Breakable SVU

Don Cragen took the envelope off the top of his mail pile and opened it. There was a certificate inside just like Dan Ross had said there'd be. He read it. Now how did that woman get this into the squad room without anyone being the wiser? Too many nights with little sleep and too much stress on the job was getting to himHe wasgetting punchy

He could see the envelopes on other desks. There would be questions from all the detectives and he wanted to have answers for them other than he'd heard good things about the place. He picked up the phone and dialed the number on the bottom of the certificate. It rang and rang, without an answer. It was early, maybe it wasn't open yet.

The first to arrive in his office was John Munch. He knocked on the door and opened it when Cragen gestured him to come in. "You got a minute, Captain?"

"What is it, Munch?"

"I have this. Do you know what it is?" For an answer Cragen picked his up to show the detective. "Is this for real? No one gives away free time at a business, especially in New York. Has anyone checked this place out?"

"They just arrived this morning. No one from this squad has. I've heard it's on the up and up. If you want to check it out, go ahead. Take your lunch hour and do it. In the meantime, we need to get to work."

"We're going to go talk to the apartment manager on the Scothouse case this morning as soon as Fin gets in."

"Good. Maybe he's thought of something. Swing by the ME's too and see if you can pick up any more clues from the body."

"Right." Munch was about to leave when he turned back to the his captain. "Are we sure this isn't a trap for someone on the squad?"

"If it is it's pretty elaborate for one."

"Those have been tried before."

"Have you ever seen a business like this one?" Cragen asked rhetorically.

Munch gave him an acknowledgement with a nod and left the office. John Munch was nothing if not a cautious man. His background, his training and his innate distrust all combined to make him suspicious of everything and his every instinct was giving him bells and whistles about anyone making a profit from destruction and giving it away to members of the police force. He slipped the certificate into the pocket of his coat and grabbed a cup of coffee.

Fin was on the way in the door when Munch met him with a cup of coffee. "You're late. Let's go."

"Let me get to my desk, man." Fin said sharply.

"Later. We need to go now."

"Relax, man. Is there a house on fire?"

"We don't know yet." Munch answered leading the way.

After the apartment manager, failed to remember any more they left and went to the ME's office. Again they struck out. "Well, that was a useless morning." Fin said grouchily at his partner. "You shoulda let me stay at the office. At least I'd've gotten a decent cup of coffee." Munch glanced at him. "Well, a hot one at least."

"We aren't done yet." Munch said. "We have one more stop to make."

"Where?"

Munch gave his partner the certificate to look at. "How did you get one and I didn't?" Fin demanded.

"You did. It's on your desk. We're going to check it out. It just doesn't smell right to me."

"Man, you are so suspicious."

"The place is giving away time, an hour at a time, to cops. Why? What is their angle? To break up things? There has to be a catch."

"Let's go ask."

"You want to drive?"

They got in the car and Fin took the shortest route to Breakable. It led them through the seediest part of town. Munch looked around at the surroundings. "I think we should lock the doors and I'm armed." He commented. "Did we have to come this way?"

"It's the fastest route, old man. Don't worry, I'll protect you if something happens." Fin grinned at him.

"Before or after they strip the car and leave us in a dumpster?"

"After. What are you so nervous about? No one wants your scrawny ass."

"Any cop is a good target around here, man."

"Oh, please. Look, there it is. Not very imposing, is it?"

"Look around, man. If it was all dolled up, it would stand out like a sore thumb. You know the inside could be a palace." Fin parked the car and they got out, looking around as they did.

The Open sign on the front door beckoned them inside. The bell was loud bringing a woman out from the back. "Good morning. Can I help you?"

"I'm Detective Munch and my partner Detective Tutuola."

"Munch and Tut?"

"Tutuola." Fin said.

"Tutuola. What an amazing name."

"Just Fin. It's easier."

"Please don't tell me it's short for Finnegan."

Munch grinned at his partner. He'd have to remember that. "No, it's Odefin, but it's a mouthful." Fin admitted.

"Odefin Tutuola. It fits you. I'm sorry, I'm just plain ole Jennifer. Can I guess that you're from the Special Victims Unit?"

Munch frowned. "How did you know?"

"I sent certificates there for an initial visit. You're early. They just came out today and you're the first ones here. You won't be the last, I'm sure, but you're here to find out if I'm on the up and up or I've lost my mind. Or worse."

