Chapter 4

"Elliot? Elliot?" Olivia stood in front of Elliot, waving her hands in an attempt to gain his attention.

"What, oh I'm sorry." He said as he was pulled from his thoughts. He had been lost in his thoughts the entire ride to the precinct. Running into Kathy had shaken him up. He couldn't get the words of Taylor out of his head. ""No, I don't know any other women who were assaulted, but I bet if you ask any woman in this office, she'd say she has been harassed by him in some way.""

Kathy was a woman who worked in Mr. Schmidt's office. It had only been for a month, but the other women hadn't worked there that long either. Was it possible that he had assaulted her, or raped her?

"Elliot, are you ready to question Mr. Schmidt?"

"Yeah, um, yes."

"Elliot, is something wrong?" Olivia questioned with a tone of concern in her voice.

"I can't seem to get what just happened out of my mind. Taylor said she was certain that almost every woman in that building has been harassed by Mr. Schmidt. Kathy now works in that building."

Olivia was silent for a moment. She understood completely the cause of his present manner.

"Do you want me to question him on my own. I can get Fin or Munch…?"

"No, I want to do this. Let's do this." He moved toward the questioning room. He took a seat several feet away from where Mr. Schmidt had sat. Olivia joined them and took a seat close to Elliot."

"Now Mr. Schmidt, one of your employees reported to us that you raped her in your office. She told us that when she said no, you wouldn't accept that answer and locked her in your office. She gave us her clothes from that night and we found your DNA. Can you explain this to us?" Olivia began.

"Well, first I would like to know who this employee is?"

"Kara Proctor. She said that on numerous occasions you coaxed her into having sexual intercourse with her, sexual harassment, and a few days ago you tried it again. But this time she said no and stood up to you. But apparently you don't take no as an answer and raped her."

"Well I won't deny that I slept with Kara. She's a very attractive girl. You've seen her Detective…?" he looked at Elliot for a name.

"Stabler." He said quickly.

"Well, Detective Stabler, you're a man, and you're not blind. I had sex with her. Every man in the building wants to bang her. But I can guarantee you it was consensual every time. And you have no proof to the contrary."

"Well, kara gave us the name of another female employee who just told us today that the same thing happened to her. Taylor Huntington." Elliot explained.

Mr. Schmidt laughed. "Her, she wishes. I've never slept with her. She's tried so hard to move up in the company. She's a bright-eyed girl right out of college. She just said that because she's pissed I haven't promoted her."

"Well can you explain why a woman pressed charges against you several years ago for sexual assault?" Olivia continued on.

"That charge was dropped. It was bogus."

"Well then why don't you tell us what happened?" Elliot replied trying to aggravate him.

"The same kind of thing. We slept together. She was ok, I've done better. But when I didn't promote her, she got all bitchy and suddenly was playing the rape card. She recanted when she realized she'd never be able to prove it."

"So how many other women in your office had you slept with?" Olivia asked dryly.

"My sexual practices are none of your business." He began. "Stabler!" he blurted out with a grin slowly growing across his face.

"Excuse me?" Elliot cut in.

"Stabler. I've been trying to figure it out the whole time you two have been talking. Kathy Stabler. She's a new employee at my office. She's your x, isn't she? I remember her saying she was married to a detective from the special victims' unit. Yes, that's it."

"Yes, she is my x-wife." Elliot said attempting to stay calm.

"What you couldn't perform. She needed something better?" he laughed.

Elliot clenched his teeth trying not to do something he'd regret. "My marriage is none of your business."

"Maybe I can give you some lessons on how to bang a woman correctly." He continued on.

"Shut the hell up." Elliot said.

"Don't worry, Kathy has been satisfied since you two split up."

"You Asshole…"

"Aw, can't take it detective?"

"We're done here." Olivia interrupted and pulled Elliot out of the room. Elliot was shaking in anger.

"That son-of-a-bitch," Elliot stammered.

"Elliot, just take a deep breath."

"Olivia, he's assaulted Kathy. It's obvious. He's proud of it."

"Elliot, we don't know that. We need to talk to her."

"Olivia, can I talk to you for a moment?" Cragen had overheard their conversation.

"Sure captain." She followed him into his office and shut the door behind them.

"What's going on?" he looked to Olivia for an explanation.

"Kathy works for Mr. Schmidt."

"The alleged rapist of the two women?"

"Yep, and he figured out who Elliot was and started teasing him. He made a comment about sleeping with Kathy. We think she might be involved in this case."

Cragen was silent for several moments. He couldn't imagine how Elliot was feeling right now. If it were him, he probably would have punched the guy.

"Ok, tell Elliot I want to talk to him."

"Ok"

She left the office and sent Elliot in.

"Yeah Captain?"

"Elliot, I'm going to take you off this case. I think it's getting too personal. You can still listen in on everything, but let Olivia run the investigation. Munch can go with her if she needs to interview any other witnesses."

"Captain?" he began to protest.

"Elliot, I really think this is the best solution. Its too close to home."

"Ok, Captain." As frustrated as he was, he was partly grateful for Cragen's action. The events of the last couple of hours had made him sick to his stomach

Elliot exited the office and went to his desk. Olivia approached him.

"I sent Mr. Schmidt home. He wasn't going to help us."

"Cragen took me off the case."

"That's probably a good idea. I'll question her myself." Olivia said soothingly.

"Thanks Olivia."

A/N:

Thanks for the kind reviews. They are always appreciated. So go ahead and review right now, please.

Haha, I'm on my third straight of Law and Order: SVU right now.