Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 2, Episode 19 - Parasites - full transcript

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.

It's an above-ground Jacuzzi. I don't
know why you're digging that deep.

It's called a foundation,
Mr. Sawyer.

Just make sure you don't
hit a gas main or something.



We know what we're doing.

Then you know you have to
take out all those weeds.

The roots will break
right through the concrete.

Last owner left
this place a mess.

Don't worry. We'll clear the
whole yard. No extra charge.

Aren't those
hydrangea bushes?

Why'd you think I said we'd
clear the yard for nothing?

We're gonna make more off
those bushes than off this job.

I know a guy
in Hackensack...

What?

We closed on the house a month ago.
Had it inspected, inside and out...

For termites,
not dead bodies.

We're suing that realtor.
You're all witnesses...

Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, we're gonna
need you to leave the crime scene.



It's our new home. We'll
try not to take too long.

It's all right.
Just let them...

Hi.

Detectives.
What've we got?

Judging from the eye orbits, nasal
opening, and cheek bone projection...

I'd say a Caucasian.

Surface of the auricular
region puts her under 30.

Her?
Did you find any clothes?

A few scraps.
Most of the fabric decomposed.

But look at the hips.

Wide sciatic notch, long
pubic bone. Definitely female.

Cause of death?

No obvious knife marks
or bullet holes.

Hopefully I'll know more
after I put her back together.

Now, how are we getting sexual
homicide from a bunch of bones?

Check the evidence tray.

It's a crucifix.

I think he means
the studded collar and leash.

Looks like our bone lady
was somebody's pet.

The previous owners
put in the hydrangeas.

And they were?
The Stantons. Brad and Abbey.

Fought constantly from the day they
moved in, to the day Abbey moved out.

And when was that?
About four years ago.

Anything violent? Loud,
yes. Violent, I never saw.

Did Abbey ever come back? Yeah,
but not for a good year or so.

She'd pound on his door, wailing.
He'd come out, slip her a few bucks.

This became like a weekly ritual.
Usually about 3:00 in the morning.

How long did that go on?
About a month or two.

One night
he doesn't answer his door.

She starts screaming she's gonna
report him to the medical board...

for having sex
with his patients.

So he's a doctor?
A surgeon.

Anyhow, the door bursts open,
Abbey gets the crap beat out of her.

You said you never saw
any violence.

No. I never saw Brad hit her. This was
Pam, the new wife, throwing the punches.

Guess he likes
his women feisty.

When was the next time
you saw Abbey?

Never.

Captain, check it out.

How sick is this? A crucifix.

Get this,
dog collar and leash.

Looks like
an S&M session gone south.

The lab get
any prints off them?

Not yet.

Any idea
how long she was buried?

ME's best guesstimate
is three years.

What about... We're all
over missing persons.

Okay, so who had access
to this yard?

The previous owners,
the Stantons.

The story reads like
a bad soap opera.

Doctor marries
wife number two...

wife number one
mysteriously disappears.

After wife number two uses wife
number one as a punching bag.

Well, go have a talk
with the happy couple.

You two check and see if anybody else
remembers the first Mrs. Dr. Stanton.

Million-dollar view
of the murder scene.

Any of your apartments
overlook the yard?

We have six buildings on this
block. We're talking 36 units.

Any of your tenants come up
missing between late '97, early '99?

Yeah. They go missing when they forget
to pay their rent for three months.

Meanwhile, that's lost income.

We're gonna need a list
from the aforementioned years.

And rental applications.
Oh, yeah, applications.

We have a very stringent
screening process...

what with all the high-class
people desperate to move in here.

Can we take a look
at your files?

Knock yourselves out.

Brad was married to that
blood-sucking leech for five years.

Why did you attack her?

Abbey accused Brad
of sleeping with his patients.

She's a bottom-feeding,
mainlining junkie.

A constant source of
embarrassment for my husband.

And how embarrassed were you?
I was angry.

She was my friend once. We
went to nursing school together.

When did they divorce? In '97.
Brad was extremely generous.

You mean above and beyond
the settlement?

Until I put my foot down.

