Chapter 8: Night Out - Part 1
Elliot had spent the past three hours in court; but finally his case was over. Another one for the books; but that didn't mean he was off for the night – or morning as it would be. It was just after lunch when he headed back into the precinct; another case in his hands immediately. Olivia met him at the elevator, passing over a folder as she explained their latest criminal; a rapist who'd given them the slip for the past three weeks.
"Three women in three weeks," Olivia said as they walked towards their desks. "He has a type, he has an MO, but he never leaves evidence, the location is always different; always close to a public setting."
"Any luck with the sketch artist?"
"Yes and no," Olivia replied as they reached their desks, she handed Elliot three different sketches.
Elliot scanned the images. They were all kind of the same; but there was nothing unique or standout about any of them. "I could walk outside and find ten guys that look like this." He sighed and sank into his chair.
"Exactly, but," Olivia stayed on her feet. "Each woman reported that he smelled the same. Oil; a grease-monkey maybe."
"Anyone doing work on buildings nearby?"
"Everywhere," Olivia said with a sigh. "There's a half dozen near each crime scene; all different companies; hundreds of employees. Munch and Finn are searching through their employee database; maybe we'll get lucky, all these companies put their guys in the system."
"Meanwhile this guy's been raping women weekly, means he'll be looking for a victim by Monday."
Olivia rubbed the knot forming in the back of her neck and closed her eyes; thinking. "Ideally we catch him in the act... means we could put him down for at least the one attack while we try and connect him to the others."
"Can't catch him in the act if we don't know where he'll be." Elliot pointed out dejectedly.
"Might have a hit!" Finn called out as he came to Elliot's desk. "A lotta these workers moonlight at different companies, catch the extra money where they can."
"So some overlapped, any near all three crime scenes?"
"Just two guys who fit the profile." Finn said handing duplicate printouts to both Olivia and Elliot. "Anthony Fletcher, thirty-five, single, works with two of the companies who worked right by two of the crime scenes, in walking distance of the third. But my money's on the second guy, Warren Oakfield; thirty-two, worked right by every crime scene, every day of the attacks, and he has a record."
"For what?"
"Assault."
Elliot felt a jolt of exhilaration. "Love it when it's so easy," He said, rising to his feet, Olivia right behind him, they headed off to interview their suspect.
xxx
Warren Oakfield wasn't at work when Elliot and Olivia arrived; his boss said he always signed on for the night-shift. "But if you ask me," Will Morris, the owner and manager of Morris & Sons Construction, said as he walked the detectives back to the employee lounge. "That guy never slept; always yawning, drinking coffee, eyes bloodshot."
"And you let this guy handle heavy machinery?" Olivia said with raised eyebrows.
Will shrugged and smiled. "Look, Detective, I'm not stupid. I got a brother, ten years clean. I got a policy; random drug testing. Tested Warren first day he showed up looking like crap; he was clean. One of those poor bastards who always looks sleep deprived, y'know?"
"He a good worker?" Elliot asked.
Will shrugged again. "He does what he's told; when he's told; so I like him. Doesn't make a fuss; doesn't get in the way, just does his work. Not the most social of guys; but I don't need 'em to be." He furrowed his thick eyebrows. "What are you looking into him for?"
"He's a person of interest in a case we're investigating." Olivia answered calmly; not wanting to let on anything that would possibly tip off Warren. "What time does the night shift begin?"
"Nine pm; works until two am." Will said. "We're building an addition to a strip joint; I got ten guys working there tonight."
"That the kinda job your workers jump to take?" Olivia smirked.
Will chuckled. "I know what you're thinking, that's why I pick who goes where. I know my guys. I know who'll keep their minds on the job, and Warren's one of them."
"Can you account for Warren for the past three weeks?" Elliot asked, rattling off the dates of the previous rapes.
"I'll have to check my records, but I'm pretty sure he was working for me all three nights," Will said; retreating into his office just behind the employee lounge.
"And do you have anyone on site watching them?" Olivia asked.
"Grown men don't tend to like baby-sitters, ma'am," Will said. "But there's always a senior employee on hand at every site. John Nelson's on tonight; not the hardest worker but he knows what he's doing. Want me to give you his number?"
"That won't be necessary." Olivia said. "Just give us the address to the strip club."
xxx
It was six o'clock at the precinct, and Elliot and Olivia, along with Munch and Finn, were gearing up to stakeout; but they were lacking one very important part of their plan. A decoy. Someone who fit the profile the rapist looked for; and would therefore bait him. Ideally it would be an undercover cop; but so far the Captain couldn't find anyone fitting the description; not with only two hours to spare.
"Homicide has three women matching our description," The Captain said as he exited his office looking forlorn. "Two are on assignment until the morning; one's on maternity leave."
Sighing Olivia let her head roll back as she tiredly closed her eyes. "There has to be someone..." Her eyes scanned the precinct; waiting for the perfect person to come waltzing through the doors. Instead; her eyes fell on Katie, sitting at her desk clearing up for the night. "Hey." Olivia muttered loud enough to catch everyone's attention; and they all followed her eye-line to Katie.
"No." Elliot said immediately. "She doesn't wear glasses, she's not a fit."
"We can put glasses on her," Olivia turned to the Captain. "She's our best and closest shot."
"It's dangerous!" Elliot said loudly. "We can't put a civilian in the middle of a stakeout."
"She's hardly a civilian; all the things she's seen?" Finn pointed out. "Only thing she's missing is the gun."
