Disclaimer: I don't own Law & Order: SVU, or Cold Case.


A Sheep or a Wolf?

Location: The 16th Precinct:

Day: Wednesday

Time: 3:00 P.M.

"Okay, Rollins. You have the floor," Captain Donald Cragen said, ushering for his detective to speak.

Amanda gave him a nod of thanks. "Okay, so while you guys were away, a woman named Valeria Sanchez was brought in. At first, I thought she wanted to make a rape report, but she came in saying she was here to warn us," she said.

All the detectives in the room looked on edge, as there were only two reasons this woman could have for warning them. Either she was threatening them, or she was informing them of a criminal. Detective Benson looked sternly at her colleague, "Warning us about what?" she asked.

Amanda picked up the photo that Valeria had given her of Dario and held it up. "She was warning us about him. His name is Dario Pedro Perez, and Valeria claims he killed her sister and countless other girls between the ages of three and twelve. Scotty, the sign he's holding is in Spanish. do you think you could translate it for us?" she asked.

He nodded and took the picture from Rollins. The other detectives watched as Scotty paled, reading the sign. Fin raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter, Valens? You look like you're going to be sick," he said.

Scotty looked up at his colleagues. His brown eyes were dark and when he spoke, his voice was cold. "The sign, it says, one hundred and thirteen counts of murder, and a hundred counts of incident behavior of a minor," he said, his mind wandering to Rosalie.

Fin's jaw dropped. "No way! If that's true, why isn't this guy in jail, then?" he said, taking the photo of Dario from Scotty so he could get a better look at him.

Olivia nodded. "That's an excellent question. Amanda, when you spoke to Valeria, did she give you any explanation?" she asked.

Amanda nodded. "I asked the same question, believe me. Valeria says that in Columbia where these crimes occurred, you can only serve sixteen years in jail at the max, and it doesn't matter how horrible the crimes were," she said.

"Or how many times you've done it," Much said, walking into the room.

Fin glanced up from the picture of Dario and quirked an eyebrow at his partner. "Where have you been?" he asked.

Munch held up a folder. "Doing research on our suspect. Valeria wasn't joking when she said this guy is the devil. Dario Pedro Perez has committed more than a hundred murders of little girls over the last thirty years. I didn't read all the details, but I read enough to add to my collection of nightmares," he said.

Fin huffed. "Well, don't keep us in the dark, spill," he said.

Munch sighed, opening up the folder in his hand. "Dario Pedro Perez, born March 15th, 1976. According to the internet, if it's being believed, has been convicted of murdering over a hundred little girls. However, it's suspected that he's committed at least two hundred. His crimes started in Cartagena, Columbia, but he was arrested in Manaus, Brazil on the charge of attempted kidnapping of a seven-year-old," he said.

Scotty arched an eyebrow. "Attempted? The girl got away?" he asked.

Munch smirked. "No, our man Dario didn't even have time to touch this one. Apparently, the girl's mother was nearby and didn't like how he was eyeing her daughter, so she got her brother, who lived with them and attacked the son of a bitch," he said.

Fin laughed. "Got to love when parents show a perv who's boss," he said. Next to him, Cragen nodded in agreement.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, Munch. Finish the story," he said.

Munch sighed. "Well, after Mama and Uncle were finished beating Dario up, they called the police and held him captive until they arrived. Once the police took him into custody, he started confessing to his crimes," he said.

Olivia blinked as her face looked impressed. "Wow, I wish our perps would confess like that. It would make our job a hell of a lot easier," she said.

Munch looked at her, less than impressed. "I guess that's what happens when you know you won't serve any serious jail time. According to my sources, Perez was sentenced to a hundred and thirty years, but only served sixteen," he said.

Amanda looked at him, astounded. "You got to be kidding me! That's not justice," she said.

Munch shook. "I'm in complete agreement with you on this one. Especially considering how this guy gets his kicks from breaking little girls' necks, and defiling their corpses," he said.

Everyone looked disgusted, but Scotty looked especially ill at the thought. He had a three-year-old daughter at home, and imaging someone doing something like that to her made him sick. "I think we should find this guy and have a word with him," he said.

Cragen leaned away from the desk he'd been leaning on. "Agreed. Olivia and Scotty track down our mysterious Dario. Munch, Fin, and Amanda, I want all three of you to dig up as much dirt on Perez. I want to know exactly who we're dealing with," he said, before going back to his office leaving his detectives to get to work.

Location: The Perez Residence. Queens, New York.

Time: 5:00 P.M.

Olivia Benson parked the issued black Buick into the parking lot of the Cupid Apartment building. Beside her, Scotty was in deep thought. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

Scotty turned to her, allowing her to see the disturbed look in his eyes. "I'm just wondering what we can do to him exactly? We can't arrest him if he hasn't committed a crime here yet," he said.

Olivia nodded, her face contorting in thought. "That's true, but if it turns out he's the same guy, we can deport him back to Columbia," she said.

Scotty shook his head. "That's not enough. He'll come back, they always come back," he said.

