24x08 - A Better Person

[bunniefuu]

In the criminal justice system,

sexually based offenses

are considered especially heinous.

In New York City,
the dedicated detectives

who investigate these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

Are you my appendix?

Excuse me?

Because I want to take you out.

Oh, that's... [CHUCKLES]

That's not nice, that's my drink.

Not anymore.

- Okay.
- Don't you know?

Possession is / of the law.

Where'd you get your law degree,

College of Staten Island?

These lips could give a guy like you

a hell of a st birthday.

Who told you it was my birthday?

What did I tell you?

- Hey.
- Hey, hey, hey.

Oh, come on, what's the matter?

What, did she spill your gin fizz?

It was a tequila Negroni,
you philistines.

- A what?
- It ain't an insult

if we never heard the word before.

- Whose idea was that?
- Relax, kid.

Mandy's a catch.
A good, Irish Catholic girl.

All right, that's it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
what do you mean that's it?

What are you doing?
Where are you going?

I'm going back to the city.

What do mean you're
going back to the city?

We're playing a game.

I told you I wanted
to keep my birthday low key.

Oh, come on, turning
is not a low-key birthday.

These guys watched you grow up.

Come on, they just bought
you a drink, that's all.

Aidan!

Aidan!

Son! Hey!

These guys didn't
mean anything by that.

They just wanted to celebrate with you.

By getting me laid.

What's wrong with that?

If I have to explain it to you,

then you haven't been listening.

- I gotta go.
- No, no, no, wait.

Just give me one second, okay?

I have your suit
for Aunt Pammie's wedding

in the trunk of my car.
Give me one...

My car is literally right here,

and I didn't pick out
that suit; you did.

Don't start with that.

You want me to wear it
so bad, you drop it off.

You want me to drive into Manhattan

to drop off your suit?

Aidan!

Oh, come on.

- Hey.
- Oh.

There you are. Sit down.

And, uh, ask me,

why I'm popping a bottle of champagne

in the middle of the day.

You won a big case?

- No.
- No.

We are celebrating.

Okay, I figured that out.

Okay, listen, stop being
a detective for five seconds.

You blew those kids at Fordham away,

and my old college roommate
was impressed.

And he called me today,

to put out some feelers.

For what?

The way he puts it,

they're gonna approach you
with a job offer...

a teaching position.

[SOFT MUSIC]

I'm not a teacher.

No, but you are an expert
in forensic psychology.

After you got sh*t,
you've been all but hinting

that you might need a change.

- I thought this might be perfect.
- Carisi, stop,

being a lawyer for five seconds.

I-I didn't mean leaving SVU.

You can say no if you want.

Just don't say no right now.

Right now, enjoy your champagne,

and then after that, sleep on it.

To the future.

Hmm.

Hmm.

- Aidan?
- [DOORBELL BUZZES]

Yo?

Aidan!

Aidan, come on, it's getting late.

We got to be suited up
in the church by : a.m.

Aidan!

Aidan, if you don't show up, your aunt

is gonna absolutely lose it.

I can hear your cell in there.

I know you're in there, come on!

[PHONE RINGS]

Aidan!

[TENSE MUSIC]

Aidan?

♪ ♪

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

So the victim is the kid
of one of our own?

Detective Mark McDaniels,
Grand Larceny division.

The same McDaniels who
collared the postal inspector

- a few years back?
- Special Frauds.

That phony check scam case, right?

Mack's a good man.

What can you tell us about his son?

The kid just turned ,

lived alone, went to FIT.

Worked for some high-end
clothing brand in Soho.

And his father
is the one who found him?

He called it in.

I called you guys.

What's the sexual component?

I found bite marks on his genitals.

I couldn't get him out of the house.

We'll talk to him.

Detective McDaniels?

I'm Captain Benson.

This is Detective Rollins.

Can you tell us what happened?

Yeah.

Uh...
[BREATHS SHAKILY]

We were celebrating my son's, uh,

you know, st birthday, and, uh,

you know,
he used to be such a good bowler

when he was a kid, so we...

[VOICE BREAKING] And, uh...