Fin gave her a suspicious look. "That's a pretty obvious conclusion. Care to explain why you sent these certificates?"

"I know cops. Or at least as a breed I know them. I know the suspicion, I know the stress a cop is under, I know the anger that can build up. And I want to fill a need for both your job and my need for an income. And by using available materials and my labor I can do both."

"How can you know a cop so well? Were you one?"

"No, my husband was. We started this together."

"He was a cop?" Fin asked.

"A deputy sheriff actually. He did this for his own stress relief and I made it into a business."

"I'd like to meet him." Munch said.

"He's not here right now. He's out gathering targets for me." Jennifer lied, glibly.

Munch looked over his glasses at her. "Do you have a picture of him?"

Jennifer laughed at him. He was taken aback. "Does that work very often? The looking over the glasses? I think it's cute."

Fin laughed at his partners discomfort. "She's got you, old man."

"I'm sorry. Was I supposed to be intimidated? I'll try to do better next time." Jennifer grinned at him.

Munch gave them both a disgusted look. "So tell me how this works." He gestured toward the place.

"I can give you the half cent tour if you'd like. This way please. This, of course, is our lobby and back here is what I laughingly refer to as the weapons room. It's locked at all times, except when I'm in there. The cabinet over there has a variety of sledgehammers, baseball bats and even some golf clubs now by special request for clients to use. No one is allowed to carry any weapons in there except what has been approved by me.

Any weapons brought in, whether the person is a cop or a private individual, is either handed over to the person they are with or locked up for the duration of the visit. The person is then taken to this room back here." She took them back to the room where it was set up for a living room. "They are asked to wait until I'm out of the room before they begin. Then they can destroy as much or as little as they desire. Ten minutes before the hour is over they are told to finish whatever they really wanted to destroy. At five minutes to the hour I request them to put the weapon down and there's a five minute cool down period for them to let the adrenaline slow down before they are allowed to exit the room. That's usually a safe amount of time."

"And this works?" Munch asked suspiciously.

"Most of the time. I'm not out to hurt anyone, I'm not out to cause anyone a problem. I'm trying to make a living doing something that no one else offers. Most people are grateful for the chance and I give certificates to people who serve and protect because I know what it's like to live with the rage and suspicion the job entails. Believe it or not. There are people in this world that aren't out to get you."

"So it's going good for you then?" Fin asked.

"I get a lot of repeat business, yes. By far the most requested thing I get are liquor bottles. Those I have to hunt for sometimes just to keep up the demand. There's a euphoria after the session and most people are happy to do it again. The novelty wears off after awhile, but there's always stress so I'll eventually end up with a stable client base."

"You know this how? You can't have been in business that long." Fin demanded. "We would've heard something about it."

"That's a good question, Detective Fin. This is my second site. The original one is in another city. I sold it and moved here and reopened. It's a different name but it's the same concept. I'd like to say one more thing then I have a client coming in. I'm not forcing anyone to do this. That's why the certificates. If you are not comfortable with the arrangement, at least don't prevent someone else from enjoying it. If nothing else, try it first than condemn it."

"You are here all by yourself?"

"Most of the time, yes. Why?"

You said you moved here and reopened. Not the two of you." Munch said.

Jennifer grimaced. "You got me. I'm a widow. Everything else is true. My husband was a deputy sheriff and he did die and he did do this in our home. I made it into a business and moved here to start over again. You can check that out at you leisure. All I ask is that you not spread around that I'm alone here. It's hard to be in business by myself without support. I'm not asking you to lie, just not to spread it around."

"We won't rat you out." Fin promised. "Do you have proof that you aren't going to tape this and try to blackmail someone with it?"

"With what? Someone destroying garbage? Are you serious? Ah, I get it. You are asking me if I'm going to use it as leverage against you? No. I do tape everything just as a safety measure, or some people want a tape of it and will bring a blank one for me to make them a copy of mine so they can have it. You have to admit adrenaline and the human emotion can be a powerful combination. Mmm, you know I have a couple of tapes you can watch if you want. I'll need them back, but it'll give you the idea. It was a couple of clients I had that said I could use their tapes for a promo if I wanted to, so I have their permission. They aren't from around here so it won't matter about a name. Do you want to see them?"

Munch exchanged a look with his partner. "Sure."

