Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 3, Episode 15 - Execution - full transcript

NARRATOR: 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,

BRODUS: What time is it?

HUANG: You have
two hours Ieft.

BRODUS: You're boring me.

HUANG: Why?

'Cause your theories
are flawed.



Which ones?

AImost all of them.

And for the record,
I never degraded anybody.

What do you care
what I think?

Because according
to your theories,
I don't care about anything.

It's not the Iast time,
and certainly not the first.

Well, then, set me straight.

Tell me about
your first time.

I'm asking the questions now.

You tell me
about your first time.
How do you remember it?

Fondly.
I'm not asking you.

Fondly.

I don't have time for games.

It was painful.



BRODUS: For who?

For her. I thought
I'd done something wrong.

You did. You knocked her up.

For all your sweaty fumbling,
you earned a Iifetime
of responsibility.

You Iook the type to have
a Iot of Iittle bastards
running around.

How many are there?

A few.

You're just a rutting dog
in the streets,
a slave to your impulses.

Your point being,
you're just Iike me?

You're exactly Iike me.

My first time
was painful, too.

But it was perfect.
The thing was exquisite.

What was her name?

Nice try.

Well, now Iook
who's playing games.

It's my party, gentlemen.
You can Ieave anytime.

HUANG: But then you wouldn't
have any control,
and where's the fun in that?

I hate psychiatrists.
Don't you?

Absolutely.

You're not Iiked.
How does that make you feel?

Insightful.

Really?

You're a Iiar, Matt.
Your first time
wasn't perfect.

In fact, it was
so disappointing,
you try not to remember it.

You were so inept,
so inexperienced, that you
didn't even achieve a climax.

Not even when
you were by yourself,
reliving the moment.

One thing was young,
ripe, begging for it.

But I took my time with it.

It had the most beautiful
brown eyes, almost sleepy.

Till I went to work.
Then they went big and round.

First it pleaded,
then it bargained.

This interview's over.

The thing screamed in pain,
yelled in fear.

It was alive
through every moment of it,

even when I gutted it
and the blood sprayed
over me Iike a warm shower.

(SLURPING)

I can almost taste it.

Relax, Chief. The guards
are changing shift.

EIIiot, get up
from the table!

Detective Stabler. It's been
a while, so I don't expect
you'd remember.

I'm AIIen Cooper,
my wife Hannah.

Our daughter Debbie
was murdered...

Debbie, of course.

It'II be 1 1 years next month.
Her killer was never caught.

She was on her way home
from school...

When she was abducted. I
remember. My partner, Dave
Rosetti, was the Iead on it.

Yeah. We heard he died.
We're real sorry.

That's why we're coming
to you now. We know
who killed our Iittle girl.

Who?

Matthew Brodus.

When it first happened,
we couldn't
get past the grief.

Stuck in our heads,
in the pain.

Losing Debbie
almost tore us apart.

Grief therapy,
victims' groups.

We finally got to a place
where we thought we could
deal with not knowing.

At Ieast until
Matthew Brodus's
press conference.

Well, what did he say
to make you believe
he killed your daughter?

He wants to sell tickets
to his execution,

claiming he's raising money
for his daughter's education.

Well, he doesn't
have any children
that we're aware of.

I still don't see
the connection, though.

The school Brodus mentioned
was Our Lady of Light,
in Lower Manhattan.

Debbie's old school.

If Brodus is
Debbie Cooper's killer,

why didn't the computer
match the signature?

The murder happened pre-VICAP.

A Iot of open homicides
that still aren't
in the system.

New Jersey is not gonna Iet us
near this hump anyway,

and even if they did,
Brodus could
still refuse to talk.

No. Not this guy.

What makes you so sure?

Because serial killers
typically kill their victims
immediately

and then they take their time
with the bodies.

Brodus is different.
He kept his victims alive.

He wanted them
to watch him work.
He needs an audience.

Well, the ME's report stated
that Debbie Cooper
did suffer before she died.

She was hogtied
with plumber's tape
and tortured.

And Brodus worked
as a plumber's apprentice.

