Chapter 22
"So, what's the play?" Fin asked after Elliot and Joe explained what they found out. Olivia frowned before she said,
"Taglietti claimed that he didn't know about Bartoli. Now either he's a great actor or he really didn't know."
"You're thinking that Bartoli might be playing us by sending us down this path? Like he might have known his lawyer was involved or he in fact involved his lawyer?" Amanda wondered.
"No. Bartoli was nothing but honest with us. If he thought the lawyer was involved, he'd probably have handled it himself already," Olivia shook her head. Elliot nodded in agreement.
"I put in a call to the unit – Bobby Reyes and Jamie Whelan are heading over to Bartoli's place. If Taglietti is dirty, Bartoli could be in danger," the elder detective spoke up.
"I want a deep dive on the lawyer. We have to confirm that he might be dirty. Don't forget, we're taking the word of a former criminal over a lawyer who has been in the business a long time. Just on the surface, no one is going to trust Luling given his history. Good call on checking on Bartoli. He's survived this long, we can't get him killed now," Olivia said.
"On it Captain," Joe spoke up.
"Should we check in with Abigail?" Amanda wanted to know.
"Yes. Maybe the name will mean something to her, maybe not, but it won't hurt to be sure that she is safe as well," the Captain nodded. Amanda grabbed her coat and Fin did the same before heading out of the bullpen. With the assignments handed out, Olivia retreated to her office and Elliot followed her.
"We've stepped in it, huh?" He asked as he took a seat on one of the chairs in front of her desk.
"We have a bad habit of that," she chuckled.
"Especially with cases that aren't ours. I don't know about Luling. Not only did he crumple like a hanky, but he also didn't think twice about trying to throw his lawyer under the bus. I mean we told him that we weren't looking at him and instead of not trusting us, like most seasoned criminals would, he spewed his guts. He's the one who brought up Ron Davidson," Elliot told her.
"That does seem hinky. He growing a conscience?" Olivia wondered. Her former partner shrugged and shook his head.
"I have Jett digging into him to make sure he's been on the straight and narrow since his accident. If this turns out to have a dirty lawyer, there is no keeping it quiet. I think you and the Sergeant should talk. If the investigation is being handled by OCCB, then you won't have your Chief breathing down your neck and we can use detectives that Taglietti hasn't seen yet," Elliot suggested.
"Are you saying that we should give up the case?" The Captain raised an eyebrow.
"Hell no, but if it's under OCCB, SVU can keep their noses clean. Your Chief doesn't need to know that you went behind his back and kept working on a case that technically doesn't fall under your purview. Then you can loan us detectives when we need them," he winked. Olivia nodded. They both had played the shuffle game in order to keep cases they wanted to finish.
"Ok, let me call Sergeant Bell," she picked up her desk phone and punched in the numbers.
"Sergeant Bell, it's Captain Benson," Olivia said.
"Captain, how's it going? I see I have multiple detectives not in the bullpen. Curtesy of Detective Stabler, no doubt," Sergeant Ayanna Bell was smirking despite the fact that the Captain couldn't see it.
"Oh, that would be correct. We might as well keep talking about him because he just suggested something," Olivia told her. Elliot couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but he knew that Ayanna wouldn't hesitate if it meant rolling up possible mafia or mob ties. Now they just needed to get their man.
To Be Continued…