Author's notes: "Nine Days' Wonder" immediately follows "Transfer List" and tells of Detectives Otten and Sofarelli's first days with SVU. If you haven't read "Transfer List", then the following will be helpful:
Judith Otten transferred from Brooklyn South Homicide after 16 years there.
Alphonse "Couch" Sofarelli transferred from Manhattan Robbery. He was Stabler's last
partner as a uniform.
John Munch thinks that Otten is a threat to his job.
Conventions used in my stories:Point of departure from series canon is after RAW.
Italics indicate thoughts or translated foreign speech.
The people of SVU are professionals, so there won't be any intra-partner canoodling—no, none at all.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
May 23
SVU Squad Room
The shift meeting started with Munch, Fin, and Couch staring at the empty space around Captain Cragen.
"Olivia and Elliot are running down more leads in their rape case," Cragen explained. "Judith is in Brooklyn…."
"She gave up already?"
Munch met his CO's irritated scowl with his best wide-eyed, "Of course I'm kidding" smile.
"No, John—she's bringing her neighbors in with her. They may have something on the Bonner case. When they get here, you and Couch can explain things to them while Fin and Judith talk to the daughter. Oh, and last night was solid work. Good job."
The meeting ended and the three men went to their desks. Couch checked his email; Munch propped his feet on an open desk drawer and started reading his newspaper. Fin fiddled with his keyboard for a minute, then shuffled through the files on his desk. He alternated between the two actions while keeping an eye on the squad room door for Judith Otten's arrival.
His partner lowered his paper to watch him.
Fin's acting like the ice cream man's about to come through that door. I could rag him about it… or I can see what Couch thinks about his partner after last night's beer.
He dropped the paper and swung around to face Sofarelli.
"So, Sofarelli—what did you and Otten talk about last night?"
Couch leaned back in his chair to get a clear view of Munch. "The usual get-acquainted stuff—previous assignments, cases we hated, why we transferred…."
"What's her reason?"
Munch noticed a break in the rhythm of Fin's fidgeting, but his partner did not join the conversation.
"She didn't get on with her new lieutenant so she put in for a transfer."
"That makes sense."
John's bland reply hid a rush of inward satisfaction.
Lean on Otten hard enough and she runs. Good—that's really good.
"Have you had a female partner before?"
Couch shook his head.
"It's a lot like polygamy. Does your wife like rivals for your affection?"
"She was a little twitchy until I told her about Judith's grandkids. Anyway, we've been invited to dinner as soon as our schedules match."
"Save room for dessert," Fin commented. "Judith comes from a long line of bakers. Soon as we switch to days, she's gonna start bringing in home-made pastries."
"You guys spent last night talking about food?" Couch asked.
Munch answered before Fin could.
"They were discussing Jake Reynolds, a potential suspect in an open child molestation case who happens to live across the street from Otten. Fin spent a week surveilling him from the inside of Otten's refrigerator."
Fin's sour look was matched by the tone of his reply.
"Just 'cause you don't like banana-nut muffins…."
"No," drawled Munch. "Just 'cause you can't remember that I don't like banana-nut muffins. There is a difference."
Fin's reply was cut off by the thud of evidence bags hitting Fin's desk. He looked up to find Otten accompanied by a tall male with full black beard wearing chinos and a white golf shirt, a woman in jeans and a Hudson University t-shirt, and a first-grader still wearing her maroon plaid school jumper, her thick black hair pulled back in a pony tail like her mother's.
Otten made the introductions: Mandar and Jui Subrahmanian and their daughter Sumana. Fin flagged down a passing admin aide and asked her to settle the Subrahmanians in Interview One then take Sumana to Children's Interview with her choice of soda.
"Jui checked Sumana's room", Otten told everyone after her neighbors had left, "and found these things in a gift bag at the back of her closet,. None of them came from her or Mandar."
Fin picked through the evidence bags —a cheap silver charm bracelet, a Spongebob Squarepants figurine, and a postcard of the Empire State Building, each of which he handed to Munch after examining them. Couch joined the viewing, peering over Munch's shoulder at each item.
"Damn."