Olivia looked at her partner knowingly. "You're thinking about Rosie, aren't you?" she said. Her partner looked at her pleadingly.

"How can I not, Liv? Rosalie is right in his age range of victims, and it makes sick just thinking about this guy being in the same city as her," he said.

Olivia patted his arm. "That's why we're here," she said. Scotty smiled just a little.

The two detectives made their way to Perez's apartment. The man lived on the third, and since there was no elevator, it took the two a few minutes to get up there. It was Olivia who knocked on the door. A minute later, the door opened to reveal an older Hispanic man. Although the man before them had aged, the detectives could still see the man in the mug shot staring back at them.

The man looked at them, confused. "hola, te puedo ayudar?" he said.

Olivia looked at her partner for translation. Scotty, getting the message, obliged. "He asked how he can help us," he said.

Olivia nodded and held up her badge, along with Scotty. "Scotty, can you explain to him we're the police, and if he speaks English?" she asked.

Scotty looked at Dario. "Hola, soy el Detective Valens y este es mi socio, el Detective Benson. Estamos aquí para informarle sobre una queja presentada en su contra. ¿De casualidad hablas inglés?" he asked.

The man nodded. "Yes, I speak English. May I ask what the complaint is about?" he asked.

Olivia looked at the man. "Are you Dario Pedro Perez?" she asked.

The man's eyes widened in surprise before he stepped into the hall. "No, I'm his cousin Miguel. Could we do this at the station? I don't want my neighbors to hear this," he said, turning to Scotty.

The two detectives glanced at each other in surprise before turning back to Miguel. Olivia clapped her hands together. "That'll work," she said.

Location: Sixteenth Precinct.

Time: Six P.M.

Scotty and Olivia walked back into the bullpen with Miguel in between them. From their desks, Amanda, Munch, and Fin all gave him stern looks. Scotty raised his hand up in warning, although he wasn't entirely convinced of Miguel's innocence. He led the older man to his desk and ushered him to have a seat. Olivia was right beside them.

"Alright, Mr. Perez. Why don't you explain from the beginning," he said, taking out a yellow legal pad.

Miguel sighed in frustration. "I always knew Dario's evil deeds would scorn the family, but I never thought they'd follow me here to my new life in America," he said, shaking his head.

Olivia looked at him sympathetically; although, Scotty wasn't sure if it was a ploy to make Miguel or Dario more comfortable. "It must be hard having such a man be part of your family. I must ask you, though if you're Miguel, why did are witnesses think you were Dario?" she asked, her brown eyes quizzical.

Miguel laughed softly. "That's a simple question for me to answer, detective. Dario's father and mine were identical twins, so Dario and I look almost like twins ourselves. Here, I have a picture I can show you," he said, pulling out a picture of two men in their twenties. One had a mustache, and the other didn't.

The two detectives were taken aback by the two's similar appearance. Miguel continued speaking. "The one on the left with the mustache is Dario, and the one on the right is me, back in the day," he said.

Scotty looked at the man sympathetically. "I think we owe you an apology, Mr. Perez," he said, glancing at Olivia.

Miguel held a hand up and smiled kindly at Scotty. "No apology needed, Detective Valens. I'm actually relieved that this happened," he said.

Scotty smirked. "Oh yeah, why is that?" he asked.

Miguel sighed. "So, I don't have to keep worrying about being mistaken for my no-good cousin," he said, his brown eyes glancing over at the photos on Scotty's desk. He took in the detective's photo with his arm holding a blonde woman protectively against his chest, both of them dressed in baseball attire. The other photo was of a little girl. Her black hair was up in pigtails, and she was dressed in a blue t-shirt and denim shorts. A pacifier was in her mouth and she was holding a dog stuffed animal.

"Is this your daughter, detective?" he asked, picking up the picture.

Scotty, who up till then had liked Miguel, instantly felt a surge of unease as he watched the man look over his daughter's photo. Out of protectiveness, he took the photo away from him. "Yes," he said, placing the photo back where it was.

Miguel smirked, an unidentifiable glint in his eye. "She's exquisite. Your wife too," he said.

Olivia, noticing her partner becoming uncomfortable, quickly changed the subject back to the matter at hand. "So, Miguel, where is Dario? Have you heard from him lately?" she asked.

Miguel glanced at her. "No, Detective Benson. I don't keep in contact with him. Once he admitted to what he did, we all disowned him. As for where he is, I hope back in Columbia," he said.

Olivia nodded. "Well, thank you for coming in. I'll have a uniformed officer take you home," she said, signaling for an officer to take Miguel.

Once the older man was gone, Cragen came out of his office. "Well? What do you guys think?" he asked.

The two detectives glanced down in thought. Scotty shook his head. "I don't know, Boss. His story sounds believable, but something about him seems a bit off to me," he said, picking up his daughter's picture.

Cragen nodded. "Well, why don't we make sure? I want us to be absolutely certain before we close this," he said.

Olivia and Scotty nodded at each other. They understood perfectly.


Author's note: So here's chapter two of Dead by Sunrise. I would love to hear what you think. Thank you, Nerdzone6.