Chapter 1

The television was on at 11:30 that night while he was getting ready for bed. The Larry Jinks talk show came on after the news. He figured he'd leave it on while he brushed his teeth. The noise would keep the room from being so quiet.
As he came out of the bathroom, the first guest walked on stage and gave the traditional “Hi Jinks” to the host. It was a stupid gimmick but he had admit the girl was hot. Jenny Wilson was stacked and she always dressed to show her figure off to its full advantage and than some. Larry Jinks appeared to be enjoying the view.
“Jenny, welcome to the show. It is so great to see you. Have a seat and tell us what's happening in your life.” Larry cooed at the singer while his eyes never left her chest.
Jenny flipped her long red hair back to give him an unimpeded view. “My latest CD is still doing well and the videos are still real popular on MTV. But I'm here tonight to make an announcement about my personal life.”
Larry's attention was diverted up to Jenny's face. Her choosing his show to make a major personal announcement would be a real boost to his reputation.
Knowing that she have everyone's undivided attention, Jenny continued, “I know everybody has wondering about my love life lately. You haven't really seen me out on the town for the last couple of months. It wasn't just to rest up from making the CD and the videos. There has been someone special who came into my life during that time.”
Larry jumped in, “That's great news, sweetheart. We are all so happy for you. I'm so pleased you choose to share that with the world on our show. Now, give us all the details.”
Jenny smiled, playing to the camera that was doing a closeup of her face, “ We met at the studio when I was recording What A Girl Wants. We were very professional at first, we just clicked. There were lots of long talks that just kept getting more and more personal. The we were just alone one night and we kissed. And we haven't spent one night apart since.”
The studio audience burst into applause at that point. Jenny continued to smile at the camera, a touch of pink on her cheeks.
“Does this mean there are going to be wedding bells in the near future?” Larry asked after the applause had dies down.
Jenny took a deep breath before answering, “Actually we've already tied the knot last week up in the Berkshires. We didn't want to wait and it seemed such a beautiful place for a quiet, private ceremony.” Then she held up her left hand and showed off the gold band on her ring finger.
Larry could barely contain himself that she was doing this on his show. “And now tell us the name of the lucky guy who put a ring on that finger.”
Jenny turned her head and looked straight at Larry, “I can't really do that, Larry. There is no guy. I got married to the most wonderful woman in the world. Her name is Amy Madison and I love her more than anything. And I intend to make sure the state of New York recognizes her as my wife.”
There was dead silence in the studio. Nobody was expecting that announcement. Then people got over their shock. Some of the audience started to clap. But others started to boo. It looked like fights might start breaking out. The band leader sized up the situation and started the trio on playing the show theme song. That brought Larry back into the present.
“I think maybe it's time for a word from one of our fine sponsors.”
A commercial for a new mouthwash appeared on the screen, followed by another ten minutes of commercials. When Larry Jinks came back on the air, he was sitting alone and introducing his next guest as though nothing had happened. The man turned the television off.
“Amy Madison,” he muttered, “We'll just have to see about that.”

