Chapter 11 – This is a case, bit of mixing it up before we go back and see what the family are up to
West 233rd Street and Broadway, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
4.21 am
"Ok so what have we got?" Olivia asked as she approached the crime scene with Elliot close behind her.
"Olivia? I didn't know you were back yet." Melinda smiled gently.
"Yeah well no rest for the wicked Mel, so what have we got?" Olivia didn't want to talk about personal stuff over a dead body.
"Oh yeah, female early twenties stabbed four times one a direct blow into the heart." Melinda explained.
"Raped?" Olivia continued.
"And sodomized." Melinda sighed, these cases turned her stomach more than simple homicides.
"Post or pre?" Olivia asked.
"Post-mortem, killed her raped her and then sodomised her." Melinda explained.
"Fluids?" Olivia asked.
"No." Melinda sighed. "But plenty of bruising and tearing so definitely a rape."
"Time of death?"
"I'd say somewhere between midnight and one am."
"Ok so any ID?" Olivia continued.
"Not on the body but her purse is just beside you." Melinda pointed and Olivia turned her head to see a small black clutch bag.
She opened it and found a wallet containing an ID.
"Jasmine Parker age twenty two she lived on Walton Avenue." Olivia read from the card.
"Well I'll let you go and get this one back on my table, I'll call you with any results later on." Melinda smiled as two techs came over with a body bag.
"Thanks Melinda." Olivia replied before going over to Elliot and getting some evidence bags.
"Well?" He asked.
"We have an ID but it's only four in the morning so why don't we head over to the House and throw together some case files ready for the squad?" She suggested and Elliot nodded in complete agreement.
Manhattan SVU, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
7.30 am
"Ok listen up!" Olivia called from the crime scene board as Elliot handed over the case files. "Jasmine Parker age twenty two was found murdered, raped, and sodomized on the corner of West two hundred and thirty third street and Broadway. Munch and Fin I want you both to go visit the family address is in the file, Amaro you and I are going up to NYU to search her dorm room for anything that can help us and Elliot you're going back to the Crime Scene to canvass with uniform. Now the Press is all over this one and the Brass wants us with a perp yesterday so get a move on."
"Why are the Brass and Press on this?" Fin asked.
"Because I found out at five o'clock this morning that Jasmine Parker is the Commissioner's God Daughter so no stone is left unturned do I make myself clear?" Olivia called and after mumbles of yes from the squad they moved out.
Jasmine Parker's Dorm Room, NYU, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
8.36 am
Olivia and Nick were stood outside the dorm room waiting for someone to open it up, they knew she shared the room but had knocked and were yet to receive an answer.
"Maybe she's not home?" Nick suggested but the glare from Olivia made him shut up quickly.
"Open up it's the police!" Olivia yelled as she knocked on the door.
"What?" The girl said opening up.
"I'm Captain Cragen this is Detective Amaro we're here to talk to you about Jasmine Parker." Olivia explained to the red head in front of her.
"Why has something happened to her?" She asked looking hurriedly from Olivia to Nick.
"She was found dead this morning." Olivia replied.
The girl's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes were wide in shock.
"Oh no, no." She gasped.
Olivia being the most motherly wrapped her arms gently around the young woman and allowed her to cry into her shoulder. It took nearly five minutes for her to compose herself enough to let Olivia go and sit down.
"So what's your name?" Olivia asked as Nick took out a small black notebook.
"Madison, Madison McKinley." She replied shakily.
"Ok Madison can you tell us a bit about Jasmine?" Olivia asked softly.
"Jasmine and I have been friends since pre-school." Madison reached over for a picture on the bedside cabinet and handed it to Olivia.
It was of two little girls no older than four completely covered in paint.
"That's us." She sniffed. "We've been through everything together."
"Ok can you tell us what Jasmine would have been doing up near Broadway?" Olivia continued.
