Chapter 2: Witness Revealed
Elliot and Olivia head back to the station house where they meet up with Finch and Munch. Capt. Cragen came out of his office with a look on his face.
"Okay everyone what's the scoop on the dead body?" he asked.
"No ID on the victim and she had very little money on her," Finch reported.
"Victim was walking home late at night or decided to take a short cut through the alleyway," Munch added.
"Multiple stab wounds on the victims thighs and hands. She put up a struggle and killer silenced her instantly," Elliot added.
"Any reports of missing teenage girls pop up in the system?" Cragen asked.
"We're still looking and it's possible we have a witness who saw the attack then fled. Bloody footprint found at the crime scene," Olivia reported.
"Find this witness and start combing the area before this guy strikes next," Cragen said.
"What if we don't find this witness?" Elliot asked.
"Find the witness Elliot. We need the witness to push a case to the prosecutor," Capt. Cragen replied.
"We'll start at the crime scene," Olivia said and grabbed her coat. Elliot followed.
"Munch and Finch, I want you to head to the lab and find out if there are any prints on our victim," Capt. Cragen said to them.
"No problem sir," Fin said and left his desk.
Olivia and Elliot rode down to the crime scene and looked around. Elliot pulled out a flashlight and poked around the alleyway where the body was found. Olivia looked at the blood found on the ground.
"Hey Olivia, I think I found something," Elliot said pulling out an object with a glove on.
"The murder weapon," Olivia said bagging the object. "Still no other clues on our witness. Think the person is scared to death?"
On the other side of town, a young boy about sixteen-years-old walks home nervously looking over his shoulder and checking every move he makes. He knows what he saw that night. His name is Gil Burnett a high school student at Manhattan High. Gil saw the murder of a girl on his way home from studying with friends down the block. He couldn't forget the scream of the girl and how she snapped off a piece of skin from her attacker. What should I do? I can't go anywhere else. Gil thought. He pulled out his keys and walked up to the apartment building. Gil opened the door and went inside. Gil lived by himself. His parents were killed in a car wreck years ago and Gil took care of himself for awhile. He placed his coat on the chair and his backpack on the couch. Gil sat on the sofa and worried about his life. What if I'm next? I have to tell someone about what I saw. Gil thought. He picked up the phone and dialed 411 asking the number to the NY Police Dept. Gil slowly dialed the number and heard the phone ringing. The desk clerk answered the phone.
"I need to talk to someone about a murder I saw. Please this guy might kill me next," Gil said.
"I'll transfer you to a detective in Special Victims Unit okay," the clerk said.
"Okay," Gil said nervously.
Finch was at his desk when his phone rang.
"This is Detective Finch, how can I help you?" he answered.
"My name is Gil and I saw someone murder a girl last night. I'm scared to death that he might kill me if he gets caught. I was walking home from a friend's house and heard this scream. This guy was..." Gil explained.
"Listen Gil, are you willing to come down to the precinct and talk? I know you're scared, but I can make sure this guy won't hurt you if you tell us what happened," Finch said.
"Can someone pick me up? I'm scared to walk down there by myself," Gil said. "My address is 2205 42nd St. Apt. 17 on the 2nd Floor. Knock on the door twice so I know its you. Please sir, I'm scared."
"Okay, I'll come down there and pick you up okay," Finch said hanging up.
Capt. Cragen entered the area.
"What do we got Finch?" Cragen asked.
"I just got a call from our mysterious witness. He saw the killer and rape happen. The witness sounded like a young kid. Captain, he's scared to death. He wants to talk," Finch replied.
"Okay, if you got his address down then you and Munch go pick him up," Capt. Cragen said.
"I think I'll talk about this theory I had..." Munch said to Finch.
"Munch, save the theories for later. We got a witness to pick up," Finch suggested.
Gil waited in the apartment for the detectives to showed up. He paced and waited. He had his coat and sat on the sofa. Gil looked out the window and saw a car pulled up and two figures walking towards the building. He heard a knock twice on the door.
"Who is it?" Gil asked nervously.
"Detectives Finch Tortuola and John Munch from the police station," Finch said introducing himself.
Gil looked through the peep hole and saw Finch flashed his badge. He unlocked the door and opened it.
