literature

The Victim in the Special Unit - 5

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Jeffersonian

“I don’t know what I was thinking” Jack Hodgins squinted at the matter in front of him. Nearly invisible to the naked eye, he stared at the miniscule crumbs through the microscope lenses, “Nothing” he thought, “How could I have been mistaken” he shook his head, “Maybe this really is a conspiracy” He glanced at the sliding doors that led to the outside, well the hallway to the elevators, that is. Fin had left him only minutes ago, but Hodgins was no closer to finding any information than he had been earlier. “Maybe I should give Fin’s old partner a call”, he looked at the number that Fin had scrawled on a piece of paper, “What could happen?”

District Hotel

Elliot hung up his phone and raced down the hallway. He’d been too late, but looked through a window to a view of the streets below and caught sight of a dark sedan speeding away. He strained to catch the license plates but couldn’t make out anything, “Damn” he was nearly going to punch a hole through the window’s glass pane when he felt a hand on his shoulder
“Hang on” Dickie stood there
“You didn’t have to follow me” he was brusque
“Dad, I know how you feel about Olivia. It’s ok. She’ll be ok”
“How do you know that?” he scowled at his son
“Just breathe” he stared at his father, “Isn’t that what you tell us, you know, when we’re upset. Just breathe, and we’ll calm down”
“I—yeah” he finally nodded, “You’re growing up”
“I had a good teacher” Dickie smiled, “I’ll get out of your way so you can look around for anything important” he started to leave
“No, wait” Elliot pulled him back, “Go get Kathleen and come to Olivia’s room. Elizabeth can watch Eli for now. Right now, I need all the help I can get”

Jeffersonian

“The crumbs” Hodgins explained to Fin, through the phone line, “weren’t the clue. It’s what wasn’t there”
“What are you talking about?” Fin didn’t understand
“Just get your team over here” Hodgins was urgent, “Now”
“He turned to Cam, “What did she eat last?”
“Looks like she went to a fast food place, just pizza, some soda, and some cake for dessert”
“Cake” Hodgins’ grin had a wild eyed look

District Hotel

“We’ll do anything we can to help out, Dad” Kathleen spoke for the Stabler brood
“Yeah, just let us know” Dickie agreed
“I need as many eyes as I can afford right now” Elliot was firm, “Fan out, look for anything you can that might lead to us figuring this out” he motioned his hands around Olivia’s hotel room.

Jeffersonian

“As I was saying” Hodgins had the impromptu team around him: Angela, Bones, Booth, Cam, Fin, Munch and Casey, “I was reading an article on the idea of water on Mars. Scientists say that although its ice that evaporates swiftly in the dry, frigid Martian climate, the evidence shows that a vast ocean of liquid water must have once covered the low-lying northern plains of the planet”
“What does Mars’ icicles have to do with the case?” Booth sighed
“The evaporation” Hodgins stressed the term, “was how the scientists figured that out. What we’re seeing here” he gestured to the microscope slides, “are crumbs, which mean nothing on their own, but the lack of moisture would turn a fudgy substance into the dry morsels that are clearly visible” he grinned, “and have once again, made me King of the Lab”
“It is too late to do the King of the Lab thing” Cam glared at him
“These granules used to be some sort of cake” Bones realized what Hodgins had been trying to explain, “like a cake of soap, not like an edible cake”
“Go ahead, Bones” Booth hurried her along
“We may have tentatively found a potential cause of death”

District Hotel

“The air smells funny” Dickie sniffed
“Chloroform” Elliot guessed, “Although it isn’t always able to be smelled” he reasoned, “they must’ve used more than needed” he forced himself to be professional about this, “Good nose, son”
“Doesn’t this place have cameras, or any sort of security?” Kathleen complained
“At this place?” Elliot shook his head, “I checked when we first got in, but that was a good suggestion”
“Looks like she ripped her dress” Dickie pointed to a swatch of cloth caught on the doorjamb
“How did I miss that?” Elliot knelt by the clue. The swatch was no more than a few threads knitted together, but it was something. Elliot snapped a shot of it with his phone and stared at the cloth that clung to the splintered doorway, “I don’t think that’s her skirt” he frowned
“Underwear?” Kathleen ventured
“No” Elliot momentarily smiled, “I mean, that might not be her clothing at all. It might be from the assailant” he looked at his two children, “You’ve both helped me out so much”
Dickie and Kathleen smiled back
“Let’s get this to the others, I’ll call Fin” Elliot dialed the number

