.some answers.

CSU Lab
Monday, July 19th

The CSU labs were bustling with activity as the two detectives made a quiet entrance. A lab technician stopped his rushed walk for a moment to inquiry as to their purpose there and then directed them to a back corner of the building where things were relatively calmer and not as tumultuous. The technician seated at a computer back against the wall continued typing for a minute until Munch coughed loudly into his hand to announce their presence. The man turned and gave them a pointed look over the rim of his glasses that Fin couldn't help but find remindful of his partner. "Can I help you?" he asked in a strained tone.

"Yeah, we're SVU detectives, here to see the results on a print I.D." Fin answered.

The tech glanced over to another desk covered in a clutter of loose papers and files and picked up a file seemingly at random. He handed it to Fin and without another word turned back to his computer screen. Fin flipped open the cover and began scanning the document within.

"Well?" Munch asked testily after a moment.

"We've got a positive match for Brad Sinclair," Fin said.

"Oh? He do jail time?"

"Nope, works with the government. Issues licenses at the DMV."

"Let's go pick him up," Munch replied.

…

"There wasn't much to go on at the scene," Elliot told the captain in a tired voice, "No murder weapon, no prints of the killer's, no hair or fiber…"

"So, in other words, you've got nothing more to go on other than another dead body," Cragen summarized exasperatedly.

Olivia jumped in. "Well, we did get some kind of code off the girl. He carved it into her legs. Just seemed like a random set of numbers though."

"Can I see them?" Huang inquired from where he had been standing back, studying the board where the case info so far had begun to be tacked up and displayed for reference.

"Be my guest." She handed him a paper with the numbers written down on it.

The FBI psychiatrist stared at the numbers for a moment and then turned to Elliot. "Do you have a Bible here?"

Elliot seemed slightly taken aback by the question but he recovered quickly. "I've got one in my desk." He leaned back from where he sat on his desk and opened a side drawer. Taking out the large book, he handed it to Huang who took it with a nod.

Huang glanced at the cover. It looked practically brand new; the binding hadn't even been broken yet. "King James, good."

"And why I haven't touched it. All those 'thee's and 'thou's get me confused. It's why I always did bad in my English class when we covered Shakespeare," Elliot said, pulling a face to show his feelings about old English.

Huang sat down at Munch's unoccupied desk and grabbed a clean notepad. "What was the verse he quoted when the nun was killed?"

Olivia glanced at a paper for reference before saying, "Matthew, chapter five, verse twenty-nine."

Huang nodded and flipped open the book to the page. "Give me a moment and I'll have that code cracked for you."

Elliot looked at his partner. "Don't tell me it's that simple."

"Oh, but it really is, detective," Huang said before devoting his attention to the code. Elliot tacked up a few more notes onto the bulletin board while Cragen retrieved a couple of strands of licorice from his office.

"So what's the code?" Olivia asked after the lull became too heavy to bear.

"Elementary, Watson," Huang answered with a wry grin. "By leaving it on his victim, the killer wants us to decode it and discover his message. He knows that the only text we have to reference his code to is the Bible and the passage he quoted. When I first saw the numbers, I thought they might refer to chapters and verses but I decided that wouldn't be how your man would do it. Although he's highly religious, he's of average intelligence and not very creative in this area, so any code that he would make would have to be very simplistic, which it is. The code corresponds to the passage he quoted. The first letter of the passage, 'a', is '1'. The second letter, 'n', is '2', and so on and so forth." Huang shrugged. "He was trying to be clever but it's a code that a second-grade child could easily figure out."

"I can't help but feel stupid now," Elliot said with a sigh.

"If you have it figured out, what's it say?" Cragen asked.

"'I am righteous in God's eyes' on the right leg and 'Weep not for the whore' on the left," Huang answered, glancing at the paper where he had written it.

"'Whore?'" Elliot repeated. "Did he mean that literally?"

"It's a possibility," Olivia replied with a shrug. "We still don't know who she is or her job, for that matter. Although she's young, we've seen it before. That question should be easily answered though once we get the ME's autopsy report."

"Where's Munch and Fin right now?" Cragen asked.