It was about three years ago,
he finally cut her off.

Have you heard from her since?

No, thank God.

Why? What kind of trouble
is Abbey in now?

A woman's remains
were found buried...

under the hydrangea
behind your former brownstone.

Oh, my God.

They've been there
about three years.

Where's your husband now?
The hospital. Extremely busy.

Look, Brad couldn't kill anybody,
not even that horrible bitch.

I have to go to work.

I didn't kill Abbey. She was busy
killing herself with her habit.

But you married her anyway?
I loved her.

Back then, she was only
on Xanax for anxiety...

and then she started stealing
Demerol and Dilaudid...

and the hospital
finally had to fire her.

That must have been
humiliating for you...

especially the yelling
and the extortion.

I had to sit there and watch,
powerless, while she hit rock bottom.

Bottom being three feet
under your former hydrangeas.

It's not Abbey.

Look, I got a case in half
an hour. I got to scrub.

Without saying hello to your
wife? Leave her out of this.

I told you he was busy.

I can handle this. I'll
see you inside. Okay.

Stop wasting our time.

That's what
you're looking for.

Please, whatever you do,
don't tell Pam.

She's not gonna
be able to tell you much.

This is Abbey?
AIDS-related dementia.

Dr. Stanton pays the bills,
keeps the roses fresh.

When was the last time
he was here?

When he brought her in.

She hasn't had
a visitor since.

It's sad. She doesn't have
much time left.

Thank you.

Now what?
Back to the bones.

Figure out how she died yet?
Strangulation.

Pressure fractures
to the hyoid.

Fits the S&M theory. Auto-erotic
asphyxiation, but he mistimes it.

Don't know how
he could have.

There's a peri-mortem break in one
of the metacarpals of her right hand.

So she put up a struggle. Now
we're back to the sexual sadist.

What else have we got?
Well, she was petite.

I measured her femur.

Estimate she was 5'4. And I
think she was Eastern European.

You got that from the bones?
From her teeth.

I found traces of arsenic.

Using arsenic to kill a nerve is
an old Russian dental practice...

that spread to
most of the Eastern Bloc.

Great. So her dental records are
somewhere in the former Soviet Union.

Maybe this will help. Henry
is our forensic anthropologist.

Show them
what you came up with.

I entered the dimensions of the
skull, put in tissue depth markers.

That's determined by age,
right?

We figure she's around 30...

so she'd have more facial
tissue than, say, a 50-year-old.

Then what?

I fashioned the nose, ears, and mouth
accordingly, and layer by layer got this.

How close do you think it is?
It's a reasonable approximation.

Print her out.

So she's from behind
the fallen Iron Curtain.

That narrows it down to a couple hundred
thousand of your poor huddled masses.

What's all that?
Meticulously kept records...

from the tenement complex
behind our burial ground.

The manager's been somewhat remiss
in keeping track of her tenants.

I guess we can rule out
Ming Noh Ling.

Any names in there
that sound Eastern Bloc?

Sixteen and counting.
Track them down.

No, I don't speak Romanian.
You speak English?

Yes, I understand. Latvia.

Is there anyone else there
who knows what happened to her?

You're saying that she went back
to Latvia two years ago, right?

I'm calling from the police
department, not Immigration.

Sir, we have nothing to do with
deportation. Okay, yes, thank you.

Hello?

Find anything?

Yeah. Eastern Europeans
don't trust cops.

I have two
that are unaccounted for.

I have three.
How are you guys doing?

Yearning to be free of this.
Five people I can't place.

One.

Okay. Let's just get them over
to missing persons, okay?

No match.

How many more of these?
Three boxes.

You know how many women go
missing in this city every year?

Hey.

You find something?
I don't know. You tell me.

Pretty damn close.

"Ava Parulis." That's P-A-R.

Reported missing:
April of '98.

Here we go.

Ava Parulis rented an apartment
behind the crime scene in February '98.

Gone by that April. Skipped
out on the last month's rent.

How far did you guys
get with her?

From what it says here,
not too far.

The detective who worked the
case retired to Arizona last year.

And who reported her missing?

