"I'm glad it's you on this case," Marcus said

Chapter 3

Alex leaned against the counter in Rogers' office with her arms crossed over her chest and watched as Rogers ran a cotton swab along the inside of Marcus' cheek.

"All right," Rogers said, placing the swab into a sterile tube. "Thank you, detective…I'll go get this to the lab."

Rogers gave a small smile to Alex just before slipping out the room.

Marcus hopped off the table and wearily looked over Alex.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Marcus asked.

Alex shook her head and pushed off of the counter.

"Just let us handle it—"

"I'm glad it's you on this case," Marcus said.

Alex gave a slight smile and nodded.

"Bobby and I will do everything we can."

Marcus nodded and let out a long breath.

"I know it doesn't exactly compare, but is this what it felt like…when Joe died?"

Alex let out a quiet huff and glanced briefly at the floor.

"What, you mean that feeling of your heart being ripped out and stomped on in front you?"

"That sounds pretty accurate," Marcus said and then turned slightly to look over her. "Does it get better?"

Alex sighed, feeling a bit of déjà vu since she had so recently been through the same thing with Teresa Quinn.

"It can," Alex said.

"Did it?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, yeah it did…eventually."

Marcus nodded.

"Uh…I'd appreciate it if you'd come…and your partner too…to the wake…it'll probably be tomorrow night…" Marcus said. "Her friends will be there…some of them may be willing to talk to you."

Alex nodded and shifted on her feet.

"It shouldn't be a problem," Alex said and then gestured toward the door. "I really need to get back upstairs."

"Of course…I need to get to Tricia's mom's…" Marcus said.

"Okay," Alex nodded. "We'll let you know as soon as we have something."

"Thank you."

Alex gave him one last look and headed back to the elevator.

Once back on the eleventh floor she found Bobby at his desk with a pen between his fingers, excitedly shifting several files and she knew he was about ready to bust at the seams waiting for her to return so he could tell her what he had found.

She stepped up beside his desk and leaned over supporting herself on her palms.

"I take it you found something," Alex said.

He nodded, with a crooked smile, and gestured to one particular file with his pen.

"I knew that crime scene reminded me of something, but I-I just couldn't figure out what…look at this," he said as he tapped his pen against the file, which had a news article paper-clipped to it. "It happened about five months ago: a woman, blonde, raped and murdered, and then left in an alley by her apartment…"

"Was she killed in her apartment?" Alex asked.

"Uh…no…but she wasn't killed in the alley either and her ID was left with her, which wasn't released to the press," Bobby said and she could hear his foot tapping against the linoleum.

She had to fight down her smirk at how, in these moments of discovery, his eyes carried the same gleam of excitement that Madison had when they were going to the zoo or dropping her off for a play-date with Nathan.

"So where was she killed?" Alex asked and stood straight.

"They never found it," Bobby said. "The case went to Manhattan SVU…one of the detectives is an old buddy of mine from narcotics…"

"A buddy I haven't met," Alex said. "Well this should be fun."

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Alex and Bobby sat side by side in the deli around the corner form One PP eating their sandwiches while waiting for the SVU detectives to join them.

Bobby kept one eye on the door and one ear on their conversation as they went through their notes from the interviews they had conducted in the later morning hours. They had talked to Jason Farmer, the accused rapist from Tricia's recent case and her legal secretary, Judith.

Both were convinced that Farmer, who was disheveled and sloppy, would not have taken the time to display her body.

Bobby looked through Tricia's day planner, which her secretary had turned over, and made notes in his binder.

"Well I'll be…it really is you."

Alex followed Bobby's gaze toward the light skinned man approaching with a dark haired, blue eyed man in a decent suit trailing behind him.

"Hi, Fin," Bobby said.

Bobby rose from his seat and embraced Fin in one of those man hugs, which was half a hug and half a handshake.

"What's it been twelve years? How you been, man?" Fin asked.

"I-I've been good…" Bobby said, nodding.

"I heard about your mom…sorry I didn't make it to the funeral."

"No need to apologize," Bobby said and glanced down at Alex who gave him a thin smile. "Uh…this is my…partner, Alex Eames."

"How you doing?" Fin greeted her with a nod. "This is Elliot Stabler…our partners were out of commission so we ended up working on the Wilson case."

Elliot shook hands with Bobby and then Alex before he and Fin sat across from them.

"What can you tell us about Lisa Wilson?" Alex asked.

"She was a stock analyst," Elliot began. "Worked long hours, never married, no kids…seemingly conservative, ambitious."

"Seemingly?" Bobby asked.

"We connected her to a surgeon…a Dr. Peter Strauss…his DNA matched what we found in the rape kit," Fin explained.

"So why didn't you file chargers?" Alex asked.

"He claimed they had been seeing each other, off and on, said she liked it rough…"

"And admitted that they had had sex the night she was killed," Elliot said.

"Doesn't mean he didn't kill her," Alex said.

"No it doesn't," Elliot said. "But other people corroborated his story and his apartment was clean…we thought maybe he killed her there and then took her back to her apartment."

"A-a doctor would have access to the kind of cleanser that could get rid of any traces of blood," Bobby said.

"Look we didn't have enough solid evidence…the DA wouldn't press charges…we did everything we could," Elliot said.

Bobby recoiled slightly at the irritation in Elliot's voice and jotted down something in his binder.

"I-I didn't mean to imply that you didn't," Bobby said.

"I know you didn't mean anything…Elliot's just a little high strung…he's got a new baby on the way," Fin said. "You really think this ADA might have been killed by the same guy?"

"There are similarities," Bobby said. "The way they were displayed…the amount of bruising on the body…but Wilson was strangled, right?"

Fin nodded.

"M.E. figured with a belt," Fin said.

"Could it have been rough sex gone wrong," Alex said. "Maybe he was covering it up by putting her in the alley."

Bobby nodded as he considered the possibility.

"Maybe…"

Their conversation was interrupted by a text message alert and Elliot pulled out his phone.

"I got to go meet Liv for an interview," Elliot said and then excused himself from the table.

"Whatever it was he ain't admitting to anything," Fin said. "I should probably be getting back too. We should get a drink sometime catch up."

"Definitely," Bobby said.

"Nice to have met you," Fin said to Alex and then said good-bye to Bobby.

Alex sat back in her seat and turned toward Bobby, who slowly turned his gaze from his binder to her.

"It's very thin," Alex said. "There's no mention of anyone named Strauss in any of Tricia's stuff."

"Yeah…I know," Bobby said. "But you can't deny the similarities."

"Can't deny the differences either."