Chapter 8: 10-16 (Part 2)

Manhattan SVU Squad Room
16th Precinct
10:15 AM

Having heard about Ming and Tamin's pursuit and how it had come to a sudden stop at 179th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Benson, Eames, Bell, Stabler, Tutuola, and Slootmaekers reconvened at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit.

Sergeant Ming and Detective Tamin, meanwhile, stayed behind at their precinct to brief Lieutenant Beck and make an official statement of what went down during the pursuit.

"So," Eames began as she stood at the front of the room, "Let's catch up, everybody. What do we know about what led up to the pursuit?"

"A nurse from Presbyterian called into the One-Five reporting a suspicious visitor on Enzo Ricci's ward," Stabler explained before clearing his throat.

"Beck sent Ming and Tamin to respond and sent two sector cars from the Thirty-Third Precinct to get there ahead of them," he continued, "Sometime later, an officer from the Three-Three who was on scene with them at the hospital radioed in a plate on a Nineteen-Eighties blue panel van."

"The plate traces back to a blue Nineteen-Eighty-Eight Ford Econoline E-One-Fifty panel van," Slootmaekers added, "Its registered owner is a self-employed painting contractor from Rahway, New Jersey. He reported the vehicle as a Ten-Sixteen out of his driveway two weeks ago, and he told the local PD that the suspect was a short Asian male with brown eyes and dark hair."

A "10-16" was the NYPD radio code used to refer to a vehicle that's reported as stolen.

"Could he tell how old the guy was?" Fin asked.

Slootmaekers shook her head. "No," she replied, "To quote the wording noted in his official statement, 'the guy was as fast as a hummingbird on cocaine.'"

This comical simile caused a moment of collective laughter among everyone in the room. "Okay," Benson chimed in once she regained her composure, "Okay. I know this might seem kind of random, but my question is, why would a New Yorker decide to make a forty-five-minute trip outside the city just to steal a van?"

"Well," Eames said, "Maybe it was stolen from Rahway by some other carjacker and then got swapped around for a bit until it ended up in the hands of our perp."

"That's certainly possible," Benson replied, "Have the Crime Scene techs been able to get to it yet?"

"I just got an e-mail from them, as a matter of fact" Fin said, "The tech said that their search for latent prints was a complete bust, but they were able to find a strange substance on the gas pedal. They think it was transferred from the sole of the perp's boot."

"Okay," Eames replied, "Exactly how abnormal are we talking here?"

"A mixture of vegetable-based mineral oil," Fin began, "Calcium, sodium, various types of phosphates, as well as tiny mashed up pieces of green onions, ginger, and garlic."

Those last 3 things illuminated a metaphorical light bulb inside Benson's mind. "Hang on a minute," she said as she went over to Fin's computer. "Pardon me for a second, Fin" she politely said before reaching over and typing something into an online search engine.

Based on the satisfied look that came over the captain's face a few seconds later, she had gotten her desired result.

"Green onions, ginger, and garlic" Benson repeated, "Connect that with all the other compounds that Fin just mentioned, then you have the three most common ingredients used in cooking Chinese food as well as the grease that comes from the process."

Both Eames and Slootmaekers were catching on. "It all seems so innocuous on its own," Slootmaekers said, "But when you consider how Enzo told you guys that he had Chinese food delivered just prior to his attack..."

"That could be our connection," Eames added.

Stabler then suddenly remembered something. "Wait a minute," he said as he brought something up on another computer screen and began typing.

Eames, Tutuola, and Benson then assembled around Stabler at his computer. "What's up, Detective?" Eames asked.

"When Liv mentioned Chinese food," Stabler replied, "It set off a lightbulb in my head. When we talked to Mia Harris at Hudson U, she mentioned her boyfriend..."

Benson nodded. "Steven...Something, right?" she inquired.

"Zhang," Stabler corrected as he brought up Steven's information. "Here it is," he continued, "Steven Zhang, age Twenty-Two, DOB One-Twenty-Four-Two Thousand. His home address is on Windsor Place in Brooklyn, just like Mia said..."

As the detective scrolled a little further down the screen, a gratified smile came over him. "And look at this," Stabler said, "he works as a member of the kitchen staff at Uncle Wong's Chinese Restaurant on Eighth Avenue."

Stabler's continued scrolling through Steven Zhang's prior arrest resulted in some more interesting information. "Hang on," he continued, "He's got some priors here as well. He was convicted in Two-Thousand-Fifteen for stalking his ex-girlfriend who lived in Canarsie. He served seven years at Riker's Island."

"That certainly fits with someone with a propensity for violence," Eames said.

"Right," Stabler replied, "And if we go even further back in the way-back machine, I see that our boy Steven has a simple assault charge back from when he was twelve. He punched out a neighborhood kid in Crown Heights."

"What'd he get for that?" Fin asked.

"Well," Stabler says, "He was a juvenile back then, so his parents had to pay a One-Thousand-Dollar fine, and he also got one year of juvie probation, which basically means he got counseling and had to check in with a probation officer on a regular basis."

"The past juvenile offense notwithstanding," Eames said, "That just cements my point. This 'Steven Zhang' has an obvious propensity for violence."

"I agree with the Inspector," Benson added, "But let's get this all straight so we're all on the same page. We're saying that Steven Zhang had it out for Enzo Ricci, gained access to his and Perry's apartment masquerading as a delivery man, and stabbed him. My only question is, why?"

"I'm certainly no profiler," Sergeant Bell cut in, "But what if he held some sort of deep-seated jealousy or hatred towards Enzo. Maybe he had it in his head that Enzo was attracted to Mia and wrongfully perceived him as a threat to their relationship?"

"Maybe all of the past events with Perry Gilbert and the Harris sisters are just a mere coincidence and have nothing to do with why Zhang did what we think he did," Stabler said.

Benson chuckled in retort. "In all the years I've known you," she replied, "You've never struck me as a big believer in coincidences, El."

Stabler shrugged his shoulders. "Hey," he said, "I enjoy being a detective and am as committed to getting to the bottom of things as anyone else on this job, present company certainly included. But I'm also man enough to admit that sometimes things just are what they are."

"Do we even know where to start looking for Mister Zhang?" Eames inquired.

Tutuola picked up the receiver of his desk phone. "The Seventy-Second Precinct is near his home neighborhood in Brooklyn," he replied, "I'll give them a call and have them send some blue-and-whites over that way."

Benson nodded. "Sounds good," she said, "I'll call the One-Five and ask Beck to send some people over to Uncle Wong's and see if he made it to work."

"Whatever else you guys might need," Eames added, "Overtime, extra resources, anything, I'll authorize it with the Commissioner."

"Thanks, Alex" Benson said as she patted her shoulder, "It's great to know that One-PP's got our backs with this."

"And it'll be that way as long as I have anything to say about it," Eames confidently replied.

With that, everyone dispersed to initiate the manhunt for Steven Zhang.