Fin held up a bag containing a school photo of a young girl in a blue polo shirt with her hair in neat beaded braids.
"Keneesha Bonner, our vic."
23
May
Children's
Interview
"Remember", Finn told Otten as they stood outside the door to the interview room. "It's not our job to punish her for lyin' to her parents or to scare her into behaving. We need her to tie that stuff to Reynolds; let her mom and dad handle what she did."
"Yes, Fin."
The hint of a smile when she answered told Fin that Otten was humoring him.
Yeah, all that Homicide superiority crap that John sometimes throws at me. I gotta convince you that it's different here before you really fuck this up for us.
"Look", he said. "When I got here, I knew it all. I'd been Narcotics and nobody was going to teach me anything. Couple of cases and I learned that I knew nothing about this shit. You're not stupid—the sooner you realize how much you need to learn, the better for you and for us."
Otten's smile faded under the force of his glare.
"In other words, lose the attitude?"
"Got it. I know you used to train white shields, but here—you are one. It really is that different."
Otten frowned. "It's…."
Fin cut off her protest. "I don't care what you think it is. One smart-mouth crack can undo all our careful prep with the vic. It can wreck weeks of therapy. Corpses don't care—living, hurting victims do."
She stared at him for a long moment, then she sighed.
"Point taken. Okay—I'm the rookie. How do you want to handle this?"
"Like this."
He opened the door to Children's Interview and motioned Otten to follow him in. Sumana was coloring at the low table in the center of the room. She looked up and smiled.
"Hi, Mrs. Otten."
Fin sat in a child-sized chair at the table. He waved Otten to an adult-sized chair nearby.
I've helped John out of these bitty chairs too many times to ask you to sit in one.
"Sumana? I'm Detective Tutuola. Can I ask you some questions?"
The girl put down the crayon and looked at him from under thick black bangs.
"Uh-huh."
"Do you know why you're here?"
Sumana nodded. "Mommy found the bag Mr. Reynolds gave me."
"When did you get that bag?"
"Saturday morning."
"Why did you hide the bag?"
"Because I wasn't s'posed to be at his house when he gave it to me. I was s'posed to be at Amy's house. Mr. Reynolds said Mommy would ground me if she saw it and we wouldn't get to play any more."
"Can you tell me what you were playing with Mr. Reynolds?"
Sumana's eyes disappeared when she lowered her head and shook it instead of answering. Fin glanced at Otten while he considered his next question.
She's paying close attention and she knows this girl better than me. Let's see what she can do.
He jerked his head towards Sumana. Otten's eyes widened then she leaned forward in her chair, bringing her closer to the girl.
"Sumana? You've been to my house to play with Nila and Cara—remember?"
She nodded.
"Do you remember what games you played with them?"
Her head came up. "We played Hide & Seek and Stone School—you were the teacher then I won and I got to be teacher."
Otten smiled at her answer. "Did you play games like that with Mr. Reynolds?"
Sumana shook her head. "We played Candyland. It was a brand new game; he let me open the plastic with his penknife. Daddy won't let me have a knife but Mr. Reynolds said he'd get me one for my birthday."
"Did you play any other games?"
"We played Hide Spongebob. Mr. Reynolds put him under the cushions. I hid him behind the curtains, but Mr. Reynolds said I couldn't do that 'cause Mrs. Reynolds didn't like them wrinkled."
"What else did you do, Sumana?"
She sat up and smiled. "We had ice cream and pancakes and we sang the Barney song. Mr. Reynolds gave me Spongebob and he let me pick whatever I wanted from a box of toys in his garage. Then I had to go home 'cause Mr. Reynolds had to get Mrs. Reynolds at work. He said I could come back next Saturday."
Otten looked up from the girl to Fin. He held her gaze then nodded.
Go on—ask the tough ones now.
He watched Otten swallow once, her only sign of nervousness.
"Sumana, when you were playing with Mr. Reynolds, did he touch you?"
The girl stared into space.
"He…he patted me on the head after he couldn't find Spongebob. He said I was a good hider. We held hands when we sang and he kissed me right here when I went home."
She pointed to her forehead.
