20x15 - Brothel

[bunniefuu]

In the criminal justice system,sexually based offensesare considered especially heinous.In New York City, the dedicated detectiveswho investigate these vicious feloniesare members of an elite squadknown as the Special Victims Unit.These are their stories. Help you with something, dawg?

Yeah, I'm here to play.

One coming up, Los.

I'm a friend of the house.

Enjoy your night, sir.

You must be the world famous Collum.

Any trouble finding us?

No, no, I appreciate you getting back to me.

Corey mentioned you don't always take referrals.

He explained our screening process, right?

It's just for your first time.

Okay, you're not a cop.

Welcome to the Dollhouse, Collum.

It's for minutes, an hour starts at .

Tips...

are between you and the girls.

What about her?

That's Torie, excellent choice.

I said stop it! That hurts, damn it!

You get rough with my girls, I get rough with your face.

Stop! - Go get Carlos.

- Carlos!

Carlos, it's Torie.

Okay, okay, stand back.

What the...?

It looks like you cut yourself, baby.

- You want me to help you with...

- Shut up.

You shut the hell up.

Devon, get the hell up here, now.

Bitch, you better drop that p*stol.

Please, I'm sorry, Devon.

I'll be good.

I'm not asking again.

Put the piece on the g*dd*mn ground, now.

s, no ID.

At first we thought she was a jumper, but it looks like somebody roughed her up.

She was sexually assaulted?

Half undressed, thumb marks on her biceps, bruises on her thighs; I made a judgement call.

She's got cuts on her right hand.

Could be defensive wounds.

We also recovered a hand g*n near the body, blood on the p*stol grip.

Okay, where did she fall or jump from?

The roof of this building.

When we arrived the access door alarm was going off.

Couple of bloody handprints up top too.

Nobody goes in or out.

My partner's already securing the building.

Lieutenant, you're both gonna wanna see this.

I get here, the front door's wide open.

Anybody home?

Nope, looks like whoever lived here left in a hurry.

At least we know what our vic was running from.

What do you mean?

First time in a brothel, fellas?

So, it looks like our Jane Doe was a sex worker.

She may have jumped or fallen to her death.

Or got pushed.

Wouldn't be the first hooker got thrown off a roof.

Either way, we might be looking at a sexual as*ault, maybe even m*rder.

The ME got a hit on the prints.

The Jane Doe's name is Torie Meeks.

So she's in the system?

Yeah, popped twice for heroin possession,

- once for breaking and entering.

- Heroin, huh?

Fitz said that the victim had heroin in the tox screen.

Well, after the B & E, she qualified for drug court, she pled guilty, entered the program.

Okay, so talk to whoever handled the case.

Can someone please explain why Mr.

Perillo is standing before me again?

As part of his program, Mr.

Perillo agreed to attend in-patient rehab.

Last week he violated this agreement by staying off-site for two nights.

This is exactly why I recommended against judicial diversion, Your Honor.

This infraction aside, as his case manager, I can say Mr.

Perillo has been a model participant.

Thank you Mr.

Morris.

If it's all the same, I'd like to hear from Mr.

Perillo.

Why the jailbreak, Jimmy?

I wanted to see my kid.

I only get visitation certain days.

You went to see your son?

I'm sorry, I missed my little boy.

Following any infraction I'm required to issue a sanction.

In your case, I'm gonna order letter writing, three per week to your son.

I'll review your visitation schedule.

All right, that's lunch.

Excuse me...

Judge Kofax.

Detectives.

Well, you tracked me down my one day a month at drug court.

This must be important.

We're looking into the death of a young woman who went through your program.

Do you recognize her?

Oh, my God, Torie Meeks.

Yeah, they told me she was on the road to recovery.

So you have no idea when she relapsed?

No.

her case manager might.

He was just here, you can probably catch him before he leaves the building.

Thank you.

I really thought Torie might turn it around.

When'd you lose track of her?

Few months back.

She'd been clean almost a year.

One day she missed an appointment, haven't seen her since.

Did you try to get in touch?

Of course.

She went off the grid.

So, that's it?

You just give up?

I tried as hard as I could to save that girl, Detective.

- We all did.

- Okay, well, we just need to notify her next of kin.

