CHAPTER 3

STABLER RESIDENCE
FRIDAY, JUNE 14TH
4:45 A.M.

Screaming... blood... fear... Elliot bolted upright and then groaned as he caught sight of his alarm clock. "This is getting ridiculous," he muttered before heaving out of bed and heading into the bathroom. Both hands gripped the cool porcelain of the sink while he gazed into the mirror with bloodshot eyes. Hell looked better. He washed his face and quickly shaved. He still looked terrible, but it was an improvement. Back in his bedroom, he was chagrined to note that it still wasn't quite 5 a.m. "Can't sleep. Can't work. Nothing better to do than run," he mused, pulling his sweats on. "On the bright side, at least these nightmares are keeping me in shape." A bitter grin creased his face as he tied his laces and left the apartment at a brisk pace.

He watched the man run down the street towards the park. He waited until he was just out of sight before sauntering into the building. He scanned the mailboxes and headed up the stairs. Stopping before the correct one, he casually looked up and down the hall, then bent down to quickly pick the lock. Tsk, tsk. Sloppy. He didn't even set the deadbolt. Stepping into the cluttered apartment, he smiled. This was just too easy.

7:30 A.M.

Elliot jogged up to the front of his building just as Olivia turned away from the door. "Liv! What are you doing here?" he gasped, coming to a halt at her side.

"Morning, Elliot. I come bearing gifts of high-quality caffeine." She held up the two large Starbucks cups, one per hand, to emphasize her words. "I got an early start and decided to surprise you by buying today..." She raised one eyebrow at his sweaty, disheveled state. "But apparently I'm not the only one who got an early start. Please tell me you're planning to shower before coming in. You stink!" She made an exaggerated face, causing him to laugh out loud.

"Thanks a lot, partner. Hey, I've got bagels upstairs. They'll taste wonderful with free coffee," he teased. "Care to join me?"

"Sure, but don't be all day primping for work. I don't want to be late because you decided to run a marathon this morning."

Laughing, they ascended the stairs to Elliot's apartment. He quickly unlocked the door and held it open for his partner. "I'll be right back. You know where the kitchen is. Bagels are in the breadbox. Cream cheese is in the fridge."

She quickly sliced and toasted two bagels, giving each a thick smear of cream cheese. Setting his on a napkin on the counter, she munched on hers while wandering around the living room. She smiled as she heard him humming in the shower. When the water stopped, she called down the hall, "Elliot, bagel's waiting, just how you like it."

A few short minutes later, Elliot appeared, still drying his hair with a thick towel. He was barefoot, wearing just his suit pants and an undershirt. Olivia smiled appreciatively and pointed him towards the cooling bagel in the kitchen. "Eat up. Can't be late." He grinned, took a huge bite of bagel and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"You pig!" she laughed. "Hey, what happened to Kathleen's senior picture? The one in the silver frame? You shouldn't put it away, she looks beautiful in it."

He quickly joined her in the living room, frowning. "I didn't do anything with it. It was right here this morn... This isn't right, Liv." He slowly turned and took mental inventory of his living room. "This isn't right at all. I had a picture of Maureen on that wall and a picture of the twins at the beach over there. Kathleen's senior portrait was right here, and the photo Cragen took of us at the Christmas party last year was on that table. Liv, don't touch anything. Someone's been in here since this morning."

Olivia took out her phone and quickly dialed, "Captain? Olivia. We need a CSU team over at Elliot's place. Things are missing, no sign of forced entry. Oh, and Captain? We're gonna be late."

16TH PRECINCT
11:30 A.M.

Captain Cragen was sitting on the corner of Elliot and Olivia's shared desk as they walked in to the squad room. "Olivia. Elliot. Everything all right now?"

"Seems to be. Nothing of monetary value is missing, just four framed photos from the living room and some clothing from the bedroom. No sign of forced entry, but the lock looks like it was tampered with. CSU guys printed the whole place. We'll hear soon if any prints are found that don't belong there," Olivia shrugged. "It's pretty creepy. Who'd take a bunch of family pictures and leave the TV and DVD player?" She shook her head. "Well, the good news is that Mr. Macho here promised to always use the deadbolt from now on. A day late and a dollar short if you ask me."

Cragen looked over to Elliot, "So you're all right?"

"Yeah, Cap. I think so. I feel stupid and I want my pictures back, but no real harm done... I guess."

"Good, because Fin and Munch are out following up on the Sacred Heart case, so you two get to catch the new call." He picked up the folder resting next to him on the desk. "Vic is a white female, late teens, maybe early 20s. Beaten, raped, killed. Body found in an alley near Hudson U by a couple of uniforms. The address is inside. Get to it." He handed the folder to Olivia and headed back into his office.