"Okay. Now, Sumana—in the things that Mr. Reynolds gave you was a picture of a girl. Do you know her?"
Sumana ducked her head to her chest, avoiding Otten's stare and her question.
"Sumana…." Otten glanced at Fin, who folded his arms.
I've got my guess on why she's acting like this—let's see yours.
"Sumana, did Mr. Reynolds give you that photo?"
The little girl shook her head slightly. "I…I took it."
"You took it?"
"Uh-huh. The toy box was under a workbench and there was another box next to it with pictures. I want Mommy to braid my hair with beads like her hair so I took the picture to show Mommy."
"You took the photo because the girl has pretty hair?"
"Uh-huh. Are you mad at me?"
"No, Sumana; I'm not mad at you."
"Is Mommy and Daddy mad at me?" Her voice slipped into a whisper.
"No, I don't think so."
"He—" Sumana pointed at Fin. "He looks mad at me."
Otten smiled; Fin ignored it. "Naw—that's just my face. I'm not mad at you either. You want to finish coloring while we go get your parents?"
"Okay."
Otten followed Fin out, closing the door behind her.
"Well," she said. "That is that."
"Sure is."
"You knew most of those answers before she gave them, didn't you?"
Fin answered, "Like I said—experience. She didn't cringe when I came into the room; she was willing to talk to us; she isn't depressed or afraid of everything. Molested kids aren't outgoing and helpful the way Sumana is."
"So Reynolds still was setting the trap?"
"Yeah—getting her used to sneaking over to his house, lyin' to her parents, and hiding stuff from them. Half the fun is in the chase. Soon as he is certain about her, then the games stop."
He watched her mouth tighten as she swallowed again.
That thought sickens you. Good—I'm glad you see him as Reynolds the perp and not Jake your neighbor. Now we can teach you how to deal with scum like him.
"If Sumana had been molested, how would you have handled the questions?"
Fin looked down at the room below. Munch, Sofarelli, and Cragen were talking outside the interview room. Cragen caught Fin's attention and beckoned to him.
"I'll explain later—Cap'n wants us."
"You sure were blunt with them."
Munch checked—yes, the Subrahmanians were secure behind the closed door of the interview room.
"Do you", he asked Couch, "know a polite way to say 'You didn't keep track of your daughter and she almost got raped?'"
Couch thought for a moment. "So hitting them on the head with the facts is the best way to handle it?"
Munch leaned against Otten's desk and held up a finger. "Not always. Sometimes, you have to pussy-foot. It depends on the depth of the denial and the fragility of the person. Olivia is great at choosing the right tack to take when explaining things. I'm not bad and Fin occasionally surprises everyone. Elliot's Mr. Insensitive. Ask his advice then ignore it and you'll be safe."
Couch nodded as he filed away Munch's observation.
Better modify that statement—Couch doesn't know us well enough to tell exaggeration from fact.
"Elliot's not that bad," Munch explained. "His focus is on the catching the perp and he sometimes forgets that there are other people involved. Olivia leans the other way; she puts the victims' problems before solving the case. They balance each other's faults."
"Good partners do that."
Munch gave that a moment's thought. "Great partners do that. Good partners solve cases."
Captain Cragen joined them. "I just talked to Elliot. He and Olivia have a list of employees and regulars from that café. I want you two to meet them and help work through that list. See how many you can catch at home this evening."
He handed John a slip of paper. He glanced at the address—the East Village.
"Captain, what about the Bonner case? If the girl ties Reynolds to Keneesha…."
"Then Casey will get a warrant and Fin and Judith will take a trip to Brooklyn. Don't worry—it's still your case; she's just doing the work for you."
Munch considered that bit of calm assurance.
Like hell it's still my case. She gets the collar while I do Liv and Elliot's scut work. My luck, I'll get another banana-nut muffin for my efforts.
He grinned, a mouth movement that showed more teeth than good humor.
"Sounds peachy, Captain. When do we leave?"
Cragen looked at the back of the squad room then beckoned at someone.
"Soon as I hear what Fin has."