Let me see. Guy in Queens, George
Burton. The address is in Rego Park.

Hi. What's your name? I'm not
supposed to talk to strangers.

You're right. What if I tell
you we're police officers?

Do you have badges?

Right answer again. My name is
Elliot. This is my friend, Olivia.

Can I help you?
They're policemen, Daddy.

Go inside, Julia,
it's getting cold.

Bye.

Sorry to bother you. I'm Det. Stabler,
this is my partner, Det. Benson.

Something's wrong?

You reported
your sister-in-law...

Ava Parulis, missing.

You found Ava?
We may have.

I gave this picture to the
police. What happened to Ava?

The police are here?
Is everything all right?

My twin sister, Ava, and I came
here five years ago from Romania.

She was always bossing me around.
She was older by six minutes.

Do you have any idea who
could have killed your sister?

No.

I have twins.
They're inseparable.

You two
must have been close.

Ava was wild. The two of them
couldn't have been more different.

Ava played
by her own rules.

She went from one rich man
to the next.

Until she finally met
the wrong one.

Irina.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive my wife.

Mr. Burton, we know how
difficult this must be for you.

Irina and Ava lived through
hell. Orphanages, abuse.

When they came to this country,
all they had was each other.

What happened?
They had a falling-out.

Over what?

Ava said she could never settle
for a life like this and...

Irina told her
to stop dreaming and grow up.

I never saw Ava again.

And this was about
three years ago?

Little longer.

It was Julia's first birthday
party. Ava was supposed to be there.

She just didn't show. This
was the last straw for Irina.

Now, what made you think
that Ava was missing?

I went looking for her. Try to patch
things up between the two of them.

But the apartment was empty
and Ava was gone.

Irina said she must have
run off with one of her men.

I had a bad feeling, that's
why I called the police.

Do you know the names
of any of these boyfriends?

Only one. Matt...

Matt Sloane, I think.

Ava was sexy and adventurous.

You mean, kinky?
Let's just say she was wild.

Did you ever tame her? You
know, S&M, bondage, discipline?

I'm not into that.

How long
were you two together?

About four months.

These your girlfriends?
I love beautiful women.

Did you love Ava?

It was a business arrangement. She
was smart, charming, multi-lingual.

She helped me develop business
contacts in Eastern Europe.

And the sex was great.

Yeah,
what'd she get out of it?

Her passion was
expensive jewelry.

She'd throw a tantrum
if I got her anything else.

Like the thousand-dollar bottle
of perfume she threw in my face.

That must've made you angry.
Angry enough to end it.

I terminated our agreement.
Did you see her after that?

Unfortunately, yes,
at a reception at the UN.

Who was she with?

I don't know
who brought her there...

but she left with the Romanian
Deputy Chief of Mission.

A diplomat?

And an importer, and who
knows how many others.

She was definitely a player. She'd
get her hooks into these guys...

for as long as
she could get what she wanted.

When the well ran dry, she'd move
on and drink from the next one.

What about the sister?
They were on the outs.

Ava walked on the wild side while Irina
settled down with the husband, the kid.

We checked Sloane's record. Got picked
up during a undercover vice sting.

One count of
soliciting prostitution.

And he was very specific about what he
wanted, a doggie collar, the whole works.

Unfortunately, his passport
showed he was out of the country...

when Ava
was reported missing.

Find out how
Ava got into the country...

and check whether her former
landlady has anything more to tell us.

What do you want us to do about our
friend from the Romanian Mission?

Well, he has immunity from
arrest, but not from talking to us.

Play nice, maybe he will.

Ava had that odd combination
of greed and innocence.

Very common in girls
from the countryside.

You were
romantically involved?

No.

I attend
many official functions.

I needed at my side a woman who
spoke my language, knew our customs.

And Ava was okay with that?
Very much so.

She got to meet
many important men.

Any of them want her dead?
I can't imagine so.

Look at this orchid.

This orchid took years of
cultivation. A hybrid I developed.

It's beautiful.

Do you know the orchid
is also a parasite?

It devours the host plant
while it blooms magnificently.

Is that how you thought
of Ava, as a parasite?