She doesn't have any.

Torie was in foster care her whole life.

Started drinking at age after being sexually abused in one of the homes.

On the streets at .

So, this was inevitable?

That's what you're saying.

I'm saying you can't save them all.

Torie did what addicts in recovery do, she relapsed.

Okay, can we track down who ran the brothel?

I talked to the building owner, dude's a slumlord.

Only thing he remembers about the tenants is they offered to pay twice his asking fee.

What about the g*n, the g*n that was found near Torie's body?

We're still waiting for ballistics.

There's no usable DNA at the scene, no prints, nothing on the cameras.

I gotta ask, are we wasting our time here?

I mean, she is a junkie who relapsed, she started turning tricks.

She's on the run, high, she might have just jumped off that roof.

And whether she was jumped or she was pushed, that girl was brutalized.

And they just up and left in the middle of the night?

Well, they know how to get away.

Only thing they left was a magazine, some junk, some random shoe.

Wait, hold on.

Let me see that for a second.

This is not just some random shoe, It's $ , Paretto.

I've dreamed of owning a pair of these for years.

They're custom-made.

Meaning the store might have a record of who bought them.

Look at this craftsmanship, the stitching, the leather.

- Mm-hmm.

- Of course it's mine.

So, you can tell us who bought 'em?

Not on your life.

People pay thousands for these, you're telling me you don't keep records?

Of course I keep records.

They pay thousands because they expect privacy.

The person that bought that shoe may have k*lled a woman.

I don't know anything about cobbler-client confidentiality.

That's your filing system?

I do better with a lathe than a laptop.

Five eyelet, cap toe oxford, size ?

Yeah, that's right.

Couldn't made more than , pair.

That's a start, I think.

I have been making bespoke footwear for half a century.

The key, hand sculpting a wooden last for each and every customer's foot.

That's how they get such a perfect fit.

So, he finds the last and we find our prince?

Exactly.

If the shoe fits.

Fine, that's my shoe, what do you want?

Well, we just got a couple of questions for you, Mr. O'Connor.

- I can explain.

- Explain this.

Torie, she's dead?

Oh, my God, they k*lled her.

Time to take a ride, Cinderella.

You're telling me that Torie tied you up, she gagged you, and then knocked out her own security to steal his g*n?

I thought it was a game at first.

Kinky.

I know it sounds crazy.

Yeah, it does.

She kept saying, "I'll do it," "I'll go to jail, it's better than this."

- Then what happened?

- She ran out of the room.

I heard yelling, they were pissed.

- Who's "they"?

- I didn't get names.

A Hispanic guy, he had a beard; A black guy, the bouncer, and a woman.

One of them must have thrown her off that roof.

Okay, and you're telling me that you had nothing to do with it?

I was tied up.

Next thing I know, it's full panic.

One of the girls untied me.

Everybody was rushing out, I left quick as I could.

I have never paid for a prost*tute before in my life.

So, this is the story you're going with?

I take the train from the Upper East Side to Wall Street every day.

I work hours, then it's home for dinner with the wife and kids.

- Yeah?

- I needed a little spice.

Yeah, k*lling hookers, that's pretty spicy.

I didn't k*ll anyone.

I swear to God.

How did you find out about this brothel?

One night, it's snowing, subways delayed, no cabs, so I hit the bar.

I end up being a little too honest about the home front with the guy sitting next to me.

He gave me a number, said the place was called The Dollhouse.

Honest, that's all I know.

Can I go?

Oh, sure.

Maybe we'll have your wife pick you up?

So, we actually believe this guy?

That he's a bored husband that goes to hookers?

Yeah.

All right, well, TARU ran the number that he called.

Surprise, it's a burner.

So, Torie said that she'd rather go to jail?

She att*cked her pimp, she tried to escape.

We might be looking at trafficking.

Maybe 'Dollhouse' is in the database.

No, we can go straight to the source.

I got a friend in Vice that may be able to help.

Check it out.

Yeah, it's like playing whack-a-mole these days.

The internet moved traditional street trade indoors, so now we just target the more obvious fronts.

The Thai rub-tug joints?

Something you wanna confess, Sergeant?

You two go way back, huh?

Yep, to Fin's narco days, back when he used to have to work for a living.

