Chapter 2: Pieces of the Past

15th Precinct
Midtown Manhattan
6:30 AM

Captain Benson entered the NYPD's 15th Precinct, now dressed in a black wool sweater, black jogging pants, and black boots. She found Kat Tamin waiting for her beside the front desk, at which point the young detective extended her arms out for a hug.

"Captain!" Tamin greeted.

Benson obliged Kat's warmhearted gesture, hugging her former detective warmly. "Kat!" she said, "I'm so glad to see you back on your feet."

"Back on my feet and back on the job," Tamin replied as their embrace broke, "After I completed my physical therapy, Celine and I got to go to France for three weeks." Celine was Kat's significant other of almost 2 years. "That's actually where I first met Lieutenant Beck," she continued.

"How's that?" Benson inquired.

"We happened to run into each other while passing through Marseille," Tamin explained, "She was also visiting there at the time with her boyfriend. We got to talking and I told her my story. She mentioned there was going to be an open position for a Detective in the Warrants Division here, so once we got back and I was cleared for full duty, I transferred here."

Benson nodded as she walked with Kat towards the Warrant Division's squad room on the opposite side of the precinct's first floor. "Well," she said, "As much as we all hated to see you leave Special Victims, it's so great that you found a new home here."

"Thanks," Tamin replied, "As you can see, I finally traded in my white shield for a gold one." She then gestured to the gold NYPD Detective's shield pinned to the belt loop on her pants, signifying her current rank of Detective Third Grade.

Benson smiled in response. "It looks great on you," she said.

The doors to the Warrant Division's squad room then came open just as Benson and Tamin were nearly there, at which point Detective Eliot Stabler propped the right-side door open for them. Stabler stood at an imposing 6'1 and had his head shaved completely bald. He wore a gray cotton long sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"Morning, Liv!" Stabler cordially greeted his friend and former partner of many years.

"Morning, Eliot!" Benson reciprocated, "Is everybody here?"

"Per both your request and the request of Deputy Inspector Eames," Stabler replied, "My task force is here, Dani and her people are here, and Fin and Carisi are here as well, along with Eames herself. She wants all hands on deck. You'll see why momentarily."

"Yeah, well" Benson said, "With Rollins and Velasco handling that extradition in Kentucky, I think we're going to need all hands."

Benson, Tamin, and Stabler all stepped into the squad room. Lieutenant Beck then came up to them, extending a hand to the captain.

"Olivia," Beck greeted, "Thank you so much for coming in this early."

"Not a problem, Dani" Benson replied as she kindly shook the lieutenant's hand, "It's good to see you again, even despite the circumstances. Eliot tells me you and the Deputy Inspector called in some of the big guns for this."

Beck then turned and motioned to all the personnel now occupying her squad room. Aside from herself, Benson, Tamin and Stabler, this included Sergeant Ming, Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, Sergeant Ayana Bell, Detective Jet Slootmaekers, and Assistant District Attorney Dominick "Sonny" Carisi.

Standing at the forefront of everyone was Deputy Inspector Alexandra Eames. Eames was a veteran NYPD officer in her late 50's who stood at just 5'2 and was dressed in her NYPD uniform, which was rounded out by a white uniform shirt.

"Captain Benson," Eames greeted, "Thanks so much for getting everybody together so quickly."

"As I said to Lieutenant Beck," Benson said, "That wasn't a problem. But would you mind explaining why we're all here so I can have some proper context, please?"

"Early this morning," Eames began explaining, "Lieutenant Beck and her squad, which includes Detective Tamin and Sergeant Ming here, executed an arrest warrant at an apartment over on Eighth Avenue at the home of nineteen-year-old Enzo Ricci."

Sergeant Bell, Stabler's commanding officer at the Organized Crime Task Force, then took her opportunity to chime in. The attractive African American sergeant was in her early 40's, and she was dressed in a gray blazer with a gray women's polo shirt underneath, black slacks, and black flat heels. Her dark hair was styled into neat braids.

