Original subtitles

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.

Come on, baby.

Ha.

Little early to call it a day, don't you think?

I'm going to conduct an interview.

-Family member of a victim. -Uh-huh. Which case?

This new Laura Wilson murder, or the one you caught this morning?

'Cause it seems to me you're opening cases faster than you're closing them.

I'm sorry that you see it that way.

When you took control of this unit,

you assured me that my sister's case was gonna be a top p...

Laura Wilson was strangled in 2008 by the same person who killed your sister.

So working her case is working Sarah's.

And even if it wasn't, Councilman,

your sister is not more or less important than any of my victims, okay?

Their families have been grieving too.

You said Laura was murdered in 2008?

Yeah.

September 7th, 2008. Why?

Then Brian Richmond couldn't have done it.

What do you mean?

He was out of the country in 2008.

Look, I kept tabs on him for years.

He was in Iraq. October 2007 to May 2009.

Two tours. He didn't come back to the States once.

We linked the killings through DNA.

-Then the DNA is wrong. -That's highly unlikely.

I put my faith in you, okay?

What you're talking about isn't even possible.

It is possible.

If Brian Richmond isn't the killer.

God. Look...

Look, if what you're saying about his deployment is true,

then he didn't kill Laura, and... ...he didn't kill Sarah either.

I spent 24 years hating that man.

It was infuriating watching him walk free while my sister was in the ground.

My, um, mom died last year.

She was never sure about Brian, and I think that's what killed her.

The not knowing. It ate her up inside.

I can't let the same thing happen to my father.

Or to me, frankly.

Then let me get back to work.

God.

Yello.

Brian Richmond is off the board.

You're kidding.

No. We gotta confirm with the NPRC,

but according to Pearlman, he was serving in Iraq when Laura died.

So, it's time to call Bosch in, right?

-Get his take on Laura Wilson? -No, no, no, no, no.

I got Pearlman to deal with. I got Neylon to work around. I got Rawls.

Last thing I need is another swinging dick.

-No offense. -None taken.

It's just, given my last go-around with Bosch,

I just don't wanna ring that bell yet.

Vivian Wilson?

I'm Renée Ballard. LAPD.

No one told me about a cold case unit.

We've only been up and running a few weeks,

and when I reopened your daughter's case...

I wasn't informed it was closed.

There's been some movement. Do you recognize this girl?

Her name is Sarah Pearlman.

I found evidence that suggests

that she may have been killed by the same man who killed Laura.

It has been nine years since the LAPD sent someone to talk to me about my daughter.

But now that her death is connected to the murder of a white girl,

here comes the calvary.

Mrs. Wilson, Laura is important to me...

Do you understand the pain of losing your only child?

No, I don't. And I'm sorry to do this.

I need to ask these questions because the killer is out there right now,

and he could still be active.

I've never seen this girl, and Laura never mentioned her.

There's nothing else I can do for you, Detective.

No one offers to help.

No one even looks at me. And Windel gets away.

But he didn't get away, did he?

You arrested him in the back of that dry cleaners.

What I find interesting

is how this dream might relate to another recent event in your life.

Renée, it's common when victims of rape or sexual violence...

I wasn't raped.

Because you fought him off.

But I do wonder if running cold cases is proving to be a secondary trauma...

You're reaching.

Am I?

It's a position you were forced into

precisely because your brothers in blue turned their backs on you.

In a way, maybe that betrayal is harder to stomach than what Olivas...

You know what...

Can we just focus on the shooting? Please.

That's what I'm mandated to talk to you about, isn't it?

All right. It's not gonna be a problem.

There she is. Only woman I know who takes her shotgun to the cleaners.

Yeah, all the shrinks are on six. Who they get you talking to?

Sandoval.

Oh. I like her. Nice rack.

You're an idiot, Pintero.

What? I'm kidding.

-You're always so uptight, Ballard. -Hey. Leave it.

Hope the traffic's not too bad.

Long way back to the Ahmanson.

-Have a good day, Renée. -Come on, Chastain. Hurry up.

Audition footage of Laura Wilson's toothpaste ad.

I found it in one of the more morbid corners of the Internet.

She'd shot a series of spots for the brand,

but they shelved the campaign after her murder.

Martina, you got something?

I don't know if it's...

There are no bad ideas.

I was looking through Sarah's yearbook.

She was in Drama Club.

So acting is something she could have in common with Laura.

Definitely not rare in LA. It could be how they crossed paths.

-Maybe worth a look? -Mm-hmm.