He abducted his victims,
he murdered them
at a remote site

and then he dumped
their bodies.

This homicide matches
the Jersey victims.

Except for
the pierced corneas,
committed premortem.

Why blind this victim
and not the others?

It's strictly symbolic,
since he wasn't going
to Iet her survive.

She knew him.

That's what Dave Rosetti
always thought when
we canvassed everybody.

We could just never
make the damn connection.

And what makes you think
you can now?

Just get this guy
in front of me.
That's all I'II need.

He dies in Iess than 72 hours.
That might not be an option.

Brodus is a
multi-victim signature killer.
That's very rare.

And it's even more rare
to find somebody
who's done it more than once.

Maybe I could get
a field interview.

Can the Feds
force Jersey to cooperate?

No, but a request from
the brass might grease
the wheel. I'II Iet you know.

EIIiot. Look, I...

I know you want to help
the Coopers.

That's not what this is about
and you know it.

Dave Rosetti put a slug
through his jaw over this.

You've got three days
to play it out.

Have Munch run
the Cooper evidence box
over to the Iab.

Maybe 10 years Iater
we can find some DNA.

Beware the cop bearing gifts.

Forget it. I've got three
separate yet simultaneous
trials to prep for.

Hey, we're in a time crunch.
The perp dies
day after tomorrow.

Are you trying to clear him?

Not our jurisdiction.

We just need some evidence
to tie him to our homicide.

If he dies
before we can prove it,
the case remains open.

What have I got to work with?

Well, we got some
plumber's tape, various fibers
and two different blood types.

Well, Iet me see
what I can do.

You the man.

(BELL RINGING)

REICHART: Come on.
Don't be Iate.

I didn't know Debbie Cooper.
She was before my time.

What happened
to your predecessor,
Mr. Jamison?

Died of a heart attack
in the mid '90s.

I'm not really sure
how I can help you,
after all this time.

Well, my notes state
Debbie Cooper was very
close to a few teachers.

Vivian Parish,
Michael McKeeney
and Andrea Mason.

Are they still employed here?

I never met Vivian Parish.

Michael Ieft teaching in '98.
I have no idea where he is.

And Andrea Mason
teaches Government,
but she's out sick.

We'II need her home number.

It's in the office.

Were there
any construction jobs
during that time?

The rectory was converted
in the '60s. Gym, pool, track
were all added in the '70s.

That's about it.

Any plumbing problems?

We had an old boiler system
that had to be replaced.

Work was done by
a place in Brooklyn.
I'II get you the name.

Thanks.

I had three men
working that job.
Two of them are still here.

And do you use subcontractors?

Well, sure,
if the job's too big.
But this one wasn't.

How many employees
did you have then?

Fifteen, twenty.

The apprentices
work part-time.
They come and go.

Did you have
a Linwood Bradley,
Matthew Braeden

or Lonnie Matthews
on the payroll?

Hey, what's this all about?

That serial killer,
Matthew Linwood Brodus.
Those are his aliases.

Do you guys really think
if I had that crazy
working for me,

I wouldn't have
gone to the police?

Here, Iook for yourselves.
That bastard
never worked here.

Pretty defensive for a guy
with a clear conscience.

Maybe he didn't want
to be Iinked with Brodus,
but I'II check him out.

Still no answer
at Andrea Mason's.

When's the Iast time
you took a sick day
when you were actually sick?

Good point. Stabler.

Yeah. No problem.
I'II be there.

AII right. Huang wants me
to meet him down at the FBI
field office for Iunch.

Maybe he's got some good news.

Good news from the Feds?
More Iike, "Bend over,
we're taking over your case."

John, times have changed.

They're not the Iying bastards
they used to be.

HUANG: There's no time
for a sit-down Iunch.

We're doing indirect
personality assessments

with Brodus'
ex-cellmates today.

How many are there?

Thanks. Two.

Robert Rule's doing Iife
for rape and manslaughter.

Leroy Russell's on death row.
Converted to Islam inside.

Since then he's been
a model prisoner,
refuses to talk to us.

What are these IPAs
supposed to give us?

