Chapter 38
BALLARD, LAFFONT, AND Stilwell got there in ten minutes. Ballard killed the siren as she pulled off the highway. The parking area was already a nest of police activity, as several more vehicles and officers had arrived.
Stilwell noticed that the doors of Middleton’s rental car were open and the trunk lid was up.
“That’s not good,” Laffont said from the back seat.
Ballard and Stilwell remained silent, and they all got out.
Masser came out of the crowd and approached them. He had been riding with Captain Dawkins and the Mookie surveillance team. He looked like his dog had just died.
Ballard pointed at the rental.
“Paul, what the fuck?” she said. “You let them search the car? They needed a warrant.”
“I know, I know,” Masser said. “I couldn’t stop them. They claimed exigent circumstances. But look, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing in the car. We’ve got nothing, and we’re going to have to cut him loose.”
Ballard froze.
“Nothing?” Ballard said.
Laffont spread his hands wide. “How can that be?” he said.
“He knew,” Stilwell said. “He made us.”
Just as he said it, Stilwell saw Middleton behind the glass in the back seat of one of the unmarked cars. He was leaning forward because he was still cuffed. They locked eyes for a moment and Middleton smiled at him.
It was a Fuck you smile.
“How?” Laffont asked.
Stilwell looked at Laffont.
“What do you mean, how?” he said. “He saw us on the boat. He saw us in the restroom. It could’ve been you drying hands that weren’t wet, or it could have been any number of—”
“Oh, so it’s on me,” Laffont said, squaring up in front of Stilwell.
“Guys,” Ballard said. “Not here. Not now. Save that shit for later. We need to think this through. I have to go talk to the girl, and then we’re going to huddle and figure out what to do to unfuck this situation.”
She walked away with Laffont still staring at Stilwell.
“You know,” he said, “Middleton wouldn’t have found us in that restroom and I wouldn’t have been drying my unwet hands if you hadn’t stumbled into our surveillance.”
“And I wouldn’t have stumbled into your surveillance if I had been told he was on the move,” Stilwell said.
“Guys, what did Renée just say?” Masser interjected. “We’re all pissed off about this. But let’s cool our jets and work this out.”
“Fine,” Laffont said.
He turned and stepped away, scuffing the gravel with the heel of his shoe.
Stilwell glanced back at the car, and this time Middleton gave him a slight nod as if to say, I got you.
Stilwell looked away and saw Ballard in a one-on-one with Molly Young by the front of the Bronco.
He could not hear what was being said but guessed that Ballard was assuring her that she had never been in danger.
The young woman had her chin down and her arms folded tightly across her chest. A classic defensive pose.
Stilwell looked past her and toward the mountain chain rising in the distance.
He started reviewing every detail he could remember about the past two days.
He was looking for what they had missed.
By the time Ballard came back over to talk, he thought he had something.
She waved her team together in a huddle. “Okay, guys, what’s our next move?” she said.
Masser and Laffont said nothing. Ballard looked at Stilwell.
“Stil?” she prompted.
“We need to hold him,” Stilwell said. “Middleton.”
“With what?” Laffont said. “He played us. We don’t have a shred of evidence to hold him with.”
“Actually…” Masser said.
“What, Paul?” Ballard said.
Masser looked at Stilwell.
“You’re talking about a forty-eight-hour hold, right?” he asked. “Not actually charging him?”
“Yes, hold him while we find the evidence to charge him,” Stilwell said.
Laffont made a snorting sound. Ballard held up her hand to quiet him.
“Paul?” she said. “Anything?”
Masser bumped a fist against his chin as he thought something through.
“Okay, just thinking out loud here,” he began. “He brought her here under false pretenses. He used a false name. And he set up a phony second hiker. We have the evidence to support all of that.”
“But none of that is technically illegal,” Laffont said.
“But it shows intent,” Masser said. “I think it gives us probable cause to arrest him for attempted abduction or attempted assault. I don’t think either would stick. There’s not enough there to ultimately file the charge, but you’d get your forty-eight hours.”
Under California law, probable cause was needed for arrest and detainment. Evidence had to be presented to the district attorney and charges filed within forty-eight hours or the detainee had to be released.
“He could post bail and be out before the end of the day,” Laffont said.
“But if we kick the attempted assault up to attempted rape, we can go for no bail until he appears in front of a judge,” Ballard said. “That would give us till tomorrow.”
Masser nodded. Ballard looked at Stilwell.
“Better than nothing,” she said.
Stilwell nodded too and felt a charge of adrenaline hit his blood.
“He booked these hikes while he was still back on Catalina, right?” he said. “Before he knew about us. That means when he got on the Express and left the island, he had his abduction-and-murder kit with him.”
“In his backpack,” Masser said.
“Which I almost opened when he was in the restroom,” Stilwell said.
“So he must have dumped it all after he made you guys,” Ballard said.
Stilwell turned to Laffont and said, putting all animosity aside, “You guys had him from the boat to the state building,” he said. “Where did he dump it?”
Laffont tucked his chin down as he mentally reviewed the surveillance of the day before.
“What stops did he make?” Ballard pressed.
“He went to the rental-car counter at the Express dock,” Masser said. “I watched him while Tom got our car. He went to the rental lot and got in the car. Then he drove. Tom picked me up and we never lost sight of him.”
“He did the drive-through at an In-N-Out,” Laffont said. “He ate his hamburger in the car and—”
“Cheeseburger, actually,” Masser said. “I saw it on the binos.”
“Whatever,” Laffont said. “He threw his trash out there, but it was one of those little cardboard boxes they give you. I don’t think that was it.”
“After that, he went straight up the one-ten to downtown and the Reagan Building,” Masser said.
“And you kept eyes on him?” Ballard asked.
“One of us did at all times,” Masser said. “Most of the time it was both—”
They were interrupted by the approach of Captain Dawkins.
“Ballard, are we cutting him loose?” he asked.
“No, we’re not,” Ballard said. “Can your guys take him over to Foothill and put him in an interview room? I’ll get there eventually and see if he wants to chat. Then we’ll book him.”
“We can do that,” Dawkins said.
“Thank you, Captain,” Ballard said.
Dawkins walked off, issuing the order to one of his men to transport Middleton to the Foothill Division station.
Ballard turned back to the team, and Stilwell asked a question.
“Did Middleton have the backpack when he went into the state building?” Stilwell asked.
“Uh, yes, he did,” Masser said. “I remember that.”
Laffont snapped his fingers.
“The restroom,” he said. “He went into the restroom on the fourth floor. We didn’t go in. Too risky, especially after what happened on the boat.”
“The restroom and when he was in the job interview at the state parks office,” Masser said. “Those were the only times we didn’t have eyes on him. Then SIS came and picked up the tail from there.”
“They said he went straight to the hotel in Burbank,” Ballard said. “He didn’t leave his room until he headed here.”
“I can write the warrant,” Masser said. “You two go to the hotel; Renée and I will go to a judge.”
“Forget it,” Stilwell said. “It’s not in his room. He’d figure we’d search his room. This guy thinks he’s smarter than us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have run this whole charade. He wanted to taunt us. You can check his room but he wouldn’t make a mistake like that.”
Stilwell gestured toward the crowded parking lot.
“He thinks he’s got this covered,” he continued. “Hell, he just smiled at me.”
“When?” Ballard asked.
“Five minutes ago,” Stilwell said. “Handcuffed, back seat of a cop car, and he fucking smiles at me. He thinks this is a game and that he’s already won it. Point is, he’s too smart to leave any evidence in his room. I like the state building. It’s somewhere there.”
“I like it too,” Ballard said. “Let’s go.”