Disclaimer: In this chapter enters one of the only characters I own: Detective Caroline Schmidt! That means that I DO NOT OWN ANYONE ELSE. So don't take them, please. Also, I don't own UltraVoice. Those things are just cool.

CHAPTER FOUR

DOINK-DOINK

"Book of matches, couple paper towels, soap, and – ah, a lighter. Probably some good prints on that. I'd hate to think how many other fingers have been in this place."

The newest member of the SVU family, Detective Caroline Schmidt, had arrived at the crime scene with Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola. The bathroom seemed fairly clean and normal, while Caroline seemed fairly annoyed and frustrated at the apparent lack of evidence.

"So he comes up behind her and puts something over her face," she said. "Fin, you be the attacker."

Fin stepped behind her and mimed putting something over Caroline's face, then put his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"He forces her down," said Caroline. Fin didn't do anything. "Fin, force me down."

"Hold on," said Fin, letting up. "Look here. Maria say he hit her?"

"Um…yeah. She said he hit her on the shoulder and she scratched her arm on the stall door. Why? Blood?"

"Yeah. Never know, could be two types there."

"Good eye. We can test it for both and we should UV the floor for semen."

"Okay. I'll let them know," said Fin, going over to the officers who were working just outside the bathroom door.

Caroline took another look around, squinting her eyes behind her square glasses. She smoothed her plait and tugged at it, wishing she had straight hair – it would be easier to braid. Something caught her eye just at that moment. She walked to the counter and squatted. It was in the very corner, almost the same shade as the dark tile. No wonder no one noticed it – it was a small piece of plastic, about half the size of Caroline's already petite little finger. She bagged it carefully and joined Fin outside.

"Found this," she said, showing him. "Could be a piece from that machine thing she uses to talk. Maybe there's a fingerprint or something."

"Could we be that lucky?"

"Probably not. But it's worth a shot anyway."

DOINK-DOINK

"Okay, what have we got?"

Cragen and all the detectives had gathered in the bullpen. Munch and Elliot, the most sleep-deprived of the bunch, were both gulping their way through yet more coffee and yawning.

"Twenty-nine year old victim named Maria Sedivi. She was attacked three years ago with a claw hammer to her throat, left her unable to use her vocal cords. She uses one of those machines to talk…what d'you call them…" Elliot trailed off, trying to remember the name.

"It's called an UltraVoice," said Fin. "People use them when they lose their voices to diseases like cancer and I guess when they lose them due to claw hammers."

"Yeah, that," Elliot continued. "Anyway, hers was stolen during the attack. He covered her face, raped her, hit her, and left her there. When we got there we were mistakenly told that Amy Solwey was the victim because she had gone down the hall saying 'rape'. She was the one who found Maria, though, so she's all right."

"Amy Solwey?" Cragen repeated.

"Yeah. She's been a great help," said Munch, automatically defending her.

"I'm sure she has. Where are we on the crime scene?"

"Fin and I were there all morning. There were obviously a ridiculous amount of fingerprints and DNA samples because it is a public restroom…but we did find a cigarette lighter and a piece of plastic that we think may have broken off of Maria's stolen UltraVoice," said Caroline. "They ran a UV light on the floor and found a little patch of seminal fluid which may or may not belong to the perp. They're testing it, but it'll take a little while."

"Could Maria identify her attacker?"

"She said she never saw him," said Olivia. "But he did tell her 'good thing you can't scream' while he raped her. If we do a lineup eventually, she could probably recognize him by his voice."

"My money's on her ex-husband," said Munch. "I mean, he attacked her once, who's to say he didn't do it again?"

"Wouldn't he still be in jail for something like that?" asked Caroline.

"Not necessarily. You know how crowded the prisons are," said Elliot. "I'll look up anyone named Sedivi."

"Do we know if that's her maiden name, though?"

"Good point. We can ask her when we see her later today. We're taking her a new UltraVoice and we're going to see if there's anything else she remembers," said Olivia.

"And while they're doing that, Caroline, my office," said Cragen.

Cragen went ahead into his office. Caroline looked for a second like a kid sentenced to the principal's office, then recovered herself and went in. The talk turned back to Maria.

"I just got something on the ex-husband," said Fin, who had been pounding away on his computer.

"Already?" said Olivia.

"This is an article that was online when it happened. It doesn't say whether or not he's in Rikers or what, but from what I'm reading here he damn well better be. It says he grabbed her by her hair, flipped her so her back was to him, and smashed her throat with the hammer. He left her there, but a neighbor had heard all the noise and called the police. They got there not long after Maria's husband ran off and picked him up a few blocks away. 'Sedivi was found' – so it is her husband's name – 'Sedivi was found in a diner trying to make a call from a payphone'…and then it talks about his upcoming trial."

"Which is now long past. That poor girl. Hasn't she been through enough?"

"You'd think," said Munch. "Some bastards never learn."

Caroline rejoined the group, her face blank. She sat down at her desk and started running a search on her computer.

"You okay?" Munch asked as discreetly as he could. Caroline nodded. "What are you searching for?"

"Sex offenders," she said. "Sedivi could be one."

"Got him!" said Elliot, hanging up his phone. "Daryl Sedivi was released from a psychiatric facility five months ago."

"What the hell kind of jury didn't convict him?" said Fin heatedly.

"The kind that thinks he's crazy. He pled an insanity defense, they bought it, and now he's out roaming the streets."

"Lovely. Any history of sexual abuse?" asked Caroline.

"No. And no domestic abuse was reported until the hammer incident."

"Either this guy really was crazy or Maria put up with way too much."