I was just trying to drop off his suit.

You know, uh,

you know that expression
one day at a time?

I think today...

It's one minute at a time.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

He had, he had bite marks on him.

On his back,

on his upper thigh,

and, uh,

all over his, uh, his groin area.

Yeah, Detective Fernandez
brought us up to speed.

I mean, as far as I know,
my kid was a virgin.

What kind of...

What kind of monster does this?

That's what we're gonna find out.

Oh, God, I'm sorry.

The door, was it broken
like that when you got here?

No, I did that.

I didn't know it was
a crime scene, but, you know,

when I looked in and I saw my...

My son dead on the...

on the floor, you know,
I kind of lost it, okay?

Is there somebody
that we can call for you?

- Your wife?
- My ex, Laura.

Yeah, I should call her.

Yeah, if I was his mother,
that's what I would want,

and I'd want to hear it from you.

Yeah.

Oh, God.

[LINE TRILLING]

We came as soon as I got your text.

This guy's in bad shape.

Look, father to father...

Okay, I'll keep an eye on him.

This kid, it's awful.

He crossed paths with a monster

at some point last night.

Look, go outside and check if
there's any security cameras.

Check his phone, his social,
and tell me what you find.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Did the perp place the towel like that?

I asked Mack about it.

He said he did it,
to preserve the kid's dignity.

Okay, well,
that's gonna mess up the case,

but, I certainly get it.

Half the closet's empty.

Drawers too.

Kid was an art school student.

Probably on a shoestring budget.

Probably didn't have much
to begin with.

That may be something.

May be nothing.

Thanks, Fernandez.

Can you imagine,

if it was Jessie or Billie or Noah?

We're used to seeing
this stuff all the time.

I can't.

♪ ♪

Thanks for coming in on your day off.

Well, what can you tell us
about Aidan McDaniels?

Well, in addition to bite marks,

he's got quite a few injuries.

Cause of death, head trauma,
internal bleeding.

So he was beaten?

More like tortured.

Whoever did this started
with the biting,

then switched to some kind of object.

Do you have any idea
what the object was?

Blunt force,

four inch diameter,
with a significant taper.

Off-hand, I'd say it was a wine bottle.

Likely the same one
he was sodomized with.

So it was a rage att*ck?

He's got quite a few internal ruptures.

Ooh.

Do you know if this happened
antemortem or post?

Haven't had enough time
with the body yet.

Why?
Does that impact your investigation?

No, but it'll matter to the father.

He's a cop, he's gonna ask questions.

I know I would.

Were you able to recover any DNA?

Checked the vic's mouth,

under the nails,

got a whole lot of nothing.

Really?
Thats...

That's odd, he didn't fight back at all?

Whether he did or he didn't,

it's tough to say,

and even tougher to prove at trial.

His nails were trimmed
right down to the beds.

I also found residue of sodium stearate,

on his hands, face, neck, upper body.

Sodium stearate?

A common surfactant used
in household detergents.

And based on the new
and improved lemony scent,

I'd say it was dish soap.

Okay, so whoever this was
knew how to get rid of the DNA.

Sometimes the absence of something

has a presence all its own.

♪ ♪

That level of rage,
we're looking at some type

- of serial sex predator.
- But rage is...

Is primal, rage is messy.

It doesn't stop
to trim someone's nails.

But people can learn to control

their aggressive impulses, professor.

- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.

What now?

You get anything, Muncy?

Yeah, I went through Aidan's texts.

He made plans to meet up with a friend

after the bar, Brian Donnelly,
at the old neighborhood.

- Where's that?
- Howard Beach.

Where John Gotti used to live.

That neighborhood is r*cist, sexist,

and phobic of just about everything.

Yeah.

Good place to meet a monster.

That's Aidan, good kid,

a little sensitive.

So he got m*rder*d?
Jeez.

- Catch the guy?
- We're working on it.

We heard Aidan was here last night.

Well, you heard wrong.
Not Aidan.

His boy Brian was here with some chick.

You sure?

I don't mean to talk out of school.

The guy's married.

No Aidan?

I was here all night.