No, our relationship
was more symbiotic.

We benefited mutually.

Can you tell us how Ava
got into this country?

Our emigration agency
deals with...

thousands upon thousands
of applications...

and there is no way I can tell you
about circumstances of each one.

Besides Ava and I
had never discussed it.

I remember her.

She walked around like she
was the Czarina of 13th street.

This was hers.

Mr. Sanchez?

Ava have
any regular visitors?

Only one I remember.
Older guy.

Always dressed to kill.

Rich uncle?
Sugar daddy.

I see he kept her
in the lap of luxury.

Mercedes owners,
they think they run the world.

He parked his by
the fire hydrant every time.

What'd he look like?
Somebody important.

Specifics
don't concern me.

How about a name?
Too specific.

What'd you do with her stuff?

The place comes completely furnished.
She showed up with one suitcase.

Is there anything else
you can tell us?

She was two months
behind in the rent.

Seeing as how she was murdered,
shouldn't the city reimburse me for that?

Call your councilman.

Ava had a room with a view.
Yeah, of her own grave.

Guy at the Mission
was another one of Ava's boys.

Claims he had no idea how or
why Ava came into this country.

Our immigration was a little more helpful.
Ava came here in '96 on a fianc visa.

Name of the fianc: Paul Amis.
Address in Minneola on Long Island.

Arrangements made through an
agency by the name of Euromatch.

Mail-order brides.

I should've tried that instead of the
traditional courtship and wedding ritual...

then I'd be paying less
of my paycheck to alimony.

We'll take the groom, you take the
matchmaker. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Okay.

I shelled out $50,000
to bring Ava here.

You know what the average wage
is in her country? $50 a month.

And all she had to do was cook
and clean and be available for sex.

It's called being a wife.

When'd you last see Ava?

The day I returned her,
after the 90-day trial period.

Didn't work out, huh?
Must have made you angry.

I got my money back.

Did you get a divorce?
Annulment.

This is my wife, May Ling.

Sweetheart, this is Det.
Benson and Det. Stabler.

May I bring you something to drink?
No, doll. They're not staying.

Leave us alone
for another minute.

You didn't tell us
why you returned Ava.

Because I didn't pay all that money
for her to run around with some dentist.

She was exotic. Pretty,
smart, the whole package.

I was ready to take
the big step with Ava.

And the fact that she was already
married had no bearing on that?

Her husband was
beating her up every night.

He once hit her so hard,
I had to put in five caps.

The marriage was over.

Where'd you two meet?

Party. She was there
with her husband.

Someone told her I was known
as the "Dentist to the Stars"...

and she was all over me.

Who called off the wedding plans? I did.

Why?
Because she lied.

She said she was a student, she
had cousins who brought her over.

And you found out otherwise?

I hired a private detective
to do a background check.

Sounds like true love.

I have a very lucrative practice.
I have to take precautions.

I found out
she was a mail-order bride...

like those Russian Natashas,
gold diggers.

Okay. We're gonna need
Ava's dental records.

I'll get them together
for you.

We match girls
with traditional values...

with men who want wives
instead of partners.

You mean, "Stay at home, make
my dinner, do the laundry...

"be available when I need
you for sex," type of woman?

You make it sound
so tawdry.

The divorce rate among our couples
is half that of the population.

If a guy wants to get married,
he needs a fianc visa...

he has to prove he knew his
wife-to-be before she comes over.

Correct. We send our clients to
Estonia, Romania, Latvia, or Russia...

for two weeks where he meets
maybe eight girls a day.

Once he makes his choice, we
photograph them together for the INS...

and take care
of the paperwork.

And if by some fluke
it doesn't work out?

Satisfaction guaranteed for 90
days, or your money back. Interested?

Too easy.

Without abject suffering, I
wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Green card status on a fianc
visa is conditional for two years.

If the marriage doesn't last
that long, then what happens?

The girl is usually deported.

Unless she left because
her husband abused her.

Then the INS
will grant an exception.

How often does that happen?
Almost never.

We do thorough
background checks on the men.

