A/N: Hey, it's Trinity. I just wanted to say thanks for the great reviews! seriesfanatic, Scarlette O'Hara, Tennessee, LivElRocks, hpjsr, Dramawitsvu17, you guys are all awesome! I really appreciate your feedback, and look forward to hearing from you guys (and hopefully some new readers) again soon. Anyway, without further ado, here's the new chapter! R&R

10:00 a.m.

Special Victims Unit Squad Room

Tuesday, June 28

"So where are we on this?" Captain Cragen asked his four detectives who were each sitting at their desks.

"Vic's name is Ainslie White", Olivia began, walking over to the whiteboard. She erased 'Jane Doe' from under Ainslie's picture and replaced it with the young woman's real name. "She was a trainer at Bluesdale Fitness. I've been checking Missing Persons, doesn't look like anybody's filed a report for her yet, but I mean, she's only been dead a few hours."

"Family?" Cragen inquired.

"None that we've been able to locate yet…we're still looking." answered Detective John Munch.

"She wasn't married, we're not sure about boyfriends. She lived alone in an apartment on the west side." Detective Odafin Tutola added.

"Okay. Munch, Fin, head over to White's apartment, there might be something there that can help us. Stabler, I want you and Benson to ask around at her work, find out the last time they saw her. Come on people, let's get a move on this!"

10:30 a.m.

Apartment of Ainslie White

Tuesday, June 28

Joshua Reynolds unlocked his girlfriend's apartment using his newly-received key. He opened the door and stepped into the small foyer. He moved to take off his shoes, but froze in his tracks when he heard male voices coming from the other room.

"Nothing much here..." said one of the men. Joshua heard rustling coming from the bedroom closet.

"Wait - what's this?" asked the other man.

His heart racing, Josh considered his options. There were at least two, possibly three strange men in his house, presumably robbers. The way he saw it; he could either attempt to sneak back out the front door, and risk being heard (it was truly a miracle no one had heard him enter)…or, he could do the brave, manly thing and confront these intruders. Ignoring the voice that told him he was being unbelievably foolish, Joshua decided on confrontation. Silently, he crept from the foyer into the kitchen. He slid open the third drawer on a wooden cabinet and pulled out a small black box. Josh undid the silver latch and opened the top, revealing a brand-new revolver. Inhaling sharply, he lifted the gun from its case and held it in a shaky hand. Terrified, Josh walked noiselessly toward the bedroom. Mustering all of his courage, he held the gun straight out in front of him and leapt into the room.

"Freeze!...Don't move and nobody gets hurt!" Joshua shouted, his volume hardly concealing the shake in his voice. "Turn around slowly and don't try anything! I'm not afraid to shoot!"

Confused and more than a little concerned, Detectives John Munch and Fin Tutuola slowly turned to face the gun-wielding man.

"I don't know how you two got in here but I'm calling the police!" Joshua continued. In another vain attempt to sound confident he added, "you guys chose the wrong house to rob!"

With eyebrows raised, the two detectives turned to look at each other.

"Listen man, we're not criminals…we're cops. Now put the gun down." Fin said slowly, looking the man in the eyes.

Rather uncertainly Joshua replied, "I don't believe you."

"We're here investigating the murder of Ainslie White. We were led to believe this was her apartment…" Munch's voice trailed off.

Joshua's eyes widened with shock. "Ainslie? Ainslie's…dead?" he exclaimed, obviously horrified. Realizing he'd lowered his weapon, he attempted to regain himself. "Show me your badges." he said slowly.

"Okay, I'm going to undo my jacket to show you my badge…" Munch replied, his eyes flicking to the gun that was still pointed at him. "Don't shoot."

With as few movements as possible, Munch unbuttoned his jacket, revealing a gold NYPD badge hanging off of a thin silver chain. Gun still raised, Joshua inched forward to inspect the badge. Realizing it was indeed authentic, he hurriedly dropped his weapon to the floor. Fin kicked the gun away as the man broke down.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry! What have I done? I just, I thought, you two…you were in here and I didn't know…Ainslie!" Joshua began to sob, the events of the last ten minutes finally catching up to him. Unfortunately sympathy had never really been a specialty of Munch or Fin.

"Okay, so let me get this straight…you break in to Ainslie White's apartment, point your gun at two detectives and accuse them of being criminals…?" Fin asked sarcastically.

"I am really sorry about that…" Joshua began, fighting back more tears. "It was a misunderstanding…I live here see… Ainslie's my girlfriend; she gave me a key to her place not even a week ago. I came home, and heard you guys rustling around in the closet…I jumped to conclusions…I assumed you were robbing us…"

Munch turned to him. "I'm hoping you've got a permit for that gun."

