Chapter 25

The next morning, Elliot and Olivia walked into the precinct, and they could see that the Captain's door was closed. Elliot looked at Kenny and the younger man just shrugged. Fin walked in a moment later and had the same look on his face as the other detectives.

"He's had the door closed since I got here," Kenny said.

"So while we're waiting, what happened with Lucia yesterday?" Fin asked.

"Yeah, we kind of expected a phone call. Especially since we dropped that little bomb about one of our last two victims," Kenny reminded them.

"Lucia wasn't in much of a frame of mind to talk. She's not exactly old enough to be visiting the gynecologist and this was a lot to deal with. On top of that, she was dealing with the fact that she had been pregnant and now wasn't," Olivia admitted as she took a seat behind her desk.

"I ended up taking Sophie to the hospital chapel to pray and sit with and Olivia was holding Lucia's hand during the exam," Elliot explained as he too sat down at his desk.

"Geez," Fin frowned.

"Did the doctor find anything?" Kenny asked.

"Well given her age and Gus's age, they were concerned about permanent damage, especially since Lucia had a miscarriage. Nothing was apparent from the exam but they performed an ultrasound to double check for internal damage and promised to get back to us. They also took blood samples so they could make sure she didn't have any STDs. Lucia also got a referral for a therapist but given their financial situation, I'm not sure how that will play out," Olivia heaved a sigh.

"Is there someone we can find to help her?" Fin wanted to know.

"I'm calling Huang," Elliot said, picking up his desk phone. The others thought it was a good idea so while he was busy on the phone, they turned their attention to the Captain's office which Munch was currently occupying.

"It can't be Tucker, there's no shouting," Fin said.

"Could it be someone up the chain of command? I mean the only reason they'd be in there that long would be because he's getting his butt chewed out," Olivia frowned.

"That's the last thing we need. If they take Munch out of command, we're all in trouble," Kenny shook his head.

"You'll be reassigned before you can ask why," Olivia nodded. That's when the door opened and out walked an elderly couple with someone that they didn't recognize. Munch announced,

"This is Mr. and Mrs. Carter, parents of Julie, and this is Detective Bill Manning from New Jersey State Police. He took over Julie's case." The names were now familiar. Julie was the missing girl from twenty years ago and Detective Manning's name was on the report to be notified if there was new information.

"Sergeant Munch was explaining you think that you've found someone who might have harmed our Julie," Mrs. Carter spoke up.

"Possibly, we're looking into him for a string of crimes here in the city," Olivia explained.

"I'm here to help. The Carters wanted to meet the people who would be helping to find Julie," Manning smiled slightly.

"I promised them a ride back to their hotel. Kenny, would you mind?" Munch asked. Kenny nodded and smiled at the couple before standing up from his desk and leading them out of the room. Elliot was just off the phone and introductions were quickly made.

"We read the file. Tell us what you think," Fin said.

"Well Julie was a good kid from all accounts. Detective Samuels gave me all of his notes when he retired and I have to admit, he didn't think she was the type to look for trouble," Manning sighed.

"Could we speak to Detective Samuels?" Olivia asked.

"Only if you have a Ouija Board. Lou passed away five years ago. Cancer," Manning frowned. It was obvious that the Detective knew and worked with the original detective on the case.

"Sorry to hear it. What do you think based off of your experience?" Elliot wondered.

"Julie was walking home from school after the bus dropped her at the corner of a street just a few blocks from her house. It was a standard thing to do with a large neighborhood mostly made up of dead ends. She never made it home. Her best friend who lived a few blocks over was the last one to see her. No one seemed to notice a car that was out of place or anything like that. Given how long it's been, I have to admit, Julie's more than likely passed away and probably not from natural causes," Manning said.

"It has been a long time but we just had a kidnapping victim turn up alive after twenty-five years," Munch told him.

"It has been known to happen but if Julie got near a phone or got a chance to get away from whoever took her, she would have. I would like to give the Carter's some closure even if it's not the kind that comes with good news," the New Jersey Detective said.

"Well let's see what we can do," Fin said.

To Be Continued…