You're lucky Ava didn't sue you. Her
hand-picked hubby was a wife-beater.

If we had known that,
we would have intervened.

Sent her to stay with her sister,
Irina. You know about Irina?

She and Ava
came over together.

Fortunately Irina's marriage
is a match made in heaven.

Why didn't you tell us
that Ava was married?

I was afraid.
Of what?

Her husband, he hit me once
when I went to see her.

Why?

Because I told her she should
leave him, and she wouldn't.

He beat her up.
Degraded my sister.

Could he have killed her?

I know he came close.

Civil sexual harassment suit
filed by a former employee.

Wow.

Restraining orders, filed by
your first and second wives.

Hey, I didn't kill Ava.

You forced her to have sex
with you. That's called rape.

You pulled out fistfuls of her
hair, knocked her teeth out.

That's assault.

Prove it.

You think that we'd call you all
the way down here if we couldn't?

Maybe she was
blackmailing him.

Threatening to call the cops.

Is that why you shut her up?
Is that it?

This is like a game of Clue.

Ava went through a diplomat, an
importer, a dentist, and now this loser.

This loser give you anything?
Not yet. Why?

Taylor called.
Wants you down at the lab.

I'll keep this guy on ice
until you get back.

No way these belong
to Ava Parulis.

You got us down here
for that?

The dentist must have made
a mistake. We'll go back.

Don't bother.

The dental work doesn't match,
but everything else does.

Shape of the teeth,
jaw is identical.

Son of a bitch.
Irina is Ava.

I need proof
she killed Irina.

We've got Irina's dental
records. They match the skull.

That doesn't mean
Ava murdered her sister.

Well, she did assume
her identity.

Ava's apartment
overlooked Irina's grave.

Circumstantial.
Give me a motive.

Ava's marriage is annulled.

She doesn't want a one-way trip
back to hard times in Romania.

I need physical evidence
linking them.

Come on, Counselor, we've done
a lot more with a lot less.

All right.
Search the house.

The cars are gone.
Go around back.

Police.

Mrs. Burton?

Go fill in our friends.
Right.

All clear.
Nobody downstairs.

Nothing messed up
in the kid's room.

Ava left in a hurry. She
must've decided not to pack.

Looks like a train
ran through here.

It looks like she took all the
available money they had on hand here.

Get the note.

"I'm sorry. I do love you, George. I never
meant to hurt you or Julia or Irina."

We should talk to the husband.
You mean the brother-in-law.

If she cleaned out
their emergency money...

she may have wiped out
their bank accounts.

We'll finish up here
and check it out.

My wife can't be dead. What are
you talking about? You're crazy.

The dental records prove it.

You're saying Irina is buried
in that grave? We're sorry.

My wife is a loving woman.
She's a good mother.

All Ava ever cared about
was herself and her money.

We've been to the house. Ava's
gone. She packed up and left.

I don't believe that.
She left this note.

I don't care. It's not true.

Mr. Burton.

Irina's crucifix.
Where'd you get that?

From the grave.

When we were first married, she
used to go to Mass every morning...

and then she just stopped
three years ago.

Said she'd lost her faith.

You said you never saw Ava after
she and Irina had a falling-out.

Do you know
if Irina saw her?

Ava called,
said she needed money.

We'd just had the baby
and business was slow...

so Irina went over there...

to explain why
we couldn't help and...

she didn't come back
until 2:00 in the morning.

She killed her.

Did she say anything?

She wouldn't talk.

Said she was sick.

Spent the next two weeks
in bed.

Why would she do this?

That's what
we're trying to find out.

Where's your daughter?

Oh, my God!

"Up, up, up. Faster and faster
the little engine climbed..."

Daddy!

Is there a problem,
Mr. Burton?

No, everything's fine.

You just missed your wife.

When was that?
About 20 minutes.

She seemed upset.
Talked to Julia and then left.

Hi, Julia. You remember us?

Do you know why your mommy
came to see you today?

To give me this.
It has her picture inside it.

Wow, that's pretty. Did
she say where she was going?

No. But she told me that we
couldn't go see the puppet man today.

Who's the puppet man?
Walt. He's nice.