"As you may or may not know," Bell began, "Enzo is the son of Lucio Ricci, who is the lieutenant of the Ricci crime family based out of Little Italy."

Detective Jet Slootmaekers, the Organized Crime Task's force equally intelligent and stouthearted computer expert, looked like she had something to add. She stood at roughly 5'4 and was dressed in a black Johnny Nemonic t-shirt, blue jeans, and black crocs, and her dark brown hair was styled in a short bob. She raised her hand and was met by an affirmative nod from Bell.

"Actually," Slootmaekers began, "The Ricci Family's various forays into organized crime only began in Little Italy with their poorly profiting sanitation business which first opened in the early Seventies. According to their original file from the Organized Crime Control Bureau, the business was a front for illegal off-the-books sports betting and firearms smuggling."

"The early Seventies, huh?" Stabler said, "Considering that OCCB was first formed in November of Seventy-One, the Riccis must've been one of the first cases they ever worked back then."

Slootmaekers nodded. "You're right," she replied, "And more recent inquiries show them switching things up and turning to the narcotics trade and counterfeiting. They're mentioned in police reports from Manhattan all the way across the river in River Park, New Jersey. The Secret Service has even expressed interest in them as of late."

"This is all very interesting," Eames interjected, "But will someone please tell me how the Ricci's necessitated Special Victims being looped in?"

"Lucio Ricci was a suspect in a rape-homicide case Olivia and I worked back in Two-Thousand-Six when I was still a member of SVU," Stabler explained, "A high profile attorney named Sidney Truex was attacked. His wife Maura was brutally raped, sodomized, and beaten to death in their townhouse."

"Our subsequent investigation led us to find out that the Ricci family had been threatening Sidney and his family," Benson added, "He was only a small blip on our radar at the time, and we were able to eventually rule him out. We were able to figure out that the perp was a guy that Sidney and Maura's daughter, Charlotte had been dating."

"I heard about that," Beck said, "His name was Ryan Bedford, right?"

"Mm-hmm," Stabler replied, "I got suspended and investigated by a Grand Jury when Ryan suddenly dropped dead in the street while Liv and I were pursuing him on foot. The Medical Examiner did some additional investigating and found that Ryan suffered from a cardiac condition that caused him to suffer a fatal arrythmia. The Grand Jury voted against my indictment, and I was reinstated to the job not long after."

"Thank God," Beck said, only to be met by a grateful grin from Stabler.

Now understanding the full context of the situation, Eames nodded. "Okay then," she said, "What do we know about Enzo Ricci's condition so far?"

Sergeant Odafin Tutuola, mostly known as "Fin" to his closest friends and colleagues, then chimed in. "EMS took him to New York Presbyterian," he said, "He suffered a single stab wound to his right thigh right next to his scrotum which just slightly nicked his femoral artery. He's in surgery as we speak."

"Good thing we got there just in time," Tamin said.

"For real," Fin replied, "I hear you gave him first aid on scene. That was some nice work, kid. Way to go."

Tamin smiled at him. "Thanks, Sarge" she said. Her desk phone then rang, at which point she excused herself and promptly answered.

"One-Five Warrants Division, Detective Tamin" she answered. Roughly 30 seconds into listening to her caller, she signaled for Beck to come to her desk. The lieutenant obliged and they talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, during which time Tamin brought something up on her computer screen and showed it to Beck.

"This is confirmed?" Beck quietly asked Tamin.

"Yep," Tamin softly replied, "I talked to the building manager just before everyone got here and CSU just confirmed her prints were all over the apartment."

"Something you need to tell us, ladies?" ADA Carisi asked the 2 women. The 6' detective turned prosecutor was dressed in a charcoal suit a paisley tie, and high-end black loafers. His grayish hair neatly slicked back with hair gel.