Background, Iikes, dislikes,
any way to relate to Brodus,

because he's not just
gonna confess to you.

I know how to
interrogate a prisoner.

I know you do, but I doubt
you've encountered this Ievel
of depravity before.

I've dealt with
serial killers before...

Who hunted for
short periods of time.

They're more psychologically
inclined to confess.

Brodus hunted for years
without detection.

He's Iike Dahmer
and Lucas and Bundy.

Sometimes it takes years
for killers Iike that
to relax their guard.

Look, they all want to talk.
Even Bundy cooperated
in the end.

Yeah. When you get closer
to the kill date
they become more pliable,

but you gotta remember
this is a game. Brodus
is holding all the cards.

You know,
I'm missing Wheel of Fortune
for this Iittle talk.

What's in it for you?

You want Brodus?
I want time shaved.

Sorry. There's no deal
to be had.

I'm serving a Iife sentence.

You're a career criminal,
Rule.

A Iife sentence
doesn't mean Iife,
death doesn't mean death,

25 years,
it's 1 2 and a half-to-15.

That burns you, huh?

Look, I ain't going nowhere.

Check with the warden.
I'm in for the Iong haul.

Then you should be glad,
getting a good mark
on your prison record.

Hey, I can't do something
for nothing. How would
that Iook on my block?

I gotta Iive here.

Deal depends on what you know
and then we'II talk terms.

No. I think we're done here.

We haven't even started.

Either you
answer the questions
or you don't, Mr. Rule.

The FBI doesn't deal.

What the hell
was that all about?

Procedure.

I suggest you get familiar
with it before we do
any more interviews.

We make deals all the time.
You should've heard Rule out.

He doesn't know anything
except for background.

We'd just be wasting our time
with anything else.

Yeah, how do you know that
if you don't talk
to the scrote?

Because Brodus would
never have told him
anything substantive.

He would've considered
Rule beneath him.

You know that for a fact, huh?

I've been doing this
for a Iong time.
So have I.

You don't get up
from the table until
you've seen everyone's hand.

The FBI is running
these interviews and I'm
not offering any deals.

I hope that's clear.

Jersey won't play ball.
Okay. What can we do?

File an official request,
Iet it go through channels.

By the time we get
that answer, Brodus
will be dead and buried.

We can't tell another state
how to run its business.

New Jersey already has
an inferiority complex
when it comes to New York.

They're digging
in their heels on principle.

AIex, how many phone calls
from victims have you gotten

asking why you Iost a case
and what you're gonna
do about it?

I've had my share.

And how many times
do you actually get
a second chance?

What would you Iike me to do?

File a temporary stay.

No. I am not
comfortable with that.

I'm not Iooking
to commute the guy's sentence.

I just want a Iittle more time
for myself.

Do you have
any direct evidence
Iinking Brodus to the victim?

Not yet.

Then find me some.

In the meantime,
I'm gonna head to New Jersey

and ask an old friend
for a really big favor.

As good as it is to see you,
AIex, the answer's still no.

It's just an interview.

You've granted them to other
Iaw enforcement agencies.

Why not to mine?

Well, the other cops talked
to Brodus while he still
had appeals on the table,

and we're on the home stretch
now, I can't afford to have
anything go wrong.

We're not trying
to sabotage your execution.
We just want some answers.

Well, if he's your guy,

whoever the victim is
will have justice
the day after tomorrow.

I cannot believe you're gonna
make me do this the hard way.

What'd you expect,
ancient history to get you
an invite to the table?

You know, I came here
as one professional
to another.

I don't need to revel
in the past.

You're good, AIex,
not spectacular.

This is
a political powder keg,
so we can't accommodate you.

What's the matter, AIan,
is this a re-election year?

New Yorkers can't seek relief
because they don't vote here?

You've grown a pair
since the Iast time I saw you.

Yeah. Well, you've Iost yours,
because victims' rights
used to be a priority.

What if he confesses?

Is that such a bad thing?

What is to stop him
from confessing to murders
in other states

and whipping Iaw enforcement
into a jurisdictional frenzy?

What then?
Then you deal with it.

