Chapter 16:
Commander Anderson fidgeted fitfully in his chair as Catherine left Interrogation 2 to find Grissom. In Interrogation 1, Lieutenant Century walked over to the mirror and gently tapped it with a knuckle.
"Is this going to take much longer? I need to check in with my superior for our next assignment."
Olivia stood on the other side of the glass with Nick, reading through Century's file. Nick rocked back on his heels. "I wonder why he's only a Lieutenant and Anderson's a Commander? They've been in the service for the same length of time, haven't they?"
"Says here he was 'deemed unfit to proceed up the chain of command.' The base psychologist said he has some sociopathic tendencies."
"It's amazin' he's so calm considerin' what we're accusin' him of. All he cares about is how long this is gonna take."
"One of the things about a sociopath is that they have a defunct conscience, of sorts. All they care about is themselves and what they get out of it in the end, no matter the means." Olivia said as Century leaned close to the glass right in front of her, as if he could see the detectives.
"Sounds like you're pretty sure he did it."
"I'm sure he killed Elan, and maybe his buddy Anderson's daughter and his own kid. All his superiors said he was violent."
"What about the shootin's?"
"I don't know. It just doesn't seem like his thing."
Sara wandered over with Anderson's file in hand. "I think Anderson actually started this whole serial thing. Since Century is his friend, he was probably pulled in from the first alibi."
"I guess he thought he was gettin' rid of the evidence." Nick said as he watched Century relax back in his seat.
Catherine found her way over to the small group. "Have you seen Grissom? He and Brass are supposed to take Anderson."
"Have we figured out who's taking Century?" Olivia asked.
Nick crossed his arms over his chest. "You and Elliot seem to know him the best and you guys have to deal with rapists all the time. Our best bet is you two but what about Elliot?"
"I think…" Olivia pushed a hand through her hair. "I really don't know. He did say he wanted a piece of them."
SVUCSISVUCSISVUCSISVUCSI
Half an hour later they'd found Elliot and Grissom in the break room and had dragged them to the interrogation rooms.
Grissom and Brass played 'good cop, bad cop' with Anderson. Brass kept getting Anderson's face, making him even more nervous so he stumbled over his words while Grissom talked to him in a calm voice, trying to gently pry any answers out of him. After they accused him of being Century's accomplice in their daughters' murders back in 1998 Anderson suddenly became quiet and pled the Fifth.
Olivia and Elliot made out just as well with Century. He kept his mouth shut except for when they tried to pin the rape and murder of the girls on him. Then he asked for a lawyer. He would've been out of there in record time if it hadn't been for the DNA found on Elan.
Since Century and his lawyer wouldn't give up any information Shannon simply stepped in, wrenched him out of his chair harder than was probably necessary, slapped a pair of cuffs on him, and shipped him down the hall to lockup. Sam did the same with Anderson not long after, though not quite as forcefully.
Down in lockup, Century stuck a hand outside the bars of his cell and tried to flag down Anderson at the guard's desk just down the way.
"Don't worry man. This's a buncha bullshit. We'll be outta here in no time."
As Sam led him past Century's cell the Commander's elbow suddenly met with her solarplexus and he grabbed her gun out of her hip-holster and fired a single shot into the other man's forehead. As the Lieutenant slumped against the bars and the coppery smell of blood permeated the air, Anderson dropped the gun next to Sam's bent form and turned calmly to the other detectives.
"I'm ready to talk now."
Brass blinked at him for a second before turning to Greg. "Go get Dave."
Greg nodded mutely but didn't look away from Century's lifeless form. Elliot ended up having to grab his arm and drag him towards the morgue. Brass took Anderson's elbow and led him back to Interrogation 2.
As soon as they got there, Anderson spilled everything. He told how it had all started with him shooting Saxon and then Century creating an alibi. When they'd been given recruiting duty, Century had come up with the idea of killing the other rapists and child murderers to pull suspicion away from them. Anderson had gone along with it since it seemed like a good idea. Why not rid the world of scum like that?
Elliot, Tasha, Jen and Catherine stood on the other side of the window and grimaced at his words. They were all parents and knew exactly what he was talking about.
Back in Interrogation 1, Anderson now held his head in his hands but kept talking. When the detectives had originally tried to pin the rape and murder of that Las Vegas girl on him and Century he knew he'd originally killed the wrong man. He'd know Century was a little off but not like that.
Brass stared at the man for a second before turning off the recorder. Anderson slumped in his chair as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I'm going to get the death penalty, aren't I? I deserve to die for what I've done."
"That's up to the courts Lieutenant Anderson, not us."
He nodded and let Jen lead him back to his cell.
Everyone else stood just outside the interrogation room. Olivia's arm was around Elliot's shoulders as he started coldly into space; he still felt guilty about the whole thing. Catherine and Tasha watched with empathetic looks as Anderson was led past. Everyone else just seemed to be relieved that it was finally over.