"Her fiancé, Jake Nash lives on West two hundred and thirty third street." The girl replied getting onto her feet and going over to a chest of drawers. "They've been together for four years, they were getting married in the new year." She explained as she handed Olivia a photograph.
"That's him?" She asked pointing to the only male in the photo.
"Yeah, that's me, Jasmine and Jake at the engagement party back in April." Madison explained.
"Ok, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Jasmine?" Olivia asked carefully.
"No, everyone loved her." Madison replied.
"Was she into any clubs, had a job?" Olivia asked.
"She worked at a dress shop up on Fifth, it's called Floribelle's. And she also went to band, she played the saxophone, also was a part of the Drama club here on campus." Madison replied.
"Ok Thank you Madison, if you can think of anything else that may be important can you give us a call?" Olivia asked handing her card over.
"Of course Captain." She nodded. "Please find whoever hurt my best friend." She whispered as tears slipped down her face.
"I'll do my very best." Olivia replied before she and Nick left.
They walked in near silence across the campus back towards the Sedan. Both of them wondering about the case, who, what, when, where and why were their questions but they yet had no answers.
"Didn't you think that maybe her best friend act was a bit much?" Nick asked as they got into the vehicle.
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked confused.
"Well I've told parents that their kid has died and they haven't cried for that long." Nick explained. "I just find that most people go into shock at first but she went straight into uncontrollable tears."
"Listen Nick, good observation but you can't tell if someone's the perp by their reaction to the news because I told my kids that their grandmother had died a week ago, Melissa threw around everything in her bedroom and beat up her chest of drawers, Nicole sobbed her heart out for hours and barely said a word to anyone and Liliana and Alexandra held onto each other and cried in between asking questions or just talking about their Granny with each other, my Dad sat in silence crying and I went around checking that everyone else was ok. Everyone reacts differently to grief." She shoved the keys angrily into place and started the car while Nick sat back knowing he'd just shot himself in the foot.
"Sorry Cap I didn't think." He whispered.
"It's ok Nick and call me Olivia huh? I hate being called Captain and don't worry about it, you know when I told my kids about their Gran I knew how each one was going to react before I'd even told them, because they're my kids and I know them inside out. She's a suspect anyway just because she knew the girl but for now we're going to visit the fiancé and hope he can give us something." Olivia replied before turning her complete attention to the road.
West 23rd Street, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
8.41 am
Elliot knocked on what felt like the hundredth door that morning, in all honesty, it was only the fifth.
"Hello?" An older woman answered.
"Hi I'm Sergeant Stabler from Manhattan SVU, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions." Elliot smiled gently at the woman.
"Of course Sergeant, what can I do you for?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"Have you ever seen this woman before?" He asked holding a photo up of Jasmine.
"I'm afraid not." She replied. "Who is she?"
"Her name's Jasmine Parker." Elliot replied as he returned the photograph to the file.
"No name doesn't ring a bell either." The woman shrugged.
"Ok she was killed on the corner onto Broadway, did you hear anything going on outside sometime between eleven and two am?" Elliot asked remembering to stretch out an hour before and an hour after the suspected time of death.
"Uh no I was in bed by ten and with the pills I take I'm dead to the world Sir." She replied.
"Ok thank you for your time." Elliot nodded.
"You're welcome." She replied before going back to the house.
Elliot slowly made his way to the next house hoping someone was having better luck than him.
"Hi." A man answered after Elliot knocked on the door.
"Hi I'm Sergeant Stabler from Manhattan's Special Victims I was wondering if you could answer me a few questions." Elliot smiled reassuringly.
"Of course." He nodded.
"Do you know this girl?" Elliot asked holding up Jasmine's photo once again.
"No I don't I'm sorry." He replied.
"Ok did you hear anything going on out here sometime between eleven and two this morning?" Elliot asked.
"Actually I did, at first I thought it was a cat but then I looked out the window and saw two girls arguing with each other ... actually can I see that photo again?"