Tamin stammered a bit before explaining. "Uh," she sputtered, "Yeah. Sorry. I was just telling Lieutenant Beck that I got the name of Enzo Ricci's live-in girlfriend. I spoke to the building super on the phone earlier and the Crime Lab just confirmed that her fingerprints were all over the apartment."

"Okay," Carisi replied, "Well, don't keep us all in suspense here."

"Her name is Perry Gilbert," Beck blurted out, "Age Twenty-one. Prior record for a juvenile Assault One charge from back in Twenty-Sixteen. Remanded to a psychiatric hospital..."

All the color drained from Carisi's face before he traded looks with Benson and held a hand up to stifle the lieutenant. "Yeah," he said, "We worked that case back when I was an SVU detective. This young girl named Zoe Harris was found stabbed multiple times in Inwood Hill Park just after Halloween."

Deputy Inspector Eames nodded with realization. "I remember the case from the news," she said, "You guys first thought it was a homeless guy who lived in the park, if memory serves."

Benson nodded. "Charlie Dorsey," she explained, "A lot of the neighborhood kids, including the three girls involved in the case, would often refer to him as 'Glasgowman', a spooky fictional character. Our investigation back then also led to a very eccentric young man named Leslie Conolly, who was apparently Perry Gilbert's babysitter."

"And he did nothing but fuel the fire, if you ask me" Carisi said, "He created a graphic novel which amplified the macabre interest in Glasgowman, not only for Perry, but also her best friend, Mia Harris."

"Mia was Zoe Harris' older sister," Benson added, "She and Perry had quite the obsessive friendship. We were finally able to determine that Perry stabbed not only Zoe, but herself and Mia as well. She later tried to blame everything on Glasgowman, even in court."

"She initially used Charlie Dorsey's knife to stab Zoe in the park that night," Carisi continued, "To try and shift our suspicions on to him, which worked for a while. That is, until Rollins, Nick Amaro, and I found her and Mia wounded but alive in an old gatehouse upriver from the city. Mia tried to play things off like she was 'Little Miss Innocent Victim', but I saw them lock fingers briefly in the courthouse elevator as Perry was hauled off to a psych hospital."

"So, you think they both could be suspects in what's going on now?" Tamin asked.

Carisi shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe," he replied, "I'd say it's definitely worth looking into."

"I agree," Benson said as she stepped to the front of the squad room to address everyone. "Okay," she began, "If it's alright with Lieutenant Beck and Sergeant Bell, I'd like both our squads to join forces on this."

Bell and Beck momentarily traded looks before they both nodded. "Fine with us," Beck said.

"I have no issue on my end," Eames added, "I'll let the department brass know so they can be apprised."

Benson nodded. "In that case," she continued, "Fin and Elliot, why don't you guys try to run down the current whereabouts of Perry Gilbert and the Harris sisters, please."

"We're all over it, Captain" Fin replied as he and Stabler got to work.

"I'll do a deep dive on the three of them as well," Slootmaekers chimed in.

"Thanks," Benson said, "I'd also like to have some people head over to New York Presbyterian Hospital and wait for Enzo Ricci to get out of surgery."

"Kat and I can do that," Sergeant Ming said.

"Okay," Benson replied, "That sounds good. Sergeant Bell, Lieutenant Beck, and I will be coordinating things from our respective precincts, so I would appreciate if each of you guys would please update one of the three of us with your progress."

Everyone filed out to get to work with everything. Benson then took Carisi aside as he got up to leave.

"Hey," Benson said, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything," Carisi replied.

"Would you mind reaching out to that private forensic firm that Amaro works for now?" Benson asked, "If he's available to help us out, I'd really like to compare notes with him, so we have all our bases covered."

"No problem," Carisi said, "I'll give them a call on my way back to the DA's Office."

"Thanks," Benson replied.

She then watched him leave the squad room and then went to start coordinating with Beck, Bell, and Eames.