If Aidan was here,
I would've high-fived the guy.

It was his birthday.

I've been slinging that kid
free pints since he turned .

Did you just confess
to serving a minor alcohol?

All it would take is a
phone call to shut you down.

Unless you show us
the security footage?

We scrubbed through
all the security footage.

We saw Aidan's friend Brian
out on some kind of a date.

And it didn't go too well
because after about minutes,

the date storms off.

And no Aidan?

No, and I went through
all hours the bar was open...

just a bunch of meatheads
getting drunk.

Hold on, go back,
I want to see something.

Freeze it.

♪ ♪

Does Aidan have a sister?

Nope, he's an only child.

Brian's date, is Aidan.

♪ ♪

That's you with Aidan, right?

Yep.

He asked me to meet him at the bar.

You mean she?

Why'd he want to meet you?

Said he wanted to talk.

- About what?
- What do you think?

That.

Aidan was my best friend,

since second grade.

He's like my brother.

Then she shows up.

So you didn't know about this?

That his name was now Aida?

Howard Beach is a tough neighborhood.

I'm lucky he passed.

The bartender didn't
even know who he was.

So if she didn't pass,

the meatheads there
would have b*at your ass?

Both of our asses.

So that's what the fight was about?

Yeah, I was pissed.
I freaked out.

Yelled at him, I overreacted,

yelled at him to stay
the hell away from me.

Don't you think I want
to take that back now?

Okay.

So did Aida tell you where
she was going after she left?

She just asked if I would
accept her for who she was.

And what'd you say?

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

No.

What'd you do when you left the bar?

I went home.

My wife was in the middle
of breastfeeding our baby.

If you need an alibi, you can ask her.

Your wife?

It's not gonna hold
a lot of water in court.

We're gonna need to take
your dental impressions.

Dental impressions?

Yeah,

whoever k*lled your
friend left bite marks.

♪ ♪

I had to do it all over again,

I would have bought him a beer
and said I loved him.

Brian's dental impressions
weren't a match.

And his cell phone put him at home

at the time of Aida's m*rder.

So our k*ller is still out there.

All right, so any idea where
Aida went after Howard Beach?

Her cell phone pinged a tower
in the West Village at : a.m.

A lot of bars in that area.

Where she would feel accepted.

We'll start a canvass in the village.

And we need to speak
with Mack and his wife

to find out if they had any idea,

about their child's private life.

Laura just flew in.

She hasn't been back since we split.

She's a mother, I get it.

I told her it was an active crime scene,
but,

she wouldn't listen.

Anyway, you guys aren't here
to be marriage counselors.

We have some new evidence.

Is there a place that we could talk?

This was from the night of the m*rder

at a bar in Howard Beach.

Yeah, what is it?
This is nothing.

He's in art school, come on.

Well, we talked to Aidan's friend,

and, he told us that,

That Aidan was trying to live as Aida.

Who?
What friend?

- Brian Donnelly.
- Donnelly.

The Donnelly family
are a bunch of criminals.

- He lied.
- Mark...

- No.
- He's not lying.

What are you talking about?

Remember when Aida came

- to visit me in Sedona?
- Yes.

She was dressed
like this the whole time.

- We even did a rebirth ceremony.
- Okay, I can't even listen...

- Her name is Aida now.
- I can't listen to this.

And this is something that you thought

you should keep from me?

Aida wanted to tell you in
her own way when she was ready.

I told her to live her truth.

Okay, I think the most important thing

is that you both love
the same child, am I right?

So the more information
that we have about Aidan,

the easier it will be
to find his k*ller.

Her name is Aida.

She was my best friend.

We told each other everything.

We spoke on the phone every night.

What do you want to know?

We need a list of your child's friends,

and can you think of
anybody that would be

angry enough to do something like this?

I don't understand.

Aida was an artist.

She kept to herself.

She wasn't an angry person.

Unfortunately, the k*ller was.

Which leads us to the next thing

that we wanted to talk to you about.

The... The pieces don't fit.

'Cause on the one hand,
Aidan's crime scene

exhibits all the hallmarks
of a spree k*ller...