If he murdered other victims
and he takes it to his grave,

you become the facilitator.

Brodus will do anything,
say anything to stay
his execution.

Henry Lee Lucas did it.
Bundy did it.

It's their nature
to exploit our weaknesses.

I'm sorry, AIex,
no one gets access. Period.

Unfortunately there wasn't
enough blood to get DNA.

What're you talking about?
The victim's shirt
was soaked in it.

Well, the blood
was mostly hers,
not the killer's.

EIeven years ago,
the Iab used 90%
of the sample for typing.

Give us some good news.
Come on.

Well, the fibers
are consistent
with uniform cloth.

It was cross-matched to a
company that dyes material
for heavy crawl suits,

pest control, construction.

PIumbers' uniforms.

AIso, the tape
that bound your victim

matches the bin number
of the New Jersey bodies.

There's our connection.

Yeah, it's still
too circumstantial

to force New Jersey's back
against the wall.

I could compare
their fibers to ours.

You think
we'd have any trouble
getting it from them?

Not without a fight. No.

You find anything to Iink
the plumbing company
to Brodus?

No quarterlies were paid for
under any of his aliases.

Under the table.
So I checked with the owner.

Moderate business,
pays his taxes,
guy even does jury duty.

I didn't know that
Iaw-abiding citizens existed.

You recanvassed
the Cooper neighborhood?

Yeah, and you owe me
a new pair of shoes.

No, but after 10 years,
people move,
they don't remember.

How about that teacher?
Andrea Mason?

Yeah. Did you find her?

The interview is scheduled
for tomorrow morning.

I got you covered, EIIiot.
If there was anything solid,
I'd Iet you know.

I'm running
out of time here, John.

You're running out of options.
The Coopers
are running out of time.

I need you to make a deal
with an inmate who shared
a cell with Brodus.

What's he in for?

Two counts rape,
one count manslaughter.
No.

Look, I've hit a wall
and he may have
some information

that'II help us with Brodus.

He's not talking
without some kind
of incentive.

Where's Huang on this?

He wants to follow procedure.

So do I.

And while we play
by some arbitrary rules,
the Coopers just have to wait?

EIIiot, why are you
pushing so hard?

You know, I studied
the crime scene photos,
I read the files.

Brodus mutilated 12 women,
premortem.

It's pretty horrific stuff.

Now try to imagine
the strength, the will it took
to keep those women alive

and feed off their terror.

I'm gonna need as much
ammunition as possible,
if I'm gonna trip this guy up.

And you think this prisoner
will give you some Ieverage?

Well, I ain't gonna know
unless I can talk to him.

As soon as I corroborate your
information, we ship you off
to Danbury Federal Prison.

That's fair.
I raped that girl.

I know I belong in prison,
but not here.

What can you tell me
about Matthew Brodus?

I got a Iittle girl.
She's five.

Her name's Marlene.

Man, you bulls
sure know how to check up.

My ex won't Iet me
talk to her.
She's all I got.

It's hard to do time unless
you got something good
to hold on to.

She sends me drawings

and I got a photo
of her third birthday,
blowing out the candles.

Where are we going with this?

Will you call her for me?

No.

Look, you ask my ex,
how's my baby growing?

What's her favorite color?
How's she doing in school?

PIease, that's all I want.

No.
PIease.

I ain't got
nothing to say, man.

AII I want is to find out
about my Iittle girl.

If you had a kid,
you'd understand.

I make that call,
we talk about Brodus?

For as Iong as you want.

What's the number?

(DIALING)

(PHONE RINGING)

WOMAN: Hello?
Hello. This is
Detective EIIiot Stabler.

I'm calling
on behalf of Robert Rule...

I miss you so much!

(DIAL TONE SOUNDING)

She hung up.

Satisfied?

Yeah, right.

Thanks for trying.

If you have any questions
about the assignment,
just see me after class.

Thank you, Miss Mason.

Andrea Mason?
Detective John Munch.
We spoke on the phone.

Right. Debbie Cooper,
10 years Iater.

Yeah, how well
did you know her?

Well, History
wasn't her best subject.

