"I just got off the phone with Captain Cragen," Deakins said, stepping out of his office and stopping the two Special Victim's officers from hauling Bobby off then and there. "Your boss is one hell of a hard-ass." He sounded both impressed and angry. "Eames, give Detectives Benson and Stabler the case file from this morning's rape/suicide. You and Sledge are officially off this one. It's too... close." He looked away as he said it, as if he doubted Bobby's innocence. Of course, he hadn't worked with Bobby day in and day out for the last three years. He didn't know him like she did. No one did.

"Captain -" Alex started but he cut her off with a frustrated shake of his head.

"You'll have council waiting for you down at SVU headquarters, Goren. Don't say anything until he's had a chance to speak with you." But Bobby didn't seem to be listening. He was far, far away. Alex watched as he was walked over to the elevator and disappeared behind the shiny steel doors. She wanted to go with him so bad, but what good could she do... there. She dropped into her chair and fired up her computer. "You're taking this well," Deakins said, leaning against her desk, his arms folded across his chest. "I figured we'd have to restrain you to keep you here."

"He didn't do it, sir," Alex said, not bothering to look up from her keyboard. "I'm going to prove it, and I can't do that from lockup."

The DNA was a match.

Alex stared at the computer screen without seeing it. The information it contained was important, but right then, she couldn't remember why. Olivia's voice still rang in her head, even thought she'd hung up the phone... five minutes ago? Her eyes shifted to the clock, - it was ten after five - and she watched the red second hand whirl around the face before coming back to her senses with a snap.

Bobby's DNA was perfect match to the rapist's. Only a long-lost identical twin could have perpetrated this crime instead. Though she had no legal compulsion to do so, and few good reasons not to, Olivia had shared the information from the rape kits. Although there had been some pre-ejaculate excretions, no semen was found in any of the victims, nor was there evidence of condoms being used. DNA had been gathered from skin scraped out from under the vic's fingernails. Though the lawyer wouldn't let them look without a court order, which Stabler was hell-bent on getting, Olivia has pretty sure they'd find matching scratches down Bobby's back. Alex couldn't help but agree.

She turned back to her research. This crap she was reading sounded ridiculous, but, apart from Bobby suddenly becoming this horrible monster, it was the only explanation. She printed the pages out and grabbed her coat.

"You're kidding, right?" Olivia said, looking up from the folder in her hands. "He's an incubus?" Alex closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the two-way mirror.

"I know it sounds crazy," she said again, "but you touched him, you felt it. Instant, overwhelming, uncontrollable lust." She heard Olivia swallow hard in the silence.

"Okay, let's say you're right. Has he always been like this?" Alex opened her eyes and stepped back from the mirror, watching Stabler trying to intimidate Bobby. It was almost funny.

"No, he couldn't have been," she said. "He... he doesn't seem to know the meaning of personal space. He's always reaching across me while we work, we're always bumping, touching. I think I'd have noticed."

"So, you're thinking it's a curse then?"

"He certainly wasn't born with it." In the interrogation room, Stabler slammed both hands down on the table. Bobby didn't even blink. "It has to be a witch, a powerful one, who isn't bothered by the rule of three."

"Sorry, you lost me," Olivia said, leaning against the wall. "Rule of three?"

"It's kind of the guiding force behind Wicca, a golden rule, I guess. Whatever you do shall come back upon you threefold, be it good or evil."

"And there are practicing witches in the New York area capable of this?"

"You should see their chatrooms," Alex said with a bitter smile. "I think the trick will be to find someone willing, not capable." She swept her hair back out of her eyes. "Do you mind if I have a few words with the neighbor?"

"What for?"

"I have a hunch." Olivia looked skeptical. "You're welcome to come along, of course."

Disclaimer - Law and Order: CI and SVU, and the characters protrayed therin, are the property of Dick Wolf and Assoc., but Detective Sledge is all mine, Mwa ha ha ha! Er, ahem ... please don't sue.