Ballard

Previously on Ballard ...

You're Detective Ballard, right?

I heard about what you did last year.

- Don't move. - LAPD.

- Who are you? - Renée Ballard. RHD.

- What do you want? - I want the files you stole from me.

You call them the Flower Girls. I've been assigned their cases.

You think this is still your case, Bosch. It's not. It's mine.

- They're cutting me out. - News flash, Dad.

You're retired.

LAPD!

You do good work, Renée. Saved a life.

Maybe somewhere down the line we'll get to work together again.

Parker was the IO on the John Doe case we just pulled.

Remember me? I worked a murder back in 2020.

Mexican guy. Had a baby.

This is from a bus station in San Diego.

One of the last places John Doe was seen alive.

That baby was never found.

What happened?

Yulia is dead.

Someone killed her.

Yulia?

The primary focus of this unit

remains the murder of Councilman's sister.

He was the number one suspect in '01.

He killed her.

Sarah Pearlman's killer left DNA behind at another crime scene.

Laura Wilson. Back in '08.

We might have a goddamn serial killer on our hands.

Who was the investigator?

Harry Bosch.

Didn't know I was expecting company.

How you doing? Renée Ballard, RHD.

Detective Neylon. Valley Bureau.

This is my scene.

Not sure it's sexy enough for RHD.

Blue suits say it's a robbery gone wrong.

Is that what you're thinking?

Shots were fired around 10:05.

She walked in on a 211 in-progress,

spooked the robber, got herself shot in the back.

What's your interest here?

There's a slight chance this may relate to an unsolved case of mine.

- How's that? - My vic stayed here.

That's all?

Pretty much. It was an execution-style killing.

His body was dumped in the foothills about five years ago.

Plenty of unsavories, uh, make their way through this place.

Mostly by the hour.

And this here is just another sad result of that.

Nothing exotic like your, uh, execution.

Hey, do you mind if I just take a quick peek? Since I'm already here?

Knock yourself out.

You don't mind if I take a few photos, do you?

Whatever you want.

Was anything actually stolen?

Hard to tell in this mess.

Manager said three people paid cash for last night.

Impromptu shooting gallery is my bet.

Maybe our guy was searching for remnants.

You get the vic's name?

Am I your secretary now?

I just gotta have something to tell the captain.

Uh...

Yulia Kravetz.

Is that Kravetz with an E?

Yeah.

- You look in here? - Of course I did.

Why?

Yulia was already in here when your suspect showed up.

How do you figure?

Toilet paper.

You see that decorative fold?

And there's no water spots on the mirror.

She had already cleaned the bathroom when your killer shot her.

You've seen enough?

Yeah.

Oh, do you mind sharing ballistics when it comes in?

I just need something to compare to my cold case.

Sure thing. Top of my list.

How's it going?

Mind if I, uh, take a look at the security footage?

Do you guys not talk? I already told the other guy.

I know. I just need to check one more thing.

Be my guest.

- Really appreciate your help. - Mm-hmm.

Come on, come on, come on.

Oh, hey.

What are you still doing here?

No, I came back to give you my card for ballistics.

Time for you to go.

Sure.

That guy's an asshole.

Neylon? He's just marking his territory.

You think she's the woman who called RHD looking for you?

If she was, what if somebody was trying to shut her up?

We're gonna find out.

And the fastest way to do that is to find Yulia's killer and get him to talk.

How? With Neylon shutting us down?

That's not happening. We're working this case.

We're just not gonna tell him about it.

- Yello. - Hey. I'm still at the motel.

I got the vic's name.

- Hit me. - Yulia Kravetz. K-R-A-V-E-T-Z.

Start sourcing info on her. But do it on the down-low.

The detective working this case is a little touchy.

Oh, yeah. I know the type.

Speaking of which...

Harry Bosch.

His captain reassigned the Laura Wilson case after Bosch was put on leave.

But, looking at the book, he's the only one who did any meaningful work on it.

We should probably loop him in, right?

Tell him his killer left DNA at our scene?

We should, but just hold off for now, all right?

My plate's already full.

Okay.

- Sure. Talk soon. - Yeah.

They're starting on Yulia.

In the meantime take a look at this.

Yulia's shooter?

I mean, that's my guess. It's time-stamped right before the murder.

Look at that. There could be a gun in there.

Neylon says it's a robbery gone wrong, but I don't buy it.

Yulia had cleaned the bathroom already before she was shot.

So she didn't walk in on the shooter. He walked in on her.

- She was targeted. - We don't know that.

I knew something was weird about this place five years ago--

Parker. One step at a time.

Is that the woman you spoke to?

Claudia.

She clammed up when she figured I was with the police.

Maybe she'll have more to say away from the lights and sirens.

Hola.

- Claudia? - Mm-hmm.

No.

She is a detective.

She needs to ask you a few more questions, okay?

No, no. I don't know anything. I'm sorry.

The girls that work at the motel, they don't talk to cops.

They're undocumented?

You can go.

So the girls, they don't talk to the cops. Do they talk to you?

Some of them.

- What about Yulia? - She did.

Sweet girl.

I did her hair.

Wild orchid. That was her color.

She'd been through a lot.

Was she undocumented too?

She came here from Ukraine. Through Poland first, then Mexico.

Paid a coyote to get her over the border.

Any idea who might have wanted to hurt her?

A boyfriend, maybe?

Not sure.

Do you recognize this man?

I seen him around.

He comes in from time to time.

Asks for water and change.

So maybe homeless?

We're gonna have to work this one outside of typical avenues

since it's not our case.

Can't exactly run prints or DNA.

Yeah, on that. Why are we catching a fresh one?

You missed the part where she said Yulia might be tied to the John Doe?

At the moment, this guy is our only suspect.

And if he didn't kill Yulia, he could be a witness.

Fine. How do we catch the schmo?

Well, Ballard and I did a cursory check on encampments around the motel,

but there are more in the neighborhood.

Worth checking nearby shelters, uh, soup kitchens, churches.

And libraries. Quite a few unhoused folks use the facilities at my branch.

It's a whole lot of ground to cover.

I know. You should get started.

We don't even know if this is our guy. And it's 95 degrees out there today.

Bring a hat.

Evidence from the Laura Wilson case just landed.

Let's get 'em open. Get it on the board.

Let's see what we got.

Right.

September 7th, 2008. 1300 hours.

Arrived at 877 Tamarind pursuant to the reported homicide.

What a mess.

That's what 17 years with no arrest looks like.

Laura Wilson. Age 26. Black. Aspiring actress.

Strangled manually. Defensive wounds to hands and fingernails.

No signs of sexual assault.

Victim was single, lived alone.

Discovered by her mother after Laura missed church on Sunday.

Last seen by friends Saturday night at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood.

They were celebrating a commercial Laura shot.

Time of death, early the next morning: September 7th, roughly 0100.

Ballard.

Martina, track down a charger for that Blackberry.

Parker, Colleen, look for any ties between Brian Richmond and Laura.

Laffont, pull the DMV records of all of our wits,

and call me if there are any updates on Yulia.

I'm going to see Laura Wilson's mom.

On it, Boss.

Just Ballard's fine.