Original subtitles

Previously on Ballard...

I didn't kill that dude. I wouldn't go near him.

He's a coyote for the cartel.

Well, if you didn't do it, then where'd you get the gun?

-It was definitely a cop. -This guy Anthony Driscoll resigned 2022.

Under the influence of illegal narcotics.

Do you happen to remember the informant's name?

-Ibarra. -Luis Ibarra?

-That's it. -Whatever happened to Ibarra?

Disappeared back to Mexico.

And you know that for sure?

Driscoll did. He followed him all the way down to Jalisco.

Until the trail went cold.

Last time I came for one of the Brotherhood it didn't go so well.

The complaint you filed? Against Olivas, right?

He tried to assault me at a party.

All this time.

I thought I didn't do enough.

I thought maybe I did too much.

-Hey... -I thought it was on me.

-I got you, partner. -I let him take me home.

You didn't let him do anything.

Jenny Garrison?

We've got some questions about a van you scrapped in 2009.

My ex-husband, Mike, took off with that van nearly 30 years ago.

-He ran off with Denise McKenzie. -I found it.

Our records do show a van was towed from unit E36.

Belongs to a Mike Garrison.

-It's Laura Wilson's. -This is sick.

It is. And it stops here.

We haven't even finished processing the crime scene.

Homicide has more resources and man power for something this size.

These murders have already fallen through the cracks,

and Homicide is-is overtaxed on hot cases.

They're never gonna prioritize this.

Ballard, you have a small team of volunteers.

The same volunteers that got us here.

Sir, we have 14 victims now. At least.

That's 14 families waiting for answers.

Why is the chief calling me?

Is there a small chance that Jake Pearlman might be in her ear?

I'm guessing Jake Pearlman has you in his ear.

This is Captain Berchem.

Yes, ma'am. Mm-hmm.

I'll see to it right away.

You have 72 hours.

Find something meaningful or this case goes to Homicide.

Thank you, sir.

Dad!

Ralph, leave it alone.

The second I lease the place, you gotta be out.

-Cool? -The LAPD appreciates you.

We have 65 hours

and 34 minutes.

If you want, I can sync the countdown to your phone.

Uh, no. The one in my head is plenty. Thanks.

This-This deadline's like a real thing?

Yeah. And if we don't move the needle, the case goes back to Homicide.

We saw how well that went for Jake and his family.

If we wanna keep this case,

it's all-hands, all the time, until we break ground.

Lion's Mane tea?

All the benefits of coffee, none of the pesticides.

I'm good. I just had more dreams than sleep.

Special delivery from Darcy.

Fourteen processed souvenirs, fresh from the lab.

All 14?

Lab work got faster while I was gone?

Apparently, there's not much to do when everything's been wiped cleaned.

And before you ask, any test you'd want Darcy to run, she ran.

-Twice. -Jesus.

Garrison scrubbed every nook and cranny.

Well, that's ominous.

All right. Let's see if we can connect these to any other open cases.

Rawls, can you spread these out in the conference room?

Guys, can you finish the boards?

-We good? -We're good.

Anthony Driscoll's...

...home sweet home.

Mmm. Would've thought the cartel paid better.

Well, this guy's been getting away with murder for five years.

He knows how to fly under the radar. Do we have to monitor this?

I set up an alert. He makes an appearance, we'll know it.

Assuming he's even in LA.

You sure you got enough, uh, brain space for another case?

Berchem's clock is ticking loudly.

Well, we're juggling a police conspiracy and a serial killer,

so it's not like we can put either of them on hold.

Hey, do we have an update on Ibarra's girlfriend?

I got better than an update. I got her name.

Abril Cortez.

I've been trading with the Federales, and they're looking for her family now.

I mean, maybe we get lucky, find out her and Gael are with them.

Gael? That's the baby's name?

Gael Ibarra. Turns 6 in December.

-Hey, Angela? -Mmm.

Javier Fuentes is a half hour late to PT. Is someone bringing him up, or...

That's an old schedule.

-He got moved to K-10. -Huh.

When was this?

Oh. Hey.

