The Cat & The Canary
Olivia watched as Elliot walked jauntily up to his desk, his suit jacket slung over one shoulder. He handed her a Starbucks cup of cappuccino, her favorite, and sat down with his own cup, which she knew would be a black coffee. He was whistling. Elliot, whistling!
"What's up with you?" she asked, astonished. Typically, a case as brutal as this one would have him in a dark mood, contemplating the depths to which humanity could sink before society crumbled altogether.
"Nothin'" he replied, giving her a big smile. "Can't I bring my partner a coffee?"
Fin looked over from his desk. "He got laid." He chuckled, and went back to his paperwork. "Only one thing puts a smile like that on a man's face in the middle of the day."
Olivia looked at Elliot, who grinned and opened the file in front of him. "Anything new?"
John Munch walked over and leaned against the desk, across from Elliot, arms folded. "I was just reading about a study," he began "That the frequency of spontaneous sex is the best predictor for the longevity of relationship."
"Munch!" they all groaned in unison. John his hands up in surrender and went back to his desk.
Olivia looked at Elliot and shook her head. "Still no answer at the number we've got for the Wildsmith's" she said. "Why don't we head on over there before we go to the Tool Box? Maybe they'll be home from work by then." When they'd stopped by the Brooklyn brownstone earlier that afternoon, the next door neighbor told them the couple usually arrived home around 6 pm. He didn't know where either of them worked, just that they came home together.
"Sounds good," said Elliot. He continued to whistle as he perused the file in front of him. The phone company had come up with a physical address for Wildsmith and from there, they were able to determine an identity from the seven Brian Wildsmith's they'd found in the general NYC area. He had been 24 years old, living at home and as far as they could tell unemployed.
Olivia looked at him, wondering if Fin was right. Elliot did have that post-coital look of the cat that'd swallowed the canary and loved every bite. He wore a navy striped shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes, which were bright and alert. The sleeves were rolled up to show the Marine Corp tattoo on the underside of his right forearm. She knew he had another tattoo as well, a stylized crucifixion on his upper left arm. Elliot's Catholic upbringing was a deeply ingrained part of who he was. Olivia, who hadn't been raised in any particular religion, often had a difficult time being understanding when Elliot's beliefs sometimes got in the way of their work on cases.
"Is that why there was no answer when I tried to call your house a little while ago?" she asked Elliot.
"What?" asked Elliot, pretending not to understand what she was talking about.
"Busted!" crooned Fin, and began humming the old tune "Afternoon Delight".
Olivia shook her head and went back to her own file. Evidently Kathy and Elliot really were in a new phase of their relationship. Good for them!