Chapter 12
Lieutenant Benson walked toward Fin, "Did you find anything?"
Fin nodded, "I looked into the cops you mentioned, Detective Arnold Williams and Ian Keough."
"And?" Olivia asked.
"Well, they've been working in the homicide unit in the Bronx. Arnold's been there for 7 years while Ian's his senior, so over 14 years. No complaints made against either of them, believe it or not. A couple parking tickets from decades ago for each of them but that's it."
"There's no complaints because the people they deal with are already dead," Olivia said in a biased tone.
"What are you suggesting?" Carisi asked as he stood up from his desk and calmly began making his way over to them. "That at least one of them is a necrophile?" He asked seriously.
Olivia made a face at him and so did Fin.
"No, Carisi," the Lieutenant answered, wondering where he even got the idea from. "I wasn't thinking that at all."
"You know what," Amanda began. "That wouldn't be so far off."
Benson turned to look at her.
"I mean…" Amanda started to explain, "Jackie was knocked unconscious and left for dead. When she was raped, she was unconscious most of the time. She doesn't even remember more than one man being there, but she was gang raped... We shouldn't completely rule it out. That's all I'm saying," she finished when she saw the look on her boss's face.
"Uhuh," Olivia answered as she considered the possibility even though it seemed unlikely. "And where are they now?"
"Interrogation rooms 2 and 3," Fin said.
Carisi pointed out, "And Patrick Mason was released from Queensboro Correctional a few months ago. According to his parole officer, he was living with his mom but that seems to be a lie. We haven't been able to locate him just yet."
"Keep trying," Benson ordered as she began to walk toward the first interrogation room.
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She stepped into interrogation room 2 and closed the door directly behind her, obviously not wanting to be followed by anyone on her team. She got a good look at Detective Arnold Williams. He was tall, black, and had to be in his late thirties. He was muscular and had this stern yet entitled look on his face.
"Are you going to tell me why I'm here?" He demanded.
"You want to know why you're here?" Olivia smiled slyly.
"Yes!" He raised his voice. "I'm an officer of the law. What the hell is going on? What could I possibly be arrested for?"
Olivia opened up her iPad to pull up a photo of Jackie and laid the tablet on the table in front of him. "Recognize her?"
He stared at the picture and had a perplexed look on his face. "No," he finally answered. "Should I?"
"You visited her in the hospital last night. Don't you remember?" Olivia asked as she pulled the chair on the other side of the table to sit down. She was eager for his explanation.
"No, I didn't."
"The hospital got you on camera, Mr. Williams," Olivia raised her voice. You and your partner, Ian Keough."
Arnold remained silent.
"You used your real badge numbers to check in at the front desk. Did you forget that part too?" She continued to question.
"Alright fine," he admitted. "Yes, we were there. We heard about what happened to that girl in our neighborhood and wanted to talk to her."
"To find out what she remembered?" Olivia asked.
"Exactly," Arnold answered. "It's our neighborhood and we needed to know what the perp looked like. We want to catch the guy as much as you guys do. We actually are investigating a homicide that took place a few weeks ago. Same M.O."
"Uhuh," Olivia answered as she stood up from her chair and began toward the one-sided mirror. She was sure Fin, Carisi, and Amanda were all looking through, watching them. She didn't want them to see this.
Arnold became nervous when he saw her pull down the blinds. He tried to pull his hand from the bar on the table, but the metal cuff was wrapped around his wrist too tightly.
Olivia turned around, "You have an answer for everything, don't you?" She asked as she stood up behind him. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders and applied pressure so he couldn't get up.
"What are you doing?" He raised his voice.
"I have another question for you," she said as she brought her face toward his, "How did your DNA end up on the inside of a LITTLE GIRL?"
"What?" he asked in confusion as the detective pulled the metal chair from under him quickly, not giving him another second to explain before she assessed he was guilty. His knees hit the floor hard as he was jerked off the chair. He balled up his fists and once again tried to pull his wrist from the cuffs that kept him from moving from the table. "YOU BITCH!"
"Now, there's the aggressive guy I was looking for," she said as she circled around him.
Arnold stood up from the floor and straightened up his posture. He tried to keep calm but Olivia could still see that his fists were still tightened. "I didn't rape anyone. I wouldn't do that."
Olivia smiled, "Then how'd your DNA end up inside of her?"
Silence filled the room.
Olivia nodded as watched him think of a good lie. But nothing he could say would dispute DNA evidence. "That's what I thought," she said as she approached him and lifted her hands and placed them on his shoulders, while kneeing him as hard as she could in the groin.
"AH!" he yelled as he dropped back onto the floor again.
"DO YOU LIKE HOW THAT FEELS?" She yelled before she kicked him hard on his stomach. "ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU DID TO HER?" she said as she kicked him again.
And again.
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Jackie immediately opened her eyes when she felt someone violently shaking her arm.
It was Jason.
"What the hell, Jason!" she yelled as she sat up from the hospital bed.
"We have to get out of here. Now," he said in a frightened tone.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked as she struggled to fully open her eyes from how tired she was.
"Let's go, Jackie," he continued.
"We can't," Jackie answered. "They know where we live. There's no point."
"So, we'll go somewhere else," he interrupted as he pulled the sheets off of her and tried to grab her shoes.
She shook her head, "Where are we going to go? Why do you want to leave?"
"Argh," he grunted as he pulled a cellphone out of his pocket and handed it to her.
"Whose is this?" she asked in confusion as she reached for the phone.
"The cop's," he answered.
"You stole her phone?" Jackie said as she stared at him with a dumbfounded look. "Jason, are you trying to get arrested?"
"Just read her messages," he ordered as he looked behind himself to see if there was anyone watching. He looked beyond paranoid.
"You went through it too?" she asked.
Jason put his hands to his head and then back down to his side. Jackie was frustrating him by not just doing what he asked. "Just do it," he said.
Jackie sighed and opened up the phone. "No passcode," she pointed out as she pressed down on the message icon. There were a bunch of messages. "Which one?" she asked.
"The second one."
Jacked pressed down on the message that was from Amanda and began to read.
Olivia: Arnold Williams and Ian Keough visited Jackie last night.
Amanda: Are you serious? They can't be that stupid.
Olivia: I can't believe it either. The hospital got both of them on camera, coming in at 7:45 last night and leaving at around 8:30.
Amanda: We'll confront them now about it. They're both at the station.
Olivia: No, I need to be the one to do it.
Amanda: No offense Liv, but don't you think you should stay away from this case. You're too close to the victim.
Olivia: We've got those bastards already. I have to handle this on my own.
Amanda: Have you told her yet?
Olivia: No, I want to… But I'm waiting for the right time. She's dealing with too much right now. I can't add this on top of it.
Amanda: Maybe this is the perfect time. She needs someone right now.
Olivia: And I'm here for her.
Amanda: Not as her aunt. Trust me, there's a difference between a cop that cares and a family member that cares. And you are her aunt.
Olivia: I don't think she'll see it that way.
Amanda: I'm sure she will.