Rage, sloppiness.

And on the other hand, there was,

a meticulousness,
and a great deal of care.

Are you saying that
two different people

att*cked my daughter?

And you think we're one of them?

All we're saying,

is that these two things
don't normally go together.

All right, whoever did this,

went to great lengths
to cover all of their tracks,

despite their apparent anger.

There were no clothes in the closet.

No makeup.

No... No traces of a secret life.

Most importantly, there was no DNA.

Okay, then you go back to the house.

We will.

I'm sorry, I thought
you were a captain.

- Mark!
- No!

Laura, listen,

they should be solving Aidan's m*rder,
not accusing us.

Look...

I know that you've
both been through a lot,

and I feel for you, I really do,

but there's one thing that
you should know about me.

If I thought that you k*lled Aidan,

you'd already be in cuffs.

♪ ♪

That went well.

Yeah.

I think I understand why Laura
moved all the way to Sedona.

If it's any consolation,
I saw what she did

with Mack there, that verbal judo.

Rollins, I've been
giving guys like that

the smackdown my entire career.

No, I'm talking about
you mirroring his language.

Well, he wasn't gonna talk to us

if I used the wrong pronoun.

Wrong to him.

You saw the look on his face,

when I talked about the
closets being emptied out?

I did.

Look, from his point of view, I mean,

it's like the guy lost his son twice.

I've seen disassociation before.

You have too.

I mean, like you said,
the pieces don't fit.

[PHONE BUZZES]

- You think he's hiding something?
- I don't know.

There's been another as*ault.

Chelsea, same MO...
sodomy, attempted m*rder.

Let me guess, the vic's
covered in bite marks?

Yeah.

♪ ♪

Can you tell me your name?

- Cora.
- What happened, Cora?

He tried to k*ll me,

the man from the bar.

Munce.

Uni says she maced the guy,

and he fell off that fire escape.

That means he couldn't have gotten far.

♪ ♪

Why don't you start wherever
you feel comfortable?

And you don't have to go in order.

I was leaving the Cubbyhole
with some friends.

They got into a cab, and,

this guy started
chatting me up outside.

Did he give you his name?

Lukas.

He was tall, cute, light brown hair,

and, dimples and an accent.

Okay, do you know what kind of accent?

French, or Dutch maybe.

He said he was in town for a month as

project manager,
for some architecture firm.

Did he mention the name of the firm?

No, he didn't.

So, um,

can I ask you a sensitive question?

I'm in a hospital bed
covered in bite marks.

- I think we're past that.
- Okay.

Did he know that you were trans?

I told him.

He was intrigued.

And, what happened when you got home?

The second we got into the door,
it was like...

A switch flipped.

He went full-on beast mode.

How?

He slammed me against the wall, and,

tore my clothes off and,
started biting me.

Then he grabbed a wine bottle, and...

Started raping me with it.

I pretended to go along with it,
so, uh,

So, I could grab my mace.

I blinded the bastard,
and he took off out the window.

I heard him fall, but when
I looked down, he was gone.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

- [DOG BARKING]
- Oh, oh, what's the matter?

- What's the... what is it?
- Ma'am, are you okay?

Oh, that poor man must have fallen.

Oh, I tell my friend Rita all the time

she should watch out for these things.

These bodegas are gonna k*ll somebody.

- You should give the owner a ticket.
- Hey, freeze!

- What if my dog fell down there?
- Ma'am, shut up!

Fin, I got him.

Corner of th and st.

Basement of the Circle Mart.

Stay put, Muncy.

NYPD!

Hands where I can see 'em!

[GRUNTING]

♪ ♪

- Get up!
- Ah! Ah!

Get up!

You're under arrest!
Hey!

- You're under arrest!
- Muncy? Muncy?

I got him.

I got him.

What the hell happened to him?

I think he's got a broken rib.

Don't look at me, I didn't do it.

He fell off the fire escape,

and then went down there to hide.

Do you think it's the same guy

- who att*cked Aida?
- We'll see.

I mean, hopefully,
we'll get some usable DNA

from Cora's r*pe kit.

