Chapter 10

"So, Mr. Davidson, you were stalking your ex-girlfriend, Christine. Now, I'd say that would be excessive since you're the one who broke up with her. Via text to boot, I've been told. A cold way of breaking up with anyone," Olivia gave the man across from her at the interrogation table.

"I…" Derek started.

"You what?" Elliot wanted to know. Derek's mouth opened and closed a few times like a goldfish at the side of the fish tank.

"Should we tell him?" Olivia turned to her former partner.

"Oh, I think we should. I mean he is facing life without parole," Elliot shrugged.

"Tell me what?" Derek managed.

"You're not the only one who can stalk people. Well, I wouldn't call what we do stalking. See surveillance cameras are about keeping people safe, so they have a tendency to see things that people don't want other people seeing," Olivia nodded to Elliot who opened a manilla folder and slid it in front of Derek.

"See that guy in the picture… if you recognize him, that's because it's you," Elliot told him.

"No… I was…" the suspect started.

"If you're going to say you were at home the night she was murdered, you better stop right there. Your name was on the flight manifest for a flight the day before Christine was murdered. See your boss said you were supposed to be here in the city for a conference. The only thing we can't figure out is how you managed to get your hands on a knife like that. I mean Christine was probably freaked out until she realized it was you. She said something, did something, and it set you off. Maybe you didn't mean to kill her but she just…" Olivia paused.

"Pissed you off," Elliot finished.

"I… I need a lawyer," Derek managed.

"Ok, that's your right. You can call him when you get to Central Booking," the Captain said as she stood from her chair. She pulled the suspect up from his seat and cuffed him.

"But… I…" Derek started.

"You asked for a lawyer. Our conversation ends here," Elliot gave him a look before he opened the door to the room. Two uniformed officers collected Derek and took him down to Central Booking.

"Benson and Stabler couldn't get him to crack huh?" Fin asked as they reentered the SVU bull pen.

"Something is off," Olivia admitted.

"I agree. You and Joe were able to get him to talk. He freely admits to stalking her, which still makes no sense, but the minute we brought up his lack of an alibi and the fact that our perp matches his physical description, he just shut down," Elliot frowned.

"You think he's protecting Bartoli?" Amanda wondered.

"We don't know how he fits into this. I highly doubt that a man, who everyone thought was dead, just happened to pop into our vic's apartment near the time of her death," Olivia was frustrated.

"The profile goes completely out the window if Derek Davidson did this. It doesn't track but you're right – he was actually in the city and possibly even near her apartment. The knife poses a problem but if Derek didn't do it, why wouldn't he be shouting that from the rooftops?" George spoke up. He'd come back into the precinct after hearing about the arrest of Derek from Olivia.

"What if there was something that Christine knew – like something she wasn't supposed to know? I mean why do men break up over text?" Amanda asked.

"Because they're cowards," Fin told her.

"I was going to say no balls," Elliot agreed.

"Because maybe it wasn't Derek?" Olivia was following her colleague.

"You think that our mob hitman didn't want the two of them together? He tells Derek it's over and he better break up with Christine. He knows if he tried to do it face to face, that he'd never go through with it," her former partner could see that.

"Or maybe Bartoli sent the message from Derek's phone?" Amanda wondered.

"That could explain the stalking. Derek doesn't want to break up, but Bartoli makes him. Unable to let go, he does the next best thing," George could see that.

"So how do we track down Bartoli? Things have changed since he faked his death. It's getting harder and harder to stay off the grid," Joe pointed out. As the newest member of the unit, he was trying to absorb the new people in the squad room. Everyone else knew George and Elliot but he hadn't made up his mind about them yet.

"I have just the woman for the job," Elliot smirked.

To Be Continued…