Elliot passed over Jasmine's photo and the man scanned it carefully.
"It could have been here, I can't be one hundred percent sure because it was dark but one of them definitely looked a lot like her." He explained.
"Ok can I have your name, address and phone number?" Elliot asked.
"Most certainly." He handed Elliot a business card. "My cell is on there to."
"Ok did you hear what the women were arguing about?" Elliot continued hoping that this would be a break in the case.
"One of them called the other a 'dirty whore' and the other one yelled that she didn't do anything and was in return called a stupid bitch." Doctor Carlisle replied shrugging.
"Ok if you think of anything else call us and I'll be in touch soon." Elliot smiled handing over a business card just as Olivia's Sedan pulled up outside the house.
"Of course Sergeant thank you." The doctor nodded before disappearing into the house leaving Elliot to go meet his wife.
Olivia smiled and embraced him softly when they were close.
"Did you get anything?" Elliot asked.
"Yeah we found out that she was engaged to be married to the person living in that house..." Olivia pointed to the one next door to the one he'd just come from."
"Oh name?" Elliot asked.
"Jake Nash, I sent his name to the squad room and someone should be running it for me now, we spoke with her best friend and apparently she had no enemies, she worked in a dress shop and went to band and drama club." Olivia replied. "You get anything?"
"Yeah the Doctor that lives here heard girls yelling out here last night and thinks maybe one of them is our girl, he said he couldn't be sure though." Elliot shrugged.
"Ok so why don't you and I go interview the fiancé and Nick why don't you go back to the precinct and find out anything you can on Madison McKinley and Jake Nash?" Olivia suggested.
"Sure." He nodded and Olivia threw him the Sedan keys before walking off with Elliot.
They knocked on the door and it was answered almost instantly.
"Can I help you?"
"Are you Jake Nash?" Olivia asked him and he nodded while Olivia and Elliot showed him their badges.
"Come in." Nash replied opening the door and showing them into the living room.
"I'm Captain Olivia Cragen and this is Sergeant Stabler we have a few questions for you regarding Jasmine Parker." Olivia explained as she and Elliot sat on the love seat and Jake took the arm chair.
"Jasmine and I are getting married in January, why has something happened to her?" He asked desperately.
"Jasmine was killed last night." Elliot replied and the man's mouth opened in shock.
"No." He shook his head as the tears began to slip down his face. "No no no."
"I'm afraid so, her body was found on the corner of here and Broadway so can you tell me if she was here last night?" Olivia continued.
"Yeah, she left here around eleven and I offered to drive her but she said she'd get a cab from Broadway because I'd been drinking." He explained. "I can't ... no. Do her parents know?"
"Yeah they've been notified." Olivia replied.
"I need to go and be with them." Jake said getting to his feet.
"We have a few more questions for you Mr Nash." Olivia said quickly.
"What do you want to know?" He asked retaking his vacated seat.
"Did you and Jasmine have any problems in your relationship?" Olivia asked gently knowing most people burst at this question.
"No, we had arguments but which couples don't, but we were happy we were getting married, the wedding is organised everything is paid for and I was looking forward to making her my wife..." Tears slipped silently down his cheeks as he spoke.
"Did either of you have any enemies? Anyone with a grudge?"
"The only person I can think of is Madison McKinley, she and I used to date in high school and when Jasmine and I got together she was a little bit jealous but I thought they'd sorted it out, Madison said she was happy for us." He replied.
"Anything else you can think of that we need to know?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, she was pregnant." He whispered and Olivia dropped her hands to her own bulging stomach in reflex.
"What happened to her Captain? How did she die?" He asked in a near whisper.
"She was stabbed, raped and sodomized." Olivia replied.
"No." He shook his head in disgust. "Are you sure she was rapped? We had sex last night before she left."
"We're almost one hundred percent certain but we will need you to submit a DNA sample so we can eliminate you as a suspect." Olivia replied softly, even though Melinda had said no fluid it could have been hidden inside her.