"They're looking in on a ticket stub that was found in the girl's vicinity. We think she might have gone clubbing with someone last night, possibly the killer."

…

Munch and Fin stepped off the elevator and began walking through the third floor of the office building, searching for Brad Sinclair with only a picture for reference and no idea of where exactly his office was. "This is worse than looking for a needle in a haystack," Munch groaned as they overlooked the numerous cubicles and the shifting mass of employees that roamed through the prefabricated corridors.

"Yeah, which is why you ask for help in situations like this," Fin answered before turning to snag the arm of a passing man. The white-collar worker looked at him with some disdain and asked, "May I help you?" in a condescending tone.

"You know this guy?" Fin showed the man the picture of Brad Sinclair that they had printed from his federal employee record.

"Yeah, that's Brad." The man's eyes narrowed. "You're cops, aren't you? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"We just need to ask him a few questions, that's all," Fin replied with a shrug. "Know where we can find him?"

The man shook his head and walked away without saying another word. Munch looked at his partner. "Yeah. That was helpful."

"You're looking for Brad?" a woman asked, edging toward them from where she had been standing making photocopies a few feet away. When the detectives turned evaluating stares on her, she shrugged with a small smile. "I eavesdrop. It's a bad habit but sometimes you need it in an environment like this."

Fin nodded. "You know where Brad is?"

"Well, I don't know exactly, but I can give you a good bet," she answered.

"Do tell," Munch said.

"You'll probably find him at this sleazy restaurant a couple blocks away. I heard him tell a buddy he was going there for lunch. You're not gonna find him in the restaurant part though. Check upstairs, where they run their 'daycare,'" she grimaced as she said the word.

"'Daycare?'" Munch repeated.

"Yeah. Brad likes his women young."

…

"Is that him?" Munch asked, jerking his head to indicate the man he was referring to.

Fin eyed him for a moment and nodded. "Yeah."

"Let's get him then." The two detectives walked down the sidewalk to where Brad stood close to a skimpily dressed adolescent girl, his arm hooked around her back as he whispered into her ear while pushing something into her palm with his free hand.

"Are you Brad Sinclair?" Munch addressed the man.

He turned and glared at them. "And what if I am?"

"I'm Detective Munch and this is my partner, Detective Tutuola. We're going to have to ask you to come with us to have a little talk."

"Hey, man! I haven't done anything wrong!" Brad growled, letting go of the girl. "I was just giving my niece here some birthday money. Isn't that right, honey?" The last question was directed at the girl and it was more of a threat than a question. She hesitantly nodded, not wanting to get embroiled in any trouble with the police.

"Is it customary then for your family to grope each other's asses when exchanging gifts?" Munch asked in an acidic tone.

Brad stared at him for a moment with an expression that said he did not understand what the detective was implying. Then, in one swift movement, he turned and bolted in the opposite direction. Fin was ready for this though and he quickly took off after the man with Munch in hot pursuit close behind. Brad was built like a runner however and probably had a pair of lungs that could have held their own in an Olympic race because he quickly put a city block between himself and the pursuing detectives and would have lost them if it hadn't been for a teenage girl who tripped him up and sent him sprawling head-over-heels across the sidewalk.

Fin hauled Brad to his feet when he reached the disoriented man while Munch panted out a halting "thanks" to the girl who had helped them. She grinned and nodded in acceptance. "My pleasure. That bastard roughed me up the last couple of times so I figured this was my chance for revenge. I hope you get him on whatever you're eyeing him for."

"Detectives!" Munch turned to see the girl Brad had paid running toward him, seemingly as out of breath as he himself was. She held out a plastic bag, offering it to the detective with a shaky hand. "Here. I ran inside and got this for you. You'll probably find it useful."

Munch took the baggie from her and peered inside at its contents. He smiled grimly at the girl in thanks. "Yeah, this is immensely helpful. Thanks."

"Just do me a favor in return and convict him," she answered before turning and walking back the way she had come.

"What's that?" Fin asked as they walked back to their car, an unhappy Brad in tow.

"Free DNA sample," Munch replied, shaking the bag slightly for emphasis. "At least these little guys will be good for something instead of only paying for that girl's next meal."