Chapter 21

The next afternoon, Munch and Fin both climbed out of the rental car, glad to actually stretch their legs. They'd spent eight hours on a train to Brunswick, Maine from Penn Station. That was the end of the train line and from there to Bangor, it was an hour and forty-five minutes by car. They had been lucky to get into a parking spot in the lot directly across the road from the FBI office and quickly headed for the front door.

"New York City police? Aren't you guys a little far from home?" The receptionist asked when they flashed their badges. Fin set an evidence box on the counter.

"Well we heard the view was excellent up here from Agent Schimanski," Munch replied.

"Ah Agent Schimanski. I'll give him a ring and let him know you're here. Is he expecting you?" She wanted to know.

"We left him a message; said we were coming up as quick as we could. It has to do with his case, Sarah Marvin and Molly Sabatini," Munch said.

"Guess he forgot to mention it. All righty, one moment," the receptionist picked up the phone and quickly dialed the agent's extension. She wasn't on the phone for very long before hanging up.

"He said he'd be right down. Said you made good time," she chuckled.

"He's a laugh riot that Agent Schimanski," Fin mumbled. There were two reasons the detectives didn't fly to Bangor and the first was because the department wouldn't spring for it. The box of evidence that had made the trip cramping Fin's leg room on the train and taking up space in the trunk of their rental car, couldn't leave their sight and was too big to be considered a carry-on. So instead of a ninety-minute flight, they had spent almost ten hours working their way through the Amtrak transportation system. It wasn't as though the trip hadn't been nice but flying would have been much quicker.

"Detectives Munch and Tutuola, pleased to meet you," a man slightly younger than Munch but older than Fin walked up to them a few minutes later. He had salt and pepper hair and weighed about one hundred and seventy-five pounds – most of it muscle. The agent wasn't letting himself go as some older agents and police officers do.

"Agent Schimanski, nice to meet you. Can we have a chat?" Munch asked as they shook hands.

"Of course. Let's head up to my office," the agent said. The three got into the elevator and headed up to the third floor. Munch and Fin quickly brought him up to speed on what they thought was going on once they reached his office. Schimanski was interested in the photos and forensic reports they'd brought with them.

"You really think that Molly was together with it enough to fake her death at fourteen?" Schimanski wondered.

"Well to be honest, I think she figured that it was enough of a distraction so she could get away. She probably didn't think it would work so well," Fin said.

"Probably right. Truth be told, the local cops were more worried about Sarah Marvin than they were Molly. Molly's dad was a piece of work and the only person who paid attention to her was Sarah. Once she was gone, Molly probably did anything she could to get away. To be honest, I always figured that Mr. Sabatini probably killed her. The blood that we found wasn't enough to say that she was in fact dead, but when you get an abusive drunk angry, one punch and that could be enough to kill someone. Bleeding from a head wound, she gets tossed into the ocean, and we never find her body," the FBI agent figured.

"And once Mr. Sabatini was dead…" Munch heaved sigh.

"Yeah there was no push to convict a dead guy of killing his daughter. Mrs. Sabatini disappeared and to this day, I can't find her. Even she must have thought that her husband killed her daughter. I mean why else not stick around to try and find Molly?" Schimanski wondered.

"Good question," Fin nodded.

"So, you guys didn't come all the way up here just so we could go over stuff that we could have done over the phone," the FBI agent pointed out.

"No. We were wondering if we couldn't get some assistance looking at the old Sabatini property," Munch said.

"Like, 'Hi new owners, I'm the FBI and I'm looking for a dead body on your property' kind of help?" Schimanski asked.

"Some ground penetrating radar perhaps?" Fin nudged.

"Hmm… well we could ask politely. That might work. Don't have enough to bug a judge for a warrant," the FBI agent said.

"Do you think they'll go for it?" Munch wondered.

"When you tell people that they might have a body on their property, they tend to be more open to you looking for it. Well unless they buried it," Schimanski smirked.

"So how do we want to do this?" Fin asked.

"Why don't the three of us take a ride? We'll just ask real nice if a team can come over tomorrow for a quick scan," the agent suggested.

"And then maybe get some dinner?" Munch wondered. Schimanski chuckled and replied,

"I know just the place. As for your box of evidence, this is an official transfer correct?"

"Yes. We have copies back home. If it turns out that our victim is in fact Molly, it ties her to the disappearance of Sarah so it's a federal case," Fin nodded.

"I bet your Captain didn't want to give that up," Schimanski commented.

"You never want to give up a case, but you also didn't see the Marvins have to deal with the fact that the body in the morgue wasn't their daughter," Munch heaved a sigh. The FBI agent nodded – that was something no parent should have to do.

While Munch and Fin were on their travels, Olivia was back at Dr. Valentino's office. She knew what the psychiatrist was going to ask about and she really didn't want to dig deeper into it. Maybe Elliot had been right though. Maybe it would help.

"So, I'm guessing Tucker told you about the precinct's renovations," Valentino started from her seat in a comfortable armchair.

"Yes. Sounds like even if I wanted to go back, I'd have to wait," Olivia nodded from the armchair across from the doctor.

"Indeed. The one thing that we have to tackle is where you shot Jenna. It may have been the heat of the moment and before you knew it, Jenna was on the floor, but I'm not willing to believe that you wanted to kill Jenna," the doctor was cautious here, knowing if she pushed too hard, her patient might shut down.

"Jenna was wildly firing the gun. She didn't know how to use it. Her rage was just letting her react. Elliot was pinned down, trying to help Sister Peg. The guy next to Munch had been hit and Munch was trying to help him. Fin had tackled Kenny, getting him out of the way. All hell was breaking loose and when Jenna stops shooting, she stood there pointing her weapon at me. I wasn't the only one begging her to put the gun down. She wouldn't do it. I should have seen it coming. Jenna must have realized that I wouldn't shoot her unless she gave me a reason. She moved her finger and I just squeezed the trigger. I wasn't thinking about where the bullets were going, I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt," the irony of the last sentence wasn't missed by anyone in the room.

"But on some level, you knew that someone would have to get hurt in order to end it. Your family was in danger. You had to protect them. They had protected you and been there for you – something I'm guessing you didn't have growing up," Valentino went there. She had to see what would come next.

"I came from violence, so I reacted with violence," Olivia shook her head. She didn't want to go there but perhaps now there was no choice.

"I'd say you came out pretty good – many abuse victims don't have the strength to pull themselves out – but of course you already knew that," the doctor said.

"No, you didn't. The elephant is in the room. It's part of who I am. That is not going to change," Olivia pointed out.

"I'm not looking for change per se, I'm looking to heal. Sometimes you need to dig deeper in order to do so. Baby steps, one thing at a time," Valentino smiled. Olivia took a deep breath and began.

To Be Continued…