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BALLARD WOKE TO the sound of her phone buzzing on the bedside table. She checked the number but didn’t recognize it. She answered anyway.

“Ballard.”

“This is Seth.”

“Okay. Seth who?”

“Dawson. You left me a message, said call anytime. I just got off work.”

Ballard put it together.

“Oh, right, yes. Sorry, I leave a lot of messages for a lot of people. Anyway, I wanted to ask a few questions about the burg—”

“Did you catch them?”

“Uh, no, we didn’t. But why do you say ‘them’?” Ballard pivoted to a sitting position, put her feet on the floor. She turned on the bed-table light and reached for her notebook next to it.

“Had to be more than one,” Dawson said. “To hit all of those cars that morning. At least, that’s what the cop said.”

“Wait a minute,” Ballard said. “There was more than one auto burglary? I only have your report.”

“Yeah, see, I was the only one who waited around for the cops to show up. It took them like an hour. But I had insurance, so I needed a police report. I knew that. The other guys got tired of waiting and took off.”

“How many others got ripped off?”

“There was four of us, including me.”

“Do you recall what was taken from the other cars?”

“I think just phones, maybe a little bit of cash.”

“Do you know the other three?”

“Not really. I mean, I saw them on the water, but we didn’t really talk. Just stayed out of each other’s way, mostly.”

“Okay, Seth. The police report says you live in Venice. Do you go up to Topanga often?”

“Hardly ever. And after that shit, never again, man. My insurance had a five-hundred-dollar deductible, so that cost me.”

“I understand. You lost a phone and a watch?”

“Yeah, the Breitling was from my dad. He spent three grand on it.”

“I’m sure it was of great sentimental value to you.”

“It was.”

“So, if you hardly ever went up to the Topanga break, how come you went there that morning?”

“It was like glass down by me in Venice. So I checked the app and it said that was where the waves were that morning. I went.”

“Which app do you use?”

“I used to use Dawn Patrol but then I switched to Surf’s Up. I think, if I remember… yeah, I had switched by then. It woulda been Surf’s Up.”

It was the same app that Ballard used and that had led her to Staircases yesterday morning. She wrote it down in her notebook even though she knew she wouldn’t forget. It was a solid lead. If the thieves were using a surf app to determine which breaks were hot and drawing surfers, she could do the same thing in her search for whoever had stolen her badge and gun.

“You said you just got off work,” she said. “Where do you work, Seth?”

“The FedEx at the airport,” he said. “I’m a cargo coordinator. I make sure the right packages go to the right planes going to the right airports. It’s just a job.”

“You work nights to keep your days for surfing?”

“Exactly.”

“I know the drill. Listen, I’d appreciate it if you kept this conversation between us. It’s an active investigation, so it would be better if people didn’t know what we’re doing.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you for your time. I’ll be in touch when we get these guys.”

“Cool.”

Ballard disconnected and thought about things for a moment. She was energized by the lead regarding the surf app. She lay back down on the bed. It took her only thirty seconds to know sleep was not happening. She got up to take a shower.