After the line-up came back 0-3 we weren't feeling good about it. I get the report from the M.E I sent out and go quickly to find Benson to tell her, knowing that Finn and Carisi are interviewing him right now. "What do you got?" She asks me as I walk in.
"It's not him.' I say solemnly.
"The DNA came back that fast?" She asks surprised.
I shake my head "no. Before running the DNA, I had the M. E. check blood types, old school. But mercy hospital has Dr. Conklin's on file as O positive. All the DNA from Atlanta is from somebody AB." I explain.
She turns from the window as Finn and Carisi start to come out "it's still his car."
"Yeah." I say back.
"Hey, sarge." Carisi comes out ready to speak his thoughts "our rapist is methodical. He's meticulous. This guy's a mess."
"I know. It's not him." She tells them "but it's still his car."
"Not to mention he's a pill-pushing lowlife." Finn adds.
"Yeah, which means he probably loaned his car to another lowlife and now he's covering for him." I offer food for thought.
"So go back in there and you sweat him. You find out who had access." He tells the two of them. "Check hospital garage security footage. Find out who was driving that car."
After Finn and Carisi go back in, they don't get anything out of him that can further help our case. The two of them head out to the garage where the car was to talk to the attendant and I work with Rollins on the tapes. We manage to find the car leaving the garage and get the photo enhanced. We put it into our facial recognition program and head home for some sleep.
We get a text from Benson informing us on her call from Chief Dodd's. He's coming into the station at 10 for a report. She fills us in on her court date time and asks us to take over until she arrives. Once Dodd's gets there promptly at 10 we begin to review our case slowly, wanting to reveal other evidence we found overnight to him when Benson is also here. Luckily she's only about 10 minutes late and walks in quickly. "Hey, guys. I'm sorry I'm late."
"I told him you were on your way." Rollins says to her.
Dodd's snarls back "no problem. We started without you."
She ignores him and asks "what do we have on our suspect?"
I pull up the security footage "hospital security footage caught Albert Beck, no record, EMT for red alert ambulette for four years. His supervisor called him a hero and he was decorated for heroic action after the Metro North Derailment last year.
Rollins continues "and after finishing his graveyard shift, he returned an ambulette to the garage an hour before the assault on Ryann catalano."
"And he was caught on video driving Conklin's car." Dodd's states then questions "why isn't he in custody yet?"
"It's his day off." I tell him. "Finn and Carisi are on their way to his home address in queens right now."
"Okay, can we place him in Atlanta or Milwaukee?" Benson asks, knowing we want more then just the security footage.
"Yeah, we can." Rollins hands her the tablet. "He was an EMT in Atlanta from 2007 to 2009 and then Milwaukee the next two years. This ambulette service gives him a perfect cover to troll for victims."
"And then he moves to New York, where he lives for four years without incident, and then suddenly starts raping again." She shakes her head wondering why he stopped. Why now?"
"Ask him when you pick him up." Dodd's directs "and you better hope it's him. Your report to compstat didn't win you any fans." He leaves the room. Benson gives us an eye raise and leaves us.
Finn and Carisi return with the mother and daughter a few hours later. They fill Rollin and I in first as we wait for Benson to return from a meeting. Once she does, the 5 of us huddle outside the window to discuss where we are at. "The perp's girlfriend doesn't know where he is?" Benson asks after our first comment that we don't have him.
"Lauren burns is the ex." Finn tells her. "She booted him out of the house a month ago."
"Around the same time that he starts stalking his new vics." Carisi adds.
"I did a nexus and real estate search, and she and Albert Beck lived together in Milwaukee back in 2010." Rollins tells her.
"The same time the Milwaukee rapes stopped." Carisi again.
I jump in "and then her daughter, Beth, now 15, moved with him to New York a year later."
"Ok, well, she's petite." Benson looks in "that's his type. Explains the four-year gap in rapes. Why did she kick him out?"
"Mom caught him eyeballing the daughter." Carisi states.
"Great. Where is he now?" She asks us all.
"We've got plainclothes outside the hospital, the ambulette company, and we checked his service provider, but his cell is dead." Rollins gives her the details.
Benson's phone goes off and she walks towards her to desk to read it. "Daughter figured out why we were there. She probably warned him before mom handed over both their cells." Finn elaborates.
Carisi tries to get her attention when she doesn't respond "hey, sarge, you with us?"
"Yeah. She warned him? Well, what are we looking at? Statutory rape?" Benson asks.
"It's possible. Last couple of weeks, mom's had Beth on a tight leash." Finn says.
