A/N The seventh chapter, interrogation 101!
FBI Headquarters
11.50 am
Olivia stared at Tony Donnelly through the two way mirror. He looked normal, indifferent. She felt how cold he was though, she remembered how she felt punching him that day in court and how she wished she could do it all over again as he was the monster who hurt her little boy. She was being wired up for the interrogation so Dean and Jessie could talk to her and she to them when they were in here.
"Ready?" Dean asked.
"So the seventy two hours begins from the first question?" Olivia asked.
"Yup, I'll set the clock and as soon as you ask the first question it will start counting down." Dean explained nodding his head towards a large red clock against the wall behind them.
"Ok, so I'll see where being personal takes it then, Jess write down everything he mentions, family, friends, prisoners, anything and we can sift through it, you never know where it could lead us." Olivia sighed to the redhead.
"Absolutely." Jessie nodded.
"Ok well I'm going in." Olivia said taking a deep shaky inhale.
Dean Porter and Jessie sat down and looked at five screens, one which that showed Olivia's chair, one that was a close up of Tony Donnelly's scar ridden face, and then three that was wide around the room so that they could see every movement Olivia or Donnelly made.
Olivia stood facing Donnelly a wicked smile on her face, this was her trying to show that she was in charge. The white room in front of her didn't intimidate her as much as she thought it would have, the FBI interrogation rooms were very different to the small spaces back at the precinct.
"Why are you here?" Donnelly asked.
"I'll ask the questions Donnelly not you." Olivia spat walking towards the table.
She took the chair, buying herself some time before springing the first question and beginning the seventy two hour count down.
"I thought FBI had my case now?" Tony continued not caring about Olivia's last answer.
"Oh they do but see I worked for the FBI a lot in the past, they wanted me on this case. Now let's forget about that for a moment and talk about Vivian, did you visit her at all when you were out?" Olivia asked and outside Dean Porter knocked a button starting down the seventy two hour time limit they had starting at exactly midday which would make it easier to calculate for them.
"Why do you want to know?" Tony replied unsure what really to say on the matter.
"No reason I'm just curious and like I said I'll answer the questions see that's how an interrogation works." Olivia replied trying to keep herself cool even though she just wanted to yell and scream.
Tony Donnelly just stared unsure how to answer the question he was being asked, he wasn't sure what Olivia was playing at because this was something very new to him.
"Did you visit Vivian when you were out? It's a simple enough question Donnelly." Olivia repeated.
"Yes." He answered hoping that she'd change the subject.
"Uh-huh and how did you get in without showing ID?" Olivia continued.
"Fakes, I would use a different fake name and ID every time." Donnelly replied.
"How would you get new ID's every time you wanted to visit her?" Olivia asked.
"A close friend." Donnelly answered honestly.
"Close friend? Another escaped con from Sing Sing?" Olivia smirked knowing she was close to getting a one up on him.
"Maybe. Maybe not." He replied thinking he was going to get a one up on her.
Olivia made a mental note to check for prisoners who should have been in Sing Sing but wasn't who had a history with fake ID's before continuing on.
"Why did you beat Calvin?" Olivia asked changing the subject to go down another route.
"Because he hurt Viv." Donnelly replied.
"You hurt him so what difference is that Donnelly?" Olivia asked leaning into him her eyes narrowing with anger.
"He knew it hurt her and he still did it and that made me angry." Donnelly replied the anger becoming visible in his eyes.
"He was just a kid, a baby, what made you think it was ok to hurt him Tony?" Olivia asked her anger audible in her voice, the pitch becoming slightly higher and the volume becoming louder.
"Vivian did and it was her kid but he would fight her back, he wouldn't dare fight me back." Donnelly replied.
"Oh so that makes it ok to hit a little boy? His mother does so I can? You're pa-thet-ic." Olivia spat.
"I don't want to talk about Calvin anymore, it's visibly a sensitive subject for you." Donnelly replied.
"Since when have you been a psychiatrist?" Olivia replied one eyebrow raised in sarcasm.
"Funny." He replied. "I just don't want you PMSing on me, the last time you did I got a scar from you." He was pointing to a thin white line on his cheek bone from the cut he'd sustained when Olivia slugged him in the courthouse so many months ago.
"I wasn't PMSing, I was pregnant." Olivia laughed sarcasm spewing from her mouth.
"You were hormonal then, women are hormonal when pregnant and PMSing so it's the same thing." Donnelly replied shrugging.
"Oh believe me it's not." Olivia smirked. "You don't even want to know how different."
She was trying to intimidate him and scare him a little but she couldn't read him and wasn't sure if it was working.