- Fin?
- Muncy hauled this guy

out of a bodega cellar.

Are we sure that it's him?

Well, he's pretty banged up.

Either he fell off a fire escape,

or Muncy's a lot stronger
than she looks.

You have a black light on you?

Yeah, why?

Because our vic just said
that she maced him,

and as far as I know,

all pepper spray has UV dye in it.

Okay.

♪ ♪

It wasn't me.

Yeah, well, your eyes
tell a different story.

Lukas Peeters, he's a Belgian national.

He's been in New York for two weeks.

He doesn't have a record in the U.S.

We're checking with Interpol.

And the victim, Cora,
made a positive ID?

In a lineup.
And the forensics were a match.

His prints and her DNA
were on the wine bottle

that was used in the as*ault.

This guy make any admission
of guilt before he lawyered up?

Oh, he's claiming
that it was consensual.

Nice try.

I'll arraign him,
I'll get an indictment.

- The vic's good to testify?
- She is.

Captain, sorry to interrupt.

Detective McDaniels is here.

It's okay.
Send him in.

I heard you have a suspect in custody?

There he is.
He k*lled my son.

We don't know that.

What are you charging him with?

As of now, aggravated sexual abuse

and attempted m*rder one, but,

on the case from last night.

No, I heard about the bite marks

on the second vic, the sexual as*ault.

Did you match those
to the bite marks on Aidan?

Actually, they were inconclusive.

Did you even ask him about Aidan?

We did, and he denies
ever having met her.

Okay, so canvass all the
bars, pull the street cams.

Put them together, do your job.

- Detective McDaniels...
- Even if they were seen together,

there is no evidence putting him

at your child's crime scene.
There's no DNA.

We told you the whole place was wiped.

Oh, my God.

♪ ♪

Detective McDaniels, is there something

that you want to tell us?

Because your son was dressed as a woman,

the night of his m*rder,

and we cannot find the clothes.

- There's no makeup.
- You know what?

I'm not the one that you should
be interrogating, Captain.

Not when my son's k*ller
is sitting in the other room.

Did you...

Did you swab this guy?

He has to have scratches, cuts.

My son didn't take this lying down.

Because you taught him to be tough?

Yeah, he would have fought like a man!

The ME didn't find anything
under his fingernails.

In fact, there were hardly
any fingernails at all.

There is definitely
something else out there,

something that you have missed.

There's no way, that this guy
did what he did to my son,

without leaving more of a trace.

You have to go back, right?

Start your investigation
from square one,

or I promise you you're
gonna be standing in front

of a f*ring squad at CompStat

wondering why you didn't
do this right in the first place.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

The victim, Cora Jones,
was injured, and traumatized.

She told responding officers that

Lukas Peeters had tried to k*ll her.

And you found evidence
that supports her statement?

She was covered in bite marks, bruises,

subdural hematoma from
being clubbed with a bottle.

We later learned that
she was forcibly penetrated

with that same implement.

How did you identify a suspect?

Well, Cora had maced her attacker,

and he tried to flee,

but, fell down a fire escape.

Detectives tracked him down
to a local bodega

where he was hiding in a basement.

And Ms. Jones
identified herself to you

as a trans woman, correct?

Yes.

And in your experience
as an SVU detective,

do you believe that she was targeted

- because of how she identifies?
- Objection.

My client is not being charged
with a hate crime.

A little latitude, Your Honor?

I'll allow this line of questioning,

but move it along.

Witness may answer.

Actual numbers are underreported.

Transgender people,
they're a targeted community.

They more often experience
r*pe, sexual as*ault, m*rder.

And who usually commits these crimes?

It's often an intimate partner,

but it can be a stranger
who initiates sexual contact

and then changes their mind
and reacts violently.

And in your experience,

why would somebody react this way?

People like to put things
in neat little boxes,

and gender identity,

just doesn't work that way.

It is a deeply felt,
individual experience

that doesn't always correspond
to the sex given at birth.

And this seeming contradiction, it...

Well, it can lead to expl*sive
reactions in some perpetrators.

Was this the case with Lukas Peeters?