"Tight leash." She moves her arm pointing at the window "she's a teenager. Even if she doesn't have a phone, she's still gonna figure out how to get in touch with him. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter" She takes a breathe and takes control "All right, Grey. Let's go."
I nod my head and follow her into the room. After explaining to the two of them what has happened and all of the evidence we found, the daughter speaks up first. "You guys are wrong. Albert's being persecuted." She's agitated.
"Have you not been listening, Beth? They are telling us that Albert is a rapist." Her mom says back to her.
"Beth, he is a dangerous man. He's wanted in at least six assaults that we know of. Possibly more." Benson talks to her calmly. "So if you know where he is, we need you to tell us."
"How would I know?" She snarls back.
"Oh, don't even try." Her mother rolls her eyes "for God's sake."
"We know about the texts, the sexting. We've been through your phone." I inform the young girl.
She turns to her mother with rage "I told you not to give it to them."
Mom responds "it's in my name. I told you you could've started paying your own bills at any time."
Benson keeps it cool "Beth, he is the one who's at fault here. Okay, we just need you to help us out."
"You looked at my messages? My selfies? That's private." She tries to snarl at her mother who chortles.
"No, you know what that is? That is child pornography. That's felony. And you created it, you sent it, so it's gonna be your jail time." I tell her the harsh truth.
"What? You can't do that." The girls mouth hangs open, finally starting to see how serious we are.
"Actually, we can." Benson clears it.
"Mom." She looks to her mother for help.
The women asks "are you serious?"
"Yes." Benson stays firm "and, Ms. Burns, since the phone is in your name, we can charge you as well."
The mother and daughter stare at each other with worry. "Why don't we work together to get Albert? You can text him and set up a meeting." I offer the idea, knowing we need to get him into the open.
"You want my daughter to go undercover?" The women asks shaking her head.
"We'll have her surrounded by undercover. She won't be in any danger, he won't hurt her." I assure, knowing this would be our best option.
Benson adds on "when we have Albert in custody, we'll move past the child pornography charges."
"Fine." The mom grits. The girl goes to protest but she puts up her finger "unless you want to go to jail, this is what you're doing!"
The girls huffs out a big breathe and lowers into her seat. Benson nods at me and I stand up to get the phone from evidence.
I stand closest to Beth with Carisi, pretending to admire the architecture as we wait for Albert to show. A man fitting his description beings to walk closer to her and we know it's our guy. He's barely standing in front of her for long when he darts past her towards us. "Police! - Stop!" Carisi and I both yell, pulling out our badges. He turns and darts the other direction. "Stop stop! Police! Stop!"
We turn after him but it's Finn who takes him down easily. Carisi and him get him off the ground and handcuffed and we all head to the station. We get out DNA evidence back from the lab and have everything we need to move forward with charging him. "Just listen to him. This guy's done." Finn says as we listen to him sing a hymen through the speaker.
"DNA on Ryann's dog is a match, and he's got bite marks." I tell them, holding the file in my hand.
"Atlanta confirms the DNA is a match for all three of their cases." Rollins adds "he received several salutations for his heroism down there as well, and he was active in his church choir."
"Explains the hymns." Carisi says.
Benson disagree's "not really. Still, five rapes, one attempted. I'll call Barba."
"Plus Beth's selfies- that's possession of child porn." Carisi adds on the charges "he's looking at life."
Benson slows him down "all right, so call Atlanta. Let them know we're charging him."
Rollins nods, beginning to walk out "oh, I'm sure they're waiting to hear how thankful we are for all their help."
"What about the other rapes that match his M. O. ?" I ask, wanting to get him on everything he's ever done "Milwaukee, Vegas we could be looking at a dozen more here."
"So call them." Benson directs. "Ask them to test the rape kits.
"If they find them, and they want to spend the money on a cold case." Finnd reminds her of the problem the country is facing on rape kits being tested.
"So we shortcut it and get a confession." Carisi offers his idea, wanting to get him probably as much as I do.
"Guys, why is he gonna confess to more?" She asks "there's nothing in it for him."
"You never know." Finn answers her. She nods and the two men go into the box to interview Albert. I watch from behind the glass, willing them to get his confessions.
Finn goes in first, playing bad cop. He's good, getting in and out quickly causing him a bit of confusion. He leaves from the other door in the room and Albert looks at Carisi questioning what Finn was saying. Carisi sits across from him, playing his friend to start. He quickly changes his tone though, becoming more aggressive. Within moments he has him talking about the other rapes in the other states he has committed. "He got him." Benson whispers out with a smile.
"I'll move on the paperwork." I say leaving them to listen in.