"H-U-A-N-G" she spelled out into the air knowing that Jessie would write it down and figure out what she meant.
I'm on it. Dean's voice echoed in her ear.
"Ok why don't we talk about your ex-wife Elizabeth?" Olivia suggested going down a different route.
"Why would you want to talk about her?" Donnelly asked sitting back in his seat and trying to remain relaxed.
"Well she's your ex-wife and also a very good friend of mine so why don't we talk about her, why did you get divorced?" Olivia asked.
"Why? What she say?" He said the frown on his face only adding to how angry he looked as a vain in his forehead pulsated and his face flushed red with fury.
"She didn't say anything Tony so calm down, I only know that you were once married and that you have a kid together, what did you do that was so bad she left you and made sure you never got to see your kid?" Olivia asked.
"I didn't want to see the kid, wanted nothing to do with it or her." He replied spitting across the table as he spoke.
Olivia grimaced and wiped the saliva that landed on her face before continuing.
"Ok, she's obviously a sensitive subject so maybe we should take a break." Olivia replied getting to her feet, she knew there was no point trying to talk to Tony Donnelly when he was so rattled.
She walked out the room and met with Jessie and Dean Porter.
"Huang is on his way." Porter informed her.
"Ok Jessie get onto the agents looking at missing people from Sing Sing and find out if anyone who may be missing has connections or has anything to do with fake ID's, I think that's the first slip up he gave us." Olivia explained.
"I'm on it." Jessie replied picking up the phone and scanning the numerous numbers Dean Porter had given her for when they needed to contact someone else on the case.
"Where do we go next?" Dean asked knowing there were reasons Olivia had left it.
"Well twenty minutes down we're not doing too bad, we have to change it up, he didn't want to talk about Calvin because of how it affected me and I didn't want to talk about Liz Donnelly because it's one pointless and two he's no good to me when he's angry over her so we need to decide which is the best route to take with him now." Olivia replied honestly.
"Get rattled?" Dean suggested.
"What do you mean?" Olivia frowned not understanding and wishing Porter would talk in complete sentences.
"Let him get you angry and see what he gives you when he thinks you're too angry to take it in." Dean replied.
"And if that doesn't work?" Olivia asked knowing they needed to move things along and not give Donnelly a chance to relax.
"We'll switch it up even more by sending Jessie in alone, she'll be safe and you never know how he'll behave to fresh meat." Dean smirked.
Olivia felt sick because she knew Dean found Jessie attractive and if it was the last thing she did it would be make sure he couldn't hurt Jessie in the way she'd been hurt, he may not have ended it, she had but it didn't mean it hadn't hurt her when he lied to her.
"They said thanks to that piece of information they have found that a Neil Donavon is missing from Sing Sing, he was doing life for blowing up his mother when she was sleeping as he wanted the inheritance, he had been collared in the past for making and selling fake drivers licences." Jessie relayed the information she had gathered over the phone.
"Ok then Neil Donavon, let's see what we get when I tell him we know he's the pal." Olivia replied going back to the interrogation room, purposely slamming the door behind her.
"Someone's angry." Donnelly commented as Olivia tried her hardest to appear flushed and frustrated.
"Yes, someone is angry but that is what happens when they have to interrogate scum like you for hours on end now tell me where's Neil Donavon?" Olivia asked leaning on the table opposite him.
"I don't know who that is." Tony shrugged sitting back in his seat.
"Don't lie to me!" Olivia hissed leaning in closer to his face. "Neil Donavon escaped from Sing Sing, he should be there doing life but he's not and he was popped in the past for making and selling ID's so he's the one who made you the fake ID's to visit Vivian isn't he?" Olivia hissed so viciously that for a moment Donnelly actually appeared scared of her.
"Yes uh he made me the ID's." Donnelly replied hoping she'd back off.
"And where is he?" Olivia spat, her voice a low threatening growl desperately trying to intimidate him and it was working because he would have told her everything he knew had she asked at that exact moment.
"I don't know, we went our separate ways after her made me ten ID's." Donnelly replied hurriedly.
"Don't start playing games with me Tony! Where is Neil Donavon?"
"I told you!" He yelled wanting her to back off desperately. "I don't know where he is, he made me ten ID's told me once I'd used them all in the prison to use them again as it wouldn't appear suspicious as long as I mixed them up and didn't use them in the same order every time." Donnelly replied.
"Why would he make you ten ID's, there had to be something in it for him." Olivia replied knowing well how convicts would work.
"He got his freedom thanks to me." Donnelly replied.
"Oh did he and how did you do that?" Olivia asked.