Got an email from NPRC confirming Brian Richmond's alibi.

Iraq '08.

All right.

So we're back to square one on the Pearlman/Wilson murders.

Anything is worth a look.

-Where are we with Rawls's search? -No luck yet.

But I'm itching to get out there myself if you don't need me here.

Yeah. Good. Go. Make sure he's not just soaking up AC somewhere.

All right.

Yello. Hey, Ravi.

The morgue.

No. No, I appreciate it.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Turns out Neylon was a no-show at Yulia's autopsy.

It's his case.

We need to get that bullet ourselves and take it into ballistics.

There's gonna be hell to pay if you go behind his back.

I'm not going. You are.

The sooner we know if Yulia's bullet ties back to John Doe, the better.

Okay.

Can I go with him?

You wanna go to the morgue?

Definitely.

You know, for some real-world cop experience.

Heard you had a crazy full moon a few nights ago.

Yeah. Eleven homicides alone.

Made for some good overtime though.

Just wrapped up an hour ago.

The bullet we removed from her back. You clear this with Neylon?

As far as you know.

Hey. Hey.

You okay?

-Thanks. -You're welcome.

Uh-uh.

You need a warrant for that.

It's a tent.

Rules are rules.

Oh.

Sorry about that.

What?

This is a blanket from the motel.

Huh?

Don't be all full of yourself now.

Hey, anybody know whose tent this is?

I just wanna talk.

We found DNA that ties Sarah's killer to another murder.

You gonna pin this one on me too?

The murder that happened in '08

when you were deployed.

We know it wasn't you, Brian.

We know you didn't kill Sarah.

I need to ask you if you've ever seen this woman? Laura Wilson.

Is it possible that Sarah knew her?

Are you kidding me?

I'm sorry.

I know how much you've been through.

I just thought that maybe this would give you some kind of peace.

I was 19 when Sarah was killed.

I was on defense from day one 'cause of you people.

How the hell do you think you're gonna give me peace?

Can you just go?

Please.

Take care of yourself, Brian.

-Rawls, what's up? -Hey.

Uh, we got a lead. This homeless woman.

Uh, sorry. Unhoused woman.

Uh, she had a blanket from the motel.

Said she got it from a dude named Frosty, and even IDed him off of your photo.

But now the volunteer at this shelter,

she said Frosty's real name is Sean Wright.

And if he's not here, you can find him

squatting at some drug den off of San Fernando.

You got an address?

Cops.

LAPD! Get your hands up!

Run!

LAPD. Hands up. Hands up.

Sean. Sean, hands up!

Go, go, go. Out. Everybody out.

Stay behind me, Rawls.

Hands.

Don't stop. Keep going.

Rawls.

-You good? -Go.

Sean Wright. Hands on your head.

Hands on your head. On your knees now.

Down, down, down.

Now!

Holy shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Jesus.

He's running with a broken leg.

Shit can never just be easy.

Hi.

Ouch.

What happened to you?

Oh, no. It's fine. Uh, come on in.

Tutu's not home?

No. She's at a poker tournament in La Jolla.

Hmm.

I'm not sure I feel right being here without a chaperone.

I'm sure Lola will keep an eye on you.

I'd hate to see the other guy.

You know, he actually did more damage to himself than I did to him.

He's currently in the hospital, getting a fibula reset

and, um, coming down from PCP.

Some days the biggest danger I face at work is a sunburn.

Better watch out.

That face is no good to me unless it's got a youthful glow.

I knew you'd had a bad day when you called.

How?

-Honestly? -Mm-hmm.

Those are the only days you call.

That's not true.

Sometimes it's just better for me

if I can keep you in the dark.

Because then maybe I can join you there.

You know, I could get used to this.

So could I.

Uh. Wow, this is embarrassing.

Don't be silly. I've seen all kinds.

-Renée told me that you were, uh... -In La Jolla. Yeah.

I came home this morning.

Busted out in the first round of the tourney.

That's too bad.

Ren was gone when I got home.

Uh, she said the captain called her in early.

Uh, well, I'll just...

Grab a seat. I'm making breakfast. You want some coffee?

Yeah.

September 10th, 2008.

1640 hours.

Spoke to witness Adam Lennox.

Friend of Laura Wilson.

Lennox stated he saw a blue van parked outside Wilson's apartment...

Ballard. Let's go.

Have a seat.

I believe you know Detective Neylon.

I do, sir.

Morning.

You're supposed to be working the Pearlman case, correct?

It is one of the investigations I'm focused on, yes.