Jeffersonian

“I don’t think the plastic bag should contaminate the evidence” Bones looked at the baggie that Elliot had brought to the Jeffersonian
“It used to have a shower cap in it” Dickie spoke up
“Apparently, so” Bones looked from the bag to the boy and back again
“I’ll hand it off to Dr. Hodgins as he handles particulates”
“Fin mentioned that you’d found something about the victim- the main victim”
“These crumbs that were found on the body” Bones explained, “were held together by moisture to create a cake like substance”
“I’d love some cake” Dickie looked up
“Not now” Kathleen elbowed him in the ribs
“Daddy, I’m hungry!” Eli tugged on Elliot’s shirt hem
“Guys, take him down to the cafeteria” Elliot absently waved off the children
“It’s really late at night” Kathleen looked at her watch, “or early morning”
“Uh” Elliot looked at a loss for words
“Don’t worry” Angela came in, “I’ve got some things that you might like” she knelt down and handed Eli a spongy, cream filled treat
“Oh boy!” Eli jumped and shoved the cake in his mouth, “Tank Blue!” he nearly shouted through the pastry in his mouth. He hugged Angela, getting cake crumbs and oil on her jacket
The team stared in unison, and it seemed that several mental light bulbs went off at once
“The crumbs” Hodgins uttered
“The stains on her jacket” Bones realized aloud
“Someone fill me in here” Munch made a wry face
“The crumbs and oil weren’t from a cake like substance” Bones explained, “They were from an actual cake, or a piece of cake”
“But I thought you did an autopsy
“There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary” Cam shrugged, “She had eaten some dinner, pizza and some soda, then some cake for dessert, but nothing came up on the mass spectrometer”
“The ingredients” Angela looked at her husband
“It wasn’t the ingredients” Hodgins realized at the same time that Angela had, “It was how they were put together”
“What are you talking about?” Finn looked confused
“Think of a cake, a real cake” Hodgins explained, “You wouldn’t want to eat plain cake mix, would you?”
“He might” Finn pointed a thumb at Munch
“Fine, but most of us wouldn’t” Hodgins directed his next question to Casey, “How about a liter of soda, would you drink it?”
“In one go?” she looked at him incredulously
“Right, probably not, but together, it’s one of the most simple cake recipes”, he turned to his wife, “Angie, what was in her purse”
“Some receipts, um, groceries, the cleaners”
“There were no receipts for restaurants” Hodgins nodded, “Can you look up her relatives?”
“Sure” Angela herded the group into the other room. She typed in some commands on her computer, and soon appeared a list of the deceased relatives
“Her sister lived close by” Booth noted
“Stop a moment” Bones held up her hands, “Everything you all have said is based solely on conjecture, supposition and surmising” everyone stared at her, so she went on, “We are assuming that the crumbs from the cake substance are indeed cake, that they mixed with another ingredient from her last meal and drink, and just happened to create something that killed her”
“I didn’t say that” Hodgins looked shocked
“Neither did I” Cam nodded
“If anything, you’ve shown us how many mistakes happen from conjecture” Angela put her hand on Bones’ shoulder, “besides, if we messed this up, you wouldn’t let us live it down” she smiled at her friend
“Well” Bones pursed her lips shut
“I was saying that it seems like her sister lived nearby, so we could start talking with her” Angela explained, “And is it just me, or do you guys think it’s weird that none of this lady’s relatives have said anything about her death?”
The group agreed
“I’m glad you’re making headway on the case, but what about Olivia?” Elliot tapped Booth on his shoulder
“We’ll start working on that” Booth looked at the other man, “I promise”
Elliot nodded
“But we need to take care of this, please”
“Oh—kay” Elliot sighed
“Bringing in the sister!” Booth headed out the door, “The rest of you guys, get some shut eye”
Comments3
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Laney916's avatar
Really interesting.  Love it so far.  I could never get interested in watching Bones for some reason, but I love SVU.  Dickie is adorable and funny the way you wrote him.  Gotta love kids. 

I hope Olivia is okay and I can't wait to see what happens next.

A Jem/SVU fic would be really cool too.  I wish I could see a crossover between them.  Not enough of those around.