Didn't realize you guys were stopping by.

-Teddy, it's good to see you. -Ballard called us.

Told us what you guys found last night.

Fourteen victims.

Jake. Mr. Pearlman. Thanks for coming on such short notice.

-I promise this won't take long. -Of course. Talk later?

This way.

Appreciate you, uh, poking the chief last night.

My captain gave us a little more road.

This is the guy?

Looks like it.

Jake, meet Officer Parker.

Hi.

This is my father, Gary Pearlman.

Nice to meet you, sir.

There's so many of them.

We've linked some of them to other victims already.

I know it's been a long time,

but if you could identify anything of Sarah's, it would really help us out.

I mean, some of this, it's-it's just junk.

Why would anyone...

To him, I'm sure, it means something.

But you're right.

They're just trinkets.

Dad. Anything?

I-I-I'm sorry.

My wife, she would've been so much better at this.

It's okay.

I hate what this is doing to him.

I know. Don't worry.

We'll connect Garrison to Sarah some other way.

Hey, Tutu. What's up?

-What day is it? -What?

It's, uh, Thursday.

-Shit. -Exactly.

My plane leaves in an hour and a half, and my ride forgot me.

Didn't you see my texts all morning?

Darcy called. Asked you to meet her at the lab.

Said it's important.

Tutu, I gotta go. I-I'm so sorry.

Call me when you land, okay?

I love you.

Well, hello, Nurse Savina.

It's been a while.

I heard something interesting about one of the names you flagged.

Javier Fuentes.

-Apparently he got moved to K-10. -What's interesting about that?

The timing.

It happened pretty soon after a couple of detectives paid him a visit.

Don't know if one thing has anything to do with the other, but, you know,

it usually does.

You got names for these detectives?

Outside my purview.

You wanna know more? I gotta make more.

Darcy. You said you needed to see me?

Uh, yeah. That DNA you collected from Garrison's daughter,

it got a definite match.

Okay.

Just don't shoot the messenger, okay?

The hit was to a cold case up in Crestline.

A John Doe found in the mountains.

Detective, meet Mike Garrison.

Wait. It says that his body was recovered in 1997.

That's correct.

How can that be? That predates everything in my case's timeline.

I'm sorry. I guess Garrison isn't your guy.

Picking up a murder book for a 1997 John Doe.

Hey, Cap. Someone here for ya.

LAPD. Here about Five Points.

-Morning. Detective Renée Ballard. -Captain Paula Hopkinson.

Didn't know you were driving up.

I could've had one of my guys bring it to you.

Oh, thanks. I'm just up against the clock.

Mmm. Thought you were supposed to be cold cases.

Elk hunters found the body a couple of miles outside Five Points.

Grid sweep turned up a bunch of trash and no ID.

Body was in rough shape.

No match to a missing person.

Wasn't much we could do but write it up.

Look.

I was a detective myself back then.

You gotta do a lot more with a lot less around here.

But the fact you have a murder book at all is 'cause my people were thorough.

Oh, no judgment from me.

My killer's been leaving a lot of thin murder books in his wake.

He's careful.

You said you were here in '97?

Garrison was traveling with a girlfriend, Denise McKenzie, early 20s.

She disappeared around the same time.

Could've met the same end.

Maybe the killer dumped the bodies separately.

Winter of 1999.

Jane Doe found ten miles from your Garrison.

ME determined she was mid-20s, Caucasian female.

But her COD was different from that fella. He was stabbed over a dozen times.

-And Jane Doe? -Manual strangulation.

Body was too decomposed to get DNA. You'll need dental records.

So, serial killer, huh?

You got a name?

I thought I did.

Goddamn it!

Why the hell is it always two steps back with this case?

We identified two new victims.

That's progress.

But we lost our lead suspect. And we only have a day and a half left.

I mean, this sucks.

You're not wrong. But we can't let that stop us.

Mike and Denise were found within a ten mile radius near Crestline.

Neither of them had anything identifiable on them,

so the cops up there didn't realize they were linked.

Denise was strangled like the rest of vics,

and the ME report says that Garrison was stabbed in the neck and chest.