And is that in any way relevant

to the Sunbeam murder you highjacked from Detective Neylon?

-Sir, I didn't highjack... -It's a simple yes or no.

No, sir.

The Sunbeam case has nothing to do with Sarah Pearlman,

but I do believe it's related to another cold case that I'm working,

-and I wanted to be a team player... -You said you were RHD.

I am RHD.

Cold cases. That barely counts.

She stole my ballistics evidence. She's way outta line.

I couldn't agree more.

But she's run circles around you.

What are you talking about?

She arrested your guy yesterday.

Before you even had your first lead.

-I was pursuing the... -It's Ballard's case now.

She earned it.

You're dismissed.

I heard you got a little roughed up bagging the guy.

I don't like you getting in these skirmishes.

-I had backup. -A reserve officer and a volunteer.

Well, Parker's a former cop, and she's put in for her full-time reserve, so she's...

This suspect you got down at County...

case against him is thin.

Short of tying him to a murder weapon you don't have.

You're gonna need him to confess.

Yes, sir.

I stuck my neck out for you, Ballard.

Recommended you for cold cases when the Chief and others had a different idea.

-Yes, sir. I know. -Sew it up.

Spit and slide under.

Renée Ballard bearing a gift.

Hey, Freddie.

-Ooh. She's a beauty. -Mm-hmm.

Must be a big ask.

Well, I was hoping you could, uh, bump me to the front of the line.

Uh, this about the bullet Laffont dropped off?

Yeah. Yulia Kravetz murder.

Cap's really riding me on this one, so the sooner the better.

There she is.

Hey, do you think you could also check ballistics against a John Doe I'm working?

Freddie, did I mention this pot,

hand-painted.

You got it. Case number?

April 23rd, 2011.

Reinterviewed Adam Lennox.

No new info.

February 1st, 2012.

No new info.

June 1st, 2013.

No new info.

Mom.

Well, Mom...

O-Okay, and I will come see him tomorrow.

I promise. I'm not gonna...

Dr. Gellar. Please report to the Burn Unit.

What? What?

No, it-it's nothing. It's...

It's just some woman in, uh, in the store.

I don't-I don't know, Mom.

I have... I have to go.

Okay. I love you too.

Dr. Bernard,

please call line two.

Dr. Bernard, line two.

She had some feelings about my time in the LAPD.

And if she gets a whiff of what I'm doing right now, she'd have a lot more.

Don't sit on it too long.

How'd it go with Berchem?

Well, he gave me the case officially.

-Great. -Yeah.

But poaching Neylon's investigation puts a target on my back,

so I gotta make something of it.

Okay. Well, let's get this guy to confess.

Yeah.

Mr. Wright, did you know Yulia Kravetz?

I didn't like her one bit.

Did you shoot her, Mr. Wright?

I never met her before.

You didn't like her, but you never met her?

When we arrested you, we found $600 in your pocket.

Where'd you get the money?

A man gave it to me. Uh, he paid me.

He paid you for what?

My soul.

Did he tell you anything? About Yulia.

He said she was rotten. And she'd make me rotten too.

Can you describe this man?

Uh, he was blinding his eyes.

Did he pay you to kill Yulia?

I thought you said he'd be sober by now.

He's dead-sober.

Our records show that he has a history of severe mental illness.

This is just who he is.

Whoever paid him knew he was long gone.

They used him as a weapon.

Where'd you put the gun, Sean?

Oh. I planted it.

Like a seed in the earth.

I need you to tell me where you put the gun, Sean.

I planted it, and it grew into a rose garden.

Thank you.

She started at the Sunbeam in February, right?

Hey, what's up?

Nothing. I'm fine.

The morgue. I cannot stop thinking about it.

All that sadness in one place.

When I was a boot at RHD,

my first partner told me that our job was to honor the dead.

I try to think

if they could talk,

what would they want from me?

So Sean Wright was a bust, huh?

Guy's barely coherent.

Even if he did confess, it would never hold up in court.

Then we really need to find that gun.

Yes, we do.

I sent Rawls and Parker to search the area around the drug den.

But I need you to coordinate with them to set up a proper grid search.

Also, he mentioned... ...burying the gun,

so check all tree-lined streets, all surrounding parks.

Ballard.

Harry.

Need a word.

I have spent years building a rapport with Vivian Wilson.

-You blow it up in one night? -There've been developments.

Bullshit.

You just wanna show the councilman you're out there shaking trees.

I'm not shaking trees.

You're trying to connect Laura's murder to Sarah.

I'm not trying.

They are connected. Through DNA.