"One gangbanger was going to shoot him just after we left Sing Sing, he was in for shooting with a semi automatic as school kids killed a few of them, the bloke even scared me sometimes but I said if anyone in the group ended up dead we could kiss goodbye to our freedom because we'd all be busted before we turned around." Donnelly answered. "Now get out of my face."
Olivia took one last deep breath and let out a small growl before pulling away from the table and beginning to pace the room.
"How many of you left Sing Sing together?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know, I didn't do a head count or anything." Donnelly replied sarcastically.
"But you were in charge of getting the group out of the prison and into the outside world?" Olivia continued.
"No anyone was in charge, we're all adults and can clearly take care of ourselves." Donnelly replied shaking his head, he found it all quite amusing.
Olivia's nostrils flared as she became angrier. She had dozens of questions she would have liked to ask him but it was out of the scope of what they needed to find out from him and she would be able to ask him at a later time. Deciding now would be the best time for a break leaving Donnelly in his own thoughts she marched out the room without a second glance.
"Jess?"
"On it." Jess replied picking up the phone once again just as Doctor George Huang entered the room.
"Liv?" He asked.
"I need you reading this bloke when we're interrogating him. I trust you and can understand you relaying information." Olivia explained.
"Ok no problem." Huang nodded knowing that he wasn't only going to be watching Donnelly, he'd also be keeping a very close eye on Olivia for Captain Cragen's sake.
"Why would he not want to talk about his ex-wife?" Olivia asked looking over Jessie's notes.
"Multiple reasons." Huang shrugged. "Why did they split?"
"I don't know that's what I asked him." Olivia replied her eyes not moving from the yellow notepad.
"Ask the ex-wife." Huang suggested.
"Jess call Elliot and get him to talk to Liz Donnelly." Olivia told the rookie detective who had just hung up the phone.
"Sure thing, they can't find the person we're looking for but they'll call if they find something." Jess explained as she keyed in Elliot's cell number.
"Why would he not want to talk about Calvin, he said he could see it was a sensitive subject and he didn't want me PMSing on him as he remembered what my reaction was last time." Olivia told the doctor beside her.
"He could be scared that you'll hit him again, he's helpless cuffed to the table, he can't fight you back and that may be a weak spot for him, he likes control but when you're in control he's weak and vulnerable and I think that frightens him even though he would never admit that." Huang replied looking in at the perp through the two way.
"Right." Olivia replied. "So should we expose that weakness and vulnerability some more or should we give him some control back?"
"I'd go with making him vulnerable first, then if it doesn't work it's easier to give him the control because he'll accept it easier, if you give him control now it would be tough to make him weak after." Huang explained his eyes not moving from Tony Donnelly.
"Ok why don't you and I take a crack at him together Dean?" Olivia suggested.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"You're a bloke, I'm sure he'll become scared of you far quicker than he will me and..." she smiled and laughed a little before composing herself enough to say the last part of her statement. "I need someone close by who can stop me before I kill him." She winked playfully.
"Gotcha." Dean smiled back.
"We're both wired George so if you have any suggestions let us know." Olivia explained tapping the plastic piece in her ear.
Huang nodded and took Dean's seat as Jessie hung up the phone again.
"Elliot's on his way to see Donnelly and will call if he gets something and he also said you could have let him know we were here he's been worried sick." Jessie said.
"Oh shit I thought Cragen would have told him, never mind just take notes and then when Elliot calls write down everything he tells you." Olivia replied before going back into the room followed closely by Dean.
"We can't find your semi automatic pal." Olivia hissed walking towards him, her arms crossed.
Uncross your arms, it makes you look like you feel threatened, put your hands in your pockets or clasp them behind your back. Huang's soft voice filled her ear.
She did as she was told and placed her hands in her pockets even though she knew she would be using them shortly.
"Were you lying to me Tony?" She asked her eyes narrowing and her brow furrowing as she tried to get through to him that she was pissed.
"No I wasn't why would I?" He replied.
"You're not known for being forth coming with information to help us in this investigation, when I talked to you back at my precinct you refused to say anything." Olivia shrugged.
"That was then and this is now." Tony shrugged back.
Talk about Calvin, he knows that's a sensitive subject with you. Huang's voice echoed in her ear once more so she leant on the table and got right into Donnelly's face.
"Why did you hurt Calvin?" She hissed.
"I told you I don't want to talk about that." He replied.
"But I do and this is my house and my rules go Tony so tell me what it was that made you want to hurt Calvin!" She yelled in his face and she could see him flinch away from her but she wasn't sure what emotion it was he was displaying.
