Chapter One: In Which Maggie Sees a Body

Maggie Reagan was new to this job so when she came face to face with her first dead body the bagel she ate the morning threatened to make a reappearance. She stood behind the police caution tape with her reporter pray pressed against her stomach feeling more nauseated by the sight. Her skin was a few shades paler and her hand was over her mouth.

"You brought a rookie to this?" One of the detectives asked one of the other reporters who was at the scene.

The veteran reporter, a stern man who loved cigars from Queens, named Mel glanced at Maggie before taking a drag on his cigar, "You going to be okay at this, NYU?"

Maggie nodded as she flipped her notebook open and began taking notes. The scene in front of her was a woman lying dead right outside her apartment with her dress torn from her body. Her lifeless eyes were staring up at the detectives and the medical examiners who were trying to cover her. There was dried blood under her stomach and a few streaks in her hair and on her face. She was maybe five or so years younger than Maggie herself.

"It's always the pretty ones," Mel muttered as he began scratching notes down onto his pad. He glanced at Maggie before tapping ash off the end of his cigar then asked, "Are you going to be okay NYU?"

"Yeah," she turned to one of the ME's who was trying to move the body of the dead woman onto a stretcher, "Sir, this is the fifth apparent rape and homicide of a young woman in this area. Does NYPD have anything to say about this?"

The ME glanced over in Maggie's direction and gave her a dirty look, "Can't you reports give us our space? We're trying to clean up a body here have some respect."

"Is that a direct quote or should I paraphrase it a bit?" Maggie asked in a sarcastic tone.

A year ago Maggie graduated NYU with her masters and jumped right into the world of New York City. She started off working at a small paper in Queens until one of her articles on a bank heist got attention from the Post. She started at the post three weeks ago. Maggie was supposed to be covering art and literature but a recent crime spree was rocking New York.

Now Maggie was face to face with her first dead body and struggling to keep her food down while having a battle of wits with the ME. The examiner gave her a dirty look before muttering, "We can't release a statement until the detectives from the Special Victim's Unit show up."

Maggie scrawled the name of the unit down on her pad before stepping away from the crime scene. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a cell phone. Quickly she dialed a number then pressed her phone to her ear. The phone rang a few times before the voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Jamie," Maggie tried to seem as cheerful as possible. She hated to bother her brother at work but Jamie was a good cop and knew someone in every department in the NYPD.

"Hey Mags you know now's not a great time, right?" Jamie was always busy with something or another.

Maggie glanced over her shoulder at the crime scene behind her. More reporters were showing up and the police were trying to push them away from the scene, "There was another apparent rape-homicide in the East Village and the girl looks like the other ones. I think it's a serial but the ME or street cop's won't tell me anything. They told me that they couldn't say anything until SVU showed up. Any chance you have a friend there that can give me an edge in?"

Jamie let out a sigh and Maggie could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was annoyed, "Yeah I know someone there. I'll give them a call then text you when I get an answer. But sit tight Mags; you know how hard street cops work and how much they hate to be prodded."

"Yeah I know," Maggie muttered, "I remember the horror stories dad used to tell me. I really appreciate this Jamie, my editor is breathing down my neck."

Jamie checked, "Anything to help my little sister. I gotta go I just got a dispatch notice so I'll let you know when and if I hear anything from my SVU contact."

"Thanks Jamie I'll see you on Sunday," Maggie ended the call and tucked her phone back into her coat pocket. She glanced over her shoulder at Mel as the veteran reporter finished off his cigar.

Mel was reaching into his pocket possibly for another cigar as Maggie walked back over towards the crime scene. She folded her arms over her chest and nodded towards the scene, "These guys won't give us anything so let's give them some space."

"And lose this lead? My editor would kill me," Mel muttered. He was an older man and still a reporter. The man either loved his job or didn't know how to climb ladders.

Maggie leaned closer and whispered, "I might have an in with the SVU heading our way. We just have to wait until my brother gives me the word. Wanna grab a coffee?"

Mel glanced over at the younger reporter and shrugged his shoulders, "Sure alright I know a good coffee place around the corner. It ain't Queens coffee but it's decent."

-0-

"So there I was my first ever crime scene with my first ex-wife in toe. We were on our anniversary date you see and as soon as I saw the body our dinner made another appearance all over her shoes," Mel slapped the table as he laughed and shook his head.

Maggie chuckled and shook her head then reached for her half finished mug of coffee, "Did that date ruin the marriage?"

Mel shook his head and stretched his arm over the back of the booth and shrugged, "No she cheated on me with one of the fellas she worked with. A real shuck but they made each other happy apparently," he took a long sip of coffee before placing the mug down on text table, "You ever been married before NYU?"

"God no," Maggie laughed and finished her cup of coffee, "I had a pretty serious boyfriend during my undergrad at Fordham but once I got accepted to NYU he got distant. He was pursuing a law degree and wanted to go to UCLA. I didn't want to follow since NYU was my dream school so I broke things off," she shrugged and leaned back folding her arms over her chest lazily, "In grad school I was too busy to date."