She did a Iot of extra credit
to pull her grade up.

That's it?

Look, I'm sorry.
It was a Iong time ago.

I think it's great
you're still trying
to solve her murder,

but even when it was fresh

she was just one
of many students
who pass through that door.

She didn't really
stand out, huh?

No. Debbie was awkward,
a Iate bloomer.

Besides Vivian Parish and
a few friends, no one really
took an interest in her.

Do you know
where I can find
Vivian Parish?

Last I heard,
she moved to New Mexico.

Thanks.

Let me guess.
Rule gave you nothing.

Just what he'd culled
from newspapers and the TV.

One day you're going
to actually realize
that I know what I'm doing.

I had to give it a shot.

Apology accepted.

Let's move on.

So where do we go from here?

Brodus' other cellmate.

We figure out a way to get
Leroy Russell to sit down
with us. He's still refusing.

Says it's not on his path
to AIIah.

We're Iooking for
Detective Stabler.
His captain said he'd be here.

Detectives Yorkin
and Janowicz,
Brooklyn SVU.

Did you allow an inmate
named Robert Rule
to use your cell phone?

What's going on?

A call was placed to
a rape victim. She phoned
our precinct in hysterics.

We dumped her phones
and got the cell number
for a Manhattan SVU detective.

Care to tell us
what the hell you were doing?

The victim's name
is EIizabeth Shachtman.

She was 16
when Rule brutally raped her.
I read the file.

A Iittle Iate for that.
What the hell
were you thinking?

He gave me a hard Iuck story
about his kid and I bought it.

Because you wanted to.

Now, how did this convict
get the phone number?

Rule was co-counsel
in his own defense.

The victim's information
was Iisted because she was
a witness at his trial.

I should put you on a desk
and send you over
to the Shachtman residence

to explain yourself.

I already did that.

How's she doing?

She feels violated. Again.

I'II call Brooklyn.
See if I can't smooth it over.

Vivian Parish.
She may have married.

Can you check who's paying
her quarterlies? I'II hold.

Tell me again how my partner
failed to get his
weapon recertification.

He choked.
I didn't choke.

Okay. He got poor marks
for shooting off
his gun early.

That happens to everybody,
Fin. You know,
they have a pill for that now.

So what's your next move?

I don't have one. I mean...

Brodus has another cellmate
but he's not talking to us.

BENSON: Anything on the guy
you can use,
something to twist him with?

He murdered a kid
in a convenience
store robbery.

Shot him point blank
with a sawed-off. Converted
to Islam on the inside.

He's made one appeal since.

I suppose he wanted
his execution date moved up.

Yeah. How do you know?

He's on a path.

It's the one thing
Christianity, Judaism
and Islam have in common.

In order to be a man of God,
you gotta change
the man you are.

Can't you appeal to this guy's
religion? I mean, you're
Iooking to clear a murder.

That's gotta mean something
if his conversion's real.

FIN: He's got a blood debt.
Use that.

BIood debt?

It's in the Koran.
He took a Iife, so he owes
a debt for spilling blood.

It's Islamic justice.

DANIEL: How can I help you,
Detective?

PIease believe me that if
there were any other way,
I wouldn't be here.

I've caused victims
enough grief already.

Sir, I'm here to request
that you face
your son's killer

and ask him to talk to us.

Why? Why would you ever
ask me to do that?

He may have some information
to give another grieving
family some relief.

I can't.
I believe you can, sir.

In my opinion,

any man who opposed
the death sentence

on behalf of his son's killer
is strong enough to face him.

I don't give a damn
what you think.

Yes, I spoke at his
sentencing. But I didn't do it
for him. I did it for me.

His death doesn't Iessen
my pain and it sure as hell
doesn't give me back my son.

I apologize
for reopening your wounds.

You didn't.

My wounds never heal.

At Ieast you know
who killed your child.

Debbie Cooper's parents don't.

Why is he in chains?

With a civilian in the room,
we take extra precautions.

I'm told
you're a religious man now.

I owe you a debt.

DANIEL: You can't pay it.

So I need you to talk
to these men. Answer their
questions and try not to Iie.

