Chapter 24
"Why don't you just come on in then? Liv and I were just enjoying some breakfast," Elliot rolled his eyes. The toilet flushed and Perkins started heading for the door when Olivia stopped him.
"Hope you can hold it while we talk to Lieutenant Tucker," she gave a slight smile.
"Yes ma'am," Perkins nodded and then rushed out the door.
"Now that he's out of the way," Elliot said as he made sure the door was locked before returning to his breakfast.
"So the local Beacon PD caught Martin Price robbing the restaurant attached to the Holiday Inn up in Fishkill. He has quite the story to tell and I'm not sure the FBI believes him. Of course the dead body at his grandmother's home will make the time he does for the robbery charge seem like chump change. The bigger issue is the anonymous phone call made from the diner across the street about the grandmother's home. Why would someone use the only pay phone left in the state of New York to call in a crime that supposedly only Martin Price knew about? After all, now that he was being arrested, they would have searched the home eventually since it was Martin's current address," Tucker pointed out as he took the third seat at the kitchen table.
"Well maybe some honest citizen saw something and phoned it in. Not sure what this has to do with Liv or I," Elliot asked as he put more of the hash browns that were cooling on his plate in his mouth.
"I need for you to account for your whereabouts for the last night and I will be checking your alibi," the Lieutenant said.
"I hung out with Munch and Amaro last night. Then it was home to Liv and the kids," Elliot said nonchalantly.
"You guys go to a bar?" Tucker wanted to know.
"No, just hung out at Munch's. We teased him about needing a new TV to watch the game," Elliot smirked.
"What game?" Tucker asked.
"The Knicks were on. They won too," Stabler said.
"You left your injured wife home with two kids and a possible stalker on the loose to go watch basketball with your friends?" The Lieutenant gave him a look.
"Just because I need the crutches to get around doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. Besides I told him to go out so I could talk to Calvin last night. He and I needed to figure some things out after what he's been through thanks to this stalker. Also I had two officers downstairs watching the apartment," Olivia pointed out.
"So what was the real purpose for your visit?" Elliot wanted to know.
"I wanted to come while Calvin wasn't home. That dead body, I mentioned earlier, it was his biological mother, Vivian," Tucker admitted.
"What? How long had she been there?" Olivia asked, unbelieving that what she had just heard was true. The woman might have disappeared but how could she be involved with Martin Price?
"Hard to tell. Seems Martin killed her, moved her to the basement, and then put on an electric heater so time of death would be skewed. Needless to say though, she was alive and kicking less than two weeks ago," Tucker explained.
"How do I tell Calvin… I mean, we just got over this hearing and…" Olivia just shook her head.
"Maybe it's best if you don't tell him. You remember I said that Martin had a crazy story?" The Lieutenant wondered.
"Yes what about it?" Elliot gave the man a look.
"He's claiming that Vivian had him do all the murders with Simpson. Then when Simpson began asking too many questions he was dealt with. He says that Vivian's death was an accident. I don't know if I believe him. I know the FBI thinks he's insane and he's going for an evaluation. I think it's going to be hard to prove what she did and did not order considering she isn't here to tell her side," Tucker explained.
"You think he's bucking to get away with it?" Olivia wanted to know.
"It's a possibility. I'm so crazy I robbed the restaurant because I wanted to get caught. Pin the murders on someone who can't defend themselves or be cross-examined," the Lieutenant shrugged.
"It's not a stretch to see that he could go to murder after all he spent time for assault but he becomes a rapist who mutilates his victims? I mean the MO is completely different," Elliot said.
"True but it would fit with his accusation that Vivian had him do it. There's a possibility she didn't know he was raping them and she just told him to leave the badge numbers on their person. I suppose that Simpson might have been the one to rape them. Either way, there is only one person of the team left and no way to corroborate what he says," Tucker stood.
"So what's next?" Olivia asked.
"We wait until the psych eval comes back and then go from there. The mole in SVU still hasn't been found so my investigation continues," the Lieutenant nodded and headed for the door.
"Any leads on the mole?" Elliot asked one last question.
"No but until the leak is plugged, no one goes back to work," Tucker said.
To Be Continued…