"Of course." He nodded.
"I'll send someone here to take a sample, if you think of anything else please call us and we're very sorry for your loss." Olivia said softly as she handed over her card.
Parker Residence, Walton Avenue, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
8.48 am
"So can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your daughter?" Fin asked as Munch took notes.
"No, she was a well liked young woman, she was finishing school this year, was getting married, she was pregnant and she and Jake were happy, I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt our little girl." Mrs Parker cried as she held onto the Commissioner's hand.
"Mr Parker?" Munch asked turning to the arm chair where the father sat motionless.
"No the only person who ever argued with Jasmine was her best friend, Madison McKinley but they were best friends and argued over boys and makeup nothing ... nothing that could possibly lead to murder." He replied.
"Ok and where can we find Madison McKinley?" Fin asked.
"She shared a dorm room with Jasmine at NYU." He replied. "But I'm telling you, she wouldn't kill her best friend, they've been friends since preschool, joined at the hip their entire lives." He explained.
"Ok thank you, we'll be in touch if we have anymore questions." Munch said softly and they shook everyone's hands before being led out by the commissioner.
"Well?" He asked.
"We don't know, we'll get back to the station house now and meet up with everyone else and see where Captain Cragen wants to go from here, Sir we can't give you any
more information you know that." Munch explained softly.
"Ok tell Olivia I'll call her later on." He explained wiping under his eye.
"Of course." Munch replied before he and Fin walked out.
Manhattan SVU, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
10.03 am
Everyone met up in the conference room to share their information because it was quieter. They were all sat around the table with the fresh hot coffee Olivia had bought for them ready to get at least a suspect from their enquiries.
"Ok so Munch and Fin what have you got?" Olivia asked.
"Well nothing, not really except a message from the commissioner saying 'tell Olivia I'll call her later'. Since when have you been on first name terms with the Commissioner Liv?" Munch teased.
"I'm not, I don't know his." Olivia shrugged. "Ok Nick what have you got for me?"
"Jake Nash has a record for theft." He explained passing everyone the mug shot photo and details of the crime.
"He nicked a pregnancy test when he was in high school." Olivia chuckled lightly. "Somehow I don't think that's connected to this case."
"It could be Liv." Elliot turned to her.
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"Well her best friend dated Jake in high school which means probably the pregnancy test stolen was for her, Jasmine's now pregnant with his kid, Jake said they'd been arguing because she'd been a little jealous." Elliot explained.
"Madison McKinley?" Munch asked looking at his notes.
"Yeah why?" Olivia asked.
"We got her name but apparently they've been best friends since pre-school according to her father they're joined at the hip." Munch explained.
"Ok so Madison told me that she and Jasmine were best friends too, Jake said there was a little jealousy, Elliot found a neighbour who'd said that he heard two women arguing and said one looked a lot like Jasmine. I think we have our first suspect." Olivia explained.
"Yeah but are you forgetting one thing?" Fin asked making everyone look at him.
"What?" Olivia frowned.
"She was raped and sodomised. So is it really going to be a woman?" Fin asked.
"You never know these days, ok Munch and Fin go back to NYU and ask Madison if she'd mind coming in and answering a few questions, bring her here and wait till I get back to question her, Elliot go see O'Hallaran and find out if CSU got anything from the crime scene and Nick and I will go see Warner." Olivia explained.
"Liv got a sec?" Elliot asked and Nick left the room quickly.
"What is it El?" She asked softly.
"Why you working with Nick and not me?" He asked.
"Because I can work with Nick and you can't without getting pissed with him for being a rookie, you and I know that if we work together defence attorney's try and use it against us in court. What's wrong baby you jealous?" She teased him.
"No but you're my pregnant wife and I don't want some rookie not watching your back." He explained.
"Oh unlike you who watched my backside for years you mean?" She teased.
"You..."
