Ron sat in a dimly light interrogation room, his face half in shadows and his hands handcuffed. He glared at the two way mirror knowing who, and what, was on the other side.
The fluorescence light above Ron suddenly went out. Ron sat in the dark with the only light illuminating from the half closed shades. The shadows of the blinds fell on the side of Ron's face that wasn't in the shadows, making him look more malicious then he truly was. He sighed and drummed his fingers on the table.
Elliot opened the door, and turned a spotlight on. He shined it on Ron and asked, "Do you understand your rights?"
"A spotlight, and who says cops don't have a sense of tradition?" Ron asked him spitefully. "Yes, I understand anything I say will be used against me, and I have a right to an attorney. I also understand that once I ask for my lawyer, you can't ask me any more questions."
"So you mind answering a few questions?" Elliot asked, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Ron.
"You can ask them, but I'm not saying I will answer."
"Fine. How did you get the photo album?"
"Karen gave it to me so I could see what Krystal looked like as a kid."
"Why were you at her apartment the night of her rape?"
"I already told you, we were having an affair. We had sex, and then I left." Ron glared at Elliot, and before he could ask anything else, Ron told him, "When I left Karen didn't have a mark on her and she had walked me to the door."
"How many times did you have sex with her that night?"
Ron gapped at him, and asked, "What kind of hell stupid question is that? I had sex with her once that night."
"Did you tell anyone about your affair?"
"I told Hannah and got kicked out of our apartment," Ron answered him cheerfully.
"When did you tell Hannah?" Elliot asked, writing down Hannah's name.
"Yesterday."
Elliot crossed out Hannah's name and asked, "Did anyone find out about your affair?"
Ron stared at him blankly and said, "I want my lawyer."
Elliot nodded and turned off the spotlight. He walked across the room and flicked on the lights. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "Wow, the lights magically work again."
A male doctor checked Karen's vital signs again and shook their heads. "No change Detective."
"But she woke up and spoke to me," Fin told them.
"That sometimes happen," the doctor told him. "The patient will briefly wake up, but their stat of consciousness never last long. They always go back to a comatose state within twenty minutes at the most."
"So she won't wake up again?"
The doctor shook his head and said, "It's not probable. I have to check on my other patients, and then I'll be back to instate the Living Will."
Fin nodded and waited for the doctor to leave. Krystal had wakened up, and was staring at Fin desperately. Before Fin could tell Krystal anything, Karen slowly opened her eyes and saw Krystal. She smiled and whispered, "Krystal."
Krystal turned, and started crying when she saw her mom smiling at her. Krystal ran up to Karen and hugged her saying, "The doctors told me there was only a three percent chance of you waking up. Meaning there was a ninety-seven percent chance you wouldn't wake up."
Karen cooed her daughter and stroked her daughter's head. "Shh, why did I ever let that school teach you math?"
Krystal laughed, and hugged her mother tighter. Karen rested her head on her daughter, and looked around the room. She saw Fin and smiled. Fin nodded at her, as Karen closed her eyes and whispered to her daughter, "I love you sweetie."
Fin silently left the hospital room, and pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed his Caption's number.
Cragen, Olivia, and Elliot were in the back room, staring at Ron. "I think he's covering for someone," Elliot told them.
"But the question is who?" Olivia asked, staring at Ron as though the answer would appear across his forehead.
"Cut a deal with him and see if he will talk," Cragen told him. "I'll call Novak and see if the DA office will bite."
As Cragen reached for the phone, it rang. He picked it up as Elliot speculated to Olivia, "What I want to know is why he would cover for someone, he already told his wife about the affair."
"Or he was lying about that," Olivia suggested.
Cragen hung up the phone and said, "There won't be a deal. Karen Barley just woke up."
St. Patrick's Hospital, 11th Avenue. Thursday, March 4th.
Fin told Olivia and Elliot that the doctor was checking on Karen and they would know more once the doctor came out. Olivia was the first one to ask a question. "What she say after she woke up?"
"Nothing really, she spotted her daughter and called her over," Fin answered her.
The doctor came out of the room, and walked over to the detectives. "She's going to be fine," he told them. "We want to keep her in the hospital for the night, and just run some test."
"Can we talk to her?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, but only for a little while. Try not to get her too upset," the doctor warned before walking away.