Baker's been busting my balls for over years.

So, what did your John call this place?

The Dollhouse.

These operations are getting wise.

The "pop-up" brothels are the new frontier.

Yeah, they open for a few days, maybe a week, right?

- Constantly changing locations.

- Exactly.

And when the Feds, in their infinite wisdom, decided to shut down Backpage, they became even tougher to track.

Well, so, they should have kept the site open?

I mean, it facilitates prostitution, money laundering, sex trafficking.

Well, it's called the oldest profession for a reason, they went online.

Now you just gotta know where to look, and lucky for you two, I do.

Ooh, blow that up.

That's Torie.

They could have changed the ad.

All right, I say we do a sting.

We can use my team.

We need to get a warrant ASAP.

I think I know just the guy.

Oh, Detectives, thank you for coming.

So you sure these are the guys that had Torie?

Yes, we're pretty sure, Your Honor.

Sergeant Tutuola made contact via text posing as a John.

It's the exact same MO.

Judge Barth, Judge Kofax, I know you know Sergeant Baker from Vice, right?

It's nice to see you two, sorry to interrupt your evening.

Ah, just two colleagues grabbing an after work cocktail, Sergeant.

Do me a favor, nail these bastards.

It's what we do best.

It reminds me of us with our "after work drinks." We got a no-knock warrant on a brothel that is open for business.

So, shock-and-awe, boys, no b*ll*ts if possible.

The apartment we're hitting is E.

There's most likely muscle inside.

And they're definitely strapped, so keep your heads on a swivel.

- Super unlocked the back door.

- We're good to proceed?

Let's go ruin their night.

On me, fast and light.

Now.

- Go, go, go!

- Police!

Open the door!

Freeze!

Freeze!

What the hell?

- Clear.

- Nothing.

Nobody's home.

- We're clear, Detectives.

- What's this look like to you?

They knew we were coming.

I think we got a mole, Lieutenant.

Yeah, I'd watch who you blame, Detective.

- Your squad knew about this raid, too.

- Excuse me?

How 'bout we don't jump to conclusions?

The operation was run through your squad, Phoebe.

You came to me.

I mean, maybe they made you for a cop off your text.

How are those U-C skills working for you these days?

- Everybody calm down.

- No, no, you know what?

You calm down.

Cops don't railroad other cops.

Up goes the blue wall of silence?

Hey, guys, stop, both of you.

Listen to me.

There are two possibilities.

Either they knew that we were coming or they got a bad feeling and they changed things up just to be safe.

But either way, we turned their door into to splinters, so...

so they're on to us now.

So now they go to ground.

That was Ballistics.

The g*n we found next to Torie's body belonged to a heroin dealer who was k*lled in a drug bust.

- Salt meet wound.

- No, you don't get it.

That g*n was bagged and tagged evidence.

It's supposed to be sitting at a property clerk's office right now.

So the only one who had access to it would have been...

Would be a cop.

You kidding?

Two years from my pension, No way I misplace evidence.

Well, maybe not, but I got a ballistics report here that says a g*n that was found next to dead girl's body is the same g*n that's supposedly bagged and tagged

- in your warehouse.

- I don't know much about physics, but I do know the same g*n can't be in two places at the same time.

So Ballistics screwed up, transposed the serial number.

That's what I'm thinking.

Invoice number - , one Walther -milimeter p*stol.

In a box on the shelf in the back.

Okay, so you're right, but can you humor us?

We just gotta make sure.

Let's hope Ballistics did make that mistake.

For Fin's sake.

Present and accounted for, like I said.

Damn.

A brick in the evidence bag?

Someone either broke into the Property Clerk's Office...

Or checked in a brick in the precinct lockup?

You got the letter of Transmittal?

The bust was made by your squad November .

So you're saying it's a cop from my unit made the switch?

It's your move, Baker.

All right, give me a second.

Hey, Gujjar.

DA's office says evidence from a case I was working got mislabeled.

So, take a look and tell me what other idiots went into lockup that day, November .

November .

Bromland, Fisher, and Ramirez.

The MENSA society of midtown Manhattan.

Thank you.

All right, three detectives signed in to lockup, but, Fin, they're all good cops.

One of 'em isn't.

