"Sir, they told me to speak to a detective from Special Victims. Are you a detective?"
"You've come to the right place. Have a seat," Detective Munch replied, gesturing to a chair. "What can I do for you?"
"Do we have to talk here? I'd rather say this in private."
"Let me see if a room is open," he whispered, standing and approaching the rooms. They were all empty, but he knew he should tell Cragen before claiming one.
John knocked on the door quietly, and Cragen gestured him inside. He was on the phone, so John had to wait a few moments before he could speak. But even then he couldn't: Cragen had a case.
"A police officer's daughter was raped. Get Olivia and Elliot in here and I'll brief you all at once."
"Sir, I've got someone reporting a crime out there. I just wanted to get your permission before using one of the interrogation rooms."
"I might need them later. Can't you just do it at your desk?"
"She wants privacy, but I can try to convince."
"No, you might lose her. Take Room One, but make it as fast as you can. And send Olivia and Elliot on your way out."
John followed his orders. After gesturing the two detectives into his office, he approached the young woman who had come into his domain. He kindly gestured her into the room and to the seat facing the two-way mirror. He sat down on the other side with his notebook and started asking the routine questions. But she wasn't having it.
"I have an hour before they'll start looking for me. Listen, I know about a sex trafficing house. They sell time to rape kids of all ages to the highest bidder. If the buyers aren't there for kiddie sex, they buy drugs."
"Where is this house?"
"Not until you make me some promises. These people are dangerous. One of the kids they were keeping told their teacher about what they were doing to her. The school sent in a social worker. There's a room on the first floor that's clean, so they talked to her there. After asking enough questions to figure out which child it was and what they were accused of, they excused the worker. The next morning, she was gone. Here's a picture of her. It's a pornographic one, but it's proof of who she was and what they did to her."
"It's hand-drawn," Munch whispered, grimmacing as he placed the picture on the table.
"They make me draw the scenes. That was a few days before she disappeared. I hadn't finished with it yet, and when they asked for the set, I left that one out. Listen, I know she's dead, detective. I need out of that house, and so do those children."
"I'll write up your statement and see what we can do," John smiled, starting to stand. She grabbed his hands sternly, her eyes welling with tears.
"I'm not done!" she hissed quietly. He sat back down. "When you raid the house, you have to take me to jail with them. It's the only way I can stay alive, and the other children too."
"Other children?"
"They're all over the city. I know of five houses, but I can't get addresses and I don't have time to look through photographs. They'll be looking for me in forty-five minutes, and I can't be late! They want everything to run like clockwork. If one mechanism is off, they take it out. They'll do that to me if I'm late."
"I need that information if I want to make your case solid with our ADA. She'll be prosecuting the case and issuing the warrants, but we can't do that without information."
"I've written it up. It's written backwards within the words of this story. It took me forever to master how to do that, but it's useful. That's all I can give you, detective. Just please, iplease/i, get us out of there before someone else goes missing."
"I'll do what I can. I need your name though for the reports," he whispered. She looked away quietly. "Give a fake name. My captain and the ADA will understand. Use your real one or the one they call you when we take you in. But I promise, I'll do what I can."
"Thank you," she cried, tears falling. John handed her a tissue, but she pushed it away. "I must go now. I have to cover my tracks so they won't know I was here."
John knew he shouldn't let her leave, and he knew that Cragen might have his ass for letting her go. But he also knew that keeping her was dangerous, especially with other victims throughout the city.
After quickly deciphering her message, John went to Cragen with his findings. After telling the case, Cragen picked up the phone. He was calling narcottics.
"Why them?"
"She mentioned drugs. The narcotics teams get better coverage so we can get to those kids faster. And they'll definitely arrest her too, and they'll also find the porn. Hello, Tom? It's Donald. Get together a team. We've got a major bust and need your help."
It was freezing outside, and John shivered uncontrollably under his jacket and bulletproof vest. But the victims needed him, and he carefully followed orders as they moved in.
Once the door was broken down, all hell broke loose. There were men everywhere, and there were children everywhere as well. Most looked well, but then they caught a couple upstairs: an elderly gentleman and two young boys.
The plan was working as they planned on all locations, but John knew there was a problem as he scanned the vans taking the men from the location.
