Those of you expecting answers you'll just have to wait. I'm on a power trip here, Amy's fate is in my hands.
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Chapter 9
Precinct
"Yeah Cap' thanks for letting me know, yeah she's still here." Elliot said putting his phone away and looking Casey in the eye, she'd only just stopped crying and she looked up at him expectantly and pleadingly. "Face is too messed up to make an id, once again we're waiting for science, they'll erm do a DNA comparison and compare her dental records. I'm not sure how long it's going to take, but we'll let you know the moment we hear anything." Elliot told her giving her hand a squeeze as the tears started rolling down her cheeks again.
"I've got to tell my family, they'll want to know. " She said standing up slowly, midway up she stopped and picked up a photo that was lying on top of Amy's desk, she'd never noticed it before, she looked at it and smiled. It was the pair of them, they were at their eldest brother's birthday party and they were both extremely drunk, it was so obvious from the photo. The thing that got Casey was the fact that Amy had a genuine smile on her face and the pair were laughing together, something that was rare. She hated the fact that there was a chance that the photo in her hands was the last one she might have of her sister, there was so much that they still needed to do together. Go to Ireland, laugh at one another's wedding dresses, mock their single brothers girlfriends behind their backs. She wanted them to do the things they'd missed out on because of Amy's rape turning her into a scared creature that shied away from people when things started getting too close and personal. That's why she'd let Jack go – Casey was sure of it. And it was the reason she knew her sister had ran away, she didn't want others to see her suffering or to be constantly asking her if she was ok. She put the photo back on the desk with a sigh.
"You ok? Do you want me to come with you to tell your parents?" Elliot asked at the exact point Munch came running into the room out of breath.
"They've found something," he took a deep breath before continuing, "A DNA match to Amy on something we found at the house, 100 match on some underwear, the bastard had kept it sealed all these years. His and her DNA. We've got him!" Munch exclaimed sitting in his chair with a massive smile on his face.
"Oh my god, why didn't you just call?" Elliot asked relieved and angry at the same time, he glanced over at Casey who'd slumped back into Amy's chair, she was crying but Elliot wasn't sure why.
"Got the call just before I stepped into the elevator, missed it so I ran up the stairs. What's the matter?" Munch asked spotting Casey crying and Elliot's drawn expression. Elliot told him about the body and Munch looked like he'd just been punched in the gut, he'd been on a high with the DNA results but now everything had just been turned upside down.
"So what do you suggest I tell my parents first? That we've got DNA of Amy's rape case or the fact that she may have thrown herself under a subway car?" Casey said through tears and gritted teeth, both detectives looked at her, neither knew what to say to the ADA, they both gave her sympathetic looks as she stood up and headed out of the squad room.
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With a heavy heart and tears in her eyes Casey began her journey to her parents' home knowing she had the potential to break their hearts and there was nothing she could do to change it. She just hoped that they'd get a positive ID from the body before she arrived at the house, that way she'd at least be able to give them a real answer. She desperately wanted to be able to tell them where Amy was, thing is it'd break her own heart to have to tell them that Amy was lying in a morgue, she'd rather live the rest of her life with a maybe rather than a definite, whilst the body was unidentified there was still a large chance that a shoeless and penniless Amy was wondering round the streets. And if that was the case there was a chance of them finding her and bringing her home.
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"DNA match on underwear found at the house, semen from Grant and Amy's DNA both present, he'd looked after them well. Enough evidence to charge him on too." Cragen told Olivia as they drove back to the precinct; Elliot had just called and given them the news.
"Not exactly come at a good time, for all we know it could be meaningless, won't make things any better for Amy if she's dead." Olivia snapped rubbing her temples; she wasn't feeling good, especially after throwing up her breakfast outside the morgue. She couldn't imagine how Casey must have been feeling, she felt bad enough herself and she was only a friend and colleague of Amy, and although she often looked on Amy as a younger sister she wasn't. Once again Olivia Benson felt helpless.
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The team wanted to celebrate getting the DNA match but there was still the reality that Amy may never know that they'd got him. Little did Olivia and Elliot know that there was still something on its way to shock them.
"Guys you might want to look at these, it's the pictures we found at the house. The guy was really sick, took pictures of the body and birthmark or tattoo, and also their faces. I know it all adds up to more evidence but it's not exactly comforting looking at these pictures." Fin told the detectives who were sat together trying to find any other missing persons matching Amy's description to try and help establish if the body in the morgue really was hers, rather than proving it was her they felt better trying to prove that it wasn't her.
"Do I even have to ask if there's any of Amy?" Olivia asked looking away from the computer screen and taking the photos from Fin.
"Definitely a face resembling Amy, and there's a photo of a birthmark exactly where Amy's is. I recommend avoiding those ones for your own sakes, those pictures will probably cause me sleepless nights for the rest of my life." Olivia's expression changed as she flicked through the photos before handing them to Elliot who threw them down on his desk in anger.
"No mistaking that face is there, sick bastard. No wonder she started scrubbing at her birthmark, I'd have probably tried to cut it off." Elliot snapped taking another look at the top photograph which was unmistakeably a 13 year old Amy Novak battered and bruised and in the middle of being raped.
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"Benson?" Olivia asked answering her phone; she was still fixated on the photos Fin had passed her earlier that day.
"Hi it's Melinda, I've got an id of the suicide, I had the coroner hand it over to me with you know… erm the possibility of it being Detective Novak." Melinda's voice was unsurprisingly calm and collected which set Olivia on edge, so much so that she stood up.
"Tell me should I be sat down for this?" Olivia asked trying to lighten the mood, looking up she caught Elliot's eye who stopped what he was doing to join Olivia.
"We've got a definite match." Melinda Warner replied not giving anything away.
"And?" Olivia demanded.
"The suicide victim is definitely…
TBC
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just had to do it, you'll find out soon enough