He feels closed in by you Olivia attack now.
Olivia took her hands from her pockets and grabbed the back of Donnelly's head before slamming it down on to table.
"What was that for?" he yelled jumping to his feet.
"Pay back for punching and kicking a seven year old little boy you son of a bitch! Now tell me who else left Sing Sing with you!" She screamed angrily.
"No way!" He replied pulling as far away from him as the cuffs would allow him too.
"How many of you were there leaving Sing Sing?" Olivia asked adjusting herself so she was in his face once again and he couldn't move from her this time.
"I am not telling you a damn thing you crazy bitch!" he yelled but Olivia punched him cutting him just above the eyebrow.
"Tell me!" She yelled.
"No!" He called back.
She grabbed him by the shoulders forcing him to sit down and Dean Porter came to one side of him while she was on the other side.
"Now tell me how many of you left Sing Sing together." Olivia said her voice now a threatening whisper as she sat on the edge of the table her legs to the side of Donnelly.
"I don't know, I didn't do a head count." Donnelly replied his voice almost breaking as if he was nearly in tears.
"You can give an approximate, was there more than five of you?" Olivia asked.
"Yes."
"More than ten?"
"Yes."
"More than fifteen?"
"I don't know." He replied.
"Who orchestrated all of it from Sing Sing?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know." He lied.
"Yes you do." Olivia hissed. "You know because you were involved in the planning weren't you, you knew exactly how many people were with you when you left Sing Sing, you knew their names, why they were there and what use they would be to you on the outside. Now give me names!" She yelled.
"No get away from me you psycho bitch!" He yelled trying to pull away from her again.
Come out Liv it isn't going to work. Huang's voice told her and she knew he was right and gave Dean a weak nod signalling to him that they needed to leave.
"Ok so making him vulnerable and weak didn't work." Olivia sighed as soon as the door was closed behind them.
"Actually it did, well it did a little." Huang replied.
"No it didn't he gave me nothing." Olivia told him angrily.
"Yes he did, he told you there were more than ten of them leaving Sing Sing and less than fifteen." Huang replied gently knowing Olivia was pissed off.
"That doesn't help us George." Olivia shrugged.
"Of course it does Olivia, don't you see? You've already caught him and two others who left Sing Sing right?"
"Yeah?" Olivia couldn't see what Huang was getting at but she knew he must have something to be so confident.
"Then you've named another. So that means there is only another ten at most that you need to find out who they are and where they are to have your total and then hopefully one of them will give you more information about who helped them escape because I'm certain Tony Donnelly won't give that up." Huang explained.
"Ok, so we use Donnelly to catch the others and then use them to catch who set them free?" Olivia asked.
"Exactly." Huang replied with a satisfied grin on his face.
"Ok let's take a break for lunch and then we'll give him control afterwards." Dean suggested hearing Olivia's belly rumbling.
"Good idea." She smiled feeling particularly hungry.
FBI Headquarters
3.35 pm
Over an hour later the detectives and George Huang relieved the security guard who'd been stood outside the room and Olivia and Dean stepped back inside while Jessie and Huang took their seats by the screens.
Dean went over to Donnelly and uncuffed him as they aspect of giving Donnelly some control back.
"Decided I'm safe to be around now?" He asked looking at Olivia.
"Something like that." She shrugged taking the seat opposite him as Dean took the one beside her.
"Ok." He nodded.
"Now why don't you tell us a bit about the men who left Sing Sing with you?" Olivia asked gently hoping that coaxing him like a victim would work.
"Why don't you tell me what you want to know about them?"
Answer him, he wants to be in control remember. Huang told her.
"Well names would be good, or why they were in prison, that might be a good place to start." Olivia replied giving him that control.
"I'm not giving you any names so don't bother asking." Donnelly replied folding his arms, enjoying the fact they weren't stuck to the table anymore.
"Ok why don't you tell me a bit about them?" Olivia shrugged hoping he'd see it as an inviting suggestion.
"Oh I can tell you about this one guy, he knows you, he said you were the cop who got him." Donnelly replied.
"Oh really? What did we get him for?" Olivia asked trying to look enthusiastic rather than worried.
"Yeah said he kidnapped and raped some kid." Donnelly replied.
"I won't know who he is from that information Tony I mean I deal with men who kidnap and rape kids every day." Olivia told him gently again trying to coax him to speak with her.
"Nah nah, he said, he said you went after him after the kid called you, he said he'd had the kid for months, no one knew she was missing and then suddenly you show up. Said he tried to bury the bitch alive to get away with it but you broke ever rule in making sure you found her." Donnelly explained.
