Chapter 3: First Case
105th St—Jamaica, Queens—11:30am
Elliot and Mike walked up the stairs to the second floor towards the apartment of Patricia Brown, one of victims who had come forward in the latest case.
Mike looked around in the narrow hallways, acknowledging a few people who were passing through, "This looks like one of the buildings that I lived in after my parents divorced with my mom and sister when I was a kid."
Elliot smirked, "I had an old buddy who lived in this building when we were in middle school. It hasn't changed very much."
They reached the door of Apt. 2B. "Patricia Brown," called out Sandoval, "this is the police."
A young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties cracked the door open, "Yes, I'm Patricia. Can I help you?"
"I'm Det. Sandoval and this is my partner, Det. Stabler," said Mike, flashing his badge. "We're from the Queens SVU 33rd Precinct."
"We had a report on an attempted rape here last night and we needed to come and talk to you on what happened," said Elliot. "May we come in?"
Patricia nodded and shut the door to unlock the deadbolt to let the detectives inside. Once Elliot and Mike came in, she motioned for them to have a seat on the couch while she took a seat in a chair across from them.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Elliot asked the woman as he opened up his notepad and took a pen out of his shirt pocket.
"It was around 11:30 and there was a knock on the door," explained Patricia. "I looked in the peephole just like I always do before I answer and there was a guy standing out there that looked like a maintenance man. There's been a water leak in my kitchen for a week so I thought the manager had sent someone to come check it out. Anyway, I answered it and he told me that he was an electrician and had been sent to the building to check out the outlets in all of the apartments."
"I turned around to get something and all of a sudden, he came at me and wrapped his hands around my neck and started to strangle me," she continued. "Then, he pushed me to the floor and forced himself on me. I managed to get a can of pepper spray that I always keep on the coffee table and sprayed it right in his eyes. I guess it scared him because he started freaking out and left my apartment."
"Can you describe the guy for us?" asked Mike.
Patricia told him that he was Caucasian, about 6'2" and weighed around 185-200 pounds and wore a red baseball cap with a company emblem on it, but she couldn't see the company name. Elliot wrote down the description on his notepad and Sandoval handed Patricia his business card.
"Thank you for your help ma'am. We'll be in touch."
The rest of the day was spent on tracking down the other two victims who lived in separate apartment buildings about four blocks where Patricia lived. Angela Maldonado and Julie Foster told Elliot and Mike the same exact report and description of the man that Patricia had given to them. They also found his name in the computer system: it was Brian Daniels. He had been charged on battery and burglary of a building and had a history of posing as an electrician and police officer, but most of the offenses occurred in Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Around 5:30, Elliot and Mike were back at the precinct looking at some leads on the case after giving their information to Capt. Taylor that the three women had been interviewed and they may have caught a suspect.
"So, do you want to call it a day?" asked Mike.
Elliot sat back in his chair, chewing on a pen and looking up at the clock, "Yeah, I guess I better get home to Olivia and the kids." He grabbed his jacket from the chair and held it under his arm while getting out his keys in the desk drawer.
Mike gathered his things together and followed Elliot outside to the parking lot, "How's the baby?"
"Kaitlyn is fine. She, Olivia, and my older kids are the reasons why I love coming home at night. The baby is excited about seeing me and she loves to snuggle when I'm holding her."
"She's a true Daddy's girl," said Mike, chuckling. "Everyone said that I was always a momma's boy and still thinks that I am today. Speaking of her, she's cooking dinner tonight so I'm going over to my house to see her and my sister. They are the most important people that I have in my life. I don't know what I'd do without Mami and Elena. Well, enough with the emotional stuff for now. I'll see you manana, partner."
"See you then. Good work today," said Elliot, giving Mike a pat on the back.
"Same here to you."
Elliot got in his car and drove off, traveling the long drive back home to Manhattan.
TBC