"Duty calls," Elliot sighed and headed back out with his partner.

HUDSON UNIVERSITY APARTMENTS
12:00 NOON

They worked their way through the sea of onlookers, badges drawn to silence any protests from the morbidly curious crowd. They approached the uniformed officer guarding the police tape barrier. Olivia flashed her badge with a terse, "Detectives Benson and Stabler, SVU." Quickly glancing at their shields, the officer let them through. Elliot went over to review the scene before the ME took the vic away, while Olivia approached the officer in charge, "Benson, SVU. What do we have?"

"White female, approximately 18. As best as we can tell, he jumped her coming out of the building here, beat her into submission, raped her repeatedly and then used his knife on her. A lot. Perp was a real psycho. Didn't leave us much to ID her by, but the cops found a photo with her belongings. We assume it's of her..." The officer trailed off as an anguished scream interrupted them.

"Elliot?" Olivia whirled towards the sound, and saw her now-sobbing partner sink to his knees beside the vic. She ran over to him. "Elliot! What's wrong? What..." she stopped as she caught sight of the victim's long blonde hair and slight form, mutilated almost beyond recognition, and then noticed the shiny silver frame sitting amongst the girl's belongings.

"Oh, Elliot," she reached down and pulled him into an embrace. "Shhh. Elliot. It isn't her. It can't be her. You told me yourself, she's in the Caribbean with Kathy and the other kids. Elliot, Kathleen is okay." She helped him to his feet and walked him out of sight of the body. "El, I'll straighten things out here. You call Kathleen and see for yourself. Your daughter is fine."

She gave him a quick hug and then hurried over to the CSU team. "Bag that picture frame and make sure to dust for prints. It's not the vic, but it is evidence nonetheless. Of this, and at least one other crime."

16TH PRECINCT
2:15 P.M.

After the shock of seeing a vic Elliot believed to be Kathleen, he had taken Olivia's advice and called the emergency number Kathy gave him when she took the kids for a month at a tropical resort. He felt better hearing that all four of his children were healthy and having fun – even if he did have to hear it from his ex-wife's new steady. Dr. Ron had smugly informed him that 'Katherine and the girls were down at the spa, wrapped in mud' and that he was on his way to meet 'Richard' for a jet-ski lesson. Elliot had simply asked him to tell the kids that he loved them and disconnected. Now, back at the station, Elliot slumped at his desk, staring at a photo of his kids, while Olivia briefed the Captain in his office.

Olivia recounted the events of the afternoon at the crime scene and explained the tie between Elliot's break-in and their vic. Cragen's fatherly eyes grew concerned when she told him about Elliot's reaction to the vic and Kathleen's picture. "Olivia, you know him better than any of us. Do I need to pull Elliot from the streets for a while?"

She gave the Captain's inquiry several moments of serious thought before answering, "No. I know he's been out of sorts for a while now, but he's tough. He'll be all right – I'll make sure of it."

They exited his office together, pausing at the sight of Elliot's forlorn shape hunched over a family picture. Cragen cleared his throat. "Okay, you two. Get out of here. I don't want to see either of you until Monday morning." He lowered his voice, for Olivia's ears only. "Take care of him, Benson. He needs a friend right now."

MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE
3:38 P.M.

Detectives Munch and Fin paced around the ME's office, waiting for her to finish on the telephone. It had only been three days since they first caught the Sacred Heart case, but they were anxious to find the psycho and put him out of commission. After an eternity of pacing, or eight minutes after their arrival, Dr. Warner finally hung up the phone and turned to the two detectives with a worried look on her face. "Gentlemen. We have a problem."

"A problem? You mean the DNA from Sister Mary Katherine was inconclusive? Why are we just hearing about his now?" Munch looked at the ME incredulously.

"No, Detective. The DNA from Sister Mary Katherine was just fine. We got a hit in the database."

Fin could see his partner losing patience with the ME and felt the same way. He practically growled, "So, what's the problem, Doc?"

Dr. Warner looked warily from one to the other before answering. "When I said we had a hit in the database, I didn't mean VICAP or NY Corrections. I meant our own database. The man responsible for the Sacred Heart murders and rape is a cop." She gazed steadily at them both before throwing her open file down on the desk in front of them and turning to look out the window. "One we all know."

Fin looked at the name on the DNA results and sank bonelessly into a chair. "No," he whispered. "No, it can't be."

Munch was now holding the offending document in a white-knuckled grip. As the paper crumpled in his hands and the doctor turned back to meet his glower, he managed only two words, "You're wrong."