"Are you Gil?" Finch asked.
"That's me," Gil replied. "Am I going to a safe place?"
"We're taking you to the station house and you'll be safe there. I promise," Munch said.
Finch pulled out his cell phone and called Elliot to tell him the good news.
"Stabler," he said on the other end of the line.
"Elliot, we found a witness to the murder. Meet us back at the station house," Finch said.
"Finch said a witness came forward on the murder," Stabler said to Olivia.
An hour later back at the station house, Olivia and Elliot are in one of the conference rooms talking to Gil. Gil is sitting at one end of the table nervously. He looks around him wondering what will happen to him.
"Gil, my name is Detective Olivia Benson and this is my partner Elliot Stabler. Tell us what you saw," Olivia said.
"I was walking home from a friend's house around 9:30pm and I heard this scream in the alleyway. I was scared, but I saw this man come running out with blood on his hand. When I got to the alleyway, I saw a body. It was a girl. I think I knew her from school. I got a good look at the guy. Tall, dark hair, wearing a coat and brown boots. He saw me and I ran for my life. I was scared. I didn't know what to do and I feel like it's my fault," Gil said trying not to cry.
"Gil, what you did wasn't your fault. We're going to nail this guy for what he did. You witness the murder/rape of this girl. He's the bad guy not you. I know you're scared. When we catch him, we need you to testify against the guy who did this," Elliot said. "Do you have any other family you can stay with?"
"No sir," Gil said wiping his face. "There was one thing I noticed when this guy ran. I saw a square mark on his left hand."
Capt. Cragen and Casey Novak the ADA were outside the conference room watching.
"Well counselor? Do we figure out who this guy is and go after him? We have a witness, but no evidence," Cragen said.
"Without evidence captain, I can't pull the strings on the puppet. There's no ID on the victim and your witness could only describe what the killer looked like," Novak said.
"We're still searching the missing persons data bank and a list of guys who got out of jail recently that might be linked to the murder," Cragen suggested.
"Look, get me some evidence, the killer and a witness testimony and I'll get a case going," Casey said walking away.
"It's not going to be easy counselor," Cragen muttered.
"Gil, I know you're scared," Olivia said.
"I'm scared of everything now. I have to look around my back to make sure I'm not being followed and check every corner to see if that killer is waiting for me," Gil explained. "Couldn't you guys protect me or something until I testify?"
Capt. Cragen signaled Olivia and Elliot out of the room.
"Listen, this witness is only a kid. What does he know?" Cragen asked.
"He saw the rape and the killer running from the crime scene. Captain, he's scared for his life. Protective detail until a trial?" Olivia asked.
"Whatever is necessary Benson. Elliot, we need to catch this guy and fast before he does this to someone else," Cragen said.
"Captain, Gil is in shock still on what he saw. Should I get Dr. Wong on talking to Gil? I'm thinking it might help him a little better on getting through this," Olivia said. "Gil is so shocked he's checking every corner he sees when he walks to school and home. He's afraid of the perp that did this."
Finch walked in and handed Olivia a rap sheet of a guy who got out of Rikers Island more than a month ago.
"Olivia, got a lead on a perp who raped nearly twelve girls and served only five years," Finch reported. "And get this, he's got a square mark on his left hand. This could be our guy."
Olivia and the others headed to a secluded apartment building on the uptown section of the city. Guns in hand they approached the first apartment door on the left. Elliot knocked on the door loudly.
"Who is it?" the voice asked.
"Police, we have a warrant for your arrest," Elliot said.
"I didn't do it. I swear," the voice replied.
"Yeah, we'll see it when we believe it pal. Open up the damn door or we'll break it down," Olivia snarled.
There was silence. Elliot signaled for Finch to ram the door down.
"FREEZE! DON'T MOVE DIRTBAG!" Elliot screamed running in and pointing his gun.
Olivia and the others secured the room. Munch found something in a drawer and pulled it out. It had blood and prints on it.
"Found the murder weapon and blood. I hope you can explain all that to a judge pal! You're under arrest for the murder of a 16-year-old teenage girl," Elliot said placing the cuffs.
"Who said curiosity doesn't hurt much?" Munch muttered.