its okay. doesnt have much to do with SVU, though

Chapter 2

Elliot walked into the squad room with his paper followed so that the headline was inside. He was hoping people had better things to talk about than Jenny Wilson's bombshell. He'd turned on the radio this morning to get the score from last night's games but all anybody was discussing was the Larry Jinks show. That included the twins. He smiled realizing how odd it was to hope rape and murder would be more peaceful that someone's statement about their sexual choices.
“Good morning. Is the coffee fresh or leftover from last night?”
Munch looked up from the papers on his desk and glared at Elliot. “I made it fresh twenty minutes ago and from a new can. You didn't bring your own this morning?”
Elliot shook his head as he walked over to the machine, “I don't want to go anywhere anybody was gonna be talking about that gay marriage thing.”
“I wonder if I would have been any more successful if I tried marrying guys instead girls.”
“Trust me, Munch, in your case it wouldn't have made any difference.” Elliot took his coffee back to his desk and opened the paper to find the sports page.
“So you would be fine if I invited you to my next wedding and you found two grooms at the altar?”
“What makes you think I would come to your wedding no matter who you were marrying? You've already been married four times. And the last one...”
Munch interrupted, “Okay, I'm not the best example. But you haven't answered the question.”
“I don't have an answer. At this point, it's not legal in the state of New York. That's all I need to know. And I think I've heard enough it for today already.”
“Sorry to hear that, Elliot,” Cragen said as he came out of his office. “I just get off the phone with 1PP. It seems there are a lot of people who want to make their opinions on the subject known. Some of them have sent some rather ugly threats to the Larry Jinks office and Jenny Wilson's record label.”
Elliot set down his paper, “That's not a sex crime. Why give it to us?”
“Because if some of these people make good on their threats, it will be. The brass wants to make sure that doesn't happen. And because it would fall under the Hate Crimes Act. The mayor doesn't want anybody to be able to say we didn't do anything until it was too late.
“I have my orders and now you have yours. The physical messages are their way to the lab to get tested to see the senders are in the system. TARU will be working on those that were posted on Jenny Wilson's website. The phone company will be sending over the phone records of the calls made to the Larry Jinks Show and to Sizzle Sounds. I want you to go talk to the ladies in questions and assure them we will do our best to keep them safe.” Cragen handed Elliot the address. “ Any questions?”
“Just one. Am I working this alone alone or should I wait for Liv?”
Cragen thought for a second, “I'm sure you can handle this yourself. We can always add manpower if we need it.”
Elliot finished his coffee and left to go pick up a car. After he left, Munch turned to Cragen with a puzzled look.
“You told me Olivia was going to be out for the next couple days. Why didn't you tell Elliot?”
“Because he can't be worrying about his partner right now. And Olivia needs some space from all this. I'll be the one to tell him if I think he needs to know.” Cragen looked at the papers on Munch's desk. “What are you and Fin working on?”
“Fin's in court now. He was subpoenaed for Baxter v. Baxter. And I am trying to get this paperwork ready for our new ADA to get us some search warrants for the Harberg, Foster and Nguyen cases”
“Good. Get everything cleared up that you can. I have the feeling this mess is going to be a royal pain.”

Amazing job. I really like it. :]

I like it! Update soon!

now I get it. Love the story. Is it EO?

EO4EVR Posted Today, 02:02 AM
now I get it. Love the story. Is it EO?

EO is a definite NO. This is mostly an Elliot and Fin piece. Olivia should make an brief appearance later. There is a story called Prospective for her coming up that runs parallel to this one.
And now back to the story.
-------------------------------

