Chapter 14
"What have we got?" Elliot asked as he and Fin exited the car. Multiple squad cars along with a few undercover vehicles were all around the bodega, blocking the street.
"Our guy was quick. Dempsey and Garcia tackled him in the alley as few blocks from here. He tried pulling a knife on them, but they managed to stop him before he did," the officer at the crime scene tape told them.
"So where is he?" Fin wanted to know.
"Back of the squad car, waiting for you guys," the officer smiled and pointed them in the direction of the vehicle in question. The two moved toward the car and the officers guarding the prisoner.
"Here he is detectives. Can move pretty good for an older guy," Officer Dempsey gave them a slight smile.
"So, we hear," Elliot smirked as Fin looked inside the car. He snapped a picture of the man with his phone and then left Elliot for the bodega. Slipping inside he was met by Akshay.
"Hey Mr. Singh, this is the guy, right?" Fin showed him the picture on his phone.
"That's him!" Akshay said enthusiastically.
"Excellent job. You, ok? Nothing in the store got messed up, did it?" Fin wanted to know.
"All good Detective. Thank you for your help. The local precinct has a lead on the guy who robbed me. With all these police here, I think most criminals will stay away now," Akshay smiled.
"I bet. You have a good day," Fin smiled slightly and headed back out of the bodega to find Elliot waiting on him.
"We get an ID?" Stabler wondered.
"Yup. Mr. Singh confirmed its our guy. Time to get him back to the precinct and figure this mess out," Fin told him. Elliot nodded and hauled the prisoner out of the squad car. They thanked the officers for catching him and told them they were taking him back to SVU. The officers were glad to be rid of the prisoner and they set about clearing the street of patrol cars.
"Am I late?" George asked as he walked into the squad room, noticing that Elliot and Fin were not there.
"No, Doctor Huang. We caught our mobster. Elliot and Fin are bringing him in. Liv wants a word through before they get back," Amanda smiled at the Asian man. He nodded and slipped into Olivia's office.
"Hi Liv," the former FBI agent smiled at her before taking a seat in a chair in front of her desk.
"Hi George. There's been a development. Derek is our rapist and Elliot and Fin are bringing in Bartoli. Elliot had a theory, which he hasn't shared yet, when we got the call. I don't want to waste your time. I have no idea when they'll be back," she smiled at him.
"It's not a waste. Bring me up to speed. Something is very strange," the forensic psychiatrist said. Olivia gave him all the details. George spent a lot of time frowning as he listened.
"How strong of a DNA match to Derek was it?" He suddenly asked. Olivia didn't have the forensic report in front of her and the moved from her office to the board they had up with all the information.
"Velasco, the DNA report…" Olivia started.
"Right there Captain," he pointed to the upper right corner of the board. She thanked him, plucked the report off the board, and handed it to George.
"It's a match to Derek…" more frowning from the former FBI agent. The match was convincing – the kind that would cause most to beg for a deal from the ADA in charge of the case.
"What do you think is going on here?" Amanda wanted to know. They didn't get an answer as Elliot and Fin stepped off the elevator with their prisoner.
"He's already asking for a lawyer," Elliot told them.
"Interrogation one for him and we'll call his lawyer. How does he intend to tell him that he's not really dead?" Olivia gave Bartoli a look but got no response from him. Elliot let Fin take Bartoli into the interrogation room and he headed for George who was still at the board.
"I have to admit this case…" George started.
"We have no idea why a former mobster would be talking with Derek, but I wondered if they're somehow related, based on all the calls to each other," Elliot started.
"Could be. Derek isn't talking, is he?" George asked.
"No. I think that is Bartoli's doing," the OCCB detective admitted. George nodded before wondering,
"Makes sense. All those years working for Masucci Crime Family taught him when to keep his mouth shut and when not to. What was your theory?"
"Bartoli is being watched in Interrogation one by an officer. I had him call his lawyer. Did I miss anything?" Fin asked as he walked back into the squad room before the former SVU detective could respond.
"Nothing. I was about to make my suggestion," Elliot told him. Fin nodded and let his colleague continue. The detectives sat at their desks while Olivia leaned on the column near her office.
