Fic Update: Vigilante 19/?
Chapter Nineteen
Olivia drove them to a cozy little joint where Casey could still order breakfast if she wanted to. Liv was going to have a nice juicy cheeseburger.
Just as she opened her mouth to give their orders to the waiter, the shrill sound of her cell phone in her pocket rang through the air. "Shit! Give us a minute," she said to the waiter, then snapped her phone open and put it to her ear. "Benson."
Casey raised an eyebrow and placated the offended waiter while Olivia had a hushed conversation with whoever was on the phone - presumably Elliot. He's the only one that would call her on a day off. Keeping one eye on Olivia's facial expressions and body language while she chatted idly with the waiter, Casey couldn't tell if it was good news or bad news, or maybe a little of both.
Liv shut her phone and slid it back into her pocket, standing from the table. "We've got another vic. Let's go."
"Since when do I go to crime scenes?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow, forgetting about the waiter for the moment, who was now very intrigued with this pair of customers.
"Since I don't have time to drop you off at your office," Olivia said, slinging on her jacket. "Come on." She started to turn to leave.
"Olivia!" Casey hissed, and when the detective turned back around, the ADA glanced down at her lap, then back up at her meaningfully.
Olivia stared for a second, then broke out into a wide grin. She'd momentarily forgotten she'd made Casey go without underwear. "Payback's a bitch, Counselor."
"Oh fuck," Casey breathed as she watched Olivia go, running her hands over her face and standing to follow her.
"Hey! Who's gonna pay for your drinks?" the waiter asked in surprise.
Casey didn't have her purse, it was at Olivia's apartment. Thinking fast, she leaned in close to him and whispered something in his ear, then grinned as she twirled around and left.
The poor waiter had to sit down, his face bright red, staring after Casey and only hoping those two would come back again soon.
--
Casey refused to get out of the car, and Olivia snickered as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves and headed over to Elliot and Warner. "Same MO?" she asked, though she knew already that it was.
Melinda looked up with a grim smile. "Right down to the depth of the ligature marks. Perp strangled all three with the exact same amount of pressure."
"How the hell is that even possible?" Elliot asked. "You're choking the life out of some guy, and you're gonna tell me you don't vary the tightness of your grip based on resistance and or size, strength, width of the throat?"
Warner shook her head, pointing to the area in question. "No swelling around the marks. Strangulation was post-mortem."
"What?" Olivia asked, her eyes snapping open wide. "Why? Why the hell do you strangle someone *after* you kill them? What the hell are we missing here?"
Elliot shook his head, staring at the thick purple line on the guy's throat. "Even then... you saying he squeezed the exact same amount with no variation, three times? I'm not buying it. That's impossible."
Olivia pursed her lips, then shook her head as well. "No, but say he wasn't using his hands?"
"Still, what the fuck is the point of strangling a dead body?" Elliot asked, his anger pushing its way through his words. "I don't care what he used, the guy's really starting to piss me off."
Olivia made that 'whatever' face at him and turned to one of the unis. "Who called it in?"
The guy shrugged. "I dunno. Anonymous tip I guess."
Olivia looked at Melinda. "How long's he been dead?"
"No more than half an hour."
She looked back to the uni. "What time did you get the dispatch?"
The guy checked his notes. "Call came through at 11:43."
"What time is it, El?" Olivia asked, turning to her disgusted partner.
"Start wearing a watch, Olivia. Seriously." He glanced at his, and his eyes widened. "It's 12:15. We've got a witness."
Olivia got on the phone with emergency dispatch immediately and had them trace the call. She snatched a pen and notebook from the uni's pocket and scribbled the name and address. "Thanks," she said and hung up the phone. "Call came from an apartment building, right there." She pointed across the alley, no more than fifty yards away. "Phone line's registered to a... Sarah Stiles. Let's go."
Elliot cleared his throat and Olivia stopped walking, turning back with raised brows. "Yes? Is there a problem?"
He tried to contain his smirk, but was given away by the twitch of his lips and the dimples that formed when he smiled. "You just gonna leave Novak in your car?"
"She's a big girl, I think she can handle herself, Elliot," Olivia replied, not seeing the reason behind his humor.
"Liv. I was joking. Just letting you know I noticed that you've got the ADA in your car, after you both called out today. Rough night?"
Benson rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs, then headed for the apartment building again. "Come on, jackass. Let's go."
