[ RX Skate Rink
Monday, July 5th ]

"Let's try those two." Fin pointed to a pair of guys who were hanging out by the benches of the rink as the two detectives got out of their car. One of them was slumped on a bench, staring at the ground in front of him intently, and the other leaned against the wall beside his friend, his eyes nervously darting around the rink.

"You guys Matt and Jake?" Munch asked as they approached the boys.

"What's it to you?" the one who was leaning against the wall answered sullenly.

His friend looked up and he stared at the detectives with dull, glazed eyes. "Yeah, I'm Jake," he said before his friend could stop him.

"We wanted to ask you a few questions," Fin said, showing the teens his badge. "I'm Detective Tutuola and this is my partner, Detective Munch. Where were you guys earlier today?"

The one leaning against the wall, presumably Matt, put a hand on his friend's shoulder in warning as he stood up straighter. "We were hanging out with a couple friends."

"These friends got names?"

"Yeah, Amos and Eve."

"How long were you with them?"

"We got together with them about nine. Eve had to go sometime between ten and eleven so Amos dropped her off. Us guys had lunch together and then me 'n Jake split."

"When was that?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno. One maybe. I don't have a watch and I don't really keep track of the time."

"You know where he went after you guys left?"

"No, no idea."

Munch noticed that Jake had put one of his hands in his jacket pocket and he was holding onto something. "What do you got there, Jake?"

The teen looked at Munch in surprise. "What're you talking about?"

"In your pocket there."

Jake glanced at Matt for a moment and then pulled a cellphone out of his pocket. "Just my phone."

There was still a bulge left in the pocket however. Munch smiled at the kid. "Come on, Jake. We're just your friendly neighborhood NYPD. You've got nothing to hide from us… right?"

Jake glanced at Matt apologetically as he guiltily reached back in his pocket, withdrawing a nice-sized plastic baggie filled with a suspicious dried green plant. Munch took the bag from the teen, glancing at his partner with a slight grin. "Ah, cannabis indica. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time I checked, this was still illegal."

"Yup," Fin pulled his handcuffs out of his pocket cheerfully. "And that's a pretty large amount for just two guys who wanna share a joint. You think we can pin on intent to sell? How long would that put 'em in for?"

"Five years minimum, but I think they'll get more than that. They've been coming down hard on dealers lately."

"Hey, man! I didn't know he had that stuff!" Matt held up his hands defensively.

"Liar!" Jake snarled, standing up in anger. "You just wanna save your own neck! I wouldn't have that shit on me if you hadn't hooked us up!"

"Shut up, Jake," Matt growled at his friend before looking back at the detectives. "Fine. So I knew he had it. You guys gonna arrest us?"

"Of course," Munch replied as he cuffed Jake while his partner cuffed the other boy. The detectives started walking the boys to the car. "But we might not put you guys up for dealing if you tell us where Amos went after you guys split. That might take a couple years off your sentence."

Matt was grim-faced; obviously the idea of spending five years in prison didn't settle well with him. "I really don't know. I'd tell you if I did."

"He still deal?" Fin asked.

The teen nodded as they were seated in the car, saying, "Occasionally, whenever something good comes up."

Fin slammed the door closed and looked at his partner as he opened his door. "Think Amos is dealing right now?"

Munch recalled Amos' nervous posture before he had discovered the detectives had come to talk about Eve. "No doubt about it."

"Why would he send us to talk to his friends if they were about to blow a hole in his alibi?"

"Probably didn't think they would be here," Munch replied as his phone rang. The detective answered it. "Munch… all right. We'll be there in a bit." He hung up his cell phone and cursed.

"What's up?" Fin asked, staring at his partner with concern.

"They found the Jordan girl murdered in her apartment," Munch answered as he got into the car.

…

Munch and Fin arrived on the scene after they had dropped the two teenagers off at a nearby police station. "How'd it happened?" Munch asked as he and his partner walked in the door of the apartment to find Olivia and Elliot already present.

"From the ME's preliminary, seems the guy came, strangled her to death on her bed and left. He didn't rape her again, just killed her." Elliot's expression was bleak.

"Why'd he kill her?" Fin was looking around the apartment, which was pretty clean, except for near the sofa where there were things thrown all over the place.

"Maybe he doesn't like girls who kiss and tell." Munch's tone was humorous but it was evident that he was upset, as was the rest of the squad. Mere hours ago, the girl had been alive and kicking; now she was lying sprawled out on her bed with a crushed windpipe and unseeing eyes fixed upwards toward Heaven and a god that seemed not to have cared for her plight. "Any of the neighbors hear anything?"

"We've talked to a couple of them and they stay they heard Eve yelling and swearing at someone around two-fifty but nothing other than that. There's also evidence of a fight, as you've probably guessed from the condition of this room," Olivia replied, gesturing towards the mess created by Eve's outburst.

"We talked to Amos Baker and he said that Eve yelled at him and threw a lot of stuff around after he brought her back here," Fin informed Olivia and Elliot.

"After which he could have dragged her into the bedroom and strangled her to death," Munch suggested.

"You think he did it?" Elliot asked.

"He said she was really pissed and taking it all out on him. If he's the quick to anger type, then yeah, he could've done it."

"He's got an alibi for the rape though, right?"

"Right," Munch nodded. "He was with two buddies during that time."

"Could they be covering for him?"

"Well, they shot out an hour of his alibi, though it was an hour during which nothing happened. Makes me think they're not lying for him 'cause if they were, wouldn't they cover all the time for him?"

"Yeah, that does make sense." Elliot sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. "So we've got no suspects for the rape?"

"What if Amos and the two guys were in on it together?" Olivia proposed. The three men looked at her quizzically. "What? It would make sense that way, wouldn't it?"

"Amos doesn't have the tattoo on his finger though," Fin said.

"Maybe she lied? Maybe it wasn't Amos but one of the other two guys? Did you check their left hands for tattoos?"

Munch and Fin glanced at each other a bit sheepishly, both realizing that they hadn't considered that the two might have had something to do with the rape. "Didn't even cross my mind," Munch admitted.

"Then again, what if it wasn't any of those three?" Elliot said to his friends and shook his head. "C'mon guys. These 'what if's are going to get us nowhere. Right now we need to start collecting more hard facts and then we can go from there. Liv and I are going to continue working in here. You two talk with the neighbors and see if they saw anyone or heard anything else."

I don't actually know how much time is the minimum in New York for possession with intent to sell of a Schedule I drug. I did some researching before I said "five years" though and I think it sounded like an okay number. Tell me if I'm wrong though. Corrections of facts wrongly stated are always good.
And if anyone can help me with suggestions for writing Munch's dialogue, I'd love you forever. Really, I would.