CHAPTER 11

"So...what did you learn from Bolton?" Cragen asked as Benson entered the squad room.

"That Gabriella Montez is a really emotional subject for him. I accused him of killing her and he just exploded." Benson answered. "Elliot is at NYU trying to get more information on her as we speak."

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Detective Stabler waited in the Dean's office patiently. So far all he learned was that Gabriella Montez was a brainiac. Dean Charles Ellison finally entered his office. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Detective. It has been an exhausting day."

"Thank you for seeing me." Elliot said. The two shook hands and then sat down. "Now, Gabriella Montez?"

"Ah, Gabriella Montez. A remarkable young woman. She came here for graduate school after she graduated from Stanford." Ellison said.

"Stanford is a really good school. Why didn't she go there for grad school?" Stabler wondered.

"I wondered the exact same thing so I asked her. And she said personal reasons. I assumed because of her friends' tragic deaths. So I didn't ask anymore questions." Ellison answered.

"What else can you tell me about her?" Stabler asked.

"Well, straight A student, Chemistry and Mathematics major, kept to herself except when one of her friends were visiting, and loved helping people. You should talk to her roommate, Anette Richards. I think she will know more." Ellison said.

"Thank you very much for your time." The two shook hands and Stabler left.

NYU CAMPUS

Anette Richards was on her way to her Women's Studies class and Detective Stabler walked along side her. "Well Gabriella was always in the Library studying or tutoring or just out. She was always leaving Friday afternoons and coming back Sunday night." She said to Stabler.

"Where was she going?" Stabler asked, walking with his hand crossed behind his back.

"I don't know. I didn't ask. My class ended early once and I caught her talking to someone on a disposable phone in our dorm room. That's when she told me that she had a boyfriend she didn't want her father to know about. Then like I said: she leave on Friday, be back on Sunday." Anette explained. She nearly dropped her books and Stabler caught them for her. "Thank you."

Stabler nodded. "Do you know where she is?" Stabler asked as they continued working.

"Well, she said she was taking the summer off and that she was going home to Albuquerque. She said she might be back in the fall but she wasn't sure. Haven't seen her since. It was really weird though because she never takes the summer off. That's how she graduated Standford at 20. I think it had something to do with her and her boyfriend breaking up." Anette said outside the building her class was in.

"Why do you think that?" Stabler asked.

"It was about six or seven months ago. She came back on a Saturday instead and she was crying. I asked her what was wrong but she said she didn't want to talk about it. Then she left to go to one of the Foundation's fundraisers. Look, I have to get class." Anette pointed to the door and Stabler nodded. Stabler walked away as she went in.

"So what did you find out?" Benson asked as soon as Stabler sat at his desk.

"Apparently Gabriella had a secret boyfriend she didn't want Daddy to find out about. And that she probably moved back to Albuquerque but no one is really sure." Stabler answered.

Benson rolled her eyes because they were back to square one. She sat down at her desk and went through Bolton's file for like the 100th time even though she probably knew she was not going to find anything...again.

Casey Novak then walked in the squad room with a look of flawless victory on her face. She had just convicted a man molesting his stepdaughter. "Why so down guys?" She asked as she sat on the edge of Olivia's desk.

"There may or may not be another victim from the Troy Bolton case but we are no where close to finding this girl." Stabler started to explain. He took out the photo of Bolton and Gabriella Montez and let it fall onto his desk. "For all we know, she could be in the Hudson or vacationing in Costa Rica..."

Casey's eyes were glued on the picture and she didn't seem to hear anything he said after he took out the photograph. She picked up the photo and looked at it more closely. Her breathing increased and her mouth hung slighlty open until finally she spoke. "I've seen this girl before." She said in a whisper so soft but loud enough for Benson to hear.

"I'm not surprised. This girl is going to fundraisers all the time and her pictures have been in the tabloids, the papers, magazines." Benson said.

"No, not in the paper. She bumped into me..." Benson and Stabler looked at her curious. "...the day of the verdict. She was coming out of the room Bolton and McKessie were in. He said she was his assistant but I thought was weird." Casey explained.

"Why? Was something off? Was she frightened or upset?" Benson asked, moving closer to Novak.

"No...I thought it was heartless for an employer to have his pregnant assistant come all the way from Albuquerque just to deliver paperwork and go straight back." Casey put the photo back in the file.

"What did you say?" Stabler asked.

"That McKessie is heartless." Novak repeated.

"No. After that, about the assistant?" Benson asked.

"She was pregnant. At least seven months. Why? Is that important?" Novak asked.

Elliot and Olivia looked at her. "So that's what they fought about and that's what Bolton's hiding." Stabler said.

Benson crossed her arms and nodded. "Gabriella's pregnant and something tells me that Bolton didn't want anything to do with the baby...so he made Gabriella disappear."