Questions about what?

STABLER: Matthew Brodus.

I don't really know the man.

You shared a cell with him
for three years. What were
your impressions of him?

He's a killer.

So you have a Iot in common.

He used to always
ask me questions.

What kind of questions?

Why I was on death row.
Who I killed.

How I did it.

My answers
used to piss him off.

That's because
you killed a young man
that you didn't hunt first,

and so Brodus couldn't
get a vicarious thrill
from your experience.

I shot that boy
'cause he saw my face.

But Brodus,
he took joy in the killing.

One night, he talked to me
about all the things he did.

I asked to be moved
out of there after that.

What kind of things?

Stalking, gutting,

doing things to the body.

He used to think
he was smarter
than everybody else

even when he made a mistake.

He killed a blind girl
close to home.

Did he say how he did it?

No, and I didn't ask.

Can I go now,
back to my cell?

Evening prayers, you know?

Officer.

You refused to speak
during your sentencing.

I need to know what my son's
Iast moments were Iike.

Did he say anything?

No, sir.

You don't need the image of
your boy dying with my voice
in your head telling you how.

Leroy Russell confirms
Brodus blinded and murdered
one of his victims

that was too close to home.

None of the New Jersey victims
match Leroy's story.

That doesn't mean anything.

It's hearsay testimony
from a man on death row.

Munch Iocated that teacher,
Vivian Parish.

Not only did she date Brodus
for six months,

he regularly picked her up
from school and, I quote,

"Gave Debbie Cooper
a ride home once or twice."

Now is that enough
for a murder indictment?

And as soon as I file,
they'II say we can have
him when they're done.

So that's it?
We're done trying?

What else can we do?

Explain it to her parents.

I understand
we have new evidence.

So where do we go from here,
Miss Cabot?

I'm not sure
what I can give you
besides knowledge.

Can you prove
that Matthew Brodus
killed our daughter?

Not in a court of Iaw.

But we are reasonably sure
he's guilty and he is being
executed for his crimes.

Are you familiar
with the name Ottis Toole?

He's the guy every cop
believes murdered John Walsh's
six-year-old son, Adam.

Toole died of AIDS
on death row
before we could prove it.

And after 21 years
you can still see
the rage and grief

that John Walsh
carries with him.

His hope died
along with his son's killer.

If you don't do everything
within your power

to prove Matthew Brodus
murdered our daughter,
so will ours.

I'm Wade Harris,
Matthew Brodus' Iead counsel.

Nice to meet you.

Frankly, I'm blown away
that the Manhattan
D.A.'s office

is interested
in stopping this execution.

We're not.
I want to put your client
on trial for murder.

That should buy you
six months to a year.

No, actually, I think
I could drag it out to 18,
if I drown you in paper.

I've drafted the request
for a temporary
restraining order.

And what makes you so sure
a judge will go for it?

Evidence and an appeal
from the victim's parents.

What kind of evidence?

You file capital charges
against my client,
I have right to discovery.

Only when and if I file.

You need to keep
your client alive.
Right now, I'm all you've got.

Deal?

Miss Cabot?

Your Honor,
the People are seeking
a temporary restraining order

based on new evidence
Iinking Matthew Brodus
to an open homicide.

None of which is under
New Jersey's
Iegal jurisdiction.

As officers of the court,
we cannot ignore
capital crimes,

no matter where they occur.

I've reviewed their evidence
and it's circumstantial
at best

and doesn't even meet the
criteria for trial, not here
and certainly not in New York.

Is Manhattan proposing
to try Mr. Brodus?

Not at this time, Your Honor.

So is the purpose of the TRO
to go on a fishing expedition?

Your Honor, the Iaw
does not allow for
posthumous jurisprudence.

If Mr. Brodus dies before
discovery has been had,
the truth dies with him.

This is a ploy
to stay the execution,
Your Honor.

The defense
has exhausted their appeals

and are now preying
on New York's desperation.

I submit, the prisoner
is in your custody

and available to be executed
at your discretion.

Which is currently scheduled
for midnight tonight.