Olivia's heart hammered in her chest because she knew exactly who it was that was missing, she knew his name and a heck of a lot more.
"Dean I'm just going to step outside ok?" Olivia smiled gently. "Would you mind Tony?" She asked still giving him the control.
He shrugged meaning she was able to go, Jessie was waiting for her when she came out.
"Richard Dwyer, he kidnapped a little girl called Maria when she snuck into the US from central America, she called in with a phone she'd found in her pocket, I spoke with her for nearly three hours and he'd put all sorts of bells and whistles on the phone to stop is from tracking him. We almost had him and then he found out we knew so he knocked her out with chlorophyll while we searched for more clues in finding her. We went to the store, I broke in without a warrant, Fin punched the bloke even though we couldn't be certain it was him, I went in and found the room she'd been held prisoner for, but he'd cleaned the place up. I nicked his shoe when I saw dirt on it and Fin guessed from some chips that she was in an old abandoned lot we'd been looking at and his face ... I remember his face it told us everything and we knew she was there, I was so relieved when I gave her CPR and she came back because I would have never forgiven myself had she died." Olivia explained.
"Wow, so he's free?" Jessie asked.
"Yes, call the agents and let them know because I know he'll grab another girl, he took a girl that no one would miss and put her in a place no one would find, he's one smart son of a bitch and I don't want to give him the opportunity to put another girl through what he put Maria through." Olivia explained.
"Liv." Elliot smiled coming into the room.
"El what are you doing here?" She asked accepting the embrace he was offering.
"I spoke with Donnelly, she wasn't pleased that you were digging up into her privet life but she told me he turned violent towards her and she feared for their daughter and that's why she divorced him." Elliot explained.
"I can't believe she never mentioned it." Olivia replied.
"Would you?" He asked. "I mean, she knew about Donnelly and knew what he was like all the way through the whole thing with Calvin and she didn't even contact us when she knew he had escaped, I'm guessing she was ashamed of it Olivia." Elliot explained.
"Yeah that's true." Olivia replied.
"So you and Porter getting anywhere with him?" Elliot asked going to the two way.
"Nope, not really got a couple of names oh one of them is a perp I collared by the way, his names Richard Dwyer, he kidnapped Maria, the little girl from Honduras." Olivia told him.
"That was when I was on a case in Brooklyn right?" He asked.
"Yup." Olivia replied remembering how much she had felt the need for him during that case.
"Ok well that's one person we need to get back inside. I'll let the boys back at SVU know, Munch and Fin are already trying to track down a Neil Donavon?" Elliot told her.
"Yeah he's the other name ... wait you're gathering them up?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah Dean apparently said he wanted SVU on this case because it was our case originally." Elliot explained.
"So the NYPD do all the work and the FBI get all the credit that sounds just about right." Olivia sighed.
"Of course." Elliot laughed before kissing her on the head.
"We've been at this guy for nearly four hours. Jesus what is going on I mean you'd think he'd given more up." Olivia sighed leaning on the bar on the wall beneath the two way.
"Four hours?"
"Well we had an hour break for lunch, we're giving him control at the moment." Olivia explained turning on the intercom so she could listen in to Porter and Donnelly.
"So you think you'll catch all the people who escaped?" Donnelly asked.
"Oh I know we will, I have NYPD's finest working on this one morning noon and night until every single one of you is locked up in a federal hole." Dean replied softly trying not to rattle Donnelly up.
"You know, I'd really like a break from talking now." Donnelly said.
Give it to him. Huang's voice drifted into his ear.
"Ok well I'll be back shortly." Dean said getting to his feet.
"Give me an half an hour, I need a real break." Donnelly replied.
"Ok well half an hour it is then." Dean nodded before he walked out to join Olivia, Elliot, Jess and Huang.
"Well?" He asked.
"Giving him control isn't really working, he gave you your perp Olivia because he wanted you to know that he was out there, because he wants you scared." Huang replied.
"He wants me scared?" Olivia asked in surprise.
"Yup, he wants you to fear him and I recon you get rallied up in there with him uncuffed and then become scared of him, I don't see him turning violent on you." Huang explained.
"Ok well let's give him the thirty minutes he's asked for then we'll try that, Jessie have you got anymore for us?"
"Nope. Still nothing on the Semi Automatic guy." Jessie replied hanging up the phone.
"Shit." Olivia sighed. "Come on El, let's get some air before I go mad." She said grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room.
Www so four hours into the interrogation we have two names and a detail and I've given you a few interrogation manoeuvres, don't know which ones I'm going with next but we'll see.