"Smart girl," Mel muttered as he motioned for the waitress to come and refill his coffee, "I've been married about four times and each time it's ended in divorce. You want my advice hun," as the waitress filled his mug he leaned forward and used his hands to talk, "Don't get married just enjoy your life and take as many lovers as you want."

She gave Mel a wink as the waitress finished filling up her mug. As the waitress walked way she glanced over at her cell phone. The screen of her phone lit up with a text from her brother, "Jamie just got back to me," she showed the phone to Mel, "One of his contacts in SVU just got in touch. I think we might have our lead, Mel."

Maggie reached into her pocket and pulled out the small wallet she always carried. She dug out a five dollar bill and placed it on the table before nodding for Mel to follow her, "Come on, we have our interview."

Mel threw his arms up, "You go ahead and have this one kid. I'm a few years away from retiring and you have your career ahead of you. Go make your career NYU."

"Are you sure?" This was going to end up being a big case and it wouldn't be fare to Mel if she took it alone.

"Yeah go right ahead besides the Post is a bit bigger than the Queens Gazette. But I expect to see a damn good article from you," Mel demanded with a pointed finger, "It best knock my socks off!"

-0-

Maggie arrived at SVU headquarters right around lunch time slightly caught off guard by the business clad officers. Jamie said the officer who would give her an interview was named Olivia Benson. Apparently Sargent Benson owed Jamie a favor for helping her with a tough case six months earlier so he was able to pull some strings.

"Margret Raegan it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Sargent Benson," a tall dark haired woman with an olive complexion greeted Maggie in the bullpen. Olivia extended her hand and the two women shook.

"Please just call me Maggie," she insisted as she followed Olivia to her desk. The detective sat down at her desk and leaned back obviously more concerned with the work she had to do and not the reporter in front of her.

Maggie leaned against the desk and reached into the pocket of her jacket. She pulled out her small reporter note pad and a pen then asked, "Do you need to see my press pass?"

Olivia shook her head, "No for Jamie Reagan's sister I don't need to see a press pass."

"Perfect," she muttered as she flipped open the pad and clicked her pen, "So my first question is what is SVU doing about these rape homicides? This is the fifth one to happen in two months which means that this is a certified serial."

"Yes it's a certified serial but we don't want the public to be scared. The perpetrator is a certified serial but he has a very specific type. All of the girls that he has attacked have been tall blond women with green eyes. They are also typically well educated women, the first was from Columbia, then two from Barnard and the last two where from NYU," Olivia noticed that Maggie's eyebrows were narrowed and she seemed to be slightly distraught with the news.

As Maggie scrawled her notes down she glanced up at the detective and asked, "What is one of NYPD's most impressive police units doing about this?"

The question unsettled Olivia. From Maggie's slightly condescending tone and the slightly arched eyebrow, "We've alerted the schools and have increased NYPD presence on both campuses and routine patrols. The NYPD is also encouraging women not to travel alone for the next few days and to always make sure some one knows where they're going."

Maggie glanced up from her pad, "So more uniforms and the buddy system is the NYPD's response to all of this?"

Olivia's expression tightened to an annoyed look. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. There was no love loss between cops and journalists Maggie knew about that when she chose to deter the typical Reagan path. Olivia Benson was a great detective and in the words of her father "one of the best damn cops the NYPD has seen in twenty years." Maggie didn't want to offend anyone but she also wanted the truth.

"Unless we have a face or a name this is the best we can do," she titled her head to the side, "Do you have any better ideas?"

Maggie shook her head and gave Olivia a polite smile, "I'm not a decorated detective and the closest thing I have to knowledge in criminal justice is a family connection and degree in political science," she shut her reporter pad and tucked it back into the pocket of her jacket, "I'm just digging for information. I meant no disrespect."

Olivia felt bad for the rookie, "We're short staffed and stressed to find this guy."

"As anyone in your position would be," Maggie replied, "I want to make this article not only about the case itself but about the men and women who are struggling to fit everything together. I want people to understand the stress an NYPD detective is under. People should know not only the details of the case but the people working it."

That take was admirable. Olivia partially chalked it up to Maggie's ties to the NYPD and her want to make this a good story. Olivia was the head detective on this case and having a strong press coverage for this might end up allowing SVU to catch this guy quicker.

"How badly does the Post want this covered?" Olivia asked.

"Badly, my editor is giving me small intern assignments while I follow the case. They thought because I'm a Reagan I could get into the inner workings of NYPD," she shrugged, "it's worked so far."

Olivia nodded in agreement, "I could get you access to some of the people working on the team. I think having a heavy press coverage might be useful for now."

Maggie's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "So you want me to tag along with you and SVU to cover the story."

"If you think it would be beneficial to your story then yes you can come," Olivia offered, "We can issue you a press pass but you'd need to be cleared with the DA."

"Leave that to me," she gave Olivia a smile, "I'm meeting with DA Reagan this afternoon."

Olivia stood and extended her hand, "Let me know when you have the pass and we'll get started."