"I know what you mean baby and Nick's a good cop, I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't trust him ok?" Olivia asked, she didn't want her working with Nick Amaro to cause any trouble between herself and her husband.
"Ok, I'll see you in a bit." Elliot replied before letting her go, he trusted her too much to ever consider that she was cheating on him but he was just scared of something happening to her and him not being there to have her back.
Morgue, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
10.36 am
Nick and Olivia walked side by side into the morgue to be greeted by a heart warming smile by Melinda Warner.
"So Mel please tell me you've got something for us." Olivia replied.
"Yeah I do." Melinda smirked grabbing her clipboard. "Four stab wounds only one fatal, straight into the heart so she died instantly." Melinda began. "The rape and the sodomy however is strange, there was no penile penetration."
"What do you mean?" Nick asked feeling the bile rise in his throat at the hazardous guess that had come into his mind.
"She was raped with a foreign object." Melinda explained.
"Can you tell me what that object it?" Olivia asked hopefully.
"Heck yeah and as it happens go down to CSU because they have the object."
"Now we're talking and Elliot is on his way down there now." Olivia replied.
"Ok so she was raped and sodomized with a hockey stick." Melinda explained.
"Oh no way." Nick whispered as he swallowed the bile that he'd almost spewed.
"'Fraid so, made a real mess of her." Melinda explained.
"Any sign of a struggle?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, nothing under her nails but she did fight, see the bruising on her cheek, eye and jaw well they're from a punc and from the mess on her knuckles she punched back." Melinda explained.
"Ok can you tell anymore from these bruises?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah whoever it was has small hands." Melinda explained.
"Or a woman?" Olivia suggested.
"Yeah could be, but how often do we see a woman raping someone?" Melinda asked.
"The point is it happens."
"Oh I almost forgot, she was about ten weeks pregnant too." Melinda added hurriedly.
"The boyfriend told us she was." Olivia replied as she turned to Nick. "Madison is becoming more and more likely by the second."
"Yeah, lets got see if Munch and Fin have bought her back yet." Nick suggested and the look from Olivia reminded him that she was in charge.
"Sorry." He whispered.
"You're ok." She smirked having just enjoyed the power trip. "Call us if you get anything else Mel!"
And with that they headed back to the precinct.
Crime Scene Unit, One Police Plaza, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
10.39 am
"O'Hallaran please tell me you got something?" Elliot smiled as he greeted the crime scene tech he was a good friend too.
"Well we have your rape tool."
"Huh?" Elliot frowned.
"She was raped with this." Ryan explained handing him the bagged hockey stick.
"No way." Elliot gaped feeling a little sick.
"Yeah, Warner ran it and the DNA is a match to our vic and has vaginal cells so that's definitely it." Ryan sighed.
"Well does it have any prints on it?" Elliot asked hopeful.
"No but it did have a hair stuck to the end and it isn't your vics, so it may be your perps." Ryan explained showing a dish with the hair in.
"Male or female?" Elliot asked knowing it would be a guess.
"I'd say male, too short to be a female's." He explained.
"Colour?" Elliot asked.
"Dark brown or black." He replied.
"Well that is the first hint we have that it isn't our suspect." Elliot sighed.
"How come?" Ryan asked enjoying talking suspects and perps with the Sergeant.
"Because our suspect is a blonde haired woman." Elliot replied sighing again.
"Ah right, no I don't think that hair is your gal's however the hair may not be your perp's it could just be anyone who's held the stick because the tape where it was is a little lose. A hair on your hand could have gotten stuck there." O'Hallaran explained.
"The likeliness?" Elliot asked.
"I don't know man." Ryan shrugged.
"Ok call me if you get anything else yeah?" Elliot replied before leaving.
Manhattan SVU, Manhattan, New York
Monday, November 30th 2015
11.12 am
Olivia sat in her office waiting for their suspect to arrive. The phone had been ringing non-stop all morning and now she was sat there it was starting to get on her nerves.
