvente come today?”
Josefina nodded.
“Did you know your husband’s business partner?” Ballard asked.
“No,” Josefina said.
“Was he here today? Dr. Hoyle?”
“I don’t know.”
It was clear to Ballard that Josefina knew little about Javier’s business dealings and that she needed to talk to the lawyer for clarity on things like the will, insurance, and records pertaining to the partnership.
“Josefina, did you know that Javier had to pay his way out of the Las Palmas gang?” Ballard asked.
Josefina nodded and seemed to take a moment to compose her answer. She spoke in Spanish and Gabriel translated.
“We could not have a family if he was doing these things with the gang,” he said.
“How much did he have to pay?” Ballard asked.
“Veinticinco,” Josefina said.
“Twenty-five thousand?”
“Sí. Yes.”
“Okay. Where did he get that money?”
“El dentista.”
“His partner.”
“Sí.”
“How did he know the dentist? Who brought the dentist?”
Gabriel translated the question but there was no answer to translate back. Josefina shook her head. She didn’t know.
Ballard said that she would be in touch when she had something more to report on the investigation and asked Gabriel to translate for Josefina to make sure she understood. She and Bosch left then and walked to his car.
“Should we see if we can run down Dario Calvente, the abogado?” Ballard asked.
“It’s a Sunday,” Bosch said. “I doubt he’ll be in his office.”
“We can find him. Let’s take my car. I’ll bring you back afterward.”
“Perfect.”
Ballard googled the lawyer’s name on her phone and found his website. Before she got to the car, she was leaving a message on his office line. Like Cindy Carpenter’s attorney, Calvente’s website promised 24/7 service.
“I’ll run his DMV and get his home address if he doesn’t call back pretty quick,” she told Bosch.
They got into the Defender and almost immediately Ballard got a call with a blocked ID that she assumed was Calvente.
“Detective Ballard.”
“Ballard, are you ducking my calls?”
She recognized the voice of Lieutenant Robinson-Reynolds.
“L-T, no. I, uh, was in a church so I had my phone off.”
“I know it’s Sunday, Ballard, but I didn’t think you were the church type.”
“It was a memorial for my homicide victim. I needed to speak to the family and, you know, see who showed up.”
“Ballard, you should not be working. You should be in the hospital.”
“I’m fine, Lieutenant. It was just a knock on the head.”
“Look, the overnight report said an EMT told you to go home. I don’t want this on an EMT, okay? I want you to go to an ER and get checked out before you do any more work.”
“I’m following a lead and I’m telling you, I’m — ”
“This is not a suggestion, Detective. This is an order. We are not going to risk anything with a head injury. Go to the ER and get checked out. Then call me back so I know.”
“Fine. I’ll finish up here and go.”
“Tonight, Detective. I want to hear from you tonight.”
“You got it, L-T.”
She disconnected and told Bosch about the order.
“Sounds like a smart move,” he said.
“You too now?” she said. “I’m fine and this will be a big waste of time.”
“You’re a cop. They’ll get you in quick.”
“Well, I’m not going to do it until I’m on duty. I’m not wasting my own time. And speaking of time, I’m not going to wait for this abogado to call back. Twenty-four-seven, my ass.”