"Oh, there's my client. Can you wait just a minute til I get him started and I'll get them for you."

"Go ahead. We'll wait over here." Fin said.

The two men moved over to the front of the store and watched the procedure while Jennifer did exactly what she'd told them she would. She carried the weapon from the weapons room to the back room and came out. She went to a monitor and looked up for a minute when they heard the first great crash.

The two detectives moved toward her, intending to look at the monitor as well. She smiled at them and stepped in front of them. "I'm sorry, unless I have his permission, it's a private session. I can't allow you to watch."

"We're the police." Munch told her in frustration.

Jennifer pointed to the posted rules on the wall. "Then you understand the need for rules, detectives."

Munch gave her a disgusted look. Fin was hiding his grin. She reached for her desk drawer and Munch sidled around pretending he was looking at the rules, but he was trying to see the monitor. Jennifer reached up and hit the power button, darkening the screen and stared back at him, challenging him to comment.

She handed Fin the tapes. "We'll bring these back." He said.

They left the building and Munch was scowling. "She's not telling us everything." He said.

"She isn't going to tell you everything, Munch. You came on like she was a suspect. Did you expect her to fall all over you?" Fin scoffed.

"You're just flattered because she said she liked your name." Munch told him sourly.

"The woman has good taste, that's all." Fin grinned. "And she didn't find your peeking over your glasses at her routine scary. Face it, you're losing your touch with the ladies."

"Not on your life. She just doesn't appreciate big city cops." Munch said.

"She probably knows better." Fin shot back heading back for the stationhouse.

The squad room was happily quiet when they got back to the office. "Captain, we got a tape." Munch called to his captains open doorway. He put the tape in the VCR and sat down in his chair to watch.

Most of the officers in the room turned to look at the television. Munch recognized the room immediately even though the furnishings were different. The door opened and Jennifer came into the room with the "client" who was wearing a helmet, safety glasses, knee pads, shin guards and elbow protection. Jennifer gestured around the room and the man nodded. Jennifer handed him the bat he'd chosen and stepped outside the room. The man looked around the room for a minute, took aim at a lamp and swung the bat. The lamp shattered spectacularly.

The group in the squad room cheered and jeered the man. Cragen watched with skeptical fascination. The man hit something else and really got into the action. The officers were taking bets on what he'd hit next. The man had worked up a healthy sweat by the time he'd seriously destroyed the rest of the room. It was all without any sound. He appeared to listen to something, took a desultory swing at something, and stood back to look proudly around at all the damage he'd done. He set the bat down and Munch fast forwarded to where Jennifer cautiously opened the door and spoke to him, then led him out of the room. The tape ended.

There was a chorus of groans, but they quieted when he put the other one in. This was a woman and she chose a golf club and the room resembled a bar. She wore no protective clothing but she had a mighty swing. "I'm glad that's not my old lady." Someone said drily.

The woman was talking, probably swearing judging by the strength of her swing and the way she appeared to scream at the things before she hit them. She was very tired when she was done, but she was grinning and happily set down the club and even gave an astonished Jennifer a hug before they left the room. That tape ended.

Cragen nodded and headed back for his office. He closed the door so he could honestly say he didn't hear the many phone calls going from his squad room to Breakable. He waited until things had settled down out there before dialing.

"Breakable, this is Jennifer. How can I help you?"

"This is Captain Don Cragen, I'd like to make an appointment, please."

"Yes, Captain, I've been expecting your call."

"You have?"

"Captain Dan Ross said if you couldn't get in for a free appointment, he'd pay for the session. He says to tell you "Turn about is fair play." Whatever that's supposed to mean."

"I can't accept anything of value for free."

"I have my marching orders just like you, Captain Cragen. When would you like to come in?"

"I, um, not sure…."

"I have a spot open tomorrow afternoon where there are none of your fellow officers either in front of you or in back of you. No one will know you've been here. You have my word on that."

"Alright. What time is it?"

"3:00 pm."

"I'll be there."

"Call me if there is a problem. I'll need you to bring a few things for my records, though."

"Records?"

"My insurance company insists. They are strictly confidential. I'll fax you the list. I hope you'll be here, Captain. I'd very much like to meet you."

"I'll do my best. Thank you."

He hung up and dialed another number. "Ross, it's Cragen. What can you tell me about this Breakable place?"

TBC