Chapter 3

Elliot parked the car and walked over to the address Cragen had given him. He looked up the building and even though his head went all the way back, he wasn't sure he could see the top floor.
“Can I help you, sir?”
Elliot's head came back forward. He saw the uniformed doorman and pulled out his badge.
“Hi there. I'm Detective Stabler. I'm supposed to meet with Ms. Wilson here.”
The doorman took along look at Elliot's badge. “Come inside with me. I'll have someone check to see if you are on the list.”
They went through the double doors into a marble foyer. They walked over to the desk where Elliot was passed off to the young woman standing there. She looked on her computer when he tell her who he was there to see. There was a small frown on her face.
“I don't have your name personally but there is a note that the police should be arriving. If I could just have your badge for a moment, I'll call up to make sure you are expected.”
While she was on the phone, Elliot looked around. He spotted three security cameras, each covering a different point in the room. There was a door behind the desk which probably opened into the viewing area. He smiled as the young woman hung up the phone.
“You seem to have some security coverage here in the lobby. Have there been any problems here over Ms. Wilson's announcement since last night?”
“Not here. She keeps a low profile about the building. That is the only door to the street except for the alarmed fire doors.” She motioned him to follow her. “The elevators require a passkey to operate. In order to get to the top twenty floors, you also need to punch in a security code. Each floor has their own code. You are expected so I'll send you up. Ms. Wilson's manager, Glen Draper, will meet you at the top.”
As promised, there was a man waiting by the elevator. Elliot got the impression of a shark with very big, very white teeth.
“Detective, thank you for getting here so quickly. Ms. Wilson was understandably upset about the negative audience reaction to her news last night. When the threats started coming, I wouldn't let her see them. Some of them were just too vicious.”
“I can understand how that could be upsetting. Our labs are looking into finding out who sent them as best we can. We should be able to find those who have a record and determine if they pose a real threat. But we can't do much about the rest.”
“I know. I warned her that there would be people opposed to her point of view.” They entered the apartment and started down a hallway. “The girls are waiting in the living room. Just down this way.”
Jenny Wilson's living room was impressive to say the least. It was set in the corner of the building featuring two walls of glass opening onto a breathtaking view of the city. But Elliot's eyes were drawn to the two women sitting together holding hands.
“Jenny, Amy, this is Detective Stabler. He's here to talk to us about what can be done to handle the people who don't want you two together.” Draper point to a chair to Elliot to sit in. “Can I get you anything? Maybe some coffee.”
Elliot shook his head and sat down. “No, thank you. I'm fine. And I think I need to correct your statement Mr. Draper. I'm here because of the threats some people have made. We will be looking into anyone who sent them that we may already know to be dangerous. Those people who are already in our data banks. We will want to get any information form your records about threats that haven't already been reported to the police. Fans who wanted to get too personal, people who may already have thought they had a personal relationship with Ms. Wilson, that sort of thing.”
Draper nodded, “I'll have our security company send over whatever we have on the more obsessive fans.”
“That's good. I'll tell you where to have them sent.” Elliot took a deep breath before continuing to the hard part. “But, there is nothing we can do about the people who disagree with what you want to do. They have just as much right to their opinion as you do. And I expect there will be a number of them who are going to be vocal about it. Unless they break the law, there isn't anything the police can do about it.
“I want to caution both of you against engaging in any conversion with anybody who comes up to you and disagrees with your position. I know it will be difficult to walk away. But there is no point in your arguing with them, especially in public.”
That set Jenny off. “You mean I have to stand there and let them call us names. That can't be right!”
“We'll try, Detective,” the other woman finally spoke up. “But it's not easy to have people tell you that you are evil because you love someone. We aren't doing anything to hurt them. But they won't see it that way.”
“Thank you.” Elliot pulled out his notebook. “I have a few questions for the both of you if you don't mind. Before the announcement last night, who knew about your relationship?”
“Glen knew. My housekeeper Connie. And the justice of the peace up in Massachusetts of course. We tried to be really private about it at first. Amy was working publicity for my last CD so nobody would have questioned her being around.” Jennie looked at Amy questioningly, “Can you think of anybody?”
“No, I didn't tell anybody about us. I knew my parents wouldn't understand. I'm not sure how my of my friends will. And the less the people at work knew, the better. They'll just see it as a career move.”
“Okay. And have either of you had any personal beefs with people lately over anything else?”
“No. Aside from Amy, I haven't had time for much of a personal life lately. And everyone is really up on the business side.”
“Jenny's right about the business side. Sizzle Sounds is thrilled with the success of What A Girl Wants.”
Elliot turned to Amy. “And you? Sounds like your job is pretty cutthroat. Anyone there we should look into?”
“None of them are above playing dirty in business. They'll all make catty remarks when I go back to work next week. But I can't imagine any of them trying to hurt me personally.”
“All right then. If you think of anything else, I want you to call me.” Elliot handed his business cards to each of them. “If I need to speak any of you, I will need numbers where I can get in touch with you.”
Both women looked to Glen Draper. “Detective, we're very cautious about giving out Jenny's number. I trust you will be discreet about it.”
“Of course. Access will be limited. I'm not even going to tell my kids I meet you, Ms. Wilson.”
That piqued Amy's interest. “You have children, Detective?”
“I have five, including fifteen year old twins who are fans.”
“We really can't disappoint fans.” Amy looked at Jenny,who smiled at her. “Let me go get some of the promotional material. Jenny can sign it for them before you.”
As Amy went down the office to get the pictures, Elliot turned to Jenny. “She seems like a very sweet girl.”
“I'm counting on you to make sure she stays that way, Detective. She's my world now. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
From the sound of her voice, Elliot knew she meant exactly what she said.

I like it up date soon

Chapter 4

Ryan O'Halloran was busy scanning fingerprints in the data base when Elliot walked into the Forensic Lab.
“Thanks for the party favors, Detective. I don't suppose you're here to help.”
“Sorry but no. I came down to see if you got any hits yet.”
“Not yet but I just really got started. There were over a hundred pieces of physical mail from both locations. So far. We had to sift through them and pull out just the ones that were threatening enough to worry about. There are about twenty five of those, all with prints. This is number 6.”
“And the rest?”
“Those are more garden variety hate mail. The usual anti-gay messages. Hellfire and eternal damnation. I'm pretty sure they can't deliver on those so I concentrated on the ones with more earthly weapons. Knives in particular. I'm done with this one. Why don't you take a look.”
O'Halloran handed Elliot a sheet of paper that looked like it was streaked with blood. He made it half down before he set the paper down.
“He certainly knows how to turn a phrase. Are the rest like this?”
“Of the twenty five, he gives the most detail but the rest aren't' much nicer. But the really bad ones came in via the Wilson website. Those guys included pictures.”
“I'm sure Morales is thrilled. I better go see him while you work on these. Give me a call if you get a hit.”