"Fin, do you want to ask her the questions?" Elliot asked.
Fin shook his head, feeling strangely guilty about entering the room again and told Elliot, "Nah, go ahead. I'll stay watch."
Elliot and Olivia entered the brightly lit hospital room to see Karen was a wake, and reading a newspaper. Olivia smiled sweetly at her and pulled up a chair. She pulled out her badge and said, "Hi Ms. Barley, I'm detective Olivia Benson, and this is my partner Elliot Stabler."
Karen stared at Olivia, and looked briefly at Elliot. She gave Olivia the once over with her eyes, and then went back to reading. Elliot gave Olivia a question glance, who shrugged in response. Olivia tried again. "Ms. Barley, mind if we ask you a couple questions about the night of your attack?"
Karen flinched, but said quietly, "Sure thing."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Olivia asked.
Karen flipped the page of the newspaper and remained silent. Olivia waited a moment and then asked again, "Can you tell me what happened the night you were attacked?"
"I … I don't remember the attack," Karen told them nervously.
"What do you remember?" Olivia questioned kindly.
"Ron just left and," Karen hesitated, and began to shake.
Olivia placed her hand on Karen's arm and asked, "How about you tell me what happened with Ron?"
Karen started twisting her fingers as she answered Olivia. "We were having affair and afterwards, we both agreed not to see each other again. When he left I was fine."
"What happened after Ron left?"
"I went to sleep and the next thing I knew, I was here," Karen told her. "Someone must have broken in or something."
"So what you're saying is after you went to sleep someone broke in and raped you?" Elliot asked.
Karen stared at Elliot with numbness in her eye and said, "I live in New York, the whole city is a shitty neighborhood. I won't put it past anyone."
"How do you explain the bruises then?" Olivia quipped.
Karen sighed and looked down at her paper. She took a couple moments and then told Olivia and Elliot, "Listen, you can go back and tell your boss I'm not talking. Just stop wasting your time."
Olivia tried to ask another question, but Karen wouldn't open her mouth once to respond. After several failed attempts to get an interview, Olivia and Elliot left the hospital room. Fin came up to them and asked, "So, what she tell you?"
"To stop wasting our time, and to tell our boss she isn't talking," Olivia told him. "She's obviously protecting someone, but the question is who and why."
"Did you tell her that you were detectives?" Fin asked.
"Yeah, but she didn't seemed too impressed," Elliot told him.
"Let's go tell Cragen that he might want to cut a deal with Ron," Olivia said. Elliot nodded and the two of them head out.
SVU Squad Room, 16th Precinct. Thursday, March 4th.
"What do you mean she won't talk?" Cragen asked, not hiding his anger. Olivia and Elliot stood by the door in uneasy silence. Casey Novak was sitting in a chair by the door, shaking her head.
"Even without her statement, we still have enough to arraign him," Casey told Cragen.
"I would still like to know why she is protecting him," Cragen said, annoyed.
"Maybe she still loves him," Olivia suggested quietly.
"But that leaves the question, who is Ron covering for," Elliot said.
"Listen, I'm not seeing the problem. If she is trying to protect him, a jury will see right through it," Casey told them. "Try to get her statement one more time and if she lies again, threaten her with perjury." She looked at Cragen's desk clock and asked, "I have to be in court in half hour, so do you want me to arraign him or not?"
"Yes, we do," Cragen answered her.
Arrangement, Trail Part 45. Thursday, March 4th.
Elliot and Olivia sat in the benches on the side of the prosecution, as Casey Novak got ready to arraign Ron. Ron was dressed in a suit, and his lawyer, Jacqueline Jackson, was standing next to him confident. Ron, however, was a nervous wreck.
The bailiff stood up tall and said loudly, "The people versus Ron Weston for attempted murder and sexual assault."
"How does the defendant plead?" Judge Michelle Talon asked.
"Not guilty, your honor," Jacqueline answered.
"And on the amount of bail?" Judge Talon asked.
"Remand," Casey said.
"May we approach the bench, your honor?" Jacqueline requested.
"Approach."
Casey shot a dangerous look at Jacqueline as they approached the Judge. "What is it counselor?" Talon asked Jacqueline.