So she was the target. Mike was an obstacle.

Maybe interrupted the killer mid-attack, made him angrier.

We're too focused on the suspects over here.

We need to get back to the victims. Back to their commonalities.

Rawls, Colleen.

I need you to start comparing the backgrounds of the ones that we know.

Find a link.

The rest of you...

...you focus on the unknown victims, all right?

Deep dive on these souvenirs. The sunglasses, the journal.

Those have the most promise.

If we can identify more of the killer's targets,

we have a better chance of finding this overlap.

Okay.

Rawls.

Mmm.

This guy is smart, but he's not perfect.

He just needs to have made one mistake.

Hey. I got something.

Souvenir number six.

A pin from the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign.

I cross-referenced through ViCAP, CAMS, and a few others.

And I finally got a hit to an open cold case in Valley Village.

Josie Culver. Age 29. Worked on the campaign.

Strangled in her bedroom.

Mom reported the button missing from the crime scene after her death.

Apparently, Josie was never seen without it.

Okay, great.

Let's pull Josie's file from the stacks.

I did a deep dive on him for a month after RHD benched me.

Looking for the right dirt.

It wasn't good for me, and it won't be good for you either.

I was gonna block him.

But I thought...

I thought maybe I'd call him out.

'Cause everyone commenting just sees the...

the man he's pretending to be.

This-This white knight.

Are we the only ones who see him for who he really is?

I don't know.

Driscoll's back. Wanna find out what he's up to, now's the time.

You guys go.

Um, I'll keep the trains running here.

Dad!

You okay?

I didn't realize you fell asleep.

Sorry. I didn't mean to. I... Oh, wow.

Uh, everything good?

Yeah. I saw some movement in the house.

Um, also, your phone kept buzzing.

What?

Uh, friend of mine is over at Ghost Sando Shop.

Offered to bring us some.

I like sandos.

Yeah, you do.

Uh-uh.

Yuca's over on Hillhurst?

Tiny little taco shack in the middle of the parking lot.

-That's the best burgers in LA. -No, it's Fatburger, my guy.

You can't mess with perfection.

You are young and LAFD. Two reasons not to take you seriously.

He's lifeguard division.

So he's County Fire.

Ooh. Same difference.

Actually, I may end up being both.

What do you mean?

I'm doing a paramedic training shift at the Calabasas firehouse.

See if I can get in there and still work the beach.

Ballard.

Aaron. I'm sorry, you gotta hop out.

Head south. Do a lap before you go back to your car.

-Thank you for the sandwiches. -Sure. No prob.

I got a plain turkey for Lola.

-Friend? -Don't start.

No way we can follow him in there without him seeing.

Someone was waiting for him.

Jesus. He's still in with the cops.

There's another deck up there. Maybe we can get a different angle.

Division number on that shop is 06.

What's a Hollywood black-and-white doing in Inglewood?

-Communications. -Hey. This is Detective Renée Ballard.

Uh, can you settle a bet between my partner and I?

You got any Hollywood black-and-whites code 6 in Inglewood right now?

Negative. Not today.

Just won me ten bucks. Thank you.

Go on. Open it up. Check it out.

You all good? You know what to do?

-Everything cool? You seem kinda... -Yeah, yeah. All is good.

Just, uh, heading out of town for a bit. Personal business.

Might miss my flight.

We gotta get that shop number.

If we know who signed it out, we know who's dirty.

Think we'd have a better angle on a different level?

I don't wanna draw attention switching levels.

I'm gonna go on foot.

Anything else?

No. Dismissed.

Christ.

-Yeah. -On the move.

-Northeast exit. -Shit.

Damn it!

So you think Driscoll's running?

Well, he didn't go home after we lost him last night.

So that's not a good sign.

I heard back from the Federales about Abril Cortez.

Please tell me she's alive.

She is. Also, she's here.

Living over in Bell Gardens.

That's 30 minutes away.

Any updates on Gael?

Still a mystery.

He's not with her.

Keep looking.

You think Abril could help us find something on Driscoll?

