Chapter 2

Elliot and Olivia arrived the next day to begin the investigation. They had decided they'd interview the other women and Mr. Schmidt the following day. Kara had come in late in the day, and they figured it was too late in the day to do much.

"I guess we can start with Taylor Huntington?" Elliot said as he grabbed his coat from his chair.

"Sounds good," Olivia replied as the two exited the precinct.

It took about fifteen minutes for the two to find the proper building. They had been caught in the undeniable New York traffic.

"Mr. Schmidt," Elliot read a plaque outside of the building.

"I guess this is the place," Olivia said.

The two stepped inside. They were greeted by a friendly receptionist.

"Hello, my name is Becca, can I help you?"

"Yes, we're looking for one of Mr. Schmidt's employees, Taylor Huntington?"

"yes, can I ask what it concerns?"

"Yes, there has been a allegation of sexual assault and we think Ms. Huntington might have some vital information.

At the sound of the words sexual assault, the receptionist had turned a slight shade of red.

"Is something wrong?" Elliot asked, reacting to her attitude.

"Oh no, let me call her down." The receptionist picked up her phone and dialed an extension.

"She'll be right down."

"Thank you," Olivia said kindly.

A young woman joined the two detectives in the small lobby area.

"Hello, I'm Taylor Huntington, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm detective Elliot Stabler."

And I'm Detective Olivia Benson, can we talk to you in private?"

"Um, sure. Can I ask what this is concerning?" the young woman asked as she guided the two down a long hall. She ushered the two into what they assumed to be her office, and closed the door behind them.

"Yes, a co-worker came to our precinct yesterday and reported a rape. She has alleged that your boss raped her a few days ago. And she has reason to believe she is not the only victim. She gave your name."

"Well, I'd like to know who alleged such a thing, because it's not true." The woman retorted trying to sound convincing. Olivia noticed that she played with her hands nervously.

"Ms. Huntington, if you were assaulted you should report it. You shouldn't be afraid. She told us that he manipulated her into sleeping with him multiple times. Has he done the same thing to you?"

"No, I don't know who made up this insane allegation. Mr. Schmidt is a great boss. I don't know who would accuse him of such a thing."

"Ma'am, our source was pretty certain that the same thing that happened to her had happened to you too. You don't need to be afraid. We can get him for this. We just need your help."

Taylor was silent for a moment. The two detectives could tell she was thinking about what to say. She could not decide whether to admit the assault or not.

"Well, if this girl slept with him because he coaxed her into it, doesn't mean he raped her. She still consented."

"Taylor, he still has no right to take advantage of her like that. That is sexual harassment. And he still pursued her after she said no. That is rape."

Taylor was silent again.

"Ok, so maybes he's made a few moves. He's a man it's typical."

"Taylor, you know it was more than just that." Olivia said soothingly.

"Why do you keep pushing this?" Taylor said obviously getting upset. She turned so the two could not see her face. Tears had begun to fall from her eyes.

"Taylor?" Olivia slowly approached the young woman and touched her shoulder gingerly.

"About month ago, he started making passes. One afternoon he asked me into his office and started flirting with me. He told me if I slept with him, I'd be promoted. I refused. I said I didn't want to succeed by sleeping with my boss. He just laughed. When I went to the door to leave, he grabbed be and through me down." Taylor was crying hard now. "He raped me."

"Why didn't you ever report it?"

"He told me no one would believe me. Me, a young woman straight out of college, and him, a successful Wall Street tycoon. He did the same thing several more times. But I didn't fight back ever again. When he asked me into his office, I complied. I had no other choice."

"Taylor, you could have reported him." Elliot said.

"I wish it was that easy."

"Will you come back to the precinct with us and give a statement for us?"

"Sure, I guess." She said faintly.

"I promise, this is the right thing to do," Elliot said trying to sound comforting.

"Taylor, so far we have you and Kara and your word against him. We don't have any concrete evidence for either of your rapes because we can't do rape kits after the fact. Do you know of any other women that might have been assaulted?"

"Kara, was that the women who gave you my name?"

"Yes," Elliot answered.

"No, I don't know any other women who were assaulted, but I bet if you ask any woman in this office, she'd say she has been harassed by him in some way."

"Ok, we'll drive you back to the precinct." Olivia said.

Olivia and Elliot had gotten her statement and had sent her home.

"Can you believe this guy? I bet every woman in that office is terrified by him. And even if we find more women, it just seems like it's going to be his word against theirs."

"It looks that way." Olivia said.

The phone began to ring, and Olivia quickly picked up the receiver.

"Hello, ok, thank you." Olivia returned the phone to its proper place.

"Well?" Elliot asked.

"That was Warner. She ran a test on Kara's underwear. There were signs of spermicide. She checked the DNA. Mr. Schmidt has a record. Apparently he was accused of rape back in 1998 but the charges were dropped. Anyway, his DNA is on record, and it matches. Let's see what Mr. Schmidt has to say about that."