Chapter 8

Olivia and Amanda walked into the OCCB and reached the bullpen. There was Elliot inside Sergeant Bell's office. The two were greeted by Victoria Cho. She offered them some coffee and Amanda gratefully took a cup.

"So, I'm guessing Stabler called you," the detective first grade said as she perched herself on the corner of her desk.

"He says our rape/murder victim somehow ties into his case? I'm not sure how an adjuster in the customer service department of health insurance company rises to the level of part of a crime syndicate," Olivia gave her a look.

"Well, it's not exactly that. He didn't get into all the details after he got off the phone with you. Instead, he went right into Sergeant Bell's office," Victoria explained. The Captain only nodded, wondering just what her old partner was up to. They hadn't had the conversation that she was partially dreading but also wanting to have. Her emotions when it came to Elliot had always been complicated. As Amanda had once said that one of their perps didn't have issues, he had subscriptions, and that seemed apropos of the former partners as well.

"Captain Benson, I would say good to see you but considering the situation…" Sergeant Bell's words turned their focus up to the office where she and Elliot were exiting.

"I understand the feeling, Sergeant Bell. Imagine my surprise when Elliot says my victim ties into your case," Olivia smiled and shook Ayanna's hand as she approached.

"Well, it's not an active case, but one that was investigated by our office before my time," the squad supervisor said.

"El, care to share?" Olivia turned to him.

"Slootmaekers, can you pull up the files?" Elliot asked. The unit's tech expert had been quietly sitting at her spot surrounded by her equipment. Olivia, Amanda, Elliot, and Ayanna went over to the desk and the detective third grade began to explain what had happened.

"Forensics contacted Stabler after a set of fingerprints popped in the system from your crime scene. Now there is no way to tell when the prints were put there but I think you'll all find it hard to imagine that the prints would be seventeen years old," Jet started.

"Unless no one cleaned up," Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"Who do they belong to?" Olivia asked.

"Well, that's the part that gets complicated. According to our system, the person is dead. Killed in a hit, assumed because he worked with some less than stellar people. Said people were the Masucci Crime Family," Jet said.

"Ok, so we know that Christine cleaned her apartment. How many points of reference do they have? I mean something has to be wrong," Amanda said.

"That's the thing. These prints are decent and totally useable in a court of law. Forensics said that they had no idea how this would work, but once they saw Masucci Crime Family, they turned it over to us," Jet explained.

"Basically, the Masucci Crime Family was no more after two thousand and five. If members weren't dead, they were imprisoned, with very few exceptions," Ayanna spoke up.

"They would be too old to be dating Christine. Could they be related somehow? I find it hard to believe that she'd let an older man into her apartment for no reason," Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is where it gets interesting," Jet tapped away on the keys of the keyboard and an older mugshot came up on the screen.

"This is our supposed dead guy, Phil Bartoli. He survived a shooting by former NYPD Detective Albert Kirkoff. Kirkoff was dirty as the day is long and is rotting in jail for life. Bartoli's car went off a bridge two years after the incident. His body was never found but it was discovered that the car's break lines had been tampered with. Given the scene, it looked like a hit, and with nothing to prove otherwise, the case went cold quick. Also, a hit on a mob hitman…" Jet trailed off.

"Not exactly a case worked that hard huh?" Olivia wondered.

"Not quite. There were other, bigger fish to fry. Logan and Barek worked the original case in two thousand and five. The detectives from the case in two thousand seven are dead," Elliot told her.

"Logan is retired last I heard and Barek… well let's just say that our run in with her at Brooklyn's SVU was less than fun," Olivia frowned. The fact that there was a rapist working right under Barek's nose, who she defended, made the Captain want to squirm.

"Why don't Cho and I handle Barek and you two see if Logan can help you? It's a long shot but it's better than nothing," Elliot shrugged.

"Why would this guy resurface now?" Amanda asked.

"He's been under our noses this whole time. There was no hit. He made it look that way. Probably changed his name and appearance and disappeared," Victoria spoke up.

"Jet, can you check the cameras in the area of Christine's apartment?" Ayanna wanted to know.

"On it," the younger detective got to work and the group split up. What they didn't know was that the facts would be stranger than fiction.

To Be Continued…