Why do you call him
the puppet man?

Because when Mommy goes to see her
friend, Walt shows me the puppet.

I have no idea
who she's talking about.

Okay, Julia, do you remember
the name of your mommy's friend?

Valentina.
She's nice, too.

We pulled the Burtons'
bank statements.

Yeah? What'd you find?
A lot of zeros.

Ava cleaned out their accounts
this morning.

On top of the $300 she withdraws
on the last Friday of every month.

Her husband
know about this?

All the cancelled checks
have her signature.

She must be paying
the household bills.

Any idea where
the money's going?

We pulled their LUDs. Also on
the last Friday of every month...

one phone call to Euromatch, Valentina
Bilescu's mail-order bride agency.

Olivia just called.

The Burtons' kid said she
and her mother were regulars.

Mom met with Valentina while some guy
entertained the girl with a puppet.

Why is Ava going to
a matchmaker?

I don't know. I think it's time
we paid Miss Bilescu a visit.

Can I help you gentlemen?
Where's Valentina?

Not here.
Not an answer. Where is she?

I haven't done anything illegal.
Really? Where's your puppet?

What are you guys
talking about?

The one you entertain
Julia Burton with...

while her mother's
paying off your boss.

I take the money, give it to
Valentina. I don't know what it's for.

Hear that? Says he
doesn't know what it's for.

He doesn't know that his boss
smuggles women into the country?

I wouldn't know
anything about that.

You take the money,
that makes you an accessory.

One more time, where is she?

At her other office. Some
warehouse down in Chelsea.

Not a sweatshop.
The kind you had in mind.

Police!

Where's Valentina?
I don't know about anything.

English.
Do you speak English?

These women aren't being held
against their will, are they?

Because if they are, you're going
for kidnapping, as well as pimping.

Valentina is in there.

What is this?

It's called a raid. Put
your hands behind your back.

Let go of me. Where's your
warrant? Signed on a judge's desk.

Valentina Bilescu, you're under
arrest for unlawful imprisonment...

kidnapping,
and promoting prostitution.

Where's Ava? I don't
have to tell you anything.

What's the cash for?
No. Please, no.

Ava Parulis, you're under arrest
for the murder of Irina Burton.

I didn't kill her!
It's not... It's not Irina!

Who is this?
She's my little sister.

I was buying her freedom.

Take her.

I didn't kill Irina.
So why'd you run?

Didn't murder her, you just happened
to take her identity and her family.

When the bones were
identified, you got scared.

You helped yourself to George
and Irina's bank account.

Figure that'll keep you going for
a while? No. None of it's true.

Then how did Irina end up
underneath the hydrangea...

in the back
of your apartment?

I buried her there!

Right. You buried her
but you didn't murder her?

When I came home that night to
my apartment, Irina was dead.

She was lying on the floor. The
neighbor had his garden dug up.

I put Irina in a garbage bag
and dragged her downstairs.

I covered her with dirt.
I buried her.

What about the collar
and the leash?

They were mine.
I buried my past with Irina.

Well, why didn't you
just call the police?

Whoever killed Irina
was really after me.

Valentina had our sister.
I had to get her out.

Did Valentina
threaten you?

If you cooperate,
we can help you.

In my country,
the police help no one.

Ava kills one sister while
paying to rescue the other?

It doesn't make any sense.

There's no way someone her
size dragged a body down...

three flights of stairs
and then buried it.

If she didn't kill her
sister, what is she hiding?

Maybe she's protecting
whoever did.

Valentina Bilescu?

Let's ask
the other sister.

You didn't know it was Ava? I
haven't seen my sisters for years.

Since Valentina bring me
to this hellhole.

What happened to Irina?

Ava's been impersonating Irina since
she murdered her three years ago.

Ava would never harm Irina
or anyone else.

I want to see her. You
can't. She's going to jail.

Valentina did this.
Why?

She promised me marriage.
A new life.

I went to her parties in
Bucharest to meet American men...

and one of them,
he proposed to me.

So Valentina,
she bring me back here.

Did you get married?
Yes.

But the pig changed his mind.

