“‘Pivoted’? Why is that?”
“They didn’t match. The weapon used to kill Ken Chastain was not the same one used in the booth at the Dancers. The theory at the moment is two different shooters.”
“They’re saying the cases aren’t connected?”
“No, they aren’t saying that. Just two weapons, two different shooters.”
Ballard knew she didn’t have the full picture. If the two cases weren’t linked by a weapon, then there was something else.
“So what am I missing?” she asked.
“Well, that wasn’t the full ballistics report,” Carr said.
“Carr, come on, stop dicking around.”
“They identified the weapons off the slugs and brass. The gun in the booth was a ninety-two F. And in the garage, it was a Ruger three-eighty.”
Ballard knew that bullet casings collected at the crime scenes and the slugs from the bodies revealed markings identifiable to specific models of firearms. Firing pins and gunbarrel rifling left proprietary indentations and striations.
She also knew the significance of the weapons identified. The 92F was a 9-millimeter Beretta, and it was on the list of firearms approved by the department for carry by detectives. The Ruger was a small popper that was easily concealed and used for close-in work. It, too, was on the department’s approved list for backup weapons.
It also was a hitter’s gun.
Ballard was silent while she considered this information. The one piece she reluctantly added to it was her knowledge that Chastain carried a Beretta 92F, or at least he had when they were partners. It drew a question she hated to ask.
“Chastain carried a ninety-two F. Did they run his gun against the slugs from the Dancers?”
“They would have if they had his gun.”
That was new information.
“You’re saying whoever shot him then reached inside his jacket and took his gun?”
“Apparently. His weapon has not been recovered.”
“So what are they thinking?”
“I was redirected today. I was told to take a deep dive into Chastain. Dig up everything.”
“That is bullshit. He’s not the Dancers shooter.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do. I knew him and this isn’t him.”
“Well, tell that to Lieutenant Olivas.”
“What exactly is he saying?”
“He’s not saying anything. At least to me. But one of those guys that got killed in the booth was mobbed up.”
“Yeah, Gino Santangelo. Out of Vegas.”
“Well, you can take it from there.”
Ballard thought for a moment.
“Take it where?” she said. “I totally don’t get this.”
“You’re the one who first said it was a cop. You were just looking at the wrong cop.”
“So Chastain is the booth shooter. He kills a mob guy and then the mob hits him back. That’s the working theory? Well, I don’t buy it. Why would Kenny do it?”
“That’s why we’re doing the deep dive. And actually, that’s why I called you.”
“Forget it. I’m not going to help you pin this on Chastain.”
“Listen to me, we’re not going to pin this on anyone. If it’s not there, it’s not there, but we have to look.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Four years ago you two were partners.”
“Yes.”
“He was in financial trouble then. Did he talk to you about it?”
The news was surprising to Ballard.
“He never said a word. What kind of trouble and how do you know?”
“Deep dive, remember? I pulled his credit history. He missed nine payments on the house and was in foreclosure. He was going to lose the house and then, all of a sudden, it all went away. The bank was paid off and he got solvent — like overnight. Any idea how?”
“I told you I didn’t even know about the problem. He never told me. Have you talked to Shelby? Maybe somebody in the family helped them out.”
“Not yet. We want to know more before we go to her. That’s not going to be pretty.”
Ballard was silent. She couldn’t remember a time when Chastain seemed to be under any sort of pressure from outside the job, financially or otherwise. He was always steady-going.
She thought of something Carr hadn’t covered.
“What about Metro?” she asked.
“Metro?” Carr said. “What do you mean?”
“The kid. The witness. Matthew Robison.”
“Oh, him. He calls himself Metro? We still haven’t found him. And frankly, we’re not expecting to.”
“But how does he fit into the theory?”
“Well, we know he called Chastain on Friday about five and Chastain went to find him. We think he thought Robison was a threat.”
“So he takes out Robison, hides or buries the body somewhere, and then goes home. Only there’s a mob hit man waiting there and he pops Chastain in the head before he can even get out of the car.”
“And takes his gun.”
“Right, and takes his gun.”
They were both silent for a long time after that. Until Ballard addressed the elephant in the room.
“Olivas is still steering all of this?”
“He’s in charge. But don’t go down that road, Renée. The ballistics are the ballistics. That’s not something you can steer. And the financials are what they are as well.”
“But why take the gun? The shooter in the garage. Why did he take the thing that would prove or disprove all of this? Without having that gun for comparison, this is all circumstantial. It’s theory.”
“There could be a hundred reasons why the gun was taken. And speaking of circumstantial, there is one other thing.”
“What?”
“We checked with Internal Affairs on Chastain, and there wasn’t an open file on him. But they had a string file, where they put the anonymous stuff that comes in. It runs from complaints about ‘some cop was rude to me’ to ‘some cop keeps coming into my store and taking orange juice without paying’ — ticky-tacky stuff like that.”
“Okay.”
“Well, like I said, they had no open file on Chastain, but there were two anonymous reports in the string file about an unnamed cop getting into card games and then not being able to cover his losses.”
“What card games?”
“Didn’t say, but you know if a guy wants to get into a high-stakes game in this town, then he can find a game. If you move in that world.”
Ballard shook her head, even though she knew Carr could not see this. She looked around to make sure her conversation wasn’t being heard. The squad room was almost empty now, as most detectives began to shut things down by four every day. Still, she leaned into the shelter of her cubicle and spoke quietly to Carr.
“I’m still not buying it,” she said. “You guys have nothing but a missing gun, and like you said, there could be a hundred reasons why it’s gone. It’s like you’re more interested in pinning this on Chastain than in finding out who killed him.”
“There you go with that word again,” Carr said. “We aren’t ‘pinning’ anything on anybody. And you know what, I really don’t understand you, Renée. Everybody knows that two years ago Chastain hung you out to dry, you lost the upward trajectory of your career and ended up working the late show. And here you are, defending him in a situation where there is clearly a lot of smoke. I mean, a lot of smoke.”
“Well, that’s the thing, right? A lot of smoke. Back when I worked downtown, before I supposedly ‘lost my upward trajectory,’ we needed more than smoke. We needed a lot more.”
“If there is fire, we’re going to find it.”
“Good luck with that, Carr. I’ll talk to you later.”