"Yes, yes of course. I bought it a year ago, for protection." Josh answered somewhat sheepishly.

"Listen, no offence but gun or no gun, you aren't all that intimidating. Next time, call the cops." Munch told him bluntly.

Joshua nodded, ashamed of his foolish thinking. His thoughts did not linger on his actions for long however. "I can't believe she's dead. Do you know, what, what happened to her?"

"She was murdered late last night. We haven't got many details yet…you could help us out by telling us the last time you saw her." Munch answered.

"Um…last night. She uh, got home from work about 10, and was only here long enough to freshen up and get changed. She was going out partying with a friend…I was gonna go with her, but she wanted it to be a girl's night out you know? I should've…I should've been there…I…" he trailed off, his mind sudden flooded with feelings of guilt.

"It wasn't your fault. There's nothing you could've done." Munch said simply. The man stifled a sob in reply.

"Listen, do you mind if we take a few things with us back to our lab? It might help you know, with the investigation." Fin asked, wasting no time.

"Sure, yeah…anything to help." the man choked out.

Ten minutes later the detectives had taken the few things of interest they'd found, including the box of mysterious letters Munch had been in the process of collecting when Joshua had entered the room, and were heading back to the precinct. They would send CSU by later to do a full sweep of the house, but it didn't look to them like there was much more to be found there.


10:35 a.m.

Bluesdale Fitness

Tuesday, June 28

Around the same time Detectives Munch and Fin were being accused of breaking and entering, Elliot and Olivia were stepping into the foyer of Olivia's gym. Elliot glanced around. The reception area was small, composed mainly of a large wooden desk positioned close to the back wall and a small potted plant sitting in a corner. The entire area was illuminated with several far-too-bright fluorescent lights that hung from the high ceiling. Detectives Benson and Stabler strode purposefully over to the desk behind which sat a young woman. As Olivia approached the desk the woman greeted her, an air of familiarity but not quite friendliness in her voice.

"Hello Ms. Benson. Will you be requiring a guest pass for your friend today?" the woman asked, giving Elliot the once-over with her eyes.

"No, no. I'm here on duty, NYPD business. This is my partner, Elliot Stabler." Olivia replied.

The woman glanced at Elliot again before asking, "Police business? What is this about?"

"We're investigating the murder of this woman." Elliot answered, handing a headshot of the victim over to the receptionist. "Ainslie White…we were told she worked here."

The receptionist looked at the photo in surprise. "Yes…yes, Ainslie works here…worked here…" she trailed off. "I can't believe she's dead."

"We were wondering if you could tell us the last time she was working." Olivia said after a moment.

"Umm…" the woman began skimming through the work logs. "Yesterday…she was here until nine."

Elliot quickly jotted that down on his notepad. "Thanks."

"No problem. Anything I can do to help…"

Olivia nodded. "Okay…Had Ainslie been having any problems at work lately? Issues with customers? Anyone bothering her?" she asked.

The woman shook her head slightly. "Not that I knew of. But I was rarely working when Ainslie was in. You might want to check with Sophie. Sophie Bendez, she's a trainer here too…I know they were close."

Elliot wrote down the name. "Any idea where we can find Sophie?"

"Yeah just a second." the receptionist said as she punched a few keys into her computer. "She lives downtown…43 Mellington Ave."

"Thanks a lot." Elliot replied as he scribbled down the address. He looked up to see the receptionist staring at the picture of Ainslie he had given her. The two detectives turned to leave when she spoke.

"Why did you guys do that?" she asked quietly. Olivia and Elliot looked at each other, confused.

"Do what?" Olivia asked.

"Cut her hair…and dye it." the woman answered, still looking at the autopsy photo.

The detectives were now utterly perplexed. "You mean, her hair wasn't brown when you saw her?"

"No…Ainslie's a natural blonde. And she was still blonde when I watched her leave last night. And her hair was much longer…"

"Is there any chance she was going to get it dyed last night, after she left work?" Olivia asked, the confusion evident in her voice.

The woman shook her head firmly. "No way. Ainslie was always very proud of the way she looked, including her hair. That was one of the few things I knew about her. She wouldn't have changed it for the world."

"Okay, uh, thanks, you've been a great help." Elliot said to the receptionist before he and Olivia left the gym, struggling to digest the new information.

As they reached the car, Olivia ventured to ask what they were both thinking. "So…it looks like our perp dyed her hair, and then cut it?" Olivia asked incredulously.

"Well, that would explain the cut hairs the M.E. found on the vic's body." Elliot answered.

"But, it makes no sense." Olivia said, shaking her head. "Why would he cut her hair…and dye it brown?"

Elliot suddenly remembered his thoughts from the coroner's office. He stopped dead in his tracks. "To make her look like you."