Chapter 4
"You were right." Dr. Warner said later that day. "The blood found on the sidewalk matches blood samples taken from the floor and the third set of chains. There were also fragments of blue polyester and cotton in the blood, she was wearing a shirt over her wounds but, it looks like the caller was beaten too."
"Then why isn't she dead? How was she able to escape from thick chains, in a room that had a metal door and ten to fifteen people in it and still manage to run two streets away?" Stabler asked. Goren had barely spoken since his flight to find the three imprints on the sidewalk.
"I don't think they meant to kill her." Warner suggested. "Whoever did this definitely meant to kill the mother and son, but she couldn't have run at all if they meant to kill her. I think they let her out of that room on purpose."
"Hey Bobby, how are you doing?" Eames asked. She and Munch had come back to the precinct after three hours of door-to-door interrogation. Goren had his arms folded on his desk, balancing his chin on his hands with a thousand-yard stare at his computer screen that usually accompanied the traumatic life of a cop. He lifted his thumb, clicking the mouse again and again as pictures of young missing girls panned across the screen.
"I can't find her." He sighed at last, leaning far back in his chair and rubbing his eyes.
"600 teenage girls go missing every year Bobby, and that's only the ones someone bothers to report missing." She reasoned.
"I know. I just…I know she's here." He said through his hand. Eames gave him a sympathetic look.
"Well, good luck then. Me and Munch are going to check out that alley where she ran after bumping into you."
"Right. How's that going by the way, you and Detective Munch?" Goren said with a mischievous smile. "He is available…"
"Oh right!" Eames laughed. "Nope, you're the only man in my life Bobby." She said, patting him on the shoulder. They both laughed and Eames left with Munch while Goren continued to click through the seemingly endless file of pictures.
"Warner doesn't think they tried to kill the girl you saw. She thinks they let her go on purpose. What are you up to?" Stabler said as he plopped into a chair beside him.
"Looking through pictures of missing teenage girls. I know she's in here." Stabler raised his eyebrows.
"You know you're doing that the hard way right?" Goren twirled around in his chair and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, come on, I've got someone you should meet."
"Who's that?" Goren asked, grabbing his coat.
"A computer whiz that works for SVU, he can track down the picture for you if you can get a sketch artist to draw something up digitally."
"There's no need." Captain Cragen had just walked out of his office, pulling his suspenders back onto his shoulders.
"What's up Captain?" Stabler asked.
"We just got a call from the National Jewish Children's hospital. They picked up a teenage girl this morning with severe lesions on her back. I just paged Eames and Munch-they're already there." He turned to look at Goren. "She says she won't speak to anyone but you."