Munch spent the time waiting for his partner's arrival kicking his heel hard against Otten's desk. He felt the reverberations through the metal although neither Sofarelli or Cragen noticed the rhythmic beating that he gave her desk.
"We got him, Cap'n," Fin said as he and Otten joined the group. "Sumana ties the Bonner girl to Reynolds. Think we need any more?"
"No. Casey's waiting for my go-ahead for the warrant. Call her and get it going. Judith—you live in the Six-Seven?"
"Yes. Bud Forby's the desk sergeant."
"Call him and arrange for CSU and uniforms. I'll touch base with Brooklyn SVU; they may want in on this. Soon as Casey's got the warrant, you and Fin search his place. If Sumana's story bears out, bring Reynolds in for questioning."
Fin headed for his desk. Otten stepped next to Munch.
"May I….?" She pointed at her phone.
"Of course, Detective Otten." He moved out of her way. "Anything to help you catch our perp."
Before she could respond, he waved the East Village address at Couch.
"C'mon, Otten's partner—it's time to help catch Stabler and Benson's perp."
May
23
737
Westheimer Street, Brooklyn
The Reynolds garage held a black Harley Custom Sportster, a workbench that ran the length of the back wall and two trash cans. Fin had taken it for himself. He set Otten to search the upstairs of the house with a uniform. Debbie Gallagher, a Brooklyn SVU detective he knew from previous cases, and her partner Tyler were searching the downstairs. Mrs. Reynolds was shadowing Otten, voicing protests and complaints that Fin was glad to see Judith ignore.
Jake Reynolds was out getting some groceries. Fin had a uniform watching for his arrival.
"Anything?"
Two CSU techs looked up from their work at Fin's question. The man at the workbench dusting for fingerprints shook his head. The woman at the trash cans shrugged.
"Plenty of stains to choose from—you want them checked?"
"Naw—we don't think Reynolds did anyone here. How about checking the bike? We know he took Keneesha for rides."
Fin next squatted down by the workbench. Under it were a variety of storage containers—milk crates filled with hand tools and bits of useful junk, cardboard boxes with more metal and wood scraps, and two metal tool boxes.
"Can you dust these tool boxes? I want to search them first."
The tech carefully treated them with fine powder, which lay in a smooth coat undisturbed by whorls or ridges.
"No prints. Someone wiped them clean."
"Damn."
Fin pulled on a pair of gloves and opened the box on the left. Just as Sumana said, it held a variety of toys and trinkets.
"Take this with you and dust everything. See if any of the prints match Keneesha Bonner."
The second box held a jumble of papers. Fin carefully stirred the mix: Valentine cards, newspaper clippings about school activities, notebook paper folded into tight squares—notes addressed to Mr. Reynolds or Jake—and two dozen school photos. Each photo showed a smiling girl with dark skin and black hair. He picked one at random, a girl with a gap-tooth grin in a green plaid jumper, and turned it over.
"To Mr. Reynolds—Love, Diana 3rd grade" Wonder if she's in our files or if no one knows what was done to her?
He left the techs to finish their work. Back in the house, he found Debbie and Tyler searching the kitchen.
"Couldn't be less interesting, Tyler said, "not even an unbalanced checkbook."
Tyler's cheerful tone told Fin that he was new on the job. He glanced at Debbie, who pointed her partner at a table holding the kitchen phone. While he searched the papers on it, she moved close to Fin and spoke too low for her partner to overhear.
"He's like a puppy. I want to pat his head and scratch his ears."
In a more conversational volume, she asked, "You find what you needed in the garage?"
"Sure did—the box of toys and a box of school pictures with names. Should make tracking down the other vics easy. Mrs. Reynolds still upstairs?"
"Yes, she's bugging your partner. What happened to that tall creepy guy, what's his name—Muntz?
Fin frowned at her. "You know full well it's John Munch—he hit on you enough at Max Reger's retirement party."
Debbie rolled her eyes. "You can't blame me for trying to forget. So, is Munch still around? He okay?"
"Yeah. We're showing the ropes to a couple of new guys. You ever work with Otten?"
"Couple of times. Cool under pressure and she plays well with others."
"Good."
