"Hi, we're here to see Mr. Dupree." Olivia Benson approached the desk. She flashed her badge politely and the secretary nodded understandingly. She lifted herself to her feet and made way to a closed door down a small hallway. Seconds later Olivia was joined by her partner.
"What did they say this call was about?" Elliot asked marveling at the trophies and awards adorned on shelves around the office.
"I'm not sure." Olivia shook her head looking at her watch. There were kids sitting in plastic school chairs lined up against the walls. Just as Elliot was scanning them, the secretary's voice chimed from down the hallway.
"Detectives?" she squeaked. "Y'all can come on back." Seconds later she reappeared and smiled at them. Elliot and Olivia squeezed past her and into the hallway. When they arrived at the door a tall, lanky man greeted them.
"Mr. Dupree?" Elliot asked. The man bowed his head and moved out of their way allowing them to enter. "I'm Elliot Stabler and this is my partner, Olivia Benson." Elliot made introductions as Mr. Dupree escorted them to two lounge chairs seated directly in front of a big, crowded wooden desk.
"Thank you detectives for coming out." Mr. Dupree seated himself and ran a hand through his faded grey hair- or what he had left of it.
"What's this all about?" Olivia straightened herself in the chair.
"About a student enrolled here. Her name is Emily Crawford She's a sophomore this year." Mr. Dupree paused.
"Is she in trouble?" Elliot crossed his legs and squinted.
"Um, I don't know. That's why I called you." Mr. Dupree shuffled around the papers on his desk, obviously uncomfortable. "You see, she hasn't been to school in over a week. I've called her home several times but I nobody ever answers."
"Do you call the police every time a student decides to skip out on school?" Elliot shifted himself in the chair, clearly feeling he was wasting his time. Olivia cocked her head, first at her partner but then at Mr. Dupree.
"Of course not. It's just before her absence a few of her teachers reported to me that her physical condition had been catching their attention." Mr. Dupree sighed.
"What kind of attention? Like she was using drugs? Being abused?" Olivia took out a memo pad out of her pocket and slid a pen out of a class cup sitting on the desk.
"Apparently she had been acquiring a lot of injuries and she was starting to look dirty. Her grades also began to drop which her teachers found suspicious." Mr. Dupree picked up a paper.
"Was this out of the ordinary?" Olivia asked as Elliot scratched his head.
"Yes. Emily is a very clean cut, smart girl. Her family is one of most well off of those attending this school." Mr. Dupree handed Olivia the paper. It was a collage of e-mails received from Mr. Dupree concerning Emily Crawford's downward slope.
"You say you haven't had any contact with her family?" Elliot took the paper as Olivia finished looking it over.
"We've tried to contact her mother continuously. We tried the first day she was absent and have continued to do so every day since. Mrs. Crawford's work says she's unavailable and their home phone only goes to voicemail." Mr. Dupree looked from detective to detective.
"What about her father? Any siblings?" Olivia questioned.
"Emily's father died three months ago." Mr. Dupree dropped his head. "He was a police officer killed on the job."
"Sergeant Crawford." Elliot said to himself remembering the headlines.
"Emily has two younger siblings both who attend the elementary school down the street. I haven't had any contact with them but I checked their attendance records to see if they coincided with Emily's." the man shrugged his shoulders.
"And?" Olivia maneuvered herself.
"They've been in school everyday. I also inquired about both of their physical conditions. The principal told me there had been no change and the kids were acting normal."
"How do you think Emily got those injuries?" Elliot started to stand.
"I'm not sure. Our school nurse examined her. You could talk to her." Mr. Dupree stood as well.
"That would be great." Olivia added standing and following Elliot and Mr. Dupree out of the office.
"Let me ask you this, why didn't you report her injuries before she stopped showing up to school?" Elliot asked as they all walked down the school hallway.
"I was unsure. I thought maybe times were tough because of her dad's death. The girl hasn't quite recovered." Mr. Dupree stopped at a white door which was closed. There was a window in the door but it had been covered with construction paper to protect privacy. Mr. Dupree knocked and they waited. When the nurse finally came to the door she opened it just a sliver.
"Can I help you?" she woman asked.
