I Know This One--Chapter 2
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it gave me fuel to write this next chapter.
Maureen took the photo from her father and stared at it briefly before answering, "Yeah that's Mel. She lives two doors down the hall; she's really sweet. Why?"
Elliot tried to hide the look he knew was on his face as he took the picture from his daughter and slid it back into its hiding place within his jacket. He knew what came next and absolutely dreaded the coming moments.
Maureen noticed the somber expressions of both her father and Olivia and immediately knew something wasn't right, but prayed it wasn't as bad as she was expecting. "Dad? What is it? What happened?"
He looked to Olivia for help, but found only the same look of reluctance in her face. "Sweetie," he said taking Maureen and leading her to her bed and making her take a seat.
"Daddy what happened?" the girl asked, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. Maureen knew it was bad; when her dad went into cop mode, the news was never good. The last time she had seen it was when the divorce was finalized.
"Maureen, Melody's body was found this morning in an alley," he said.
No sooner had the news been spoken, than Maureen's body began to shake violently with tears. She brought her hands to her face, not wanting her father to see her cry, and not wanting Olivia to see her this way. All the determination she had to stay strong and keep it together disappeared the moment she felt Elliot's strong arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her body toward his own. Maureen lost every semblance of strength she ever possessed and collapsed against her father's shoulder, sobbing loudly.
"Honey I am so sorry," Elliot whispered as he rubbed Maureen's shoulders lovingly and planting numerous kisses on the top of her head. Knowing that he couldn't say anything to ease the situation, he merely held his oldest daughter and let her cry out all of her anger and sadness.
"Why? Who would want to hurt Mel?" Maureen asked.
"I don't know honey," Elliot said pushing her shoulders back to look in her eyes. "But I promise you that I will find whoever did this and they will pay for it."
Maureen nodded slightly and looked to Olivia; she's been standing off to the side, silently observing the heartening moment shared between father and daughter. Finally finding her voice she said, "Maureen we need your help. I know this is difficult but can you think of anyone that would want to hurt Melody?"
Maureen thought for a moment and shook her head, "She did say something about a kid in chemistry class that had been bugging her lately, but nothing…nothing like this."
"This kid have a name?" Elliot asked.
"Brian Beckner," Maureen said. "He's a junior. Real goofy, kinda creepy."
"Thanks Maureen," Olivia said. She decided that it was best to leave the two alone for a few moments, but before excusing herself from the room she embraced the younger girl whispering, "If you ever need to talk to someone that's not your dad, don't be afraid to call. Day or night." Without waiting for a reply Olivia left.
Elliot stood, suddenly feeling very confined in the small room. He looked around, taking note of the multiple pictures that adorned the wall: pictures of Maureen and her siblings; with both parents, and a few with only Elliot; a picture of Elliot and Olivia taken at last summer's precinct picnic that made him laugh; and a picture of the entire squad, including Casey, with a caption that read 'My Pseudo-family'. Elliot smiled before he noticed a picture in a frame set on the side of the desk. The picture showed Maureen and Nathan, the boy Elliot had only just met, kissing at what appeared to be a heavily populated party.
"Dad?"
"Yeah baby," Elliot answered. He turned and for the first time saw Maureen not as his little girl, but as the determined, strong, beautiful woman she was becoming. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her lean into his embrace.
"You don't have to worry about me and Nate," Maureen said, the sound of her voice muffled against his chest. "It's nothing serious…yet."
Elliot started to say something, but thought better of it. Instead he stood and held Maureen while he tried to understand the world that surrounded him.
Medical Examiner's Office
"CSU found something you guys might like to see," Warner said as the two detective approached. She held up a clear plastic evidence bag for Olivia to take; inside was a small silver bracelet.
"What's this?" Olivia asked.
"It's a link bracelet, all my girls have one," Elliot explained. "You buy links with different symbols on them and join them all together."
"So what do the letters M-A-G stand for?" Olivia asked. Elliot looked to Melinda for help.
"My first thought was initials, and the M and the A would support that theory, but the G doesn't fit. The victim's last name was Banks-"
"So where does the G come in?" Elliot finished the sentence. He fingered the bracelet through the bag, examining each of the links in turn. "Well the '04 charm makes sense, she would have graduated high school in 2004 to be a sophomore this year. What about the music one?"
Olivia took the bag from her partner and looked for the link in question. It was the very last one in the set, a blue face with white music notes scattered on a staff. "Maybe she was a music major? Or at least had an interest in music?"
"I'll ask Maureen later," Elliot said. Olivia handed the evidence bag back to Warner with a quiet 'Thank You' before the pair left her office.
SVU Squad Room
"Where is everyone?" Olivia asked as she and Elliot entered the nearly deserted room. Cragen's door was closed and Munch and Fin's desks were empty. She walked passed her and Elliot's desks and knocked on the Captain's door.
"Yeah?"
She pushed the door open and peaked her head inside; Cragen sat at his desk, pen in hand, working furiously at a stack of paper work. "Where is everyone Captain?"
"Munch and Fin are at the Banks's apartment trying to get some more info out of them, I want you and Elliot to head back to campus and canvas the area. Talk to students and teachers, see if they noticed anything unusual in our victim's behavior."
"Ok, we'll call if we get anything," Olivia added before ducking out of the door.
"Well?" Elliot asked.
"Captain wants us to canvas the school, talk to teacher and such," she told him.
Elliot retrieved the keys that he had thrown onto his desk only moments ago, "Let's go."
Hudson University
They'd been interviewing students, teachers, and faculty for over an hour those who knew the victim said the same thing: Melody was a nice girl, kind of quiet, and a good student. No one had noticed any change her in demeanor of late, and the few people that knew she had been murdered were genuinely shocked and appalled.
"We're getting nowhere doing this," Liv sighed.
Elliot was about to respond when something caught his eye; on the opposite end of the campus mall Maureen and Nate were walking, hand in hand, towards one of the benches. He watched carefully as the two took a seat and Maureen opened her notebook.
"Elliot?" Olivia called noticing what it was that had caught his attention. "You know you're going to have to let her grow up someday."
"I know," he sighed, "but sometimes I wish I could just put her in a box and protect her from everything out there." Elliot heard Olivia's phone ring as he turned his attention back to his daughter.
"Benson…yeah we're on campus now…ok…all right Munch we'll meet you guys there," Olivia snapped her phone shut and turned to Elliot. "That was Munch-"
"I kinda got that when you said his name," he teased.
"And he said," she continued with a roll of her eyes to acknowledge his comment, "that Melody's parents gave us permission to go through the things in her room. We might find something there."
Without a word the two partners took off in the direction of Melody's dorm. They were hoping, nay praying, to find something that would give them even a single clue as to why someone would want this girl dead, and until they did they were working blind.
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