Chapter 4

The next morning, Detective Amanda Klass walked into the SVU precinct. She had heard about the legend that was Captain Benson and been glad to see that she was everything that Klass had heard. Still, she now had to speak to the group of detectives with one of the best closure rates in all of the NYPD.

"I'm here to speak to the detectives," Klass said to the Desk Sergeant.

"I remember you from last night. Is Captain Benson expecting you?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm supposed to talk to the detectives," Klass told him.

"Well, you're a little early. I don't expect the Captain for another ten minutes. Sergeant Tutuola should be in any minute. Why don't you have a seat by his desk?" The officer smiled at her.

"Thanks," the detective smiled back and then took a seat. The Desk Sergeant was right and only a minute or so later, in walked Sergeant Tutuola. He noticed the woman seated at his desk and went over to her rather than swinging by his locker.

"I'm Sergeant Tutuola. What's up?" He'd seen her badge and weapon and knew she was not someone reporting a crime.

"Detective Amanda Klass, Queens SVU. Captain Benson said I could talk to the unit today," she stuck out her hand and Fin shook it.

"Oh yeah? What have you got?" He asked.

"Well, I'm hoping that body you found the other day is related to my missing person's case. That sounds bad. I'm not hoping…"

"I know what you mean. Any answer is better than no answer, right?" Fin smiled.

"That's exactly it," Klass nodded.

"You need some coffee?" The Sergeant asked.

"Stuff gives me heartburn, I'm afraid," the detective frowned.

"How do you survive your mornings?" Fin teased her.

"Hot tea," Klass smiled.

"Well, I wish we had some. I think the last time some had tea bags around here was when my old partner was Sergeant. He'd drink tea later at night rather than the swill we call coffee," he said.

"Oh, so it's not just my precinct that has swill? My coworkers complain but they don't get anything better," the detective smirked.

"I don't think One PP has gourmet coffee in the budget," he chuckled and headed for the coffee pot. He made himself a cup and then brought over a water bottle for the visiting detective.

"I almost went to the Bronx this morning," Detective Terry Bruno announced as he arrived.

"Don't let the Captain hear you say that," Fin teased him. He quickly introduced the Queens SVU detective.

"Did I miss something?" Officer Tonie Churlish walked into the bullpen.

"Not yet. Captain Benson wanted me to talk to you all about my case. I figured we'd wait until everyone was here," Klass explained before introducing herself.

"Has anyone heard from Melinda yet?" Churlish wondered.

"Not yet. She expected to have the dig done into the night last night but then she has to run those tests and look for identifying marks," Fin explained.

"She has my casefile so that might speed things up," Klass told them.

"Sorry guys…" Rollins straggled in and Detective Klass saw what Captain Benson had meant.

"Sorry for what?" Bruno asked.

"Not exactly moving too fast today," the blonde admitted. The baby was definitely sitting on her bladder and she'd been to the bathroom five times already.

"No worries. I'm Detective Amanda Klass, Queens SVU. Captain Benson wanted me to talk to you guys about my case. I suppose we can start since I filled the Captain in last night," the brunette said.

"Two Amandas. You have a nickname so we don't get confused?" Rollins asked after introducing herself.

"I figure we could do what we did when there was more than one Amanda on the soccer team, go by last names?" Klass figured.

"Works for me. Ok fill us in," Rollins pointed to the smart bulletin board.

"Thanks," Klass then went about giving them the information that she'd told Olivia previously. She was glad that they seemed interested and let her speak all the way through. Captain Benson had arrived while she talked and did not disrupt her.

"Sounds like a rough one. Why did SVU get this one?" Bruno asked.

"Chief of D's told my Captain that we had to handle this one rather than missing persons. We normally handled missing kids, especially if they were at high risk, I'm sure you do the same here," Klass started.

"That we do, but we rarely get a two person at once abduction," Rollins spoke up.

"Truth is, we were on the hunt for a serial rapist, or at least a guy, we thought was about to become serial – Jerry Archer. We had just caught him just before Darlene and Nicole went missing. The Chief didn't want Archer's lawyer to use the disappearance to his advantage. You see Jerry had kidnapped his last victim. I saw it as a desperation move. He knew we were onto him and he tried to snag a victim from outside his comfort zone. We caught him before he could assault her," the brunette explained.

"He wasn't a serial rapist?" Bruno asked.

"He started small – weenie wagging, window peeping. Finally, his urges got the better of him. He attacked a woman in an alley. Left his DNA behind and since he had a record, he wouldn't be hard to find. We had to flash his picture on the news though because he didn't show up to work or return to his apartment. Once we did that, two more women came forward. One was his girlfriend and the other was a lady who lived in his building. This guy had no confidence to go outside his circle until that night in the alley. Once he was on the run, there was no telling how crazy he'd get, except we caught him only two blocks from his apartment, trying to sneak back in," Klass told them.

"So not the brightest guy," Fin figured.

"Nope. Once we had him captured, he legit tried to be his own lawyer before the judge told him he needed one to second chair. We tossed the DNA evidence and everything else at him and his court appointed lawyer told him to deal. He wanted to go to trial," Klass chuckled.

"Love them when they're dumb," Rollins chuckled too.

"So, this guy definitely did not kidnap Darlene and Nicole but once the Chief of D's asks…" Churlish chimed in.

"Yeah, no backsies," Klass nodded.

"So, your case went cold and you think since your guys likes to bury the bodies… he couldn't help the open hole in the ground," Bruno said.

"That's what I'm thinking. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that you guys just found bones. Darlene had clothing remnants with her body," the detective frowned.

"Like he may be buried Nicole and then was forced to move her. He figured the grave diggers wouldn't think twice about dropping Mrs. Bernardini into the hole they dug. He just wasn't careful enough with covering the bones up," Fin nodded.

"Could be. I don't want to say anything to Nicole's Dad, Ricky, until we know more," Klass heaved a sigh. Captain Benson interrupted the conversation, poking her head out of her office,

"Melinda called. Fin, take Klass down to see her."

"You got it Liv," the Sergeant said.

To Be Continued…