"Mrs. Smith, could you tell us what you heard?" Elliot asks.
"Yes, I was sitting in my chair knitting a scarf for myself and I heard a door slam. About five or ten minutes after that I heard a man yelling and stomping. These walls and ceilings are so thin you can hear just about everything. Then I heard a little girl yelp in pain almost and then it went silent. But after that I heard a man walking and then a door shutting. But by that time I had begun calling the police."
Olivia looks at Elliot with a puzzled look and then says to Mrs. Smith, "Thank you ma'am. If we have any more questions I will give you a call."
"Oh! And the little girls name is Lexi Johnson, I used to pay her to pick up my mail for me. Sweet little thing." Mrs. Smith says, shaking her head in disappointment.
*Exists the apartment complex*
"Why would the father just walk out on his own daughter? And why wouldn't he at least try to hide the body? Something isn't adding up here."
"Well I think we are about to answer those questions, is that the man that slammed the door in your face?" Elliot says, looking at a tall man walking towards them.
Without a word, Olivia walks right at him and grabs his wrist. "Sir, you are under arrest for the murder of Lexi Johnson."
"What? Lexi Johnson? My daughter! What has happened to my daughter?"
Olivia looks at Elliot with a confused look. Elliot replies "Sir, Lexi Johnson is dead." The man then began to cry hysterically and drops to his knees.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come back to the station for questioning." Olivia says, still in confusion of what is going on.
Calming down, the man replies, "Yes, okay."
*NYPD Station*
"Yes I am Lexi's father." Mr. Johnson replies quietly, trying to push back the tears from running down his cheeks. "Hey, you look very familiar, have we met?" he says looking at Olivia.
"Yes sir, I was the woman who you slammed your door on this morning."
"So very sorry. It has been a very awful day today. This morning my ex-wife called. Her asshole of a boyfriend is putting his hands on my daughter."
Elliot raises his eye browns and says "How long has this been going on for Mr. Johnson?"
"To be honest with you, I'm not sure. I just notices the hand markings on her arms a couple days ago. She's getting to the age now where she bathes by herself and everything else. So I don't see her body. And she has never complained about anything, but I know it's him."
"What makes you say that?" Olivia asks.
"He's a control freak. He's been trying to get Lexi to call him daddy ever since he moved in with my ex. And the one day he yelled at my daughter for calling him by his first name. My ex stood up for my daughter and he turned around and slapped her. And the only reason I know this is because my ex-wife tells me everything. She has no one else to go to because he won't let her have any friends."
"Has she ever mentioned him beating her?" Elliot asks.
"No, but she does leave Lexi alone with that creep."
~Knocking on the door~
"Elliot, Liv, the mother is here." Capt. Says.
They both walk out and see a woman, about 5'2, blonde and skinny.
"Where is my baby? What happened to her?" the mother demands.
"Mrs. I think you need to sit down." Olivia says, pulling out a chair for her. As she sits down a male comes into the room and stands behind the mother.
"What did you do now Alli?" says the man. She spins around and looks at the man. A scared look comes across her face. "Lexi is dead, Chris."
"Who might you be, sir?" Olivia asks, already knowing the question.
"My name is Chris, who the hell are you?" Chris asks Olivia. "I'm one of the detectives on the case of Lexi Johnson." Olivia replies with a glance at Elliot.
"How about you come with me, Chris. We will get you seated for questioning." "And Alli?" Chris replies.
"She will be going with Detective Benson in the other room for questioning." Chris gave Alli a look as if to say 'Don't say anything stupid.' And then walked into a separate room.
"Come with me." Olivia says to Alli. They walk into a questioning room and sit down. "So Alli, where were you this morning?" Olivia asks.
"I was at my house. I was on the phone with the father of my child discussing some things." She looked down, almost as if she was hiding something. "May I ask what it was about?" Olivia asks, hoping to get something out of her. "Well, it was about my boyfriend. Todd is just jealous because Chris and I are happy. He hates Chris and tries to find things wrong with him. He started getting mad and I hung up the phone on him. I don't need to be screamed at by him anymore. Hot temper that one has." Alli says, then looks back down again. It is obvious she is holding something back, but Olivia can't seem to get it out of her.
~ The door swings open ~
"Alli don't say another word." A man with a grey suit walks in along with Chris. "My clients are done speaking with you Miss. Benson." He says with a smartass tone. Olivia stands up and walks out without another word. Elliot meets her right outside the door as its slammed shut.
"Get anything?" He asks Olivia. She laughs a sarcastic laugh, "She's scared to death of her boyfriend. She isn't going to say a word against him." "He isn't talking either. He's throwing it all on the dad. Maybe we should go and make another visit to Mrs. Smith's house to see if she remembers anything unusual about the father or even the mother and her boyfriend." Elliot suggests.
"Yeah, let me give her a call and see if she's willing to speak with us again." Olivia says, walking towards her desk.