I thought
I would get deported.

Who let you stay here?
Valentina.

She said she would protect me.

And she take me to that place.
She turned me into a whore.

Why didn't you say no?

No one says no
to Valentina.

How long did she keep you
there? Three-and-a-half years.

Until the debt was paid off.
What debt?

My ex-husband. Valentina
give him back his money.

She say it was my fault
he wasn't satisfied.

That I have to pay her back
for all the money she lost.

Why didn't you run away?

Because Valentina say
she will kill my sisters...

if I went back to Romania.

When can I go?

The only place you're going
is Rikers Island.

I'll make bail.

Don't count on it. Judges don't
usually send accused killers home.

Who did I kill?

You're being charged as an accessory
to the murder of Irina Burton.

I am not a killer. I bring
American men the brides they want.

You mean,
the women you kidnap.

I brought these girls here
to marry, have a better life.

I sheltered them after
their husbands rejected them.

You forced them into prostitution.
You can't prove anything.

When Ava Parulis threatened to blow
the whistle, you decided to kill her.

Except you got her sister
by mistake. Who helped you?

Get me my lawyer. Now.

Valentina gave me nothing.

And Ava's acting more like
a victim than a perp.

She hooked up with Valentina,
got in over her head.

They're both afraid
of someone.

If Valentina's not gonna
tell us who...

maybe there's something
in her office that will.

Oksana's statements
about the death threats...

should be more than enough
probable cause for a search warrant.

I'll call it in.

I'll have John and Fin execute
it. Bring George Burton in.

He may be able to help us
get something out of Ava.

What do you guys want now?
This is a search warrant.

Where does Valentina
keep her financial records?

At the accountant's.

Not those records. The real
books for her whorehouse.

I don't know
what you're talking about.

You don't know much
for a valued employee?

Maybe he knows
what accessory to a murder is.

Murder? I'm just a clerk.

Who is Valentina's partner?
I don't know.

Did any of Valentina's friends
hang around here more than others?

Some old guy, same accent,
always in a suit.

Comes in
a couple times a week.

He and Valentina always lock
themselves in her office.

Maybe that's where they keep
the real books.

Follow me.

What have we got? Valentina's
silent partner. A Razvan Toscu.

Romanian Deputy Chief
of Mission and orchid lover.

Which means he could run
you down, leave skid marks...

and we still couldn't issue
a speeding ticket.

With his diplomatic juice he may
have been able to get visas...

keep product in
the pipeline, girls...

We'll deal with him later.
What about George Burton?

Says he's willing to play.

There's another sister?
We have her upstairs.

Where did you find her?

She was being
held against her will...

and forced into prostitution.

We found Ava there
trying to buy her freedom.

With the money
that she stole from you.

Why didn't she tell me?

Maybe she thought you'd be
in danger if you knew.

You sure
you're ready for this?

No.

When are you going
to let me out of here?

No, it's me, Ava.

I didn't expect you to come.

You shared my bed
for three years.

You raised my daughter.

And it was a lie?

Irina was dead.

She would have wanted this.

They know about
the Toscu guy.

If he finds out, he's gonna
kill you, like he killed Irina.

Why did he kill Irina?

Because I threatened to tell the police
about him if he didn't let Oksana go.

How do you know
he killed Irina?

I saw him,
outside my apartment building.

He left something next to
the trash in a plastic bag.

I looked inside
and it was Irina.

I put on her wedding rings, and
buried her under the neighbor's garden.

He raped her.
He made her wear the collar.

He did to her
what he used to do to me.

How could you let that happen?
I wasn't there!

I couldn't stop him.

Irina never told him
it wasn't me.

Why didn't you tell me?

As long as they thought
I was dead, we were safe.

All the men...

the jewelry,
the money I took from you...

all I wanted it for
was to get Oksana out.

I'm so sorry.

You're sorry.

Sorry won't bring Irina back.
George, please.

How could you
live with yourself?

So, we believe her?

She might be lying to us,
but she wasn't lying to him.

Which makes her the only one
to put Toscu at the scene.

We could have videotape
of him in the act...

we still couldn't touch him
because of his diplomatic immunity.

