Disclaimer: I don't own "SVU". Obviously. If I did, it would be "The John Munch Show".

CHAPTER TWO

DOINK-DOINK

"Where's that damn cat?"

Munch and Fin had arrived at Stephanie O'Neill's apartment, where CSU was already searching. Fin snickered at his partner's dislike for the creatures.

"Check her bedroom. Probably in there."

Munch made his way into the bedroom, making little tutting noises in hopes that the cat would appear. A small noise in the corner made him jump, then peer to see what it was. There, lurking behind the door, was a small Siamese cat.

"Ah. There you are. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…"

The cat started purring and rubbing up against Munch's legs, a sensation he did not enjoy. He scooped up the cat and went towards the kitchen to find the food. Fin couldn't help but smirk.

"We found something," he said, pointing so his preoccupied partner could see.

Munch looked. On the floor between the kitchen and the living room was a broken jar. It had apparently been empty.

"Think this could have a print?" asked Munch.

"No telling yet. Probably fell when she tried to run away."

"Didn't she say she had some coffee between then and calling the police?"

"Yeah…why wouldn't she have cleaned it up?"

"Shock," said Munch, still looking for the cat food. He located it in a cabinet above the sink and put the cat down. "Get down, you freaky little hairball."

"Check this out," said Fin, opening the cabinet to the left of the one Munch had. "Need a jolt?"

Inside the cabinet were three shelves of coffee grounds, all different blends and flavors – but no decaf in sight.

"This girl's got enough coffee to open her own Starbucks," said Munch.

"Weird. Anyway, they're going to gather up all the glass and see if there's a print. And come into the living room."

"What is it?"

Fin led Munch over to the sofa and pointed to one of the cream-colored pillows. Munch peered at it and saw a small stain.

"Know what that is?" asked Fin.

"If I did, I probably would have said 'ew' by now," Munch retorted. "No, what is it?"

"Urine. Probably got a little overexcited."

"Ew," said Munch. As he straightened up, something caught his eye. "What's that?"

He made his way over to the window and peered out. Across from the building was a small group of trees and in one, a glinting black object.

"Can you see that?" Munch asked Fin.

"Yeah. What is that?"

"I'll go check."

Munch left. Fin looked around the apartment once more. The place was tidy and sweet, with some pictures of Mary and Jesus on the walls and a cross above the door. He mused for a moment about highly devout people putting their religious symbols around doors…a while back, he and Munch had entered the home of an orthodox Jewish family and Munch had touched the door and kissed his fingers. Fin made a mental note to ask about that. A second later, Munch came back through the door holding a pair of binoculars.

"These were in the tree," he said. "Pervert must have used them to spy on Stephanie. It's a perfect view from there."

"What'd you do, climb in the tree and look?"

"Fine, I'm speculating. But I'm pretty sure."

"I'm with you."

Fin's phone rang. He answered it and walked to the window to get better service. Munch bagged the binoculars to send to Warner to get prints.

"That was Olivia. She said there's another victim. This one didn't make it."

DOINK-DOINK

"I heard a noise from upstairs, but I thought she just had the TV on too loud. She was a little deaf in her right ear, so I didn't think about it, but then I heard screaming and a crash and I got worried."

"Did you go up and check?"

"I knocked on the door, but the screaming stopped right after that, so I didn't really know what to think. I couldn't hear anything else after that, so I went back home. I came back this morning because I found her library card in the hallway and I knew she needed it. She was a law student and her exams were coming up."

Elliot was interviewing the elderly woman, the neighbor of the victim.

"What happened then?"

"I knocked on the door and no one answered. I was a little worried because of the night before, so I tried to open the door and it was unlocked. Then I came in and saw…"

"Thank you, Mrs. Gawey."

"Elliot, check this out."

Olivia beckoned him over. Warner was examining the body, peering closely at a small puncture wound in the woman's thigh.

"What's that?"

"Puncture, probably from a syringe."

"Addict?" asked Olivia.

"Diabetic. There were other syringes in the bathroom and insulin. Still, the other shots were done on her left thigh and this is her right. I'll look into it."

Warner continued to look at the body while Olivia and Elliot straightened up.

"Let's go see what Munch and Fin found at Stephanie O'Neill's."

"Hopefully not this."