Reuben Morales wasn't surrounded by piles of paper but he didn't look any happier to see Elliot than O'Halloran had.
“Thanks for sending all this work my way, Elliot. And such fun stuff too.”
“It wasn't my idea. Blame the brass for making this a case before anything actually happened.” Elliot came around to see what was on the computer screen. “I heard there were pictures from some of these lovely folks.”
“Some of them showed some real imagination, not to mention some impressive computer graphic skills. It's a shame they didn't put them to better use.”
“Are we looking at more threats here or just or mostly anti-gay rhetoric?”
Morales looked up from his computer. “Less than half of it is condemning Jennie for telling the world she's gay. There are a lot of people sending messages of support for her fight to make the state recognize her marriage.”
Elliot was puzzled. “Everything O'Halloran is working is against the idea. Why would these be so different?”
“Probably the age of the people posting on the website. When you were growing up, race was the big thing to work to get accepted. For me, it was gender. And today, it's sexual orientation. And the Internet is the preferred method of communication for the kids. I wasn't surprised by the mix.”
“How many threats do you think you have?”
“Maybe fifty. But that could change when the Wilson website goes back up. There was such a huge volume of messages they had to shut it down early this morning. But you might want to check with Sizzle Sounds. They shut their website down the morning too, before I could get anything off it.”
“Okay. I'll make that my next stop.”

Getting into Sizzle Sounds' offices wasn't as easy as Elliot had hoped. There was already a line of protesters on the sidewalk in front of the building. The pickets called for a boycott as long as Jennie Wilson was still with the company. So far it was peaceful. But Elliot noticed two uniformed officers keeping an eye on the crowd from their car.
Elliot showed his badge to security at the front door and was let in. But not before the people outside voiced their opinion of people crossing their picket line. The guard told him to take the elevator to the tenth floor where the president's office was located.
The guard must have called up to the office because there was a very attractive woman waiting for Elliot as the doors opened.
“Sorry about the welcoming committee downstairs. As you know, there's not much we are do about them as long as their not out of line. I'm Mavis Sugarman, President of Sizzle Sounds. Come into my office and tell me how we can help the police.”
Elliot followed her into a pleasant but unpretentious office and shut the door behind him.
“I'm Detective Stabler. I appreciate your cooperation. I have spoken with Ms. Wilson and her manager. They both tell me there were no problems with her here prior to this morning.”
“We still don't have any problems as far as I'm concerned. Although I would have liked a little warning before she went off and made her announcement last night. The office was closed last night but I got a call at three o'clock this morning telling me the main website had to be shut down. It was just overloaded.”
“I'd like to have someone come down later and take a look at the messages that were left before it was shut down. We may want to check out any threats that were made.”
“Of course. Just have them call my office and I'll make sure security is aware. Anything else?”
“Mr. Draper seemed to think there were some obsessed fans. I'd like to get any information your office has about them.”
“There were several people I can think of who fit that description. You can have everything we have on them.”
“Those are the only people you can think of that posed any sort of problem? Was there anything going on with other singers, musicians, technicians, office staff?”
“Nothing that I heard about. But I don't understand the reason for the question. Isn't this about the people who have a problem with Jennie being gay?”
“We want to check out anybody who already had a problem who might try to take advantage of this situation for more personal mischief. It has been known to happen. I'd like to know if anybody had a problem with Ms. Madison as well.”
“No one here ever had a problem with Amy. She really is the sweetest girl. But you might want to check with her office. Her working with Jennie was considered a plum assignment. There could be some hard feelings about that. She hadn't been working there as long as some other people.”
“I'll make sure to stop over there this afternoon. If you could have someone pull your records...”
Elliot's phone rang. “Excuse me for one minute. Stabler here.
An hysterical Jennie was on the line. “Detective Stabler, Amy is missing.”

I loved it, please keep going !

Please keep it going!

