Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. It belongs to a genius named Dick Wolf. No profit is being made from this story.
Olivia reached over and turned up the air conditioner as soon as Elliot started the car. She sighed in relief when the cold air blasted out immediately, and turned the vents towards her.
Elliot shot her a dark look.
"Sorry," she said. She moved two of the vents to face him.
"That's pretty damn pathetic that its cooler in here than it is in the squad room," he said, pulling out into the flow of traffic.
Olivia flipped down the visor and started fixing her ponytail in the small mirror. "Yeah," she agreed. "But I'll take this over crappy fans that blow more hot air than cold."
"I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this," he continued, shivering involuntarily when the cool air grazed his sweaty neck. "But I hope we get stuck in traffic."
"Will you just get in the damn car?" Fin cried in exasperation. "Olivia and Elliot are probably halfway there by now."
Munch didn't move from the curb. "Nope," he said stubbornly. "Two out of three, Tutuola."
Fin sighed angrily. They had been standing in front of the car for five minutes. He threw the keys on top of the car and stalked back over to where his partner stood.
"This is the last fucking time I'm doing this, man," he snapped. "I'm not even close to kidding."
John just smiled and held out his hand patiently. Fin cut his eyes at him and held out his own quickly. "Go," he said shortly.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors….Shoot!"
They each held up a hand; Munch had paper and Fin had rock.
John smirked and stepped off of the curb. "See….told you I was driving," he said smugly, snatching the keys from the top. His partner ignored him and slammed the door as he got inside.
Elliot pulled the sedan to a stop on the corner of 16th avenue and shut off the ignition. They crossed the busy intersection and began walking towards 15th. The heat was amplified by the thrush of people pushing them down the sidewalk, each one seemingly more pissed off by the weather than the next.
Olivia was suddenly very glad that she was a woman- the dress code was a lot more lenient towards female officers than males. Everyone was required to dress professionally during the week, but she could get away with her current sleeveless polo because it had a collar.
Elliot pulled slightly ahead of her, and she felt a wave of sympathy for him. Men in the squad didn't have the same luxury. Because they were on duty, he had to wear a sport jacket over his dress shirt. She felt hot just looking at him…she knew he had to be suffocating.
She was right. Elliot honestly felt right now that he could pass out from heatstroke. He was sweating so much that he could feel it dripping into his eyes, and was constantly reaching up to wipe them. Huffing, he picked up the pace, wanting to get this done as soon as humanly possible and get back in the blessed air-conditioning.
Their expressions changed as they came within sight distance of the crime scene. The smell of rotting flesh was never on their list of favorite scents, but when it was combined with searing heat….it was absolutely unbearable. Olivia gagged out loud and quickly covered her mouth and nose.
"Detectives."
Medical Examiner Melinda Warner stood up from her crouched position when she saw them coming. She pulled off a rubber glove and wiped a hand over her forehead.
"Hey, Doc," Elliot greeted, trying to ignore the stench. "What've we got?"
"Caucasian; looks to be between 19 and 24 years old," she answered, crouching down again. They crouched next to her as she pulled the sheet off to reveal the body. "Probably been dead around four hours…bruising around the neck indicates she was choked to death, but I won't know for sure until I get down to the morgue."
The two detectives scanned the body with the trained eye of an experienced law enforcement officer. Dark, mottled bruises patterned her throat and neck. Her face was also bruised, and showed signs of a broken nose.
"Well, somebody beat the hell out of her," Elliot murmured, his gaze sweeping downward. His eyes caught something and he nudged Olivia. "Hey."
She looked over at him and followed his gaze. "Blood," she said in surprise, looking at the broken fingernails. "She fought back."
Something else caught her eye, and she squinted to get a closer look. "Hey, Elliot," she said. He looked over from where he had been assessing her upper body. "Do you see that?"
His looked down, then back at her in surprise and bewilderment to see the same expression on her face. "What the hell is that?"
Munch's dry, sarcastic voice suddenly cut into the air. "Hey, Doc…when's the last time you had a shower?"
Warner smirked, not taking her eyes off of the evidence bag she was writing on. "Cute," she said wryly.
"Melinda." The urgent voice of Elliot made her turn her head.
Fin, Munch, and Melinda all went over to where Elliot and Olivia were crouched by the body. They both wore startled expressions.
"Take a look at this," he continued, moving slightly so that she could bend down next to him. Warner lifted up the limp hand and Elliot pointed to her fingers. Each one was chalked with grey residue. "You ever seen anything like that?"
She looked surprised. "No," she answered. Her brow furrowed as she lifted the index finger and turned it over to get a look at all sides. "No, I haven't."
The discovery in itself didn't surprise the four detectives…they had seen a lot of weird things in their years. What surprised them was the uneasiness that they heard in Melinda's voice. It was something they had never heard before.
Twenty minutes later, the detectives were heading back for their cars. Warner had immediately taken the body back to the morgue, saying she would call them the second she knew what the substance was.
"Jesus," Olivia gasped, as they crossed the street. "I thought I was going to throw up back there…did you smell that?"
"I think every person within a 20 mile radius could smell that," Fin said in disgust. "I know I won't have an appetite for the rest of the day."
"Ditto," Elliot muttered.
The ride back to the station was much too short. Elliot took every possible alternative route he could think of to prolong staying in the air-conditioned car, but it seemed like ten minutes before they were back.
"Updates, people," Cragen said when they stepped into the squad room.