"Bartoli has been living under the radar for seventeen years. No credit cards, a burner phone, no social media presence, wears a baseball hat wherever he goes. Suddenly, we find his prints at a crime scene – a brutal rape and murder, which had never been his MO before.
"We have Derek, no record. Supposedly breaks up with his girlfriend via text but then starts stalking her online. This stalking continues despite his move to Boston. Then he comes back for a work conference and decides he's going to take something that didn't belong to him. So how do these two fit together?" Elliot wondered.
"Well, we thought that maybe Derek was pushed over the edge. Bartoli either sent the breakup text or made him send the breakup text in an attempt to get him to leave poor Christine alone," Joe spoke up.
"Right. Derek didn't want to break up with Christine, but he was made to. Why? Why would Bartoli interfere with the relationship? I mean after digging into Christine's life we've found nothing to suggest that she was the problem, which means that Derek had to be the problem," Fin said.
"Exactly but then as we dug, we couldn't find anything that would suggest that Derek was an issue except for his admission to stalking her. Why admit to stalking and then not admit to the killing? He's basically putting himself there at the crime scene," Elliot figured.
"Bartoli is careful. He fakes his own death, so whatever was going on, it was something he thought he had to risk his own safety for," George could see what he meant.
"You're thinking the fingerprint wasn't an accident?" Amanda wondered. Elliot pointed at her with a smile.
"You think he did it on purpose? Then why would he not turn himself in?" Joe frowned.
"Back when Bartoli was still running with the Masuccis, he was shot by a dirty cop, who Major Case busted. He probably didn't know if he could trust the police but knew his fingerprints would whip us up into a frenzy. It would put more cops on the case and Christine's death wouldn't be swept under the rug. The question is, way so altruistic now? He was a hitman for the mob," Olivia pointed out.
"Yeah, but the mob made a point of never trying to harm women or children. They usually only whacked guys. Sometimes they made exceptions, but not that often," Elliot said.
"You think that Bartoli is trying to tell us that Derek is some sort of psycho?" Fin wondered.
"I'd like a crack at him, but I wanted George's opinion. We said earlier that it made no sense that Derek would break up with Christine and then come back and stalk and murder her. Christine didn't fight back, what if that was because she knew it was Derek? What if their relationship was more messed up than it led on? I mean Christine's parents didn't mention that Derek was trying to isolate her or that she was being physically abused, but that doesn't mean she wasn't being mentally abused," Elliot figured.
"Christine had sworn off men according to her mother," Olivia reminded them. George was taking it all in and Amanda noticed that she could swear that she saw the wheels in his head turning.
"I think you're right. We've been approaching this from the wrong angle. I mean they were dating for five years but they hadn't moved in with each other? Not very common in today's society. Yet Derek hadn't proposed either. Was he afraid of commitment or was there something else going on?" The forensic psychiatrist wondered.
"We had Derek's apartment searched by the police in Boston. They didn't find a knife, no surprise there, but they did find evidence of stalking, which they sent to us. They were more than happy to get him off their plates since we could possibly nail him for murder," Olivia said.
"Where did he live here before he left?" Elliot wanted to know. Joe turned around and rifled through the paperwork on his desk.
"An apartment about six blocks from Christine's place. That makes them not moving in together, even weirder," Joe shook his head.
"Especially since she had a brownstone," Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"There's a deeper pathology here. I need to speak to Derek," George said.
"I'll see if Carisi can get that setup but don't hold your breath," Olivia told him before ducking into her office to make the call.
"I want a crack at Bartoli and I'd like you to listen," Elliot turned to the former FBI agent. That's when a man in a suit walked into the squad room and was greeted by the officer at the desk there.
"Hi, I'm Anthony Taglietti. I was told my client was here, but I'm confused. He's supposed to be dead. I figured I'd better see for myself," the man said.
"Hey Sergeant Tutuola, can you come here?" the officer asked. Fin left his desk and headed over to the man. The officer explained the situation.
"Counselor, he's in our interrogation room, waiting for you," Fin said.
"Lead the way," Taglietti told him.
To Be Continued…