Lukas Peeters purposely sought out Cora,

because she was a trans woman.

And again, in your experience,

why would he do that?

Well, in my estimation,

the rage exhibited in this att*ck is...

It's a peculiar form
of projection of his anger

about his own desires, which...

Which were in conflict
with who he believes

he should be sexually attracted to.

Thank you.

Is there a simpler explanation,
for all this, Detective?

Such as consensual rough sex,
for example?

No, not in my opinion.

The bite marks, the wine bottle.

The initials CNC come to mind,

consensual nonconsensual.

- You've heard of it?
- Yes.

And you're saying
it's impossible in this case?

Um.

You recently gave a lecture
at Fordham University

where you said, and I quote,

"Human sexuality is strange,"

did you not?

- Yes, and later in that...
- Thank you.

Nothing further.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Lukas Peeters att*cked me.

Pinned me against the wall,

ripped my clothes off,

started biting me.

Then he r*ped me with a bottle.

And what did you do?

I pretended to go along.

Did you mean that
as some form of consent?

Consensual nonconsensual?

Absolutely not.

I did it,

so I could grab my mace,

as a way to survive.

Otherwise,
I knew he would have k*lled me.

Thank you.

No further questions.

Isn't it true you told
my client you like it rough?

There's rough,
and then there's as*ault.

Lukas assaulted me.

Did you ever tell him to stop?

I wanted him to.

Did you say the word stop?

I don't recall.

The night is fuzzy.

He hit me on the head with a bottle.

How about the word no?

I was in shock.

It happened so fast.

Never said stop or no.

Is it possible my client took
the omission of those words

as tacit consent?

He had me pinned down.

I was trying to defend myself.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but,

weren't you on the
wrestling team in college?

Yes, but that was in my former life.

Just curious,

did you identify as a man in college?

[SCOFFS]

♪ ♪

Yes.

And why wrestling?

I was jumped,

outside of a local bar,

in the town I grew up in.

And where was that?

Muscatine, Iowa.

A small factory town.

It must have been hard
growing up there?

Well, it wasn't the friendliest place.

Still, it's fair to say,

you know how to defend yourself?

It's been a long time,

and I'm no longer that person.

But, you remember the techniques.

How to throw someone,

how to shift your weight,
how to catch them off guard.

My physicality
is completely different now.

Or, maybe there's another answer.

That you enjoyed being overpowered,

and you didn't want it to stop.

- Objection.
- Withdrawn.

♪ ♪

Cora...

- You okay?
- I'm sorry.

No.

No, you have nothing,
nothing to apologize for.

For what it's worth,

that lawyer's strategy,
going after you like that,

didn't score any points with the jury.

What about when Lukas takes the stand?

You don't have to watch his testimony.

I thought I was an expert
at seeing people like that,

that it would keep me safe.

You became an expert
in human behavior because...

Because you had to.

I hate that I was wrong about Lukas.

- You couldn't have known.
- Then how will the jury?

Could you excuse me for a moment?

You're a saint.

I've no idea how you work
these kinds of cases every day.

Well, somebody has to.

This poor kid.

I mean, where the hell
were her parents?

If my Aidan was in that witness box,

I would have been there
every step of the way.

Cora didn't have that luxury,

because her parents, never accepted her.

She left home when she was a teenager.

I just hate the fact that she
was even att*cked like that.

The world is a messed-up place.

Yeah.

But at least there's people like you,

out there.

Like me?

Somebody who makes a mistake,

but ultimately, does the right thing.

I'm sorry, are you trying
to say something...

I am.

You know, Mack, everyone has said to me,

that you're a good man...

But we both know what you did.

And quite frankly,
I understand the impulse.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

♪ ♪

But placing a towel over your child...

Wasn't the only thing

that you did, was it?

Was it?

I didn't want all the cops, the techs,

everybody crawling all over that place

investigating his m*rder,

to see him like that.

Commenting on him, laughing at my son.

So you took off her nails...

You wiped off her makeup...

And you hid her clothes.

I...

[SIGHS]
What the hell did I do?

I chose shame.

Over justice for your child.

