Desert Star (Renée Ballard, #5; Harry Bosch Universe, #36) (54)

Hatteras pointed to her big screen. A genetic family tree looked more like a corporate flowchart than an actual tree. This one was labeled Laughlin Family Tree, and the section Hatteras had enlarged was shaped like an hourglass composed of male and female ancestor icons with names, birth and death years, geographic locations, and in some cases thumbnail images. Some icons appeared blank, as relatives on the distant branches of the tree had not yet been identified. It was most definitely a work in progress that had stalled because of a lack of new connections.

“That doesn’t look like it shows anyone in L.A.,” Ballard said.

“I said we got lucky, but not that lucky,” Hatteras said. “This tree reflects a distinctly Midwest settlement of the family. It shows known genetic relatives in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and places in between. But hold on, all is not lost. Judging by the number of centimorgans these people share, I’m guessing these are second or third cousins to our unknown suspect. And some of these unknowns you see at the top here could well be the family member who headed off to the West Coast.”

“But wouldn’t you have gotten a hit from out here?”

“Only if a relative out here submitted their DNA and allowed it to be shared with GEDmatch. We can only work with what’s been entered into the DNA platforms. That’s why a personal connection is important. You can directly ask if they’ve heard in family lore about someone like a grandparent or great-uncle having moved out here a while back.”

“Have you made contact yet with any of them?”

“I’ve messaged all four of the matches through the GEDmatch portal and have gotten responses from three. This is quite good, because you’d be amazed by how many people don’t respond or respond once and then just ghost you because you’re law enforcement connected. It’s kind of ironic, because on most of these platforms, you have to click a box that opts you in to law enforcement searches. But then when you come calling, some of them ignore you. So three out of four is not bad at all.”

“So then, the three who responded—what did they say when you asked about the West Coast?”

“That’s what I was checking for today. I’ve only gotten one reply so far to that question and it was a negative.”

“Meaning what?”

“That she knew of no relatives in Los Angeles or California. But she did say she would try to find out.”

“That’s not a lot of help.”

“Actually, in a way it is. We can definitely get an informative read off what we have here. These four DNA relatives are in a fairly tight geographic cluster. Not a lot of spreading out across the country over the decades, as is usually the case. So what this tells me is we are likely looking for a family member who moved away to the West Coast at least a generation or two ago. Because we have two crimes separated by eleven years, it leads me to conclude that this wasn’t a tourist, but more likely a resident here but with roots in the Midwest.”

“Okay. So how will the person who responded to you try to find out more if it’s not on here?”

“If you look at the tree, this is the one who answered me. Shannon Laughlin. You can see here that she has one living grandparent. It’s her grandmother on her mother’s side. Edith McGrath. She will likely go to her and ask if anybody she knows of in her line—a brother, cousin, anybody—moved west.”

Ballard felt the phone in her pocket vibrate.

“Hold on a second,” she said.

She pulled the phone and checked the text. It was from Bosch.

I’m here. Just heard from St. Louis.

We need to talk.



Ballard quickly typed a response.

Go to the upstairs break room. Meet there in 5.



She put the phone away and turned her attention back to Hatteras.

“So, you’ll follow up with Shannon Laughlin about her grandmother?”

“I will.”

Ballard pointed to the screen.

“And meantime, all we know for sure is that our suspect will have Midwestern roots,” she said.

“That’s correct,” Hatteras said. “And I’m going to keep at it.”

“And how are you identifying yourself with these people?”

“I’m saying I’m a genealogist looking at cold cases for the police department. As you know, there’s a lot of anti-police sentiment out there lately, so I’m just trying to tread slowly and gently and hopefully gain their trust. It’s better, I think, that I don’t outright say I’m LAPD.”

“I think that’s fine. But keep in mind you aren’t actually LAPD. You’re a civilian volunteer.”

“I understand.”

“Okay, Colleen, good stuff. Keep at it and let me know when you make the next link.”

Since the meet with Hastings was now going to be downtown, Ballard did not see the need to get Hatteras out of the building. She could work here all day if she wanted.

“I will,” Hatteras said. “And, um, Renée?”

“What?” Ballard said.

“Is there anything going on that the rest of us should know about? Feels a little bit like high school, the way you and Harry have kind of teamed up and are whispering all the time. And like that fight you two supposedly had yesterday. That felt like a show you put on for all of us.”