Chapter 12
"What's going on Cap?" Elliot asked, not sure how he managed to get on Cragen's bad side. The detective closed the door though, so as not to have the entire squad hear what was going on.
"How's Olivia doing?" Cragen wanted to know as he sat down behind his desk.
"Fine, why?" Elliot was confused at the question but did not sit down in front of his superior's desk. Instead, he stands in front of the furniture, his large arms crossed over his chest.
"One PP is checking in. They've been riding my ass since Jenna but as of late it's been getting worse," Donald explained.
"They think that she's going to just blow up?" Elliot cocked an eyebrow.
"No but this case might. You think we're looking at a one off or a wider problem?" The Captain wanted to know.
"You're afraid the publicity will get ugly and the detective who shot Jenna will make headlines," Stabler said.
"She's been the only one that really got through to Stephanie and that poor lady doesn't need any more crap in her life," Don heaved a sigh.
"Ah the press getting in poor Stephanie's face could cause Liv to act more protective than she needs to?" Elliot found that a little hard to believe.
"All we need is some reporter overblowing some small act, a push, heck a touch, and it'll come off like Olivia punched someone and gave them a black eye. We're going to need Stephanie to testify and without Liv, I'm not sure that'll happen," the Captain clarifies his stance.
"Yeah, that would be a problem. I'm beginning to see what you mean but you can't be serious about taking Liv off this case," Stabler gave him a look.
"No, I'm not. What I am asking is that if this case becomes huge, Liv's name doesn't make appearances outside of helping Stephanie. I don't want the case tainted because some nutjob at One PP is worried about a detective, who has basically a spotless record prior to Jenna's death, is having her fingerprints on a high-profile case again, so soon," Cragen explains.
"So, you want me to let her down easy? Isn't that your job?" Elliot was getting a little perturbed. It was obvious from the shift in his stance, the uncrossing and recrossing of his arms, like he's just adjusting them from being a tight space.
"No, I want your honest opinion. Do you think this case is about to blow up on us?" Don asked.
"Linda hasn't cracked yet. Unless we get something that causes her to roll on other people or take a plea, this could get ugly in a hurry. We don't know what happened to James Lorigo. There is a possibility that there is at least a third person involved here. Not only that, but it's also possible that Linda tricked James into turning his niece over to her and basically it was just to abuse her," Elliot frowned.
"But if Alan was her accomplice and he's dead…" Cragen left the thought hanging there.
"Exactly. We're wondering if Alan really had no idea and this other person is someone in Linda's life, explaining why she's clamping down," the detective said. The Captain shook his head. This was definitely getting out of control as Munch had explained. This discussion was more about getting Elliot's take on it and Olivia, but his attention is diverted when Stabler's phone went off. Elliot whips the phone out of his pocket and answers it.
"Stabler. You're on speaker with me and the Captain here Fin,"
"Melinda thinks that someone injected air into James Lorigo," Fin explained.
"Why?" Don wanted to know.
"The guy was in bad shape, but his heart would have kept ticking for quite a while. It was his back, knees, and feet that were all messed up. He had plenty of medications but none of them would need to be administered by needle. Then suddenly, somehow, he lies down and just has a heart attack," Fin said.
"With an unexplainable injection mark in him," Elliot let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"The tox screen didn't come up with anything unusual. Melinda says she'll run a more thorough tox screen to test for the stuff that we don't normally test for and see if anything pops," Fin filled them in.
"All right, let her do her work and head back. We have to hope that Kenny's trip to TARU helps us figure this out," Don said.
"You got it Cap," with that the call ended. The two men barely had enough time to process when Munch knocks on the superior officer's door. Cragen bade for him to enter.
"Just got a call from downstairs. It seems Stephanie's family is early," the Sergeant told them.
"Divert them to our other interrogation room. We need to make sure they aren't in on what James possibly did," Cragen ordered.
"On it," Munch nodded before ducking out of the doorway.
"I'll help him," Elliot said before heading out of the Captain's office. He wasn't going to be able to speak to his partner about Don's concerns before things got very complicated.
To Be Continued…
