𝗜 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 ► 𝗝. 𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗗

[ 029 ] the number of rats

𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔

chapter twenty-nine ; the number of rats
[ season two, episode twenty ]

[ part one; "i honestly love you," act 2, chapter 20
part three; law and order: svu, season 16 episode 20 ]

OLIVIA HAD COME FROM New York to help intelligence with their case. She started the briefing by introducing the victims. "So the first victim, Alice Whitlock, raped and murdered. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the skull." She pointed at the picture of the woman who was at the hospital at that moment. "Blunt force trauma."

"She was a nurse at Columbia Presbyterian," Olivia continued, referring to Alice. "Second vic, Lisa Hoffman. She was raped and killed in the same fashion as Whitlock, but she was found completely burned in her own car along the Harlem River. Green nail polish was applied to both of these victims at some point during the crime."

"Debra McCulloch was last seen exiting a bar on 53rd and 3rd. She was a nurse at Mount Sinai. So, all three victims were in New York in 2004. Witnesses were consistent. They all saw a man in medical clothing and his arm in a sling approaching these women."

This was a tough case. "And the fourth victim?" Erin asked.

Olivia looked over at her for a moment, nodding. "Female college student was attacked on campus. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, and she was raped like the other victims. She didn't see the attacker."

"What was her name?" Antonio was the one to ask the question.

Olivia paused before answering. "Uh, her identity will remain anonymous. But she is alive."

Antonio nodded in understanding, moving on. "The victim from here, did she have green nail polish on?"

"Don't know yet." Olivia pointed to Hank, who spoke.

"Yeah. Lab tech's gonna check when the doctor gives the okay. But there's no guarantee we'll find out either way. Her hands were severely burned. She was trying to cover her face."

"Also, there was no DNA at any of the New York crime scenes."

"Are there any theories why he stopped for ten years?" Adam asked curiously.

"Sadly, we don't know that he has." What Olivia said hit hard for some of the detectives. "So, our suspect is a male, white, 5'9, approximately forty years old. He's either in the medical field or, obviously, posing as somebody who is. There's nothing physically distinctive about him. All the witnesses, again, were consistent when they described him. They said that he was average-looking and normal."

"These details of the crimes have gone out to every news and radio station in town," Antonio spoke up.

"We check city-wide and in the suburbs on missile x-cards and information reports on any attempted abductions or suspicious calls."