Chapter 5

Elliot mentally kicked himself for not mentioning to either woman that they shouldn't go out of the apartment until the police had a chance to investigate some of the threats unless it was absolutely necessary. What could possibly be so important about a pair of shoes that someone would risk their safety to go out shopping?
“But Detective Stabler, these people don't know what Amy looks like. Only me.” Jennie had told him. “And besides my body guard Danny went with her.”
Elliot parked the sedan behind the radio car. One of the unies was waiting by the car.
“Stabler, Special Victims.” Stabler flashed his badge as he got out of the car. “What have we got?”
“Edmunds, sir. My partner's inside with the bodyguard and the store owner trying to get an idea of what happened.”
“You have a description of the girl and what she was wearing?” Edmunds nodded. “Then start on canvass across the street on this block. See if anybody remembers seeing her in the last hour. But keep it low key. We don't want the media to pick up on any excitement. I'll go in and send your partner out to cover this side.”
Elliot wished Olivia was with him as he surveyed the insides of The Golden Arches. Fashion footwear was not part of his comfort zone even with a wife and three daughters. But this wasn't what he expected. A small room with a pair of curved sofas surrounding a table with a a tea set took up the middle of the room. The walls had lighted niches, each with manikin legs with one pair of shoes with stockings. In the back right corner was a desk where three people stood.
“I'm Detective Stabler. Officer, I need you to start canvassing on this side of the street. See if anyone saw the missing woman.” As the officer left, Elliot turned to the other two. “You must be the body guard Ms. Wilson told me came with Ms. Madison. Why don't you tell me what went on.”
“Ms. Madison got an email after you left saying that there had some things set aside for her at the store here. She called but nobody was sure about what might have been set aside for her. So she decided to come down and see if she could help figure it out. Ms. Wilson said I should come with her, just in case. When we got her, she and this lady went in the back to look at shoes. I waited out here. I figured nothing could happen back in those fitting rooms.”
“And you are?” Elliot looked at the woman standing next to the bodyguard. She was dressed all in black, very tailored, very chic. And not at all pleased to have the police there.
“My name is Miriam and I own this establishment.”
“What happened after you two went back,” Elliot moved to the back wall where a curtain that matched the wall swayed slightly. “Back here behind this curtain.”
“Yes, that''s where our fitting rooms. My clients prefer privacy when making their selections. I took Ms. Madison to the Mauve Room. We hadn't sent her an email but I went to get some boxes of things that I thought someone might have set aside for her. They were her size and I thought they would be something she might like. But when I got back to the room, she was gone. I came out here, thinking she wanted to talk to this man. But she hadn't come out here. We looked through the store but she's gone.”
“Is there another way out? Maybe in the back?”
“There is a delivery entrance. But there's no reason for Ms. Madison to go out that way. It just leads to an alleyway.”
“Okay. Danny, you said Ms. Madison got an email telling her to come down. Do you know what computer she was on when she got it?”
“She was on her laptop. It's back at the apartment. In the media room.”
“I'm going to call one of our tech people and have him go over to the apartment. He's going to need to check out that computer. I want you to call our people and make sure he has no problems getting what he needs.”
While Danny called to arrange access, Elliot called Morales to go over and check out Amy's computer. Then he called and asked for CSU to come process the Mauve Room and the rear of the store. He sent Danny outside to keep any potential customers out. While they waited, he sat down with the store owner.
“I need some more information about you and your relationship with Ms. Madison. Your name again please?”
“As I said, it's Miriam.”
“I need your full name. Like the one you gave to get your business license.”
The facade dropped. “Miriam is my professional persona. She can sell these shoes to the women who can afford them. But I'm Maryanne Flicker.”
“Whose idea was Miriam?”
“Amy's. We went to school together. I used to work at my Uncle Eddie's Shoe Palace. I was his best salesperson. After I inherited my grammie's house, I used the money from the sale to open this place. Amy helped me figure out how to make it work. She's great to knowing what will make something sell.”
“Does she come here a lot? Would people know to find her here?”
“She was here all the time in the beginning. But that was five years ago. But I call her when I see something I think she would like. And she gets it at cost. I could never pay her back for all her help.”
“But you didn't send her that email?”
“No. I was going to send her one in a couple days after we sorted through the new stock. I'm expecting a delivery today.”
“When?”
“They never give exact times. But our regular delivery man called and said he should be here before lunch. When I'm the only one in the store, I leave the door unlocked for him. He knows where to put the new stock.”
“The back door is unlocked now!” Elliot got up and went through the curtain with Maryanne following. “How many people know that you do that?”
“Gilbert the delivery man. And most of the people who worked here.”
Elliot pulled a latex glove out of his pocket and carefully pulled the door open.
“Don't touch anything. I need you to go to the end of the alley and make sure nobody drives up. This is part of a crime scene now.”
Elliot ran back out to the front of the store. “Danny, go find one of the officers. Tell him he needs to block the alley behind the building until CSU gets here.”
“You can tell him yourself. Here comes one now.”
Officer Edmunds came running up. “The owner of the sandwich stop on the corner thinks he saw a woman matching the description. She was pushed into a dark green Ford Focus by a white male, tall, kinda stocky, brown hair. He was too far away to read the plate but he's sure it's New York. They left maybe twenty, thirty minutes ago.”
Elliot sighed. A white couple in a Focus who had twenty minutes of traveling time. No way to search for that.
The CSU van pulled up. Captain Judy Siper and her guys climbed out.
“Hey Elliot. What do you have for us?”
“We think he came in through the back door and grabbed her in one of the fitting rooms. Then he took her back the same way and down the alley. The alley should be blocked off by now.”
“We'll see what we can come up with for you.” The technicians went through the curtain to start setting up. But Judy Siper went over to one of the lighted niches.
“Those are great shoes. I wonder if they have them in my size.”
Elliot shook his head as she went past the curtain. Just what was it about women and shoes?