We should not allow them
to stymie our ability
to mete justice.

The prisoner will be
just as dead
six months from now.

Your Honor,
we're not seeking justice,
we're only seeking the truth.

Under the circumstances,
and given
who the defendant is,

I'm not convinced
you'II be able to get it.

AII right, people,
don't go far.

So what are our chances?

It's hard to gauge.
I'd say we're about even.

So what's with the face?
You're acting Iike
we've already Iost.

Something about
helping a convicted
serial killer

avoid the needle
he so justly deserves
does not sit well with me.

Is the judge back?
Not yet.

Are you only Iooking
for an exceptional clearance?

An interview
is all we've ever asked for.
Nothing's changed.

I need your word
that you'II decline
to prosecute,

no matter what Brodus
reveals to you.

You've got it.

I'II set up the interview.
Be ready in an hour.

HUANG:
Try to keep him off balance.

When I stress him,
be his friend.
Otherwise push him hard.

You'II be watching
his body Ianguage
for signals.

When you ask
an innocuous question,
I'II just back off.

And pay attention to his eyes.
Serial killers
have this stare.

It's focused.
It's Iike animals
when they're hunting.

And when he's not hunting?

Then he can't Iook you
in the eye.

Anything else?

You know,
this might not work.

He's not going to trust us
and he might
play this out to the end.

You gotta be prepared,
in case we run out of time.

Hey.

Detective Stabler.

I'm Dr. George Huang.

Behavioral science.

Prescient spooks
studying rats in a cage.
How boring.

STABLER: You're not boring,
Mr. Brodus.

You can call me Matt,

EIIiot.

I'm not a mind reader.
They just announce
my visitors.

So what's this about?

Well, we just decided
to take you up
on your invitation.

Not that I mind the company,
but I don't recall
inviting you.

You also don't seem
too surprised
to be seeing us.

Why should I be?
Feds come in and out all day.

You been helping us out?

As much as I can.

But they want me
to admit to things
I haven't done.

If it wasn't for the missing
women and their poor families,
I'd Iaugh.

At what?
You cops.

Trying to beat your own clock.

(CLEARS THROAT)

What's so special
about Our Lady of Light?

That a church?

Catholic high school.
You mentioned you wanted
to send your daughter there.

I want her to have
a first-class education.

You don't have
any children, Matt.

You sure about that?

You think any woman's
gonna come forward
with my kid?

Much Iess admit to having
slept with me? Come on.

How about you give me a name,
and I'II check it out?

You'II have to wait
until my will
goes into probate.

Why didn't you kill
your girlfriend,
Vivian Parish?

Now you're insulting me.

Well, I don't want to do that.
I apologize. It just seems
that if you'd killed her,

you probably would've
gotten pinched right away

and 13 women
would still be alive.

We all know
the record says 12.

We both know
the record is incorrect.

They give you anything
for that insomnia, Matt?

Pills don't work.
What time is it?

It's 8:33.

What's in the folder?
It's a project.

I want to ask your opinion
about a killer's M.O.

He still out there?

Don't know.
He hasn't worked in a while.

We wanted to go through the
three D's of sadism: dread,
dependency, degradation.

Are you up for that?

Can I take a Iook, please?

What's this?

A medical examiner's report
on the body.

That's boring. Where are
the crime scene photos?

There's a picture
under the report.

It says our killer
tortured the victim.

Any ideas why?

No.
HUANG: Why not?

You did
some of the same things
to your victims.

The big girls that you chose.

Since Debbie Cooper
was a big girl,

we figured you might
have some ideas why
she was cut so deeply.

If I could see
some crime scene photos,
I could probably help you.

You don't need them.
Look inside your head.
You'II see it.

See someone else's work?
Can't be done.

STABLER: He overpowers her.

Easy for a man of some size,
Iike you.

He binds her tight with tape.
PIays with her for a while.

HUANG:
He feeds off her terror.

He can't get enough,
so that she dreads when
he Ieaves and when he returns.

But he's not
gonna do her right away.
He wants a few days with her.

So now she has
to depend on him.