Elliot peeled off his sport jacket and tossed it on the back of his chair. He immediately unbuttoned his shirt again and sighed in relief.
"No outward signs of sexual assault; bruises around her neck," Olivia reported, sitting down. "We found some sort of residue on her fingers. Warner is checking into it."
"But judging from the ripeness, the body wasn't found for a long time after she died," Elliot threw in.
Don grimaced. "How long?"
"Long enough for the flies to start taking cover," Munch interrupted as he and Fin came in. "Honestly…I doubt even they would come near a stench that bad."
Elliot went to the refrigerator and removed four bottles of water, setting one on Olivia's desk and throwing one to Fin.
"As much as it pains me to say…" he said, handing Munch a bottle. "I have to agree on that one."
Cragen rolled his eyes, but was relieved to see that they weren't arguing anymore. He was glad to see his theory about the heat had been right.
"Make sure you get to the morgue as soon as Warner calls," he advised, before stepping back into his office.
They nodded. Elliot waited until the door was shut, and grinned devilishly. Taking his water bottle, he aimed it across the desk and squirted Olivia, making her jump.
"Hey!" she cried as water suddenly shot onto the file she was writing on. Elliot just looked at her with a shit-eating grin on his face. She scoffed snidely. "Grow up, Elliot."
He shrugged, obviously disappointed with the reaction he had received, and put the bottle aside. A minute later, a stream of water hit him directly in the eyes. His head snapped up. Olivia had a wicked grin of her own on her face.
"Oh, now who needs to grow up?" he retorted, but grinned and picked up his bottle again. Olivia shrieked when he aimed it straight at her face and squeezed hard.
"Hey," Munch said. "Remember what the captain said…."
Olivia flicked water at him with her hand, cutting off his scolding. His face registered shock that quickly turned to defense. Glaring, he cupped water in his hand and threw it at her. She ducked, and Elliot got a face full instead.
"Dude!" he shouted.
Munch held his hands up quickly at Elliot's evil look. "I was aiming for her!" he cried in defense.
"Oh, yeah?" Elliot asked. Rolling his chair around the desk, he took the top of the bottle in his hands and heaved it upward, making water fly out. It landed all over John.
"Oh, that's it!" he cried, abandoning his writing. He stood up and began coming at Elliot with his water bottle.
Elliot quickly rolled around the desk and grabbed Olivia by the shoulders, using her as a shield. "Don't shoot!" he cried, laughing. "I surrender!"
She reached behind her and twisted his wrist hard. "Ow!" he howled. She laughed loudly. "I got him, Munch!" she cried, holding on tight. "Go for it!"
His mouth dropped open. "Olivia!" His expression changed to amused fear as John came closer, aiming the bottle. He twisted in her grip, but she dug her fingers in, trapping him.
The phone rang, startling them. They all looked at it, but none made a move for it. Fin rolled his eyes and reached for it as Munch eyed Elliot warily.
"Tutuola," he said.
Olivia snickered quietly as Munch flicked water at Elliot. Fin waved at her to be quiet, a threatening look on his face. "Yeah….," he went on. "Uh-huh…ok…"
Grinning, John moved away from Elliot and went toward Fin. Pouring some water in his hand, he began flicking it at him. Fin gave him a look that could have melted ice, but continued speaking.
"Yep…got it," he said. He grit his teeth as more water hit him in the face. "Ok…thanks, Doc," he said quickly, slamming the phone down.
Her turned around, eyes flashing, and picked up the bottle from his desk. "Munch, you are so immature!" he yelled, throwing fistfuls of water at him with each syllable.
Don opened his office door again and stepped out into the room. "Was that….?" He trailed off in exasperation and shook his head. The four of them were now having a water fight and laughing like idiots.
"Guys," he scolded, trying to mask the amusement in his tone.
They all looked at him guiltily. He trailed off again and rolled his eyes. Clothes were straightened and chairs quickly rolled back in place.
"Was that Warner?" he repeated.
Fin cleared his throat, trying to swallow his laughter. "Yeah," he answered with as straight a face as he could manage. "She finished the lab tests."
Cragen nodded. "You and Munch get down there," he said. "Olivia, Elliot…forensics is done with the fingerprints; go see if we have any matches."
They stood up to go their separate ways. Elliot burst out laughing at the sight of Munch's hair dripping at the ends.
"So, what's the news, Doc?" Fin asked Melinda. They were gathered around a slab with the body of the prostitute lying on it.
She pulled off her goggles. "I ran a tox screen over her hands to see if the residue was chemical," she said. "I found traces of lighter fluid."
Munch looked at her quizzically. "Like the kind from a cigarette lighter?"
"No," she said, pinning him with a hard stare. "Like the kind from a blow torch."
The phone on Cragen's desk rang about three hours later. After reporting their findings, there was nothing else yet to do. Don gave them more files to work on and jokingly threatened to give them a time-out if they picked up another water bottle.
"Cragen," he answered. He was surprised to hear Casey Novak on the other end. "Hi, Casey…how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, thank you," she answered, disturbance clear in her tone. "Listen, um…I just got a call from my boss…did your detectives catch a prostitute case this morning?"
"Yes," he answered, confused. "Why?"
His expression turned from confused to stunned as he listened to her.
"What?" he asked, appalled. "No way."
"Yes, way," she answered wryly. "They also said…." His eyebrows shot up at her next words.
"Oh, boy," he said heavily. He turned his chair to face the window, his eyes zeroing in on Elliot. "He's not going to like this, Casey….he's not going to like this at all."