"Your honor, my client is an upstanding citizen, who has never been in trouble with the law before. I think a reasonable bail should be in order," Jacqueline explained.
"Your honor, Jacqueline's client has tried to kill a woman after he raped her; I think remand is reasonable," Casey retorted.
As the two attorneys were discussing the amount of bail, Ron kept looking nervously over his shoulder, to someone in the back of the courthouse. Olivia noticed the odd fidgeting and looked in the same direction Ron kept glancing at. There was man in a power suit, with light blond hair and icy blue eyes, sitting in the back of the courthouse on the prosecution side. Olivia nudged Elliot and pointed to the man. "Do you recognize him?"
Elliot shook his head and whispered, "He looks familiar, I just can think of his name."
"Why would Ron keep looking over at him? Think that's who he protecting?" Olivia asked.
"He has a lot of balls to sit on the prosecution side then," Elliot told her.
Judge Talon banged her gavel and said, "Bail is set at five hundred thousand dollars. Next case."
As Ron was lead off by the bailiff, Elliot, Olivia and Casey also exited the courthouse. "If we don't get Karen's statement, do you think that will weaken the case?" Olivia asked the question had been nagging at her since they left Cragen's office.
"Not really," Casey said. "I'll convince the jury that she's trying to protect a past love, which she probably is."
"But what if she gets on the stand for the defense?" Elliot asked.
Casey shrugged and said, "I'll just try and shoot down her credibility."
Olivia exhaled angrily and muttered, "Now we have to treat a victim like a criminal."
"I don't like it any better then you," Casey told her. "If she would only tell the truth, then we wouldn't have to treat her like a criminal."
Elliot stayed quiet. He began wondering if he knew his soon to be ex-wife had done something illegal, would he try and protect her? He knew the answer, he would. He loved Kathy, and would do anything to help her. However, he was just recently separated from his wife, while Karen and Ron had been separated for over eleven years and from the reports from England, it sound like Karen felt no loyalty to Ron anymore. So why would she now try and protect Ron?
"Elliot, you ok?" Casey asked concerned.
"What?" Elliot looked around and realized they were already outside. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You were pretty lost in thought there. Care to tell us what you were thinking about?" Olivia asked.
"Just thinking," Elliot told her curtly.
"Are you two going back to the hospital or back to the precinct?" Casey asked.
"Precinct," Olivia answered.
Elliot spotted the unknown man speaking to Hannah, and they seemed to be arguing. He head over to them, followed by Olivia. "Hello Mrs. Weston, is there a problem?" Elliot asked sweetly.
"Besides you trying to put my cheating bastard of a husband in jail for something I know he couldn't have done, no there is no problem," Hannah spat at him.
"Weston, that's no way to talk to a cop," the man said patronizingly.
"What the hell are you doing at the arrangement anyway, Marcelo? I know you hate Ron and I know you didn't get along with Karen," Hannah snapped.
"I'm here because my wife was friends with Karen, and wanted to make sure the man who killed her was caught," Jonathan explained.
"Ron didn't kill her," Hannah yelled. "If anyone would want her dead it's you."
"Or you," Jonathan shot back. "After all, she was sleeping with your husband."
"Okay, that's enough," Elliot said, stepping between Hannah and Jonathan. He turned to Olivia and whispered, "Talk to Hannah, try to calm her down."
Olivia nodded and Elliot turned to Jonathan. He showed him his badge and said, "I'm Detective Elliot Stabler, and you are…?"
"Jonathan Marcelo and I already talked to Detectives Fin and Munch," Jonathan told him.
"Right, mind telling me why you were talking to Mrs. Weston?" Elliot inquired.
"I don't have to explain myself or my actions to you," Jonathan snapped before briskly walking away.
"That son of a bitch," Hannah muttered after him.
"Do you really think Marcelo would want Karen dead?" Olivia asked her.
"What?" Hannah looked at Olivia confessed, and shook her head. "I… I don't know. I have to get back to work now Detectives."
As soon as Hannah was out of year shot Elliot asked, "How did Marcelo know that Ron cheated? That information hasn't been made public yet."
"Two ways, he figured it out when Hannah called Ron her cheating bastard of a husband, or he already knew," Olivia told him. "But I have the feeling it was the latter."
"This is bad," Elliot murmured.