But then he has
to take the thing
and slice it open

and see what's
going on in there.

The knife goes in Iike butter.

It's so warm inside.

But he has to be
quick about it.
It'II be cold soon.

STABLER: Why does he have
to be quick now?

To be born again.

Are we talking religion now?

No. Where's the one place
that your mother
can never Ieave you?

(GRUNTS)

Psychiatric pap.
You always blame Mom.

Yeah, yeah. Well, why not?
I mean, Iook at your mother.

Leave her out of this.

She couldn't stand you.
She Ieft you
with your grandparents.

When they died,
she shipped you off
to foster care.

She came and got me.
She Ioved me.

Matt, tell the truth.
She got married. She had a
daughter with her new husband.

And when she Ieft him,
she took your half-sister
with her and Ieft you behind.

Again. I mean, obviously,
she must have Ioathed you.

She saw the real you
and it made her want to vomit.

How many times did she
tell you she wished
you'd been aborted?

She never said that.
She Ioved me.
She never said that, ever.

I'm done talking to you.

We're not finished, Matt.
You're helping us
with this one case.

We've covered dread
and dependency.

Now we're gonna see
how Debbie Cooper
was degraded.

How many times was the killer
with her postmortem, huh?

What are you talking about?
That's obscene.

Just think Iike the killer.
Go ahead.
How should I know?

Ask the shrink.
He's probably treated
psychos Iike that.

It depends on how often
the killer visited the body.

How many times
did you check on your victims?

Hey, I only went back
to see if they were still
where I Ieft them. That's all.

Not this guy. He went back
to be with them, you know?

I can't help you.

Do you believe I'm gonna think
any Iess of you?

I'm telling you, I never
messed around with them
after they were dead.

The guy you're Iooking for
is sick. Real sick.

What woman alive
would be with you, though?

Vivian Parish.

I talked with her. She said
you had a tough time
closing the deal.

Well, if she said that,
then the bitch Iied.

You're a cop, you're supposed
to tell the difference.

Oh, I can and I do.

It's in their nature.
They say they don't want it
but they really do.

No means yes. Yes means no.

You know, I should've
disappeared the whore
before she went out west.

I missed my chance
by 20 minutes.

But she knew who you were
and she was way ahead of you.

She was an idiot,
a moon-eyed cow.

Debbie just wanted someone
to tell her ugly ass
that she was pretty.

Thought she was
in a Harlequin romance.
Stupid bitch.

STABLER: Debbie?

SIip of the tongue.

One of my Jersey girls.

No, it's not. None of them
are named Debbie or Deborah.

None of the middle names
match, either.

Why don't you stop Iying?
Let's just get down to it.

You know, you're not as smart
as you think you are.

What time is it?

CABOT: How many of these
have you done?

This is my second.

If my presence
wasn't required,
I wouldn't be here.

So you can ask for
the death penalty but you
cannot stomach the reality?

I do my job.
I do it for the families.
I don't have to Iike it.

(ALARM BLARING)

Move! Go! Let's go!
Let's go! Let's go!
What's going on?

Wait!
Just move! Move!

Hey, hey!
Move!

Lock it down!
Lock it down!

What's going on,
Mr. Messinger?
Is someone trying to escape?

I don't know, Mr. Pierce,
but we'II be safe here.

This isn't gonna
stop the execution, right?

(MAN CHATTERING ON PA)

Debbie didn't fight back.

OFFICER: Get him off!
Get him! Hurry up!

Get him off of him!
Get him off!

You okay?
Got him?

Don't! That's what he wants!

Any news on Huang?

He's going to be okay,
but they want to
keep him overnight.

And Brodus?
He's on a ventilator.

I have to tell the families.
I'II do it.

I think you've done enough.

They need to know
that he planned this.
I'II explain it to them.

The only thing
that matters to them is
we can't execute him now.

The state can't execute
an unhealthy man.
It's the Iaw.

So as Iong as he's in a coma,
we can't get justice.
What a waste.

You're wrong.
I got a confession
on Debbie Cooper.

MESSINGER: They won't care.

Would you?

Go home.

(CROWD CLAMORING)