"Cragen." She snapped angrily as she picked it up for the twelfth time in a row.
"Captain Cragen?"
"Commissioner, my apologise." She replied knowing that she could be in big trouble for snapping on the phone.
"No it's understandable I'm sure you've been busy." He explained.
"Of course, I'm sorry for your loss sir." Olivia replied softly.
"Thank you Captain, listen what can you tell me so far?" He asked and Olivia knew she had to be very careful what she said.
"We're bringing in a suspect sir, but we have no physical evidence linking anyone to the crime yet. I'm waiting on our ADA's to help us with a search warrant but until then there's nothing much we can do." Olivia explained gently.
"Can I come down for the interrogation?" He asked.
"Of course sir, but don't bring Jasmine's parents." Olivia reminded him.
"I know the drill Captain, I'll see you soon."
And with that he hung up leaving Olivia to take a deep breath and hope that if Madison McKinley was a murderer then she would confess so they could close this case quickly.
Deciding she needed a shrink on this case she quickly called Huang's cell and found that he was already in the squad room so he came into her office.
"Hey Liv." He smiled taking a seat.
"Hey, so have you caught up on the case?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"So what do you think?" She asked knowing that he would already have an opinion.
"Well I don't think McKinley is the perp." He told her honestly.
"Why not?" Olivia asked.
"I think it's a man, a man with a lot of rage." He replied.
"Ok." Olivia nodded.
"Plus I think it's someone who knows a bit about forensics." He explained.
"Why do you think that?" Olivia asked desperately.
"Because there was no prints, no footprints, no nothing, I think whoever this is has been cleaning up his tracks." Huang replied just as the phone began to ring.
"Cragen." She answered giving a gentle finger to Huang to say that he shouldn't leave.
"Hey Olivia it's Ryan."
"Hey what have you got for me?" Olivia asked.
"Out of interest I asked Warner to run the DNA on the hair against the foetus."
"And?" Olivia asked.
"The hair on the weapon belongs to whoever fathered that baby." He explained.
"And let me guess it doesn't match Jake Nash." Olivia sighed.
"Exactly."
"Ok Thanks Ryan for being interested in the case." She laughed a little.
"You're welcome if I find anything else I'll give you a call."
With that she ended the called ad looked at Huang.
"What is it?" He asked softly.
"A hair was found on the hockey stick that was used to sodomize Jasmine, the DNA on the hair is a paternal match to Jasmine's foetus." She explained.
"That changes everything." He sighed.
"Yup." She nodded in agreement. "No who on earth are we looking for because the DNA doesn't match Jake Nash the fiancé."
"Who were the males close to her?" Huang asked.
"Uh Her Dad, Jake and ... shit." Olivia looked at Huang in shock.
"Who?" He asked.
"The Commissioner." She replied. "Her Godfather."
"What are you going to do?" Huang asked knowing she had to think fast.
"I'm going to call in IAB because he's now a suspect in a rape homicide, in the meantime I want Nick and Elliot to interview the girl and I want the parents in here and in an interrogation room." Olivia explained going into the bullpen.
"Ok listen up!" She yelled. "Elliot, Nick get ready to interrogate Madison but she's no longer a suspect..."
"I thought people were suspects until they were cleared with evidence." Nick asked.
"Listen we know this perp is a man ok?" Olivia replied.
"How..."
"Evidence, cold hard evidence so the likeliness that it's Madison is slim to none however until she give us something she's here for twenty four hours." Olivia explained. "Munch and Fin bring in the parents so we can question them... and Commissioner, good to see you again maybe you could come into my office?" She grimaced towards Elliot who knew exactly what she was talking about.
"I thought I was allowed to watch in on the interrogation." He bellowed.
"Circumstances have changed so if you'd like to wait in my office?" She suggested.
"Sure." He nodded before hurrying off.
"Tucker's on his way." Huang informed her.
"Thanks."
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