Chapter 6

Elliot left Judy Siper and her crew to their work. They didn't need him watching over their shoulders at this point. At least they had caught one break. Miriam's clients were late risers so no one except she and Amy had been in the store since it had been cleaned the night before.
“Detective. I'm on the phone with Glen Draper. Your guy's there now. Can you give me a lift back to the apartment? You can come up and see what he's found.”
“Sure. Have Draper tell him I'm on my way.”
Fifteen minutes later, Elliot was looking at the email on Amy's computer. Morales was grinning.
“Thanks for getting me out of the lab. Pleasant surroundings and real easy work. The email your girl got the morning was just a forward from another computer. The message was probably changed so it looked like it was sent today. But the original was sent months ago and to a different address.”
“Can you get the original address?”
“Already done. I'm just waiting for the service provider to come up with a name.”
“Anything else on here that you think might lead somewhere?”
“More emails from the person this was supposed to be from. Emails to family and friends. Everything's basic personal stuff. She's only had it four months or so.”
“I gave it to Amy so she would have something for her private mail.” Jenny Wilson came in with a steaming cup of coffee and handed it to Morales. “She had one for work but the company had security stuff so she couldn't use it for anything personal. Can I get you some coffee, Detective Stabler?”
“Sure. Just sugar please.”
After Jenny left, Morales turned to Elliot. “She needed something to do to keep from going crazy.”
“That's what I figured. A little of normality. How is it?”
Morales took a sip. “Not bad. Of course anything's not bad compared to the stuff at work.”
Jenny came back with Elliot's coffee. “Any news?”
Elliot took a sip from his cup. “This is very good. Thank you.” He set the cup down. “We may have something. You said this computer is new. Do you know if Amy changed her email address when she got this?”
“She opened an account with the service I use here.”
“Do you know what she used before that one?”
“She used a cyber cafe near her old apartment before she moved in here. I think she just had one of those free accounts.”
“She was getting on line somewhere else before that.” Morales said. “The email was originally sent to an account for a Robin Manchester. Billed at this street address.”
“Jennie, do you remember Amy ever talking about a Robin Manchester?”
“I don't think I ever heard that name before. Is that who took Amy?”
“We don't know yet. It may just have been somebody whose computer account she used. But we'll check into it. You need to sit tight and let us do our jobs, okay?”
“Just bring her home to me, please.”Jennie's lower lip started to tremble. “Excuse me.”
“I'm going to get someone to check out that street address.” Elliot took the paper from Morales. “But first, I think I know somebody who tell us about Robin Manchester.”