"Nothing odd here, Deb," Tyler called from the phone table. "Where do you want…."
A commotion at the front of the house interrupted Tyler. Fin stepped into the hall to see a fortyish man with short-cut light hair toe-to-toe with Officer Helprin. A grocery sack and a denim jacket lay at their feet.
"What are you people doing in my house? Where's Sally? Is she hurt? Where is she?"
Fin headed down the hall, Debbie and Tyler in tow.
"Mr. Reynolds? I'm Detective Tutuola. Your wife is fine. Nothing's wrong with her."
Reynolds turned toward Fin. "Thank God. Then what's going on? Why are you…."
A high-pitched, hate-filled shriek cut him off.
"Jake!"
Sally Reynolds tore down the stairs, Otten several steps behind her. She threw herself at her husband.
"You sick fuck!"
He tumbled against the foyer wall, his wife driving her fists against his face and chest. Helprin got an arm between the two of them, his head tucked to protect himself from her fists. Fin grabbed next, getting a hand on both Sally's shoulders. Tyler and Deb swung around to grab Reynolds in the same way while Judith joined Fin. A few moments' work and Sally Reynolds was on the floor.
"You gonna behave?" Fin, who had her pinned, asked.
"But he—upstairs, he…."
"I'll cuff you if you don't say you'll behave."
She nodded and Fin let her up.
"Watch her," he told Helprin. The uniform stepped between her and Jake Reynolds. Sally glared at her husband, but she kept quiet. Tyler kept his hand on Reynolds' arm.
"Let me go!" Reynolds demanded. "What'd I do?"
Otten reached through the banister to get a well-thumbed fishing magazine that had been dropped on the stairs.
"I found this in the bathroom. Sally had had enough of the searching and grabbed it out of my hands."
Reynolds stopped protesting. Fin eyed his tensed body, then caught the gazes of the other detectives. Tyler shifted his grip on Reynolds. Deb moved to back up her partner in case Reynolds tried to bolt. Otten took a step closer to Sally before handing the magazine to Fin to page through.
Bass Monthly—I've seen Sgt. Valeri reading this with his morning bearclaw. Why'd this get Mrs. Reynolds all…damn!
Fifteen pages in, printed on glossy stock like the article on live bait facing it, was a photo of a naked man raping a young girl. Fin didn't flinch as he flipped through the rest of the magazine. Except for the first and last few pages, all of it was kiddie porn.
No wonder she freaked.
Fin again caught Tyler's attention. The younger detective spun Reynolds around, his back towards Fin.
"Jake Reynolds, you're under arrest for possession of child pornography. You have the right to remain…."
Fin handed Tyler his cuffs as he ran through the required warnings.
"That's not mine—it's my brother's. He left it…."
Otten interrupted. "Fin, did you find everything that you needed?"
"Yeah," he said, "we're cool here."
24
May
SVU
Interrogation Room
Casey Novak stifled a yawn between questions.
"So, you were able to verify Sumana's story about how she got Keneesha Bonner's photo?"
Otten nodded. "Yes. Every thing was as she described. We also found child porn bound to look like a legitimate fishing magazine. Fin used that for his arrest of Reynolds. We hit him with the rest of it when we got him back here."
"How long did it take?"
"Three hours. Fin suggested that I act compassionate, pretend that I knew how misunderstood Reynolds is. He said that I would be able to exploit mother-son issues that he couldn't touch. It worked—Reynolds opened up and told us about fifteen victims in addition to Keneesha Bonner."
They were standing in front of Cragen's office, out of the way of the captain and Fin, who also were watching Reynolds through the one-way glass. Casey glanced at the reason they all were there after shift-change. He sat at the table, hands folded before him, chin resting on his chest.
"Think he's snoring?" Otten asked her.
"If so, I envy him. I could use a few good snores."
They joined the conversation by the window.
"Cap'n, you know what John'll say about not being here for this."
Cragen acknowledged the women's arrival with a nod.
"You did most of the work on this, Fin. You kept with it after we'd written the lead off as worthless. You got Reynolds to confess. Don't worry about anything except the good job you did. I'll handle John."
