The Santa Incident

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of LO:SVU or any other show mentioned here. I don't own the rights of the songs either. I'm making no money out of this whatsoever. Don't sue me, I have no money.

3

"These guys all wore Santa Claus costumes?" Cragen asked astonished.

Olivia and Elliot nodded in unison.

"She has seen nothing except of red hoods and white beards," Olivia said. "She saw them switch places, but the only way to divide them were the different colors of their eyes."

"So, they dragged her in their van…?"

"Yes. She was on her way home from her friend Amber when someone grabbed her from behind. They dragged her into the car and drove away. As soon as she was in someone pulled down her pants and was over her. Then they changed. When they stopped more Santas came and took her, too. Once finished, they drove her away and threw her out in the alley behind the trash containers."

"She was too weak to move," Elliot added. "Nurse Eugenie said, two homeless men had brought her in. She called the police and they called our squad."

"Have you met these men, too?" Cragen asked.

"No. They made a disappearance act. No one knows them. We won't find them out on the streets."

"Do we know where she was found exactly?"

Olivia shook her head. "No."

"CSU already works on the rape kit. They'll call as soon as they get something."

"Okay," Cragen said. "Any other lead?"

Both were thinking for a moment.

"What about the Santa this morning, Elliot?" Olivia finally asked. "Didn't he say something about colleagues who wanted to have some fun?"

"And that he was not sure what kind of fun they meant?" Elliot frowned. "That's weak."

"Weak is better than nothing."

"You can at least go and ask him," Cragen said before he returned to his office.

"Very weak." Still, Elliot frowned.

"You got a better idea?" She saw him shake his head. "C'mon, then, as long as he's still in custody."

"Wait a moment!" John shouted after them, holding up the receiver of his phone. "CSU, line three."

Elliot answered the call. He nodded several times before he hung up again.

"That was Detective Taylor," he said. "They got two different DNAs."

"Just two?!" Olivia breathed. "Are they sure? It must have been more than five or six offenders!"

Elliot nodded grimly. "Let's go talk with our Santa."

"What do you two want again?" the man in the red and white coat asked them tiredly. He also looked wiped. "Want to cause more trouble?"

"Perhaps you can help us, Mr. Bradley," Elliot replied.

"I don't know how."

"You told us earlier that some of your friends planned to have fun," Olivia said. "Tell us more about them."

"Why are you interested in my friends?" he growled. "They didn't do anything. I was the one with the open pants."

"You said you were all working as Santas." Elliot stared him right into the eyes. "Who hired you?"

"We were with the agency of Columbia."

"All of them are students?"

"Yeah."

"And where can we find them? At the student hostel?"

"Most of them live there. They often hang about a pool hall in 119th Street after lectures… if they don't have to work."

"Give us some names," Olivia asked him.

"Ron Davis, Paul Cornwell, Kenny Williams, Buster and Terry."

"And these guys wanted to have some fun, right."

"They always want to have fun. Not all of my fellow students are hard workers."

"Did they specify what kind of fun they wanted to have?" Elliot asked. "Something else than playing pool?"

Both detectives could see that Bradley felt uneasy. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and cringed somewhat back.

"What is it, Mr. Bradley?" Elliot pressed.

"I don't know if I should tell you. It's because I can't tell if he meant it seriously."

"Who was it, saying what?"

"Paul. He can be bad-temperedly. And that night… he was on the rocks and yelling about needing some… plunge."

"Referring to a girl," Olivia mused.

"He was harassing the waitresses the whole time, shouting about digging in the sheets or heating his tepee." Bradley wrinkled his nose. "He poisoned the atmosphere and so I left."

"How were the others reacting to his tirades?"

"As if he was making fun. Some joined in teasing the waitresses. Some talked big along with him. I didn't have fun and left."

"Do you believe Paul capable of going for his needs by force?"

Bradley jumped. "Why? Was someone attacked?"

"No one said so." Olivia shrugged. "It's a hypothetical question."

"You wouldn't ask if nothing would have happened. Do you think he probably forced someone to serve his needs?"

Olivia had to smile. "Okay. Thanks for your help, Mr. Bradley."

"Yeah, yeah. Can you help me, too?"

"We'll see," she said.

Elliot raised an eyebrow at him before he followed his partner out.

When the detectives left the precinct they noticed that the flakes no longer floated down. In a strong breeze they swirled through the streets. The wipers were flapping constantly to keep the windshield free.

"In the east coast area north of Washington D.C. heavy snowfalls have to be expected. Wind force between nine to ten is likely," the weather forecast announced on the radio. At the parking lot all markings were extinguished. Everything lay under a white blanket.

In the halls on their way to the agency Olivia and Elliot already met two young men who were dressed like Santa Claus except of the beards, the hoods thrown back. They stopped to intercept the two for a talk. The students did not even flinch when the detectives flashed their badges and introduced themselves.

"Brian Harris," one of them replied. "What can we do for you, Detective?"

"Mr. Harris, we may assume you've been mediated to work as Santa Claus…" Olivia saw him grin at that statement. "We are looking for several students who took over the same job…"

"You're looking for someone special?" Harris demanded to know and watched her frown. "We have to hurry, you know."

"One of the group in question is a Paul Cornwell. Do you know him?"

"Paul Cornwell. May this be the Paul you're in the course of Zimmerman with?" he addressed his comrade.

"Yeah, I guess so. There's no more lecture, today. He'll be at home or probably playing pool."

"And you are?" Elliot asked.

"I'm Kenny Williams."

"Oh, and you're not playing pool?"

"Why should I?" Williams looked puzzled.

"Well, someone told us, that you and Mr. Cornwell would probably play pool together."

"Who told you so?"

"One of your fellow students. Is Mr. Cornwell a friend of yours?"

"Just another fellow student. Yes, we play sometimes, but we're not friends."

"Did you play together yesterday evening?"

"No. I was at home, learning. But I know that Paul and Terry wanted to go."

"You live at the hostel?" Elliot asked.

"Yes."

"Can someone bear witness to you staying at your room, learning?"

"I was alone. What is this? An interrogation? Do I need a lawyer?"

"Well, if you haven't done anything…"

"He hasn't," Harris threw in. "And if you can wait one and a half year, he can plead his own cause."

"Where have you been, Mr. Harris?" Olivia demanded to know.

"At my room. I had to work, too." He grinned again. "But I was kind of distraught… my girlfriend was with me."

"Well, if you don't have any other questions…" Williams said.

"Not yet." Olivia handed them over her card. "We'll contact you again, if that changes."

"Sounds great," Harris said and grinned invitingly at her. "I will be pleased."

Then both Santas proceeded down the hall.

"Did I just imagine that or is he interested in me?" Olivia turned to her partner.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders. He looked at her innocently. "You should feel flattered."

"Why? Because he's a thoughtless greenhorn without any sense of finesse?"

Now he grinned. "He doesn't earn someone like you."

"You can bet he doesn't."

"That's my girl." He laughed. "Let's go find the other Santas or get to this pool hall. Then we should drive back to the precinct before the snowfall turns into a blizzard."