"Ms. McAllister, there are two detectives here about Emily Crawford." The nurse eyed both detectives and then pushed the door open. Inside a student lay on the examination table. Bandage wrappers were everywhere and the students jeans had been rolled up revealing a bloody ankle.
"Can you sit up, Jacob?" Ms. McAllister asked. The young man sat up as directed.
"I have a meeting to attend." Mr. Dupree announced. "Detectives if you need any more help, please don't hesitate to leave your number with my secretaries." Elliot and Olivia both nodded and watched as Mr. Dupree let himself out.
"I'll be with you in just a second." The Nurse looked up. She carefully placed a bandage over the wound.
"Jacob, you can go back to class. Why don't you come back here before homeroom and I'll wrap it better before you go home." The boy nodded and slowly helped himself off the table. As he was getting down he stumbled.
"Be careful," Elliot caught Jacob by the arm.
"Thanks." Jacob nodded again. Then he excused himself.
"Are you sure he's ok?" Olivia asked.
"He'll be fine. He just had a little accident with the volleyball pole in P.E." Ms. McAllister assured her. "So have you found Emily Crawford?"
"We haven't even started looking." Olivia shook her head overwhelmed.
"I examined her before she stopped coming to school. That girl had many injuries." Ms. McAllister waved her hands in the air.
"What kind?" Elliot sat on a stool in the corner.
"Bruises on her stomach. Cuts on her upper shoulder. Two or three cigarette burns on her upper thighs."
"All in places nobody could see." Olivia concluded.
"Were they self inflicted?" Elliot asked curiously.
"I don't think so. She seemed very emotional about them. Not in an embarrassed way, like she was relieved."
"Why did you conduct the examination in the first place?" Olivia boosted herself up onto the examination table.
"She came in complaining of a stomach ache. When I began to press on her stomach she complained of extremely sharp pains. I asked her to remove her shirt and let me examine her further." The nurse positioned herself leaning up against a counter.
"And she complied?" Elliot asked skeptically.
"She hesitated. At the time I thought maybe she was having a pregnancy scare and was afraid I would tell her mom. But I didn't know Emily that well. After a second to think and a little reassurance she allowed me to continue."
"What did you find?" Olivia stepped forward.
"A couple of bruises on her abdomen. She started crying and then showed me the other injuries. She was also complaining of a hurt wrist which was so painful that she wouldn't allow me to touch it at all."
"You didn't call anyone or alert them of signs of abuse?" Olivia approached the counter and looked at Ms. McAllister.
"She begged me not to. Then the bell rang, school was out. She left and I planned on talking to her first thing the next morning, but she didn't come to school." The nurse moved away feeling intimidated by Olivia.
"Who do you think did this?" Elliot got up.
"I don't know. Maybe her mother? Emily was a very bright girl. Excellent grades never had any behavioral problems. She hasn't gotten in trouble once."
"Is that all the information you have for us, Ms. McAllister?" Elliot made his way to the door.
"Just one more thing." She took in a deep breath. "Emily didn't really have any friends."
"No friends?" Olivia repeated. "You're telling me a there wasn't a single person in this school Emily was linked to?"
"That's right. She hardly socialized. Wasn't seen talking other than for participation in class. It was weird because she didn't really have a quiet personality. If you started up a conversation with her, she would glow. Her communication skills were excellent."
"Thank you for your help." Olivia walked to Elliot at the door. Ms. McAllister pursed her lips and watched them out.
"There is one more thing I want to do before we leave." Elliot announced at the pair walked down the empty hallway. Olivia didn't say anything; she was too busy reviewing all the information. When they arrive back at the office Elliot approached the secretary's desk.
"Hello, detectives." The secretary looked up and smiled. Elliot returned the smile and leaned down to her level.
"You don't happen to have a picture of Emily Crawford, do you?"
"There's probably one in the yearbook." The secretary pointed to a box filled with hard back yearbooks. Elliot thanked her and grabbed one. He flipped through all the pages until her found her. Next to Emily's name was a picture of a girl. She had curly brunette hair, shocking green eyes, and a glowing smile.
"Liv, look at this." He showed his partner the picture of Emily Crawford.
"You're kidding me." Olivia grabbed the book to look closer.
"Captain won't be happy about this." Elliot shook his head. "Can we take this?" He asked the secretary who politely obliged. Olivia shoved it under her arm and the partners headed to the station house.