Chapter 26
Olivia and Elliot arrive at the precinct and the Captain was waiting along with Fin and Munch. Kenny was noticeably absent, but Olivia didn't notice. Her anger was still simmering and Elliot wasn't the only one who could tell she was not in a good mood. Elliot quickly filled in the group as to what Bobby, down at CSU, had found.
"How is Stephanie?" Olivia asked; concerned that perhaps the accidental run-in had caused enough harm that would push the woman over the delicate edge of her mental capacity.
"Physically, she'll be fine. Mentally, it's hard to say. Huang and Kenny went to the hospital with her, along with her sister and brother-in-law. She didn't admit to anything but given her reaction, it's a good bet that Kevin did something to her," Cragen explained.
"Why wouldn't she tell Huang or Liv?" Munch wondered. He figured the rapport that the three had built would have had the mentally challenged woman admitting that something very bad happened to her.
"I don't know why she wouldn't tell us. We knew she was hiding something, but we couldn't get her to admit what it was," Olivia's temper wasn't really cooling but she was managing to keep her tone even.
"Would she have told Doug?" Fin asked.
"It's possible, but whatever he says would be hearsay," Cragen said.
"We need to go back to the apartment," Elliot spoke up. It was becoming clearer to him that Olivia was right. Linda didn't run because she was hiding something – something that was much worse than the stuff they'd already found.
"CSU was all over that apartment," Munch frowned.
"Linda didn't try to run. She just waited for the officers to arrive. We had this picture in our heads of her just folding her hands and waiting. We know that she made an attempt to hide things around the apartment – in fact, she succeeded. CSU found the laptop stuffed in the air vent," Olivia said, her anger had finally begun to dissipate. She was now hyper focused on the task at hand.
"We know from Ralph Kenda that Linda liked filming and watching. What's the likelihood she didn't tape something that was just her and the two guys who tried to kidnap Calvin?" Elliot gave them a look.
"All right. You and Olivia go back to the apartment and check it out. Fin, Munch, why don't you approach Kevin and tell him what we found. Tell him it's in his best interest to confess and to tell you who his other partner is. Grab Cabot before you do that. We'll need her to offer a deal in case the apartment becomes a dud," the Captain had given out orders and the group dispersed.
Not long after leaving the precinct, Elliot and Olivia arrived at the apartment. The quiet was hiding something sinister underneath as Elliot noted the seal on the door had been slit. Someone could be in the apartment right now. The partners pulled their weapons and Olivia grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it.
The door popped open and the two quickly rushed in. There was no one in the living room and they silently moved through the apartment finding it empty. Still, someone had been there and quickly Elliot holstered his weapon and grabbed his phone from his pocket, calling for backup and CSU. The apartment would have to be re-fingerprinted in case the man they were looking for had been sloppy.
"Things don't look tossed about," Olivia said once her partner was off the phone. They stood in the living room, not wanting to disturb the possible crime scene.
"Like he knew what he was looking for?" Elliot wondered.
"Why save whatever it was? Why not smash any discs or flash drives? Heck, there's a garbage disposal in the kitchen. At a minimum it would mess stuff up before it quit," she frowned.
"Could be our guy likes to blackmail people. I mean he says to Linda, keep your trap shut or I release one of the videos I'm not in," her partner pointed out. She just nodded.
"What if he didn't find what he was looking for?" Olivia's focus had been turned to the couch. There hadn't been pillows on it, like someone might put on if they were making it homey, so it made the couch cushions' upheaval more noticeable.
"El, toss me a set of gloves," she said. He went into his pocket and grabbed out a pair of latex gloves and tossed them to her. Olivia quickly put them on and carefully picked up the cushions. Elliot watched as she gingerly set the cushions on the coffee table.
"Anything interesting?" He asked as she felt around in the couch, hoping that there was something there.
"There's a hole in the fabric and a piece of tape or something on the inside of the hole," Olivia told him, as she gingerly moved her fingers inside the hole and discovered that the texture of whatever it was had changed. Carefully, slowly, she removed the adhesive and pulled out a small pouch, made of nylon.
"There is something in here," she told him.
To Be Continued…