"Where is she?" John asked the leading agent for his team.
"Who?" he asked. John held up a picture pulled from the plaza security cameras. "I haven't seen her. The only woman we pulled was an old lady from the basement lighting up a joint."
"Where are they taking the people from the other locations?"
"Central booking," he replied.
John hopped into his car and burned rubber to the central booking center. Once there, he flashed his badge and demanded to see everyone arrested during the raid. They were all lined up in a hallway for him to see.
After looking over the entire line, he knew she wasn't there. He cursed under his breath and excused them to return to the booking process. He then called the leading agent again, but this time he wanted to know of any evidence they found.
"We found enough drugs to fill three warehouses between the five houses. They were definitely distributing everything from cocaine to speed and angel dust. At the house you helped with, we also found a huge collection of kiddie porn to top off the man in the bedroom."
"Any pornographic drawings? And were there any bodies or people tied up?"
"We found a few binders of drawings. I'll send them along with the tapes and photos. We haven't found any bodies, but the scanning people haven't arrived yet. If there's a body in the houses or the yards, we'll find them. Your captain also put out an alert on your girl. It's private and within the force, but you've got more eyes for her now. He said she's wanted for the drugs, so why are you so worried about her?"
"It's confidential. Just call me if you find her."
John ended the call and returned to the station. Inside he found loads of kiddie porn, including more drawings. He had the one he was given and the ones from the binders tested for prints in a hope to get some from the girl. Then he started helping Fin with the tapes and photos. They were trying to ID the victims.
"This one is that missing girl from Tuson," Fin sighed, holding up a graphic photo. "Her parents are university professors that also helped the army train their guys in ancient battle tactics. Their kid was put higher on the list to help find her. I guess it worked, though I'd hate to find her lookin' like this. They dressed her up for the holidays, the sick fucks."
"At least they dressed her," John murmured, flipping through the scenes of the videos. His talker was in the background of many of them with a sketchbook. "She had to sit through the sessions, drawing all of the scenes that she could."
"And they photographed the events too? Were they distributing this smut?"
"In one house they found a lot of unmarked shipping boxes and a list of recipeints. Because they could be buying drugs, the narcotics team still has the list. They're canvasing the receivers hoping to find some drugs. Hopefully they'll pass on any of these tapes or videos."
"Or greeting cards," Fin added, tossing John a picture. "They made cards from your girl's drawings."
"That's why they were dressed for the holidays. What better way to say 'Merry Christmas' than Santa boning a ten-year-old dressed like an elf?" John spat, stopping the current tape and leaving the room. He passed Olivia and Elliot on the way out. They let him pass, then looked back to Fin.
"Is it getting to him? Cragen said there's a truckload of porn up here," Olivia said quietly, taking John's seat while Elliot picked through the photos.
"We found this house because a victim came into the station. Now she's missing," Fin replied, tossing another photo so that it landed face down. "She's in some of these photos and videos. They made her draw it all out."
"These people just keep getting sicker and sicker," Elliot scoffed, taking a seat and helping Fin with the photos. "Are you trying to ID the victims?"
"Yeah. That one's the girl from Tuson, and those two boys are the twins from Providence that went missing a few weeks ago. Both sets of parents were professors, and both helped with army training."
"I take they were gone on a training session when their kids were snatched?" Olivia asked.
"Naw. The first couple was off at a benefit dinner for their college. When they got home, the babysitter was making love with her boyfriend in their basement. Their front door was wide open, and the kid was gone. The second were organizing a presentation in their cutting room when they heard a shot. When they went upstairs, their glass patio doors were busted and their boys were nowhere to be found," Fin replied.
"This kid is the missing girl from Boston. She was at camp in upstate New York when she was taken from her cabin. The news hasn't shut up about it since it started because her parents are professors who are training soldiers on air techniques. These people are targetting army sympathizers," Elliot whispered, tossing his pictures to the table.
"Same for this one. Little boy from Denver who lived with his aunt and uncle, both of whom worked at hospitals for disabled veterans," Olivia sighed. "I bet these other kids have the same story."
