Chapter 18
"We've been sweating this guy for an hour and his story hasn't changed. Does forensics have anything?" Fin asked the Captain as he exited the interrogation room. The man who had been found in the car was Felipe Rodrigo. He'd been living on the streets and when a man had offered him the car with a full tank of gas, he thought he'd just won the lottery. That was until the police started chasing him.
"You have the description of the guy who gave him the car out. Elliot and Kenny are trying to match it to pictures of our PIs. Forensics is dusting and running prints. The worst of it is, the trunk wasn't completely empty. There was blood," Cragen frowned.
"This guy is always two steps ahead. What do you want to do with Felipe?" Fin wanted to know.
"Book him for possessing stolen property and the traffic violations," the Captain said. Fin nodded and headed back into the interrogation room. Cragen headed out to the bullpen where Kenny was on the phone and Elliot was texting someone.
"What's going on?" He asked once Kenny was off the phone.
"We got our guy. The description matches Kenneth Smith. I've amended the APB," the younger detective said.
"I just told Liv. Without her hunch, we'd be lost," Elliot smiled.
"Well we all seem very happy," Ed Tucker walked into the squad room.
"I'll be happier when my detective is cleared for duty," Cragen frowned.
"You and I both know how bad this could have gone. I need to see you and Stabler in your office," Tucker told them. Elliot wasn't sure he was going to like where this was going but he did as he was told.
Once the door to the Captain's office was closed and everyone had taken a seat, Tucker cleared his throat and for the first time, Elliot could see he was bothered by something.
"So what's going on? Elliot and Olivia had no choice but return fire. They're lucky they aren't dead!" Cragen was already worked up.
"I'm not here for that, well that's not entirely true. I'm going to take Stabler's statement and then I'm going to call it a good use of force. I already grabbed Benson's statement," Tucker said.
"All righty so why all the secrecy?" Elliot asked.
"I think I found out who has been gunning for this unit," the IAB Sergeant told them.
"Someone we know?" Cragen asked.
"Deputy Chief Robertson. I believe you have history," Tucker said. Cragen swore under his breath as Elliot looked at his leader.
"What did we do to him?" The detective wanted to know.
"It isn't what this unit did. It's what I did, fifteen years ago," Cragen frowned. Elliot's eyebrows went up.
"Let me handle him. He skated before because he had friends in high places. This time around, the department is different. The current commissioner is all about transparency and avoids showing favor. No one will stick their necks out for him. If we nail him now, then this unit can keep doing what it's been doing, catching the bad guys," Sergeant Tucker said. That's when there was a knock on the door and the Captain bade Munch to enter.
"I hate to interrupt but we got a report of a body," the elder detective heaved a sigh.
"Is it Molly?" Elliot asked.
"Officers aren't sure. It sounds like she was beat to hell," Munch shook his head and left the office.
To Be Continued…