There was no DNA at the Pearlman crime scene. Everyone knows that.

Everyone was wrong.

I lifted Touch DNA from the fingerprint tape.

Smart.

Thanks.

-Let me buy you lunch. -Sure.

Should I take it personally?

Take what personally?

That you didn't call me up to come and turn your cold case closed.

Mmm.

You would never last.

You're a lone wolf, Harry Bosch.

Oh, yeah. Says the detective who decided not to reach out

and get the background on the Laura Wilson case.

You know, I'm just trying to get my head around how to run this unit.

It wasn't exactly in my five-year plan.

But the brass didn't give me much choice.

I really pissed some people off.

Yeah, I heard about that. I'm sorry it didn't go your way.

Well, ironically, I'm now defending the institution that shit all over me.

Yeah. Sounds about right.

You know, it doesn't even matter if it's a family member or a former suspect.

Everyone is so mad at the LAPD. And I'm the punching bag.

Yeah, I don't envy you.

Finding a killer is like

finding a needle in a haystack.

Except with a cold case, haystack's been blown all over the field.

Too bad I'm not good at anything else.

Amen, sister.

But... Can think of worse ways to live out your career.

Working with the team you handpicked. Out at the Ahmanson.

Away from all the prying eyes...

I miss Homicide.

I understand.

Somehow I think if I prove myself in cold cases

that maybe things can go back to the way they were.

The way things were might not exist anymore.

Let's look at the Laura Wilson book.

You know, most departments would have blue suiters on a grid search like this.

Most departments don't let civilians solve murders.

I'm not a civilian.

Reserves can do anything sworn officers can.

Mm-hmm.

Look, I got no problem being out here all this time.

I wanna solve Yulia's murder just as bad as you do.

Yeah, I doubt that.

But if Frosty's gun is-is, like, the linchpin here, we need more bodies.

We need uniformed officers, cadets even.

What? What are you looking at?

Frosty said that he planted a gun, and it grew a rose garden.

Oh.

Sorry, I got nothing to add to that.

-It's a frustrating case. -Yeah.

-No major breaks. -That's how the book reads.

-Any hunches? -Harmon Harris.

Didn't have a motive for him, but I didn't like his alibi.

What do you mean you didn't like it?

Well, he and this other guy, Adam Lennox,

they said that they'd been out together that night.

Their stories were identical, which tell you they were rehearsed.

Yeah.

Ironically, this guy Lennox was a student in Harris's acting class.

Sarah Pearlman was interested in acting.

Maybe Harmon Harris coached her too.

Good a lead as any.

You ready to give up yet?

Guy was coming down hard.

The rose thing is probably nonsense.

-Do you ever shut up? -Hey.

Jesus.

So... ...this Adam Lennox guy,

he was the one outside of Laura's apartment?

-He saw the blue van? -Yeah, a few nights before.

And I couldn't figure out if it was part of this whole story that they'd cooked up.

You know, a false lead, take the heat off of Harris.

Lennox said it was a blue van. The license plate started with...

A four.

Yeah. Checked it out.

Over 3,000 vans that fit that description that were on the road at that time.

Yeah. Needle in a haystack.

Yeah, Parker.

We found a gun.

You did?

Six shooter.

Next to a mural with a bunch of roses if you could believe it.

All right. Let's get it to FAU

and, uh, see if the bullet matches the one that killed Yulia.

-I'll see you there. -Okay.

Laura Wilson?

No, it's a different case. But I gotta go.

You need me, just whistle real loud.

Thanks, Harry.

Survey says, the bullet from Yulia Kravetz's body

was indeed fired by the six-shooter you found.

Given Sean Wright's prints are on that gun...

We got Frosty dead to rights.

Any hits in the system?

No. Nothing.

Not even on my John Doe?

I looked that one up specifically.

Turns out that bullet from that case was never even analyzed.

-You sure? -Mmm.

Could've gotten lost in the shuffle at Property.

-It happens. -Shame.

No wonder that case went cold. Hmm.

I called in that bullet to be analyzed.

-Parker, you sure? -I know I did.

It was right before I left the force,

otherwise I would've followed up on it myself.

I'm telling you, someone in the LAPD let John Doe's murder go cold.

If you're right, and I'm not saying you are...

...we're headed for some dark fucking waters.

Hey.

Hey all is bueno. Case closed.

She arrested the shooter.

And you know he's a dead end. Can't even string a sentence together.

This won't come back on us.

Sure, I could have a little fun with that.

Shit.

She won't know what hit her.