"Did you have sex on all our desks, or just John's?" Elliot asked in that way of his as they walked the short distance to their destination.
"I am not having this discussion," Olivia said, quirking a half-grin at him as she turned away and pressed the intercom button for the office.
"Whayawant?" came an annoyed voice.
"Police, we need to speak to one of your residents," Olivia said blandly. "Please open the doors."
They heard a loud buzzing and Olivia pulled open the double doors, stepping inside and looking around. "Nice place," she said sarcastically - it looked like something out of a thriller movie. Very old, almost decaying, no color whatsoever.
Elliot moved to the mailboxes and scanned them until he found what they were looking for. "Stiles. Two B. Second floor, I take it?"
"I'm going for the stairs. You couldn't pay me to get in that elevator," Olivia said, her trust for the machinations of the building showing on her sleeve.
Elliot chuckled and waved his arm for her to precede him. "Ladies first."
"Since when have you considered me a lady?" Liv snorted, heading up the stairs.
"Don't-don't go there," Elliot replied, giving her that face he tended to make when something either smelled bad or he was in pain. Or when the thought of answering one of her questions made him feel like he was in pain.
They reached apartment Two B without incident, and Liv rapped her knuckles on the door. "Sarah Stiles?" she called, and she heard an exasperated groan on the other side of the wall before the door opened to reveal a good-naturedly scowling woman.
"So much for anonymous these days," she grumbled, stepping back to let them in. "You trace the call?"
Liv grinned, liking her immediately. "Fraid so. Sorry."
"Yeah well, see if I play the role of good samaritan anymore," Sarah drolled, closing the door behind Elliot.
"So. You saw the whole thing go down," Elliot asked, though it was really more of a statement than a question.
"Unfortunately, yes," Sarah replied, gesturing for them to sit down on the sofa as she chose an armchair. They sat, and Olivia got ready to take notes. "I heard a shriek, not too loud, but since it was practically right outside my window, I heard it. I went to look, and there's these two people rolling around in the alley. Then there was a girl, she looked pretty damn young if you ask me, had something written on her face, she was laying on the ground. She got up and ran off. I didn't see it start, but what I gathered was that someone was about to mess her up and someone else didn't like that idea."
Olivia's eyes slightly widened and she looked at Elliot. "Evaline," she said. "Has to be. Cal Woodson tattooed her face with his name." She turned to Sarah, still furiously jotting down notes on the notebook she'd snagged from the uni outside. "Did you see either of the other's faces?" she asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"One of 'em's the dead guy, obviously, and the other was wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and grey baggy pants, some sort of heavy boots it looked like. Black boots. I saw her face for just a second... not good enough to remember what she looked like, just long enough to see it was a she."
Both Elliot and Olivia couldn't hide their surprise, no matter how trained they were in professional detachment. "A female?" Olivia asked, her pen frozen mid-stroke. "Are you sure?"
"Do babies smell?" Sarah asked, obviously offended that Olivia would even ask such a thing. "Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't say it if I weren't sure."
"Sorry," Olivia said quietly, her brows furrowing as she processed the new information. "Well... thank you Ms. Stiles, we won't take up any more of your time. You've been very helpful and we appreciate that very much."
The detectives stood to leave and Elliot nodded to Sarah. "You have a nice day now," he said with a smile, then followed Olivia out.
"I'm sure you'll be back if you need anything," Sarah said, acting as if she felt put-out, but she really didn't mind the company.
Liv exhaled frustratedly and ran her hand through her hair once they were back outside. "We should call Huang."
"Why, just because it's a woman?" Elliot asked.
"No," Olivia snapped back. "Because we know jack shit about the perp and we now have three victims."
"We gotta find Evaline," Elliot stated, as if they both didn't know that already.
"I'll take Casey with me, we'll go back and press Jamie and Abby for more information. Maybe we can find out where she hangs out when she's not on the job. Assuming of course that she's ever not on the job."
Elliot nodded. "Sound familiar? I'll canvass, see if anyone else saw or heard anything."
Liv nodded back and walked over to her car, sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine.
"Where the hell'd you go?" Casey asked. "I've been sitting here for an hour."
"It hasn't been that long, drama queen, and we were questioning a witness. Don't get your panties in a twist." She smirked and pulled into traffic, looking over her shoulder to make sure the road was clear.
"Hysterical," Casey deadpanned, staring out the front window.