"And the training, and the preparation," Elliot continued to argue. "We don' have time-"
"Exactly; we don't have time." The Captain cut in. "This guy could attack tonight; we have to put this into effect now." He turned to Olivia; his voice commanding; and final. "Ask her."
xxx
Katie had been looking to a quiet night in with Bonnie when Olivia had asked for her help. She'd said yes; any chance to help out a little more and prove that she was more than a glorified receptionist; she was slightly happy that they'd even asked her. Until Olivia explained she was absolutely their only chance in the amount of time they had; that took the shine off a little.
"You'll be in contact with Elliot and me the entire time," Olivia was saying as she helped Katie get into her 'undercover' outfit.
Apparently this rapist they were after was very specific with the type of woman he picked. Blonde, blue-eyed, glasses, slim, on the shorter side, all wearing stockings and very short heels. Katie had been wearing a midnight blue summer dress with sandals; so her entire outfit had to be changed.
"Do I want to ask why you have all of these clothes?" Katie asked as she pulled the stockings up over her legs; they were so fiddly; she never liked wearing them even if they did slim down her legs as so many magazines led her to believe. And even though this black pair she was stepping into were quite well-made, she couldn't shake the feeling they'd come from a prostitute... or worse; a corpse.
"They're clean. Very clean." Olivia said; waiting on the other side of the ladies bathroom door, folding up her summer dress. "I wouldn't give you tainted clothes."
Katie sighed and reached for the A-line gray skirt. "I feel like a librarian." She muttered, buttoning the slightly too-small skirt up on the side; she let to leave one button undone. "So; what is my story here? I'm just hanging out around a renovated whorehouse?"
"It's a strip club; not a whorehouse," Olivia corrected her, unable not to smirk. "And Elliot will go over it in more detail with you; he's sorting it out with the Captain now."
Katie huffed, pulling on the pale blue checked sweater she's been supplied with. "Ok," She smoothed the shirt out, at least it had some shape to it, and came out of the stall. "Ta-daa." She said demurely.
"You look great," Olivia smiled, handing over a pair of black rimmed glasses. "Fake lenses."
"This is very weird type for a rapist, isn't it?" Katie asked as she put on the glasses; it was strange since she only ever wore sunglasses; she felt like she was wearing a faulty pair of shades. "When you asked me to do this I thought I'd be in fishnets and a mini-dress."
"Can never tell what a rapist likes," Olivia replied. "Maybe it has something to do with a woman in his life, someone who wronged him, that's hopefully what you're going to help us figure out." She handed Katie a claw hair clip. "Hair up; every victim's hair was still up when we found her."
"Please don't remind me I'm dressing to be attacked, here," Katie said, hastily taking the clip and twisting her blonde hair up and securing it in place.
"Sorry. It'll only be for a few hours; and only for tonight, I promise. We can't risk using the same decoy twice and having someone catch on." Olivia folded the rest of Katie's clothes into a paper bag and handed her a pair of cream slip on ballet flats.
"Ugh," Katie made a face and took the hideous, cheap shoes. "I don't get paid enough for this crap."
xxx
Elliot had Katie in the Captain's office; briefing her on her character for the decoy; she could tell he wasn't happy by the clinical way he spoke; as if she was just a random cop brought in to help them out for the night; he was cutting off emotional contact with her; he couldn't let on they were involved; not for a case so important.
"Katie; repeat it back to me." Elliot said firmly as he stood before her, leaning against the wall with his arms coiled firmly across his chest.
"My name is Rebecca King; I'm a visiting guest lecturer in IT at NYU, in town for the weekend. I caught a late movie and now I'm walking home." Katie recited for the third time. It seemed silly to her, this guy wasn't going to ask her questions that needed these answers. "If someone asks me what I'm doing I act reserved and nervous." She smiled tiredly.
"Stop that." Elliot said sharply.
"What?"
"This is serious, Katie, you know that, right?"
"I'm not stupid." She caught the glimmer in his eyes. "You don't think I should do this; do you?"
"Of course-!" He cut himself off and lowered his voice, moving closer to her. "Of course not." He replied; his voice was low but still authoritative. "You have no training in the field; you're not a cop; you don't know what you're doing; this is stupid putting you in danger like this."
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't think I could." Katie pointed out. "I'm not naive, Elliot. You think I don't see what goes on around here? That I don't know how awful and heartbreaking it is to work here? Just because I'm not a cop doesn't mean I don't understand this. I see the rape victims who come in here, I comfort them while you guys are discussing what do next, I sit with children who have been molested until you're ready to interview them." She was happy Elliot wasn't arguing with her; she'd expected him to. "I'm not scared of helping, Elliot. And I'll have four cops' eyes on me the entire time."
Elliot pinched the spot between his eyes and squatted down in front of her. "Don't turn this into some game, Katie," he said quietly. "This is serious."
"I'm not doing this for fun." Katie replied irritably; did he think she was a moron?
Sighing again, Elliot took a small earpiece off of the Captain's table. "Stick this in your ear," He instructed. "I'll be able to hear you and you'll be able to hear me; the whole time."
Katie pressed what looked like a dull metal thumbtack without a pin into her right eardrum, and then almost jumped when she felt Elliot's hand on her knee; she wasn't used to them being intimate anywhere other than both of their apartments.
"If I tell you to run; you run like hell, do you understand that?" His voice was low; but the look in his eyes was as severe as ever.
"Yeah."
"Promise me, Katie."
"I promise." She was stunned for a second time when he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead; and only then did she understand why he was being so fierce with her, why he was making her so vigilant; he was worried about her.
xxx