Maybe. I mean, at the very least, she deserves to know what happened to Luis.

Anyway, Berchem's gonna be breathing down my neck

any second on this Pearlman case, so...

We got till end of day, right?

Yeah.

Abril's gonna have to wait.

Person working for the campaign said

Josie Culver left the office that night around 7:00 p.m.

Her body was discovered by her roommate the following afternoon.

Any similarities with the other victims?

Only cause of death. Otherwise, they're all different ages,

different body types, different socioeconomic status.

They're just different.

Like he chose them off the street at random.

Wait. Her roommate wasn't home that night?

No. She was in San Diego.

Apparently, she went down there for work every other weekend.

-Mm-hmm. -I take it back.

He was watching her.

Yeah. If he's patient enough to track the roommates comings and goings,

he's methodical.

He's not choosing these women randomly.

There's just something we're not seeing.

Keep digging. I gotta take this.

Damani, what's up?

Someone knows you met with my client.

Wait. What? What happened?

Javi got attacked in the showers.

Is he still alive?

Yeah, well, for now.

Look, he's in a coma.

He took nine lacerations to the gut with a rusty can lid.

Went systemic before he got to the OR.

Look, Ballard, are you sure your people are locked down?

I can guarantee there's no leak on my side.

Is he under 24-hour surveillance?

Yeah, yeah. I'm here now.

Had to get a court order so they'd let me in.

But the word's out, Detective.

People know he talked.

Is this Driscoll's hit or the cartel's?

Driscoll's the one who goes down if Javi testifies.

If he learns the hit failed, he'll disappear.

We can't just sit around and wait for him to surface.

Abril?

She's the only move we got left. Laffont and I will go talk to her.

You stay here and keep the team grinding on souvenirs.

We found more victims. That's great. We need to find a suspect.

I normally wouldn't encourage this kind of thing,

but you look like you could use one and we have a deadline, so...

Man, I thought we got the bastard.

Turns out he got us.

I know you want justice for Jake.

We all do.

Have faith.

Okay.

Is this your first notification since you retired?

I haven't missed it.

Deliver the worst news of someone's life, and then badger them for information.

Never sat right with me.

It's Berchem.

Hey, you're gonna have to talk to him at some point.

Well, I'll talk to him when I have something to say.

We still got time.

-Abril Cortez? -Yes.

Can I help you?

We're here to talk to you about Luis Ibarra.

Luis said that we could trust him.

I only knew him as the man on the phone

who was going to get us away from the cartel.

How did we miss what he was?

He was supposed to save us.

I never thought he was the one.

You, uh, suspected someone else?

There was a-a sold a do from the cartel.

His name was Jesus.

Jesus Velasco.

And Luis was worried that Jesus knew about the DEA.

That he was working with them.

Does the cartel has my son?

We don't think so.

The Federales believe that if Gael was with Luis,

then their bodies would've been left together.

To send a message.

We are going to keep looking for him.

He might have, uh, wound up in foster care or got sent across the border.

Okay.

May I?

-Uh, yes. -I...

-And I have more of those if you... -Thank you.

You said that there was a video of-of Luis with Gael.

Can I see it?

Can I-Can I watch it again, please?

It's only a few hits for Jesus Velasco on the LAPD database,

but this guy's a piece of work.

He's been deported twice in three years for assault and attempted murder.

He's suspected of a lot more.

Multiple deportations, but the cartel keeps bringing him back.

He's valuable.

Oh, shit.

Two years before Luis was killed, Jesus was arrested in a drug raid.

Arrested and kicked free.

Do you wanna guess who the arresting officer was?

Driscoll. Jesus.

Guy's rubbing elbows with monsters.

Way worse. He's putting 'em back on the street.

Where is everyone?

Berchem sent them home.

He dropped by, said you were dodging his calls.

And when he saw Mike Garrison's name on the victim board,

he figured out what happened.

Homicide comes in the morning to collect everything.

-How'd the team take it? -Not well.

Ballard, Martina looked into those sunglasses.

They were a limited edition run.

Came out six months ago.

He's still active.

