Happy belated Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! Hope yours was a good one!

. Amos: interrogation .

Special Victims Unit
Interrogation Room
Tuesday, July 6th

"Thanks for coming down here on such short notice," Munch said genially as he and Fin entered the interrogation room where Amos was nervously pushing a styrofoam cup around the table as he waited. The detective sat down opposite the teenager while Fin stayed standing. "We appreciate your cooperation."

Amos stopped fiddling around with the cup and folded his hands in front of him on the table. "Sure, just glad you guys were willing to talk to me here rather than at my work. When NYPD shows up and starts asking questions, it's hard to convince your boss that they're not looking to do you in for something."

"But last time, they were, weren't they?" Munch asked in a casual tone. Amos looked at him questioningly, trying to hide his apprehension. Munch continued, "Last time the cops showed up at your work, they charged you with possession and intent to sell."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Amos' hands strayed back to the cup and he began to tear at its lip. "You guys want to talk about Eve, don't you? My past's got nothing to do with the trouble she's in."

"You dealin' again, Amos?" Fin asked.

Amos looked startled. "No. I learned my lesson."

"We've got some people who say otherwise," Munch said.

"Well, they're lying! I don't deal anymore. What the hell's this got to do with Eve?"

"The party she was at Sunday night. Were you there?"

"For a bit. Why?"

"Have a little business transaction?" Fin asked.

Amos shoved himself away from the table and stood to his feet. "No, dammit! I said I didn't do that anymore! Why're you insisting that I do?"

Munch opened a manila envelope that he had brought in with him and pulled out an evidence bag containing the bag of marijuana that he and Fin had confiscated from Amos' friends. He held it up for Amos to see. "Look familiar?"

"It's pot. So what?"

"So, it's got your fingerprints all over it!" Fin growled.

"What?" Amos' face paled. "Man, there's gotta be some mistake! I haven't touched a bag of weed since I got busted for dealing!"

"Well, Amos. It's looking like this little 'mistake' is going to get you in a lot of trouble," Munch said, swinging the evidence bag in front of him for emphasis.

Amos chewed on his lip for a moment, his shoulders slumped as he thought. "What do you guys want to know? I'll tell you anything. Just don't report this to my probation officer. I'll be fucked over."

"It's a little late for that. He already knows."

"Oh, shit…" Amos sunk back into his chair, letting out a long breath as he clutched his hair.

"Still, you've got to tell us everything you know."

"Why should I?" Amos asked bitterly, his voice thick with despair. "I'm already in so much shit…"

"Why should you?" Fin asked angrily, moving across the room to get in Amos' face. "You should 'cause it's the right thing to do! Life's not always about what you get in return for favors! Eve deserves better than that! She's your friend! Sometimes you've gotta use what little heart you've got to help people out!"

Amos held up his hands defensively as Fin backed off. "Hey! Don't go psycho on me! I'll help! I was just having a bad moment there." He gnawed on his lower lip again, looking at the detectives apprehensively. "What exactly happened to her anyway? I've been working and so busy lately that no one's really had the chance to tell me. My mom didn't want to talk about it and I tried calling Eve's place but there wasn't anyone there."

"She was assaulted in her apartment," Fin answered.

"Assaulted?" Amos looked confused. "But when I saw her, she looked fine. No bruises or nothing. Didn't look like she got banged up… oh…" His expression froze as understanding dawned on him. "When you guys say 'assaulted,' you're meaning the other kind of banged up…"

"And after you dropped her off from the hospital, she was murdered," Munch added.

The blood drained from Amos' face. "What?" he choked out. "Murdered? You mean, she's, like, dead?"

"That's generally what 'murdered' implies," Munch said dryly.

"But… she was just alive yesterday… I saw her alive…" He stared at the table blankly.

"Sure you didn't see her dead too?"

"What?" He looked up at the detective.

"Well, Amos, you're looking good for her murder. Your fingerprints were found in her room. We can't pin the rape on you because you have an alibi for the time in which that occurred but afterwards..." Munch shrugged. "By your own admission, when you brought Eve back to her apartment she screamed some pretty bad stuff at you. Who's to say that you didn't snap? Some people get angry real fast, you know."

"Hey! I didn't lay a finger on Eve!" Amos protested. "We hung out in her room sometimes, that's all!"

"Tell us somethin' to make us believe you then," Fin said.

Amos sighed, rubbing his hands in his hair in frustration. "Okay. You were asking about the party Sunday? I saw Eve there, talking to some guy. More like arguing though. It got pretty heated to. Near came to blows but she took off right before he reached his breaking point. I could tell 'cause he turned right around and kicked a hole in the wall."

Munch raised his eyebrows. "You know this guy?"

"No, only seen him around school a couple times."

"Could you identify him in a line-up?"

Amos nodded. "Sure."

"What's he look like?"

Amos thought for a second. "Tall, blond, uh, I'm not good with descriptions…"

"Blond, you say?" Munch looked over at Fin who nodded before opening the door and leaving the room. Munch turned back to Amos. "You're going to be doing that line-up tomorrow."

"You have someone in mind already?" Amos asked.

"Maybe." Munch stood from the table. "Someone will be in in a minute to take you to a cell where you will be staying overnight." He held up a hand to still Amos' protests. "Although you helped us, you're still in trouble and don't try to argue the fact. One last question though: did you ever meet Eve's boyfriend?"

Amos shook his head. "No, we hung out with different people and I never got the chance to meet him."

Munch nodded and exited the room, turning to face Cragen and Fin who were talking. "What's up?"

Cragen had his hands in his pockets and a worried expression on his face. "We're going to have to talk to the ADA about this tomorrow. I had hoped it wouldn't be Sven. If he turns out to be our perp, this is going to be a tough case for her to handle." He glanced at his watch. "It's too late now to do anything but pressure CSU to finish running those prints they haven't done yet and see if they find a match to Sven. The government's got to have his prints on file somewhere and I'd prefer to have all the solid evidence we can get to back us up on this one." The captain of the unit paused, considering something for a moment before continuing, "And let's not cross Amos completely off our lists yet. He still hasn't provided an alibi after he dropped Eve off and he might be lying about not knowing Sven and is trying to set up the other boy.

"Now that that's said: make that call to CSU and then, everyone; go home and get some rest. That's an order. Tomorrow's going to be a very exciting day."