I Know This One
Chapter 3: Questions


Bryson Hall
Hudson University

After retrieving an RA to let them into Melody's room, Elliot and Olivia slipped on their latex gloves and set to work without waiting for CSU. They made certain to only inspect things that belonged to Melody and not to venture in her roommate's possessions.

The room was set up in nearly the same fashion as Maureen's, with the exception of the beds being bunked rather than separate. The desks rested against opposite walls, facing away from one another, and the dressers were pushed together to create a flat surface for the television to sit on. Elliot chose to examine Melody's desk while Olivia went to the dresser.

The contents of the desk gave Elliot a pretty good idea of what kind of a person Melody was; judging from the various titles of her textbooks she was a science major with the exception of two books: History of Jazz and Folk Music to Symphonies: A Look at 18th Century Composers.

"I guess she really did have an interest in music," Elliot mumbled and continued his search. He rummaged through a pile of papers finding one that would actually help them. "I've got her schedule here. We'll talk to all the teachers she had on Wednesday, see if anything seemed off."

"Elliot," Liv called, her voice shaky, "you need to see this."

Elliot moved behind his partner and looked down at a large, black book she held. "What is it?"

"Scrapbook," she said before she opened it. All of the pictures within the book were of a single person, most taken from far away, a few of them blurry but you could still tell who the boy in the pictures were. "Elliot that's-"

"Nate," Elliot breathed and stared down at the pictures as he felt his heart drop.


Maureen waved to a friend as she and Nate climbed the steps to her room. "I can't believe Dr. Reynolds would assign us a five-page paper on a Friday!"

"Tell me about it," Nate laughed. "I don't really care about Russia's role in Napoleon's downfall."

Maureen chuckled as she turned the corner to her wing, but was efficiently blocked. "Dad? Olivia? What are you guys doing here?"

Elliot looked to his partner before answering, "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private."

"We can go to my room if-"

"I'm thinking down at the precinct," Elliot interrupted. He looked to Nate, "Do you have a car on campus?"

"Yeah," the younger man answered quietly, obviously confused with the whole situation.

"You can follow us then," Elliot said, "Maureen knows the way." Without waiting for another word he walked passed the two young adults and headed for the door, Olivia right alongside him.

"What are you going to do?" she asked once they were in the safety of their vehicle.

Elliot gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. "I'm not too sure," he answered with a sigh, "I hate to do this, but it's my job."

"I know El," she replied, "it's my job too."

"It's just that…I try to hard to keep my job away from my family, but it never seems to work," he spoke as she slowly pulled onto the busy road.

"You can't protect your kids forever, someday they're going to be out in the real world and they're not going to have their father looking out for them."

"I know that," he started, "but it kills me."

Not knowing what to say Olivia merely reached over and took his hand in her own and gently squeezed it. Elliot tore his eyes away from the road and stared at his partner; there was a certain assurance and tenderness in those chocolate eyes that could make him forget about everything in the world except this woman. He wouldn't admit it, but Elliot knew he was in love with Olivia and had been for a long time. In the beginning, just being near her was enough to satisfy his feelings but lately he found himself staring at her, watching her every move, and longing to touch her. He knew he couldn't act on the feelings, it was against every rule, but that didn't mean he couldn't fantasize about it.


Interrogation Room
SVU Squadroom

"What is all this about Detective?" Nate asked. He was very uncomfortable sitting in the interrogation room being sweated by one of New York's finest, not to mention his girlfriend's father. Nate had never had a good record with meeting parents, he always seemed to say something stupid and foolish, and this was the cherry on the sundae so to speak.

"Nate, do you know Melody Banks?" Elliot asked. He was trying to stay objective while still trying to get a reading off of the boy.

"I don't think so," Nate answered in a shaky voice. Elliot opened a manila envelope and slid a picture of Melody across the table. Nate took the picture and studied it momentarily before answering, "I've seen her around campus and in Maureen's dorm, but I can't say that I know her."

"She's never talked to you before?" Elliot asked skeptically.

"Like I said, we may have exchanged 'hellos' in the hallway but that's it," Nate answered. "What is all this about?"

A tap on the glass stopped Elliot's next question; he excused himself before walking out the door. In the observation room Cragen, Olivia, and Huang were watching the interview with interest.

"What's up?" Elliot asked.

"Maureen's asking for you," Olivia informed him. "She wants to know what's going on."

Elliot ran a hand through his short hair and down over her face as if to strip away the stress and exhaustion. "Where is she?"

"She's out there talking to Munch," Olivia smiled. "I think he's trying to convince her on one of his latest theories."

Elliot smiled slightly before turning and leaving the room. Out in the bull pen he found Maureen sitting in his chair while Munch sat perched on the corner of his desk rambling about some government conspiracy or another. Maureen's eyes lit up when she noticed her father standing beside her.

"Dad," she said pulling him away from his desk to a more secluded area, "what's going on? What are you doing to Nate in there?"

"We're just asking him a few questions honey," Elliot said.

"What for? He's not a suspect is he?" Maureen asked.

"No, but we have a few questions we need to ask him," he answered trying not to tell anything that would later get him into trouble. He knew there was a fine line when it came to discussing evidence with civilians and he wasn't about to get his ass grilled by the Brass.

"Dad, I get that you can't tell me all the details, but please tell me that Nate isn't a suspect," Maureen pleaded.

"We don't have any suspects so far," Elliot retorted. "That's why we need your help, yours and Nate's. It's going to make this case a lot easier once we have some information to go on." Seeing Olivia enter the bull pen, he excused himself and made his way to her. "What did you get out of him?"

"Same thing he told you, doesn't know her other than a few stray greetings around campus," she said. "And I believe him."

Elliot nodded slowly; whether or not he would admit it out loud he believed the boy too. "Did you show him the pictures?"

"Yeah and he seemed genuinely disturbed by them," she answered. "I don't think this is going to get us anywhere."

"My thoughts exactly," he sighed. "Let's send them home and tomorrow we'll go back to campus to interview the kid in her Chem class."


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