“I hate wearing a tie.” Fin said as he walked into the squad room.
“How did it go in court?” Cragen asked.
“Just peachy. The victim testified. The doctor testified. The tech testified. And then I testified. The little creep said nothing. Greylek said we'll just have to wait and see.”
“That's all we can do. The rest is up to the jury.”
“I hope they vote to nail to the wall.” Fin slipped his tie into a desk drawer. “Where is everybody?”
“Olivia's out for a couple of days. Munch ran some paperwork over to the DA's office. And Elliot went to see that singer who was getting threats about her marriage. And that turned into a kidnapping. I want you to work with him on this. CSU is already working the crime scene.”
The phone rang. Cragen asked, “Special Victims, Cragen speaking. Any leads?... Yeah, I'm ready...I'll run the name right now...Fin's back form court. I can send him over to check out the address. Why don't you meet him there...You think she knows something?...Alright. Fin can go alone. But if you get anything, call back. I'll let Greylek know we may know a search warrant for that address.”
“What's up, Captain?”
“I'll fill you in on what we know while I check and see if there's a green Focus tied to someone Amy Madison knew.”
“Where's Stabler going?”
“To go see someone who may know who this Robin Manchester is.”

Chapter 7

It looked like a perfectly normal shotgun house in a working class neighborhood in Queens. But there was no green Focus in the driveway. Fin got out of the sedan to take a look around. He went up the front steps and peered through the glass in the front door.
“What do you think you're doing there?” came a voice off to Fin's left.
Fin looked over to see a woman in her late fifties standing on the porch next door. She had an open cell phone in her hand.
“I'm looking for a Robin Manchester. I was given this address.”
“He's not in now. Who are you and why are you looking for him?”
Fin pulled out his badge and ID. “I'm Detective Tutuola. NYPD. Do you know where Mr. Manchester is now? He may have some information about a crime we're investigating.”
“He works in the city. Graphic artist. Does advertising of some sort. He was doing a lot of work from home while his mom was sick.”
“Where's his mom now?”
“She dies a couple of months ago. The house is his now, as soon as the probate's over. He's planning on moving back here as soon as his lease is up in the city.”
“He has an apartment in the city. Do you know where?”
“I don't have an address. But I do have a phone number for him. From when his mom was still alive. I'd stay with her if he had to leave. He gave it to me in case of emergency.”
“That would be a real help. Could you get that for me, please?” Fin pulled out his cell phone as the woman went into the house. “Captain, Manchester isn't here. This used to be his mother's house. But a neighbor said he has a place in the city. And she has a number for him. Hopefully, his phone company has a home address for him.”

Elliot pulled back into a space in front of The Golden Arches. CSU was still there.
“We're not done yet, Elliot. Although we did get some good prints from the inside back door handle. Too big for the owner's.”
“Actually it's the owner I'm looking for. Is she still here?”
“She was getting underfoot in here. She lives upstairs so I suggested she wait up there.” Judy Sniper pulled a notepad from her pocket. “I was going to send someone up to get her when we were done. Here it is. Apartment 2B.”

Elliot knocked on the door of 2B. “Ms. Flicker, it's Detective Stabler.”
“Come in.” Maryanne opened the door. “I thought you had left. Are they done downstairs?”
“No, not yet. I came back because I have some questions for you. You've been sending Amy emails about stuff coming into the store for awhile now?”
“Yes, it was easier to do that then try to call her. She kept really odd hours with her work. Especially lately.”
“She got a new email account a few months ago. She had you send the emails there?”
“She gave my a new address a while back. Before that she had one of those free accounts.”
“And before that?”
“Robin let her have an account on his computer.”
“You know Robin Manchester.”
“Of course, they were living together. They met at work. Amy was doing advertising and Robin was designing logos for Burnett and Company. I was really surprised when they broke up.”
“When was that?”
“Six months ago or so. Mrs. Manchester was dying and she wanted to be at home. Robin was always on call for whatever she needed. Amy tried to understand but it just got too much for her.”
“Do you have an address where they lived?”
“I think I do. Amy gave me directions for a party they threw for Robin's birthday. Let me check in my desk.” Maryanne pulled up a drawer and started pulling papers out.
“Do you know if Robin still lives there?”
“We didn't keep in touch. I was more Amy's friend. Oh, here it is.” Maryanne held Elliot a card printed with red balloons. “Address and directions are on the inside. It was a nice apartment. So it's possible he's still there.”
Elliot looked up from reading the card. “He?”
“Well, yeah. Robin was Amy's boyfriend.”