All right, just give me a second here, okay?

I gotta report to my Lieutenant.

I get it, we all have bosses.

Just...

just hold off on calling IAB.

Fin, we have to let IAB handle it.

Not yet.

You think Phoebe Baker is involved?

No, but it's her people, and she wants to clean her own house.

We have history, I owe her that.

As long as we stay on top of it.

I want surveillance on all three cops I don't like this.

Ramirez has been in there over minutes.

Yeah, nothing illegal so far.

It's a sketchy neighborhood.

Checked the building out, it's clean.

Maybe he's got a girlfriend.

Rollins, anything on Bromland?

Yeah, he got in about an hour ago.

It looks like he and his wife are having a dinner party.

All right, stay on him for now. We may have a lead on Ramirez.

I'll check back.

I forgot how boring stakeouts are.

I'm sorry to ruin your evening.

You know, maybe these cops were set up.

Right?

There's a lot easier ways to get a g*n than to steal it from an evidence room, you know?

What the...

Hey, maybe not so boring.

I trailed Fisher.

He went from his place to the precinct, and he's on night shift, there is no way he's doing dirty on the clock.

Well, Bromland's home, so the only one left is Ramirez.

He's not doing anything, I'm telling you.

I know Ramirez, he's a good cop.

Yeah, well, maybe his lady friend doesn't want him to smoke inside.

Hold up.

Something's going down.

Okay, we found our dirty cop.

Son of a bitch.

So, what do you wanna do?

- We get a warrant.

- Kofax knows the case.

Yeah, I'm parked around the block.

I'll get it signed, I'll text you.

All right.

I'll call Rollins.

Yeah, what do you got, Fin?

It's Ramirez.

Lights out in the Bromland apartment, he's not going anywhere.

I'm on my way.

You and Baker, I'm getting a sense that there's some history there.

Yeah, there's some history.

Come on.

You know, after my divorce, she was the first.

She was good to me, you know?

But dealing with my wife and my kid, I wasn't ready for anything serious.

It ended up messy.

Okay, but that was then, this is now.

And I mean, she seems pretty great.

How long does it take to get a warrant?

Come on, girl, answer the phone, Phoebe.

Pick up.

All right, hold on.

Something's going on.

Okay, it's going down.

It's going down.

Move, move, move.

Freeze, don't move.

- What happened?

- No idea.

C.

SVU portable, we need backup at Macombs and West .

Go, go, go, go.

NYPD.

Not again.

Yeah, there's gotta be a back exit.

Guys.

Hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

- I she alive?

- Yeah, barely.

She's too high to run.

- Baker's downstairs.

- All right.

SVU portable, we need a bus.

Hey, honey.

Hey, you doing all right?

What the hell happened?

You tell us.

What?

Where is Ramirez?

Somebody tipped them off, again.

Where you been?

What?

I've been getting a warrant.

Why didn't you answer your cell?

What?

Wait a minute, you don't think I had something to do with this?

You and I need to talk, that's what I think.

Really?

- Fin.

- Right now.

Your waitress will be right with you.

We need a minute.

I'll have a coffee.

Are you telling me the truth, Baker?

First of all, yes.

Second of all, you used to call me Phoebe.

You think this is funny?

Hilarious, yeah.

What I think is that you're out of your mind for thinking that I had anything to do with this.

- Ramirez was tipped off.

- Not by me.

Why didn't you answer your cell phone?

I was with Kofax in the back of Maxwell's where I don't have cell service.

You know what?

Screw you.

You know me.

I used to.

One of the girls was left behind, blonde in her s, on the nod.

I don't know anything about any girls.

That's good, 'cause when she comes to, we're gonna show her your picture.

You do that, you do that.

And then go screw yourself, again.

Ramirez is our dirty cop?

- Maybe not the only one.

- Not sure yet.

Phoebe Baker may be our mole.

That's not what you said yesterday.

Well, I hope I'm wrong.

She denies it.

You talked to her, alone?

Without IAB, without backup.

I know what I'm doing, Liv.

So, listen, Anne Kuzmin is, is uh...

she was left behind, one of the girls.

She's , she's got a record of solicitation, possession.

We need to see if she can ID Baker.

And if she can?

I'll make the call to IAB myself.

