Disclaimer: Still not mine. Maybe one day, when I've single-handedly saved the universe from total annihilation, Dick Wolf will give me the characters of Munch and Jefferies as a present. Because Jefferies should come back.
CHAPTER NINE
DOINK-DOINK
"This is the best news I've heard all day," said Cragen, looking at the volunteer list. "Any good information from the students?"
"We went back and talked to Lana and Yuroslava before we left. They both said one of the volunteers, Adam Marcella, is always hitting on them and bothering them. I'd like to bring him in here," said Munch.
"Well, we can't just bring him in if he flirts. We need a better reason than that," said Elliot.
"How's this: he showed them a toy police badge he'd picked out for his nephew. Lana said it looked really realistic. She told me she thought it was real at first," said Caroline.
"No, she babbled at you and you looked helplessly at me," said Munch. Caroline smacked him on the arm.
"Shut up, Munch."
"Вы знаете вас влюбленность оно," he said.
"I do not love it," said Caroline. "Fermez l'enfer."
"English, if we would, kids?" said Cragen. "Get this Marcella guy and sweat him, Elliot."
"Should be easy," said Fin. "Marcella's been arrested twice for drug possession."
Everyone shared a glance with each other.
"Go, Fin, Elliot. Get the bastard," said Cragen. "I want him under arrest by dinner."
"I'll go, too," said Caroline. "He might not speak English."
"Great help you'll be," said Munch.
"Est-ce difficile trouver une cravate plus odieuse que vous?" she quipped. Cragen sniggered.
After Caroline had left, Munch looked at Cragen for a translation.
"I'm not telling you what she said," said Cragen. "But that tie is obnoxious."
DOINK-DOINKAdam Marcella was outside his apartment building, waxing his car. He was a tall man with dark hair and his sleeves pushed halfway up his forearms. Caroline walked right up to him and flashed her badge. He looked suddenly scared.
"You speak English?" she asked.
"Badly," he said in a thick Italian accent. "I only move here a while ago."
"I don't speak Italian. You'll just have to deal with English. How long have you been volunteering at the ESL school?"
"I go to lessons on Tuesdays and I work Sundays. One year."
"You friends with Antonia Mendez?" asked Munch.
"No, I don't know her."
"How about Stephanie O'Neil or Hayley Wernberg?" asked Fin.
"I do not know the names," said Marcella, still waxing the car. Fin knocked the wax out of his hand and grabbed his arm. "Why you grab me?"
Fin showed his arm to Caroline and Munch, who gave their odd half-smiles to Marcella.
"Nice tattoo," said Caroline very quietly, taking out her handcuffs.
DOINK-DOINK"I want to interrogate him," said Caroline. "I need to."
"Fin, go with her," said Cragen. "There's no way I'm letting a female detective talk to him alone."
"I can handle myself, Captain!" Caroline argued.
"You're five-foot-two and can't be more than 115 pounds. He's six-foot-one and at least 235. I just don't want you getting hurt again."
"Fine," said Caroline, obviously annoyed.
Fin put an arm around her shoulders and started leading her. "Let's go."
In the interrogation room, Marcella sat there, calmly sipping a soda. Caroline smiled inwardly. As soon as he finished it, the can would go to the lab for DNA testing, which would most definitely prove Marcella to be their perp.
"Well, Adam, you're a busy fella!" said Caroline brightly. "You seem to love spending your days stalking young, pretty girls, raping them, drugging them, occasionally killing them…sound fun to you?"
"I do not know why you talk this to me," said Marcella. "I do not hurt anyone."
Caroline leaned very close to Marcella's face. "You beat Stephanie O'Neil to a bloody pulp. You dragged her to her sofa and raped her, watching her cry and suffer, and you left her there. You found her at her parents' house and you forced drugs down her throat just so she wouldn't talk. You know where she is now, buddy? You screwed up. You didn't kill her. You only managed to put her in a coma."
"This is silly police talking."
"I don't think it's silly," said Fin. "I think you also killed Antonia Mendez."
Fin tossed a pile of photos onto the table. Marcella looked at picture after picture of graphic crime scenes and medical reports. His face turned pale.
"You remember now?" asked Caroline.
"I want a lawyer," said Marcella.
Caroline remained in his face for a moment, then dismounted from the table and stormed out, Fin following her. She was positively fuming.
"Take a break, Schmidt," said Cragen. "He lawyered up. There's nothing we can do."
"I'm going to get that damn soda can from him first," she said, and before anyone could stop her, she'd stormed back into the room.
"You go away! I say I want the lawyer!"
"Give me that damn can. You done?"
Caroline didn't wait for him to reply. She snatched the empty can from the table and came back out.
"Send this filthy thing to the lab," she spat, shoving it in Elliot's hand.