Chapter 19
They were at the bar. Carisi had contacted Boston that Derek had taken the twenty-five to life offer and had agreed to sign the Boston plea deal paperwork. The DA there said they would file the paperwork on their end. Effectively the case was closed… well sort of.
"So, it's over…" Amanda said as she stared into her beer. They were all at large a table, each with a drink of their choosing. What should have been a fun meeting, celebrating the end of a case, was instead a less than enthusiastic.
"Not exactly," Elliot spoke up. Fin gave him a look.
"Our friend asked us to look into what happened to Derek's father," Olivia filled them in.
"He didn't know?" Joe was surprised.
"Surprised us both. He also wondered if Derek did something to him," Elliot said.
"He was only seven," Fin pointed out.
"Yeah, we said the same thing and then our friend reminded us he picked up a dead cat off the porch," Olivia said before sipping her wine.
"There is no way to prove who made those notes, but if it was Derek, why wouldn't he have tried to follow through on his threat? Seems weird the stoppage of the messages would have coincided with the event," George frowned. He knew why they were being careful and made a good point.
"Abigail said the dog was terrified of Derek. I'm guessing it saw something or had something happened to it that made it know to leave Derek alone. I wouldn't have wanted Frannie anywhere near him," Amanda shook her head before sipping her beer.
"Maybe the incidents aren't related but since we can't analyze the letters, we have to analyze the family dynamic," George said. He was enjoying a glass of wine.
"Well, if we had bad feelings about Karen before they're only about to get worse," Olivia shook her head before finishing off her glass of wine.
"How could it get worse?" Fin raised an eyebrow. He'd finished off his beer and flagged down the bartender.
"I did as the Captain asked and dug into the dad, Ron. A missing persons report was not filed by Karen but a coworker. Claimed that Ron never showed up to work. He was scheduled to work a double and he had never begged off or called off when it was one of those kinds of days. It was good money. Part of the reason the coworker called right away was because he knew that there was trouble in the family home. Dispatch sends officers to do a welfare check – even made a note in the file that the dispatcher thought it was weird that a coworker was calling it in. This was before cell phones; it could have been as simple as the poor guy's car broke down on the way in or worse there had been an accident. The coworker said that he didn't know what route Ron would have taken but he gave the officer the home phone number and address that they had on file.
"So, the officers arrive at the house, noting that there was no car in the driveway. They notice that the house is dark and immediately wonder if there was something more going on. The kids should have been getting ready for school, the mom ready for work, and yet there were no lights on. The first officer tries the door and finds it locked, so they pound on the front door, hoping someone answers.
"They hear a dog barking but nothing else. The second officer goes around the back of the house while the other officer continues to pound on the front door. The second officer doesn't see anything out of place in the backyard and returns to the front door. By then, the mother had gotten the door open. She explains that the kids had the day off of school and that she was staying home with them. They'd been trying to sleep in. The officers tell her that her husband did not arrive at work. You'd think she'd be concerned. Instead, she didn't seem concerned at all – according to the report.
"Needless to say, they decided to send this up the chain of command. Detectives dove into the disappearance, concerned that perhaps she'd had her husband killed. They dug into family life and discovered that our friend was related to them. A dead end was soon reached until they found the car abandoned in a strip mall parking lot in Jersey. It had been stripped for parts and then set on fire," Joe explained. He'd left the file at the precinct but had a copy of it on his phone. They had no go ahead from One PP to pick up the case and it was technically not within SVU purview. They were doing this under the table. The bartender had brought them a round of drinks along with the French fries that Amanda had ordered.
"What'd they get out of that?" Rollins asked after the bartender left.
"They were able to bust the guys who stole the car, thanks to the mall security cameras. Those guys led them to a chop shop. None of that helped with the case. It went cold," Joe shook his head.
"Where did those upstanding citizens steal the car from?" Fin wanted to know.
"That's just it – they stole the car from the parking lot at Ron's work. They admitted to normally going through the lot checking cars to see if they were unlocked. On days when the factory was pulling a double, they wouldn't be noticed for a long enough time that the cops wouldn't be able to track them. They only did it once a month and never on the same day each month. By the time Ron's car was stolen, almost everyone locked their cars, so they were going to have to get creative and find a new spot. That day was supposed to be the last day they checked the lot. They thought they got lucky since the keys were found on the ground near the car but then the car was unlocked," Joe said.
"Why do I hear setup in this mess?" Elliot turned to look at Olivia.
"It does seem convenient, but we were able to confirm the car ring. The biggest thing would be that they had to have someone on the inside of the factory helping them with what days were double shift days. The two guys who stole the car were told by the chop shop where to go look so they couldn't help. The chop shop owners refused to cooperate because the DA wasn't about to offer them a deal," she explained.
"So, are any of these guys alive?" George wondered.
"The guys who stole the car are both deceased. One died in prison and the other one died when the cops were chasing him in a stolen vehicle. Seems that prison hadn't straightened him out. The chop shop owners are still with us though," Joe told them.
"Ok as we need to keep this quiet, we'll have to come up with a good cover for why we're talking to these hardened criminals," Olivia frowned.
"Let me handle that. Jett has a way of creating fantastic covers," Elliot smiled.
To Be Continued…