Am I under arrest?

No, but you need to answer some questions.

- I really need...

- A fix, yeah, we know.

But first, you're gonna have to help us.

Okay?

You recognize any of these guys?

You can go this way.

I can't...

I can't...

I can't.

I can't.

Anne, listen to me.

Listen to me.

We can help you and we can protect you, but you need to tell us what you know.

Okay, do you know his name?

Um, he makes us call him Papi, but I think his real name is Carlos.

And what does Carlos do?

He runs Dollhouse, he gets us dr*gs.

I just...

I just do what he says, you know?

He has a g*n.

How did you get here?

Where are you from?

Lowell, Massachusetts.

I ran away to New York when I was .

And when did you meet Carlos?

Uh, a year ago.

I was on the streets and after I got busted, I tried to get clean, you know?

I went to NA and this woman approached me and said she was a cop in recovery.

What was her name?

Her nickname was Fee.

She introduced me to Carlos.

At first, it wasn't that bad, you know?

Middle-aged married men, so the sex was over quick, all the dr*gs you wanted.

But then?

When you needed another fix, they make you work for it.

And if you didn't want to, they would thr*aten to call the cops on you, bust you for parole violation.

One of the girls, a few nights ago, she tried to get away, and they pushed her off a roof.

They said that they would do the same to us if we tried to run.

Okay, is that her?

Yeah, that's Torie.

I guess she had enough.

She just grabbed Carlos's g*n.

She...

she's better off now.

Okay, the woman from NA, the one that said she was a cop, Do you, uh, you see her here?

No, I...

no, I've never seen any of them before.

What about her?

- No.

- Are you sure?

I'm sure, it's not Fee.

It wasn't Baker?

She didn't ID her, but we could be looking at another female cop.

Who were the officers on Anne's last arrest?

Darla Davis and Mack O'Bannon.

They're patrol officers on the st.

I'll find out if there's any connection to Ramirez or Vice.

We know that Ramirez is involved, so he's our ground zero.

Are you on speaking terms with Baker?

Not yet.

Time to apologize.

So, now you want my help, huh?

We need your help.

Really?

And why should I trust either of you?

Huh, Fin?

Really, thinking that I'm dirty?

Phoebe, it looked bad.

Because of our history, I held you to a higher standard.

I should have known that's not who you are.

I apologize, I'm sorry.

But now we gotta go nail these bastards.

So, Stone's going hard ass on this traffic girl from Sugar Hill?

Yeah, my Lieutenant's pissed about it, too.

I mean, this girl's a victim, but she's carrying eight ounces of heroin.

- That's an A- felony.

- Stone offering a deal?

Name names, drivers, whoever's running the ring,

- anybody she knows.

- She gonna take it?

She's at Rikers right now thinking about it.

Just wanted to give you the heads up, okay?

Yeah, thank you.

Hey, Ramirez, is this crap coffee maker giving anything worth having?

- What do you think?

- No.

I got some French roast from home back at my desk.

You want some?

I think I'm gonna make a Joe's run.

- You want anything?

- No, I'm good.

Where's he going?

To meet his handler.

Who the hell is that?

Son of a bitch.

That's Judge Kofax.

Guys, I've never heard even a hint of any impropriety about Judge Kofax.

- Are you sure?

- Yeah.

Yeah, look, the last time Anne Kuzmin was arrested, she avoided jail time by enrolling in a drug treatment court.

Now, the supervising judge was Edward Kofax.

The same thing for Torie Meeks.

We found four other women, all enrolled in drug court, all supervised by Judge Kofax.

Vice asked for warrants on over pop-up brothels in the past year.

of the raids were tipped off.

On all of them, the warrants were signed by Kofax.

Yeah, when we fed Ramirez that fake info, he went straight to him.

Well, they're both gonna deny any connection.

They're just gonna claim that it was a coincidence.

Look, I know that this all sounds bad, but it's all circumstantial.

So, what now?

If we're gonna go after a sitting judge, we can't afford to miss.

_ Anne Kuzmin, again.

Her third arrest for possession this year.

She can still be saved.

You've given her a chance.

ROR, drug treatment court, it's not working.

And I am asking you for one last chance.

You know I can't do that.

