A/N: So sorry this took so long to get posted. My schedule has been a bit all over the place. I'm hoping to update more regularly after the Memorial Day Holiday. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 26
Elliot had promised to get Noah and Olivia had promised that they'd all have dinner together. Her former partner smiled and was more than happy to do that. He'd been wanting to actually be able to sit down and talk with both Noah and Olivia for a while.
Now, Olivia stood at the New York City FBI offices, with Agent Shane Pritchard and George Huang at the Agent's desk. They were waiting for Detective Amanda Klass, who had just been sent up the elevator by the nice receptionist downstairs. The elevator dinged and Olivia spotted the younger woman. She'd brought Betty with her and that made the Captain wonder.
"Sorry, I'm late. Betty thought it would be best to walk here but I managed to convince her that the Uber ride was a better idea," she smirked.
"Can Betty sniff files?" Agent Pritchard asked. He noticed that Betty was wearing a "Service Dog" tag on her harness.
"She found the bodies in the empty lot," Klass said.
"And for that she's earned a lot of treats," Pritchard smiled.
"Oh, and then some. So, what do we have?" Klass wondered.
"Well Captain Benson brought up an excellent point and I thought that you might have some insight. You've been chasing him the longest and you figured out the square thing," Pritchard said. He was a tall, younger man who had spent the last ten years tracking down bad guys and was on the cusp of joining the training for the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
"Do you have my marked-up map?" Klass asked.
"I put it up on the board in the conference room," he nodded. The group moved over to the room where the files were all laid out. The Queens SVU detective looked at the map and Betty joined her, sitting down right next to her.
"Ok so the graveyard caused the square to be a little kittywampus," Klass said.
"That a technical term?" Pritchard asked.
"Best I can explain it," she chuckled before continuing, "so if we were aiming for a perfect square, we'd need to pick up the point a few blocks north of the cemetery."
"That's been well developed. There is nothing empty and abandoned there," Huang spoke up. He too had noted the "Service Dog" tag and wondered what had been troubling the young woman. She seemed perfectly fine the other day. Given his profession, he knew that one day could be completely different from the previous days. Still, if she needed a service dog, how could she be in the field for the NYPD?
"No, there is not. But why then do what he did earlier?" Klass frowned.
"He was the only one who knew about the other sites. He was the only one who knew about the status of the buildings that he was aiming for. So, he knew that the cemetery would make his neat and tidy little plan a mess. Still, if he had been as careful, there was a good chance that Mrs. Bernardini would have been buried with her husband and Makayla Powell," Benson spoke up.
"We need to add in the other buildings. They all had some part to play," Pritchard pointed out. He quickly circled all the other buildings.
"Well, our square disappeared. He wasn't trying to make a specific path with his dump sites," Benson frowned.
"Maybe it's about the order? Maybe he starts at the building he's been tracking the longest and then starts to move around? I hate to say it but maybe the order only matters to us," Klass shook her head.
"Seeing a pattern where there is none," Huang said.
"Exactly. My square only works if we don't find the others. I hope the Germans catch him," she said. Her phone rang and she quickly picked it up without looking at who was calling. She moved off to the side and Huang pulled Benson aside.
"Do you know why Betty is a service dog?" He asked.
"I do not. What I do know from her Captain in Queens is that she's been through some stuff and he told me to ask her if I wanted to know. I didn't ask, she seemed levelheaded and completely normal to me. I've been through some stuff, as you know, if Betty helps her still be a cop, then I wouldn't begrudge her for it," she told him. He nodded.
"That was my friend in the ME's office. They identified Nicole Cox," Klass's shoulders slumped.
"Damn. Where was she?" Benson asked.
"I didn't ask. My friend said they found a small child next to her. They're trying to determine if the child was hers or not. I'm willing to bet she is because Nicole was shot in the back of the head, just like the other mothers we found," Klass found a seat at the conference table and Betty was immediately at her side.
"We thought he was playing family. He went through a lot of people to try and find the perfect one. Still, something made him kill Nicole Cox," Huang said.
"We still don't know who most of the bodies are or how long they've been missing. Once we have more of the puzzle pieces then we might be able to solve what made him go sloppy. I appreciate you coming down here. Can I call on you or your team members if need be?" Pritchard asked.
"Yes, absolutely, as long as you keep me posted," Benson said.
"Consider it done," Pritchard promised. The Captain went over to the Queens SVU detective and she stood up from her seat.
"I need to see Nicole," Klass said. Benson wasn't sure that was a good idea but she could understand why the young detective would want to.
"All right. I'll give you and Betty a lift," Benson gave her a smile. Huang came up to them and he handed Klass his card.
"If you ever need to talk, I will be more than willing to listen," he promised.
"Thanks Doc. I can see why you and the Captain are such good friends," she smiled slightly. He smiled back at her and he watched the two ladies go with Betty right beside them.
"What do you think she's seen?" Pritchard asked him, once they were alone.
"This case would drive anyone close to the edge, especially, if they were already close. I heard Betty served in Afghanistan with her old partner. So, I think those two are helping each other, and that is the best thing for them," Huang said.
To Be Continued…