Chapter 11 - Tutuola
Song lyrics from Together by Avril Lavigne.
Something just isn't right
I can feel it inside
The truth isn't far behind me
You can't deny…
Tutuola
"That is a load of bull!" Munch snapped as he pounded his fist on his desk, making me jump. He rose to his feet. "He must have coached them or something!" I reeled back from his words, the fury in his face and voice catching me off guard. His face was scarlet red and the vein in his neck was throbbing. I had just told him about our conversations with Elliot's kids.
"John! Calm down!" There was an on-edge sharpness in Cragen's tone as he yelled at my partner. "He didn't coach them."
"How do you know that?" He glared at the Captain. "He's obviously capable of it!" He got up close to Cragen, his face only a few inches away from his. "He knew we'd be checking him for an alibi, so he got them to say one for him!"
Cragen's jaw barely moved as he spoke, his face turning red as well. "I suggest that you lower your voice and get a reality check! As soon as he heard about what had happened, he dropped his kids off with Kathy around three-thirty in the morning. He wouldn't have been able to sneak out until one-thirty, come back, coach them, and be here at the hospital by four!"
"So you're saying you believe him over Liv!" Munch wasn't backing down.
"I'm saying…" He lost his voice and confidence. "I'm saying… I have no idea!" He threw his hands up and spun around, getting some distance between himself and John.
All of us jumped as the phone started ringing. Exasperation and anger written all over his face, Cragen picked the phone up. "Hello!" He demanded before he had calmed down. "I mean, hello, Captain Cragen," he quickly changed his tone. "Thank you." He hung the phone up, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "Fin?" He turned to me with an expression I couldn't decipher. "Prove one of us wrong."
"What are you taking about Cap?"
"That was the lab. The rape kit was positive."
I slid off of the desk I was sitting on. "You want me to get a blood sample from Elliot?"
He rolled his eyes and shouted at me. "No! I want you to stand there staring at me with your thumb up your ass! Yes I want a blood sample!" He quickly stormed passed me, huffing into his office and slamming the door behind him, leaving me feeling two feet tall.
I turned to my partner, to see his expression. His reaction appeared the same, obviously flustered and unsure what to do now.
Knowing what I had to do, I went to the interrogation room Elliot was in. I assumed that he'd be asleep, because he hadn't slept in God knows how long. Much to my amazement though, he was still awake, only on the verge of unconsciousness. His head hung limp from his shoulders, unable to muster the strength to hold it up. He looked out of the corner of his eye up at me, waiting for me to speak.
"We talked to your kids," I started out. "They confirmed what you said." I let my gaze study him, like it would help me understand things. I paused, giving him time to respond. When he didn't take advantage of it, I decided to just ask, making a mental note that his answer would point to either his innocence or guilt. "The rape kit was positive. I can have a doctor down here in ten minutes." For a split moment, he paused, and I actually thought he was going to refuse.
He picked his head up and hastily shoved his shirtsleeve up, holding his arm out on the table, the inside facing upwards. "Okay." At that moment, I realized that there was no possible way that he could have done this.
