DISCLAIMER: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its characters are the property of NBC and Dick Wolf.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A couple of readers have sent me links to nifty calendars which list all sorts of holidays – some commonly known and others lesser known. In some cases, much lesser known! Anyway, I peruse those calendars every now and then in search of a new holiday for our dynamic duo to celebrate or observe or, more likely, just use as an excuse to get them together. May 1 is Law Day. Who knew? It seemed like a day that couldn't go unnoticed by Alex, so read on for Law Day shenanigans.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To sunsetwriter[at]mindspring.com
SERIES: Part of the Holiday Shorts series.
Holiday Short – Law Day
By sunsetwriter
"So, how exactly does one celebrate Law Day?" Olivia asked Alex, who sat perched on the corner of the detective's desk.
Alex shook her head. "I don't know if 'celebrate' is the right word, but it was established as a day to mark our commitment to the rule of law."
Elliot smirked. "Well, you could certainly be the poster child for that."
Alex turned her sharp glare toward Elliot and Olivia cringed as she waited for the ADA to unload. Her words, however, were calmly spoken. "I'll take that as a compliment. It is also a day to encourage law professionals and students to either teach or learn something new about the law – an idea you could benefit from, Detective."
"I thought that's what we had you for, Counselor," Elliot responded with a smile as he rocked back in his chair.
Hoping to diffuse the building tension, Olivia said, "Wow, I wonder what's keeping Munch and Fin." They had all been waiting on the two detectives to return from their second canvass of the neighborhood surrounding their latest crime scene. As if on cue, the two detectives walked into the squad room, and Olivia breathed a sigh of relief.
"Any luck?" Stabler asked as Munch and Fin approached their desks.
"Nada," Munch said with a shake of his head.
"Nobody saw anything, heard anything, smelled anything, nothing," Fin said with exasperation.
"Meaning, we've got nothing either," Olivia added with a sigh.
"We're still trying to catch somebody at home in a couple of the apartments overlooking the alley where the body was found. Maybe we'll get lucky next time," Munch said as he took a seat at his desk.
"Any luck with the victim ID?" Alex asked.
Elliot shook his head. "Nope, nothing there either."
"Best guess is she's a pro, based on clothing and the area where she was found, but we haven't been able to find anyone yet that knows her. We've got uniforms showing her picture around, but no positive ID yet," Olivia added.
"I can't believe no one heard or saw anything," Elliot said as Alex left her perch and walked over to the coffeemaker to pour herself a cup.
"I saw someting…" an accented voice said from the door of the squad room.
All heads turned to see an old woman, wearing what some would guess was a gypsy costume – brightly colored flowing skirt, peasant blouse, shawl, head scarf, and lots of bangles including earrings, necklaces and bracelets that jingled when she moved.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" Olivia asked.
"Nooo, but I tink I can help you," the woman answered in a lilting, Jamaican-sounding accent. "I saw who killed dat girl."
"What girl?" Elliot asked, leaning forward with interest.
"De one in de alleyway dat you've all been searchin'," the woman replied.
Olivia glanced at Elliot as she got up and walked over to the woman. "Why don't you come sit down and tell us exactly what you saw," she said as she escorted the woman to the chair beside her desk.
The woman followed Olivia and took a seat as the detective sat in Alex's spot on the corner of the desk beside her. "I saw a man wit a long knife kill de woman in de alley." The woman held her hands about a foot apart to estimate the size of the knife.
Olivia glanced again at her partner as she felt an adrenalin surge. They had not released the type of murder weapon to the media, but it was believed to be something like a machete. No weapon had been recovered at the scene.
"You saw this through a window? Where were you?" Stabler asked eagerly.
"No. I was in my shop."
"And where is your shop?" Olivia asked.
"Madam Siya's at nine oh tree, six avenue."
"6th Avenue? That's no where near our crime scene," Elliot said with a frown. "How did you see what happened in that alley?"
The woman smiled. "I saw it in a vision."
Elliot rolled his eyes. "Oh, for crying out loud."
Olivia had a little more tact. "Ma'am, thank you for coming in, but we can't use a 'vision', we need facts."
"I know you don't believe, but I know what I saw is true. It was a large, white man, wit a big knife. He had a tattoo of a spider web on his left shoulder."
"So we're looking for Spiderman?" Elliot asked sarcastically.
The woman bristled. "I believe in my visions, Detective, an' you should too." She tilted her head as she studied Elliot. "You have too much anger inside you. You have a strong need to dominate and dat will be your downfall."