You sure you don't want me to stay?

No. You-You go.

It's not even our case anymore.

I'll box everything up.

Okay.

Hey, guys.

Uh, come on down and get to know your LAPD.

There is plenty to eat.

And I promise, you're not gonna regret it because these things are awesome.

Right? Yeah.

Have you moved at all since I left?

It's been an hour.

Guess I lost track.

Really didn't miss that part of the job.

I know.

I showed her some security footage.

And she asked to see it over and over.

Asked to get a copy.

I just can't imagine going back to her

with more bad news if we don't find this kid.

So the boys still up?

I got leftovers. Yeah.

Yeah.

Hey, I'm at my car.

I'll be home in 20.

Love you too.

Zamira.

I heard that the councilman made you a reserve.

It's nice.

You thinking about going sworn?

'Cause-'Cause if you need a good word, I am more than happy to help.

Like you helped me home that night?

Oh, mijita.

Look, I-I can see that you are still upset about

how things went south between us, and I'm very sorry...

You raped me.

Then you spent months gaslighting me into thinking it was a bad hookup.

And it worked for a while.

You're a monster.

You hide it well, but I can see you.

And I'm not the only one.

You think that bullshit up all by yourself?

Or maybe you had a little help?

That's it, isn't it?

Yeah. You and Ballard in your little knitting circle,

looking for anybody else to blame except yourselves.

Mmm.

Well, I'm not gonna be your scapegoat.

I didn't do anything either one of you didn't want.

But even if I did, let me tell you how it's gonna look from the outside.

See, Ballard cried wolf, and it backfired.

Now, you coming out with a similar "claim" after all these years?

And only a couple of months after Ballard brought you right back into the fold?

Mm-mmm.

It's gonna look like you're the one leading the witch hunt now.

Yeah. Oh. Gotta go.

Family time.

Excuse me.

Hey, partner.

Need a ride home?

Captain, I'm glad I caught you.

You got a lot of nerve coming here

after keeping me in the dark about Mike Garrison.

Sir, I didn't wanna give you bad news until I had good news, and now I have it.

You're gonna need more than another Jane Doe.

It's not a Jane Doe. I found a closed case from 2008.

The victim was strangled in her bed.

The family reported a gold bracelet missing from the scene.

If it's a closed case, they solved it.

We found that bracelet...

...among our killer's souvenirs.

The victim's boyfriend was convicted, but he always claimed innocence.

If we reopen this case,

we might find a link between the women and the real killer.

And we could potentially free an innocent man.

Ballard, honestly, I don't know if I should be annoyed or impressed.

You can keep the case. For now.

Go home, get some sleep. You look exhausted.

Thank you, sir.

Lola.

Hi.

Come here, you. Oh.

Hi, honey.

You wanna go out for a pee?

Let's do it.

Come on, baby.

Dad!

Dad!

Dad!

911. What's your emergency?

This is Detective Renée Ballard, LAPD. I was attacked in my home.

Suspect needs immediate medical attention.

I have an ambulance en route. ETA is five minutes.

-That's too long. -The paramedics will be...

-Renée? -Aaron, someone broke into my house.

-What? -I crushed his windpipe.

-Jesus. Call 911. -I did that, there's no time.

I need to get him breathing. What do I do?

You could do a field trache, but that's insane.

-I... -Walk me through it.

-No, Renée, you need training. -This guy has names, goddamn it!

If he dies, everyone gets away with it!

I have a knife. Tell me what to do.

Okay. Okay. Christ.

Tip his head back and trace along the front of his neck.

Find the gap between the Adam's apple and the ring below it.

I got it.

Make a vertical incision a half inch deep to create an opening.

-Do you have a tube? -Shit!

You need a tube. You need a tube.

Oh, God. Hurry.

If you don't hurry...

-...you're gonna lose him. -Shit.

I got it. Now what?

Okay. Push the tube into the incision

until you feel it go through the trachea wall.

Did you do it? Hello?

-He's breathing. -Okay. Okay. Well, what's going on...

I got you, you motherfucker.

No!

Goddamn it! No, no, no, no.