If I'd just left everything
the way it was,

everything at the crime scene,

maybe Cora wouldn't have been att*cked.

You know, Cora...

Cora needed a father.

She needed somebody who accepted her,
who,

who was there for her.

You can still be there for Aida.

That's the name that your
daughter chose for herself.

I guess I wasn't really listening.

I'm not a good person.

You can be a better one.

♪ ♪

So this is what Aida was wearing
the night of her m*rder?

Yeah, that's everything,
everything I...

I hid.

The clothes Aida was att*cked in.

We'll comb them for DNA.

Mack, if you're really serious,

about Lukas Peeters going away,

then, Carisi will indict him on m*rder.

That means that you're
gonna have to testify,

in front of the grand jury.

Are you okay with that?

- I am.
- And you understand,

that, that means
that you need to confess

for tampering with the crime scene?

- I know.
- That's a felony.

I know.

[SOLEMN MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Well, then if I were you, I...

I would talk to my union delegate,

and I would hire...

I'd hire a good lawyer.

Whatever it takes to make this right.

Even if it means
you'll lose your badge?

♪ ♪

It was quiet, when I got
to Aida's apartment.

She, uh... she didn't answer the door.

So I looked in the window,
and that's when I saw the...

Saw legs on the floor.

And, I immediately got a bad feeling.

What did you do next?

I kicked in the door
to get to my daughter.

Can you describe how you found her?

[CLEARS THROAT]

Eyes shut, splayed out.

She had bruises and bite marks.

There was blood everywhere.

I moved her body...

[SIGHS]

To put her to bed one last time.

What was she wearing?

Jeans, a blouse,

red, high-heeled shoes.

She had makeup on her face.

She had those fake nails,

which I removed.

I was acting on instinct.

A big part of me knew what
I was doing was wrong, but...

I'm also very aware of what
it's like at a crime scene.

You know, you got photographs
and detailed reports,

and...

And what?

And as was stated earlier,

my daughter, identified as a woman.

I didn't accept that.

I wasn't enough of a man,

to accept that.

And I'm ashamed of it now,

but I was too embarrassed
to let the cops...

The very men that I work with...

See her like that.

What did you do with Aida's effects?

I put them in two garbage bags,
and, uh...

Hid them in the boat in my garage.

Why'd you hold on to them?

Because they were the last things

I had to remember my child.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

♪ ♪

The grand jury handed down
an indictment for m*rder one,

thanks to Detective McDaniels'
testimony

and confirmation of Lukas's
DNA on Aida's clothing.

And when you told Lukas and his lawyer?

Oh, they folded like origami.

years for man one,
years on Cora's charges.

And we also heard from Interpol.

Any DNA hits in Belgium?

Eight other r*pe victims in Germany.

He was a project manager
for a building there last year.

And the DA's office will cooperate

with the German police on those cases,

but only after Lukas
serves his sentence here.

[SIGHS]

Muncy, let me ask you question.

You want a bite of my Hawaiian pizza?

No, thank you.

It's about that Belgian guy
in the bodega cellar.

Yeah, what about him?

How long did you actually wait,

before you went down those stairs
after I told you don't go?

Honestly, Sarge, I was already
halfway down the steps.

What the hell is wrong with you?

You know you could have
got k*lled, right?

Yeah, but I wasn't.

But I hear you.

I wasn't thinking.
It's just,

sometimes people piss me off.

Yeah, I get what you mean.

But you do something like that again,

I'm gonna have to tell Benson.

And one more thing,

I don't know how you do it in Queens,

but people up in Harlem,

we don't put fruit on our pizza.

♪ ♪

So the loss of a child is not
something you can prepare for.

Aida had dreams,

and a lot of plans for the future.

Plans that, um...

She didn't share with me because,

she didn't feel like
I would accept her.

And that is my loss, because...

[CLEARS THROAT]

Because I never got to meet her.

But I loved her.

To Aida.

To Aida.

ALL: To Aida.

Aida.

You think they have a sh*t?

Now that they both love the same child?

Yeah, maybe.

To love.

Mm.

Nice work, professor.

♪ ♪