Alex, there's got to be
something you can do.

Let me check with a friend.

I need
the State Department's help.

It's almost impossible to convince a
foreign nation, even a friendly one...

to waive
diplomatic immunity.

Precedent was set
by the former Soviet Union.

The Republic of Georgia waived immunity
on that drunk driving case down in D.C.

All those former
Soviet Republics...

were looking for
most-favored-nation status.

I'm looking to put away a murderer,
and I don't care where he's from.

We can always appeal to their
decency and see what happens.

What are you suggesting? A
long shot. But it's worth a try.

My government respectfully
requests you...

to waive Mr. Toscu's
diplomatic immunity.

That's an
extraordinary request.

Warranted by
extraordinary circumstances.

Mr. Toscu has used
his position...

to keep women in this
country against their will...

for the purposes of
prostitution. Now he's a murderer.

We didn't invite you here to be
insulted by baseless allegations.

Mr. Toscu is a distinguished
member of our diplomatic corps.

Here's what your distinguished diplomat
did to a woman from your own country.

Let me see that.

Tragic.

And you think
I'm responsible?

Miss Cabot assures me
that she has an eyewitness...

who places Mr. Toscu at the murder
scene carrying the victim's body.

Her sister.
Ava Parulis?

She has quite a reputation.
I'm surprised you'd believe her.

Before we even consider
something as severe...

and irrevocable as waiving
our diplomat's immunity...

we must be convinced of guilt.

The evidence
is right in front of you.

You have nothing
but the word of criminals...

and the eyewitness account of a woman
who buried her sister in a shallow grave.

We assert our sovereign rights
to protect our country's diplomat.

And we have the right to protect
our country from your diplomats.

Alex. Mr. Davia, you're
leaving us no alternative.

My government has authorized me to
declare Mr. Toscu persona non grata.

He has 48 hours
to leave the United States.

That's it? He walks? I didn't
know Greenwalt was gonna do that.

Why didn't he just
threaten him with expulsion?

Jack said, had the Romanians known our
government was even considering this...

they would have put Toscu on
the first plane to Bucharest.

So the bastard murders
a woman...

and his only consequence
is being sent home?

At least
it bought us some time.

What do you need
from us, Alex?

Something more than
Ava Parulis' word.

But there's nothing left.

We want Toscu, we need proof
he's guilty. Physical evidence.

Go back to the bones.

This report on soil samples
is a real page turner.

Very descriptive. Written from
the point of view of a slug.

The good earth
swallowed our evidence.

Maybe not all of it.

You found something?

Irina's clothes were pretty decomposed
but they did find a couple of samples...

from her panties and the lab
sent them to a forensic geologist.

Where's the report?

Due back next week.

You know how many
microorganisms there are in soil?

If we test everything, you'll still
be getting results 10 years from now.

Yeah. These samples. Found on what
was left of the victim's clothing.

What are those?

Horticulturalists use them to
collect and store microscopic pollen.

The samples your lab sent us weren't
consistent with the plant life in the area.

Okay. What did your tests
show? I haven't tested them yet.

When are you gonna test them?
Tomorrow morning.

How about now?

Good morning, Detectives.
Come to see me off?

You're not getting away
with this.

I'll send you a card
from my next post.

I hope
it's a warmer climate.

What is this?

You're under arrest for
the murder of Irina Burton.

You cannot arrest me
I have diplomatic immunity.

Had diplomatic immunity
until this morning.

Your government doesn't appreciate
your sideline business...

as a murderer and a pimp.
They cut you loose.

You have no evidence.
Sure we do.

Two little grains of pollen
belonging to the Gigas Firmin Lambeau.

My orchids?
Found on Irina's clothing.

You should have washed your
hands before you murdered her.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and
will be used against you...

Detectives.

Thank you. Thank us
when Toscu's convicted.

We're very sorry for your loss.

We hope everything works out
for you and Julia.

We'll be all right.
We have to.

Ava could have gone on forever
being Burton's wife, Julia's mother.

If it hadn't been for the bones.

Irina can rest in peace now.