"Well run them all and look for the outcasts," Cragen whispered. "Olivia, you and Elliot take the photos and videos down to the FBI building for them to run through their database. When they heard about our little raid on the evening news, they called in the evidence. Fin, Munch just got a lead on his victim. You're both headed to Central Park, pronto."
"They found her body?" Fin asked.
"Sort of," Cragen whispered, walking away.
"The girl was found here under a pile of mulch. Landscapers found her a few minutes before they called," Dr. Warner explained to Munch and Fin while leading them to the scene. "She's been dead about three weeks judging by the decomp and the bugs we found in her flesh. She matches the height and weight parameters in your picture, John."
"Any leads on the woman?" Munch asked.
"I wouldn't have called you out here otherwise. There should only be footprints from the contruction workers at the scene. It's rained since this body was dumped, so the perp's were washed away. But these are from a woman's boot, and judging by the mulch's layout, she touched it."
"You think it was his girl?" Fin asked. Dr. Warner nodded. "What else you got?"
"This note was found within the mulch. It is washed out like a note left with the body should be, but it's not degraded like a rain-washed document would be. It's like someone dumped a bottle of water over it and wadded it up."
"What's it say?" Munch questioned, grabbing the bag and eyeing it carefully.
"I can rebuild it using computer software, but judging by what is legible, I won't be able to read it."
"Because it's in code?"
"Yep. Also, there's cameras trained on the sidewalk area right there. If your girl came by, we'll be able to see."
"Keep me posted," Munch whispered, handing back the note. Molinda nodded with a smile then returned to her duties.
"Why would she come here, John?"
"If she can fix that note, we'll find out. But my theory is that they found out or she had enough."
"If she'd had enough, wouldn't that be why she came to you?"
"Not always," Dr. Huang replied, handing a mug of coffee to Munch before looking back to Fin. "She may have been in a desperate situation. You mentioned how jumpy she was about the time. She was preoccupied with it. She was also paranoid and needed to plan an alternative route home to cover her tracks."
"Do you think they could've found her?" Fin questioned.
"Anything is possible, but if they did, that would explain her visiting the scene and leaving that note. It would also explain why she came to you. Yes, she may have been away from the house for an hour and decided to tell during that hour. But she also could've been sent on an errand, one that another before her had been sent on before they disappeared. Maybe she was given a cue about her future and needed to spread the word before it was too late."
"Do you think it's too late?" John whispered. Dr. Huang sipped from his mug before replying.
"I think you'll know for sure once you've read that note. If it has a message in it, you'll either learn where she is or learn more about your prepatrators. Both are pluses because even if you don't find where she is, if you get more information on those out to hurt her, we might be able to find them."
"Which could lead us to her...," John finished. Dr. Huang nodded.
"Don't give up on this, John. Because she was proactive got us involved, and she's also giving you answers you wouldn't have otherwise. Use those answers, and you'll find the rest of your equation," Dr. Huang smiled, walking away.
"Looks like the note is in," Fin whispered, gesturing to Dr. Warner as she came up the stairs, a file folder in hand.
"Here it is, John. Good luck deciphering it," Dr. Warner smiled, passing off the folder and walking away.
John could barely contain himself as he sprinted to his desk and began solving the code to her note. Within a few minutes he had more answers. He bolted to Cragen with the information, and soon they were on a taskforce again.
hr
"Go! Go! Go!" the leader yelled. With the door rammed down and all exits covered, anyone inside was at the mercy of the men rushing the house.
John watched from beside the van that would cart off the men and women they hoped to capture. A picture of his victim was in his pocket, and he watched quietly as people began coming from the house.
John scanned each one as they were put into the van, and then the second van when the first was full. But she wasn't there.
John went to the leading officer to question him, but Fin, who was in on the take-down approached him first.
"She's not here, John," Fin whispered. "They found another note from her in the mailbox that's written in code."
John was handed the note and looked over it. He sighed heavily. She was on the move again, but she couldn't give a location. He turned from Fin, who called to him. John stopped moving away, but he didn't look back.
"John, we'll find her. We've got out a report on her, and her picture is all over the offices. Cragen is debating about releasing her to the media as wanted for possession and distributing narcotics. We'll get her. It's just going to take some time."
"Does she even have that time?" John asked, walking away.