The room fell quiet as everyone stopped to listen to the old woman.
"Even in love, you have a need to be de dominant one. You should learn to be submissive every now an' den, an' see what pleasure dat can bring."
Elliot smiled, but Olivia could tell the woman's spot-on assessment of him had him a little rattled when his only response was, "Riiight."
Then the woman turned to Olivia and placed her hand on the detective's knee, her many bracelets jingling as she moved her arm. "An' you," she said as she looked into Olivia's eyes. "You have a fear of hurtin' someone you love. But, even so, you have much passion but also compassion. It is dat compassion dat should put your fears to rest. You get pleasure from pleasing others, an' dat is what sets you apart from dat which you fear."
Alex, who was still standing by the coffee maker was shocked at the accurate assessment of the two detectives. One could have been a lucky guess, but this woman had eerily described both Olivia and Elliot with precision accuracy. Alex sipped her coffee as she pondered the legal ramifications if the woman's vision of their murderer actually provided a lead.
The old woman patted Olivia's knee and her eyes twinkled. "An' you know very well how to please a laaaady…"
Olivia's eyes widened just as Alex sputtered and coughed as she almost choked on her coffee, causing several eyes in the room to turn her way.
The woman smiled as she looked at Alex, who was trying to regain her composure. "Aaaahhhh," she said, the pitch of her voice rising dramatically as she drew out the word. "I am right about dat, am I not?"
"OK," Olivia said quickly as she rose from her spot on the corner of the desk, dislodging the woman's hand from her knee. The male detectives were all smiling, but for once, seemed to be speechless. Olivia cleared her throat and said, "I think we've heard enough, Madam….?"
"Siya."
"She most certainly does," Munch said quietly.
Olivia shot him a glare and then turned back to the woman. "Would you be willing to give a description of the man with the tattoo to a sketch artist?"
The woman looked knowingly at Olivia. "So you believe me now." It came out more as a statement than a question.
Olivia responded with a small shrug. "It can't hurt to follow any possible lead. I'll call upstairs to one of our artists and see if they can send someone down." As she picked up the phone, Alex approached her desk.
"Detective, may I speak with you a moment?" Olivia hesitated and Alex added, "Before you make that call."
Olivia dropped the handset back into the cradle and said, "Sure." She turned to Madam Siya and said, "Excuse me a moment, please." The squad room was slowly returning to its normal hum of activity, and Alex gestured for Olivia to follow her to the other side of the room.
"You do realize that we can't base any legal arguments on her 'visions', don't you?" the ADA asked the detective.
"Of course."
"So, why are you having her sit with a sketch artist?"
"Well, it can't hurt to show an image around and see if anyone else that was actually near the crime scene recognizes him. We could get an actual lead."
"Based off an inadmissible one."
"Or…" Olivia paused and looked pointedly at Alex, "we could let her sit here and continue her freaky, but unbelievably accurate, profile of each of us." She tilted her head and forced a smile. "I'm pretty sure you're next on her list."
Alex stared at Olivia for a moment and then gave a single nod of her head. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to have her sit with an artist and see what they come up with. I'll just… do some research into the legal aspects of this if needed."
Olivia smirked. "Thought so."
Alex returned the smirk and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Her assessment of you was uncanny – especially that last part."
"You think?"
Alex tried not to smile. "Without a doubt."
Olivia grinned. "Maybe I should let her keep talking and see what she has to say about you..."
"Or you could call the sketch artist like you had planned before I interrupted you with the legalities of the Psychic Friends Network," Alex replied with a smile. "Meanwhile, I guess I have some research to do…"
Olivia smirked again. "Happy Law Day," she said with a smile.
Alex rolled her eyes. "See you later."
Olivia chuckled as she watched Alex glance at Madam Siya and then beat a hasty retreat out of the squad room. When she walked back over to her desk to make the call, the old woman was eyeing her curiously. "She was worried I would tell you her secrets?" she asked.
Olivia couldn't resist. "What secrets?"
"If I told you, dey would no longer be secrets, would dey?" the old woman said with a twinkle in her eye. "But dat one's not always as prim an' proper as some believe. She knows how to have a good time, doesn't she?" she added knowingly.
Olivia smiled. "I thought you weren't going to tell me her secrets."
Madam Siya smiled and shook her head. "Dere's no secret in telling you someting you already know…" she said with a wink.
The End