Her arraignment is today.

You know, it's not gonna do this girl any good to be behind bars.

I wouldn't ask you this, Elana, if I didn't believe this was the right thing to do.

Hmm?

I can never say no to you, Edward.

Judge Kofax.

Yes, can I help you?

You may wanna come with us.

What the hell is this?

I wouldn't ask you this, Elana, if I didn't believe this was the right thing to do.

What you're thinking, you're wrong.

No, they're not.

Elana?

Whatever else you need, let me know.

Let's go.

You got no evidence against me.

Oh, well, trust me, Kofax, we got plenty, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting over there.

Detective Carlos Ramirez, Officer Felicia Taggart, and Devon Jones are all being arraigned as we speak.

Yeah, they all told IAB that you were the mastermind

- of the whole operation.

- That's ridiculous.

Every detail, how you hand-picked vulnerable girls and then you got the cops to do your dirty work.

Testimony of co-conspirators.

They don't know the real story.

Well, Judge Barth is cooperating, and, by the way, so is your wife.

My wife doesn't know anything.

We're gonna find the money.

Kofax, it's over.

Maybe it's time we called in the ADA.

All right, be quiet, Diane.

There is no money, I didn't take a dime.

I was helping those girls.

By trafficking them?

By using their addiction as a w*apon?

They wanted a fix.

I just gave them what they wanted.

I took care of them.

You took care of them?

Tori Meeks, years old, dead.

Anne Kuzmin, years old, survived by the skin of her teeth.

And four others under your care,under your protection, in your courtroom.

And I protected all of them.

You protected them, how?

Like they were my own daughters.

Lisa White, Farrah Bashir, Britt Baker, Anya Pliskova...

she .

They were all dead already.

What are you talking about?

Their souls were dead the minute they walked into my courtroom.

Junkies, addicts, thieves stealing their own lives, their own futures from their parents, who loved them, who were helpless.

I kept their daughters safe.

I made sure they only had good, clean doses, no ODs, kept them alive.

- That's enough, Edward.

- It is not enough!

It's never enough.

They're dead inside.

Their eyes are dead.

But if they're still breathing, if their hearts were still b*ating, then there was a chance.

If I'd given Delia that chance, maybe...

Delia?

She was when she overdosed.

It did not have to end that way.

Her body in the ground...

Cold, alone...

my little girl.

Liv says Kofax took a deal.

He'll do years.

His age, that's life.

You know, what he did, he deserves it, daughter or no daughter.

Speaking of, I've gotta get the sitter off the clock.

I think it's gonna be pizza night again at the Rollins household.

- Nothing wrong with pizza.

- Yeah?

Jesse and Billie would love to see you, if you don't have other plans.

Later, I do, but first, I can come by, say hello.

Great.

You too, Fin.

I'm meeting somebody, but thanks.

Hey.

I'm starting my program again.

Trying to.

I'm really proud of you.

Well, the other girls are back in recovery, too.

Good.

We all went to Torie's funeral.

One of her foster brothers was there, said he's fighting to clear her name for the drug charges.

Well, I can help with that.

Thank you.

- Thanks for checking up on me.

- Yeah.

Anne...

you're gonna get through this.

I'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you.

And the system is...

far from perfect, but...

it can work.

You can make...

whatever life for yourself that you want.

Do you really believe that?

Yes...

I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, to teamwork.

To teamwork.

Gonna be okay?

I mean, seeing Ramirez go down was like a gut punch, and I have a lot of explaining to do to my captain, but yeah.

I'm sorry about how I treated you, Phoebe.

You apologized.

I mean how I treated you years ago.

- Oh, that.

- Yeah.

I was getting over my marriage, it wasn't fair it became your problem.

Water under the bridge.

I'm not that same guy anymore.

Good.

I'm not that same girl, either.

I know.

So, I was thinking, if you're into it, maybe we could try again.

Fin, I'm flattered, um...

but I'm seeing someone now.

Oh, wow, I'm sorry.

No, it's...

it's, um, I don't know if he's the one or anything, but we're good together, so...

I actually am supposed to go meet him now.

You wanna come?

- Oh, no, no come on.

- That's stupid.

Okay, um...

It was good to see you.

You too.

Take care, Fin.