Chapter 5 – The Real Perp

We arrived back at the precinct and placed Matt into an interrogation room. There were some extra clothes with Chicago PD insignia on them that I was able to change into. Amanda smiled and said, "Did you go for a swim in Lake Michigan?" I smirked back at her and told her it's a long story and would tell her later. I then suggested that she and Dawson should question this Matt guy to see if he can give any more intel on our serial rapist. She replied, "Got it Sergeant." The whole group watched the interrogation of Matt to see if he could give us any information at all.

Dawson got right to it in the interrogation room and slammed a picture of Shay in front of Matt. "Do you know this girl?"

Matt scoffed, "No, I have never seen her before."

Dawson shook his head, "Are you sure? Look hard. If you want us to forget about those drugs, you need to give us something."

Matt looked down at the picture again, "I don't know her. I haven't seen her at all."

Amanda chimed in, "Alright, have you noticed anything odd at your work lately? Anyone there that shouldn't be or seen any weird activity?"

Matt rubbed his hand across the front of his face, "No, I haven't seen anything!"

Amanda placed both hands on the table and got in Matt's face. "Listen, you need to start thinking really hard about anything you have seen because otherwise you are going to jail for the drugs, and we will make sure they know you haven't been cooperative."

Matt sighed, "Umm, ok, I have never seen that woman but there is this ACO, you know Animal Control Officer that was hired a few months back. His name is Ben Miller. He is weird and freaks me out a little."

Dawson said, "Ok, tell us more. How is he weird? What does he do?"

Matt replied, "Well, I was at work late one night finishing up cleaning when I saw him come out of the garage holding some rope and a syringe. The syringe wasn't completely out of the ordinary because they do give vaccines, but the rope was weird, and he also wasn't the ACO on call that night, so I wasn't sure why he was there. I just started this job, so I just minded my own business. He also is very quiet and never talks to anyone, he just comes off as a weirdo."

Dawson quickly asked, "What day did you see him with the rope?"

Matt furrowed his brow as if thinking hard, "Um, probably about a week ago?"

Dawson and Amanda both walked out of the interrogation room to where we were all gathered. Amanda said, "This must be our guy. We need to research and see if he has any links to New York."

Voight spoke up, "Ok, let's find out everything we can on this guy. We are going to need more than a drug dealer who saw him with a rope to get a warrant. We may need to stake this guy out first to get more information."

I spoke up and said, "We have a list of recently hired employees at the shelter with basic info on them so we can start there."

Voight responded, "Sounds good. I want Fin and Dawson to stake out this guy's address but be discreet. I don't want him to know we are on to him yet. Everyone else research this guy and try to see how he is linked to Manhattan."

Everyone got to work on their computers and as I was waiting for my laptop to load, I glanced over and noticed Detective Lindsay seemed distracted. She had been quiet all morning and unfocused. I went over to her and whispered, "Hey, everything ok? Do you need anything?" She answered sharply, "I'm fine." I could tell she was far from fine. I said as gently as possible, "You know, I lost count how many times my mom went through rehab and failed. Years ago, she got so drunk that she fell down some stairs, and, well, she died from her injuries. I immediately felt sad of course but then I felt guilty because I was also relieved that I didn't have to worry about her anymore." Lindsay looked up at me, "What does this have to do with me?" I smiled, "I'm just letting you know that I have been in your shoes and if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." She seemed to soften some and replied, "Ok, thanks." I went to walk back to my desk when I felt her grab my forearm. I stopped and turned towards her. She said, "I had to bail her out of jail last night. She was pulled over and charged with a DUI. I'm so sick of being the responsible one. She could have killed someone or herself. I just feel like it's never going to stop until something tragic happens." Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes, and I knew exactly how she felt. I put my arm around her shoulder and said, "I know, but she needs to truly hit rock bottom and the only way that will happen is if you cut all ties from her no matter what. If she knows you won't bail her out, then maybe she will take her rehab seriously." She nodded, wiped her tears, and said "I know. Thanks for listening." I gave her a reassuring smile and headed back to my laptop.

I wasn't having much luck researching Ben Miller. There are a lot of Ben Millers in New York and that may not even be the name he used there. I was checking employee names for animal control officers in Manhattan and the other boroughs when I found a Milton Benson who had been an animal control officer in Manhattan for five years. I know Benson is a common last name, but I prayed he had no distant relation to me. I was just about to announce that I had found something when I felt a presence at my desk. I looked up and Detective Olinsky was standing there looking nervous. I smiled up at him and asked, "Did you find something?" He rubbed his hand over his chin, and said, "Um, no, I am not having much luck. What about you?" I replied, "I think I may have found the link to New York. I found an ACO who used to work in Manhattan until about four months ago with a similar name to Ben Miller. I am wondering if Ben Miller is an alias." He cleared his throat and said, "Oh that's great. Hopefully if it's the same guy, we can get him on the rapes in New York too."

He continued to stand there as if wanting to say something more. I looked up at him again waiting through the awkward silence. He then said, "So, I was wondering if you wanted to grab some Chicago style pizza tonight? I know it's tough staying in a hotel and I wanted to show you how much better pizza from Chicago is versus New York." This seemed like he was asking me out on a date. I was still coming to terms with seeing Elliot again and figuring out where our relationship goes from here. I couldn't even think about dating anyone right now especially being so far from home. Then again, it's just pizza, what could it hurt? I was about to respond when suddenly Elliot had slid his chair over from the desk next to mine and said, "Hey Liv, I was hoping we could finish our talk this evening since we were interrupted last night?" He glared over at Olinsky who finally got the hint that Elliot was not ok with him asking me out. Olinsky smiled and said, "Oh, I see. Never mind, I'll stay out of it." I glared over at Elliot, "Really Elliot? You think you own me or something? You have no right to be jealous or butt in like that!" He sighed, "Liv, I know. I really do want to finish our conversation though. I never meant for it to come off like that. I'm sorry." My anger lessened slightly, and I said, "Fine, we can finish our conversation. Where should we meet?" He brought up having me come to his apartment so it would be quiet and more private. I blushed slightly at the thought of being in his apartment alone and hesitantly said, "Um, ok, text me the address."