Loose Ends and New Beginnings
Summary: See ch1
Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Here's another chapter! Hope you like it!
Questions
(In case you forgot Elliot just snapped at Olivia after she snapped at him for interrogating the victims)
"What the hell was that about?" Olivia demanded, throwing the locker room door open and barging in.
"I don't need this right now Olivia." He spat.
"Don't take that tone with me, I didn't do anything." She spat back.
"Do you think I like accusing these women of murder?" He asked indignantly. "You think I enjoy making victims feel like suspects? You think I give a damn if the person who did kill Anderson ever gets caught?" He questioned.
What she had done finally hit her. "I, I didn't mean it…" Olivia began. She reached out to touch his arm, but Elliot pulled away. "El…" She tried. "I know that you don't want to do this anymore than I would. I'm sorry." She apologized.
"I'm glad he's dead Olivia. I saw what he did to you. Hell, I wish that I had killed him." He said.
"This whole time I've assumed that I'm the only person Anderson affected. I'm sorry." Olivia apologized again, as she realized that he too was having a problem with this case. "Why don't you let Munch and Fin handle the other interviews?" Olivia suggested.
"I can handle it." Elliot argued.
"I know you can. But I don't know how much more I can take alone." She said, only half lying to persuade him.
"Alright. I'll step out of the next two." He sighed.
Olivia squeezed his hand lightly before turning and heading back into the bullpen.
Within half an hour Munch was set up in the same interrogation room Elliot had been in. He was with Samantha Corrigan. She had been raped by Anderson only 5 years ago. Once again, Olivia stood outside the room with Cragen and Casey looking on. This time she had Elliot by her side.
Before the interview could begin, Fin came in with a paper in his hand.
"You talk to Juliana already?" Cragen asked. Juliana Stevens had arrived at the station house only moments before Samantha. Fin had been interrogating her in one of the other rooms.
"Her alibi checks out." Fin simply said.
"You cleared it that fast?" Casey asked, reaching for the file in his hand.
"Seems Juliana has a routine she follows every night." He explained as Casey skimmed the photos and documents the file contained.
"Juliana got pregnant as a result of her rape." He began. Olivia could feel her heart stop at the possibility that she could have some family out there. "She aborted it." He continued, not making eye contact with Olivia. He didn't need to see her to know the sadness and shame that would be on her face. "The abortion took place at 11 p.m. It seems that every night, at 11 she goes to the cemetery to visit the grave. All I had to do was call the grounds keeper, he knows her by name." He sighed.
"Depending on what time she left, she still could have killed Anderson." Casey suggested
"Cemetery's in Jersey. Juliana didn't want her family to know that she was pregnant. There's no way she could have made it back in time to off Anderson." He explained.
"And you're sure the grounds keeper remembers seeing her there on the night of the murder?" Cragen checked.
"They had a 20 minute conversation about life and death. He's positive." Fin answered.
"What about family?" Casey asked. "Could they have done it?"
"Not likely, being that she never told any of them." Fin revealed.
"I guess Samantha is our last lead." Cragen sighed.
Elliot could feel Olivia begin to quiver next to him. "You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, fine. Just a little dizzy." She said holding her head.
Cragen rushed over with a chair and helped Elliot ease her into it. "Maybe you've had enough today Benson." He suggested.
"No, I'm fine. I just, I haven't eaten today. I'll get something after this interrogation. I promise." She argued.
"Make sure she does." Cragen told Elliot.
"I'm still here boys." She said rolling her eyes.
Cragen just shook his head and turned his attention back to the interview as it began.
"Mrs. Corrigan, can you remember anything about the incident that happened to you 5 years ago?" Munch asked, starting off with the barest of references.
"You mean the night I was raped I presume?" She questioned.
Samantha was around 30 years old. She had light eyes, and blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. To look at her, one wouldn't assume that she had been the victim of something so horrific.
"You would presume correctly." Munch said over his glasses.
"I remember every horrid moment." She said her voice void of emotion.
"If I showed you a photo array of possible suspects, could you pick out the man that raped you?" He asked.
"Of course I could. That face has been burned into my memory ever since the day he took everything away from me." She said, her eyes beginning to tear. "The sketch artist who worked my case even complimented me on my attention to detail when he made the sketch." She noted, seemingly proud of herself.
Munch slid the photo array over to her. She glanced at it, and quickly picked out Judge Anderson's photo. "That's him, that's the bastard who raped me." She said, her face now becoming wet with tears. "Why? What is this all about?"
"He's dead Mrs. Corrigan. Someone killed him Tuesday night." Munch told her.
"Good. It's about time someone rid the world of that evil." She said, wiping at her tears.
"Mrs. Corrigan, can you tell me where you were on Tuesday night, around 11?" Munch asked carefully.
Samantha stared at him for a moment. "You think I had something to do with this?" She asked indignantly.
"It's standard procedure Mrs. Corrigan." Munch explained.
"My son was sick. I was sitting on the bathroom floor while he threw up all night. Ask my husband or my mother, they were both there. If that's not good enough, you can call the doctor. I was on the phone with him starting at 11:15. I remember because I had been timing how long my son had been getting sick for. I was getting worried he would dehydrate." She said, her eyes appearing blank.
"Thank you Mrs. Corrigan." Munch said. "I'll have an officer escort you home."
"No need. My husband's waiting for me in the lobby." She said, excusing herself from the room.
TBC... I know, not the most exciting chapter, but it has a lot of information that will be needed later in the story. Tell me what you think!