Chapter 8

Timing is everything. Fin pulled up in front of the apartment building just as Elliot got off the phone with Greylek.
“Greylek got us a warrant to search Robin Manchester's apartment. She's sending it over now.”
“We're going to wait to go in?”
“No. We'll go up now and listen at the door. If there are exigent circumstances, we won't wait to go in.” Fin looked at Elliot in disbelief. “Cragen had me do some reading on suspects' rights. I can get you the material when we get back to the house.”
“Just what I need. Homework.” Fin said as he closed the door to the building.
But there were no sounds from inside the apartments. Nor was there any response to knocking on the door. So the detectives waited with the apartment manager until the warrant arrived.
“Police.” Elliot said as he came through the door. There was nobody in the living area and no signs of a struggle. But from down the hallway to the bedroom came the sound of a shower being turned on. Both detectives ran down the hall.
Fin knocked on the bathroom door.
“Go away,” came a woman's voice from inside that Elliot recognized as Amy's. “I'm busy now. I have to get cleaned up before I go.”
“Amy, it's Detective Stabler. You met me this morning. Remember? I need to talk to you now. We want to make sure you're alright. Everybody is really worried about you.” There was no response from inside. “Amy, I need to talk to you. Before you get showered. Can you open the door for me? I can come in or you can come out. I really need to make sure you're alright.”
The shower didn't go off, but the door opened a few inches. Fin stepped back from the door. Elliot could see part of Amy's face but she kept her body out of sight.
“You don't have to worry about me, Detective. I'm just fine.” The quiver in Amy's betrayed the lie. “I just need to get cleaned up now. There's no need for you to wait here for me. I can get home by myself.”
“We need to find out what happened to you, Amy. We need to talk about how you got here. Is there a towel or a robe you can put on? Then you can come out to the living room and we can talk.”
“I better turn the water off. I don't want to waste all the hot water.” Amy disappeared for a moment from the opening. The shower stopped. Then she opened the door, wrapped in an oversized bathrobe.
As they walked towards the living room, Elliot looked back at Fin. He pantomimed a telephone. Fin nodded and held up five fingers. Elliot relaxed a bit knowing the EMS team would be there shortly.
“What do we need to talk about?”Amy asked as she sat down on the sofa.
“What happened earlier. You were at the shoe store and then you disappeared. Danny didn't know what happened to you. He was worried something had happened to you. We're been trying to find you. Can you tell me what happened at the store?”
“Nothing important really. I was waiting for Miriam to bring me some shoes. Someone I knew came in and said he had to talk to me about something. He didn't want to hang around the store. He and Miriam didn't really get along well. So we left. I will apologize to Miriam for not leaving a note. That was rude of me. She didn't deserve that.”
“Did you want to leave?”
“He said it was important. It couldn't wait. We had to take care of it then. And I didn't want any trouble.”
“Where did you go?”
“His car. He brought it so we wouldn't have to walk. We came here.”
“Did you want to come here?”
“We needed to talk. This was someplace private. Nobody could overhear what we had to talk about. So it was okay.”
“What happened when you got here?”
“He ....he heard about Jenny and me on the TV last night. He didn't believe it. He thought it was all a publicity stunt. That I could be that way. He didn't want to listen to me. He said he was going to the press and tell them about us.”
“That he had been your boyfriend.”
Yes. Before I met Jennie. He said I couldn't feel the same way about Jennie that I had felt about him. My feelings for her couldn't be the way I felt. The he said he was going to show how wrong I was.”
“He made you have sex with him?”
“Yes. But he didn't hurt me.” Tears started to flow down Amy's cheeks. “He was gentle and sweet. The way he had always been with me when we made love. It was just...”
“That you didn't want to be with him anymore?”
“Yeah. But he didn't notice. He thought everything was the way it used to be. And was going to be again.”
“Where did Robin go?”
“He said he had a meeting at work. I was to wait here for him. He thought we would go tell Jennie together that I was leaving her. I didn't argue with him. I just wanted him to leave.”
There was a knock on the open door. EMS had arrived.
“Amy, these are some people who are going to take you to the hospital now. They need to check that you weren't hurt. They're going to do a few quick tests here. I'm going to go talk to the other detective for a minute. And when they're ready, I'll ride with you to the hospital. Okay?”
While the EMS tech stayed with Amy, Elliot found Fin in the hallway.
“How much did you hear?”
“Everything. I'll stay here until CSU gets here. They'll need to process the bedroom.”
“Good. Then find out where this guy works and pick him up.”