Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 3, Episode 19 - Justice - 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,

You just send 1 00 bucks
to the guy at the top,
recruit 10 more guys,

couple of weeks
you got $10,000.

Scam, Gordy.

It's not. My cousin done it.
Made a mint.

Watch the glass.



It's a pyramid scheme.
Guys at the top get rich.

Schmucks below them
don't see a dime.

Who's your cousin,
Kenneth Lay?

No, Joe Stiltson.

Damn it. Watch out.
There's oil or something.

Are you coming?
This ain't getting
any Iighter.

It's illegal, Gordy.

You get people to invest,
you...

Holy hell.

PARAMEDIC:
Victim's in her teens,

You get a name?
No.

Attacker's name?
Non-responsive
the whole ride over.

She say anything
at the scene?

Just, "He raped me."
Then she was out again.



In Trauma 4.

There.
DOCTOR:
Pupils fixed and dilated.

Fresh blood in the ear canal.

She's got a skull fracture
and multiple scalp Iacs.

Regular rate and rhythm.

She's a rape victim.
We have to preserve
hair and fiber evidence.

BP is 140 over 90.
DOCTOR: Lung sounds
clear bilaterally.

Abdomen's rigid.
Pressure's falling.

Start a unit of O-neg
and get her to the OR.

She's bleeding
into her belly.

Wait, wait, wait.
Did anybody start
a rape kit?

NURSE: Come on, Iet's go.
Got to move.

We're Iosing her. Get that!

Hold the door!

DOCTOR: Come on, guys.
Let's go.
Move it, move it, move it.

Any signs of fluids?

BP's 80 palp.
Still tachy at 120.

PIease, you're taking
my DNA evidence.

Just one swab?
And an oral?

DOCTOR: Coming through.
There's a stain on her thigh.

If you could
just give me that?
NURSE: Here.

DOCTOR: Coming through.
Let's go. Let's go!

This area is sterile.
You're not going to
contaminate my OR.

If I could just get
a fingernail scraping...
You're done.

Hopefully we've got DNA
in here.

So get it straight over
to the ME's office.
Right.

Then voucher the clothes
and drop them
at the police Iab.

The ME first, Iab second.
You got it?

CIothes. Where are
the clothes? Here we go.

They didn't do
a full rape kit.

Only had time between
the ER and the OR,

and then, you know,
they wash everything
away with betadyne, so...

She didn't make it.
Huh?

Our victim.
She died on the table.

I got in the way.
They were trying
to save her Iife

and I was trying
to make a collar.
I got in the way.

No. The doctor said
there was massive
internal bleeding.

She blew a clot.
There's nothing
anyone could have done.

Nothing.

Okay.
So Iet's canvass
the neighborhood.

Get a name for
the death certificate.
Emily Porter.

Paramedics cut off
her jacket in the bus,
found this in her pocket.

Percocet. You got an address?

From the pharmacy.

WOMAN ON PA: Dr, Russ,
report to the main room
immediately,

Let's go notify
the parents.

Hi. Is your mom or dad home?

Mom, door!

Are you here
to pay condolences?

Oh. My grandma died
Iast night.

Yes?

Mrs. Porter?

Yes.

Are you the mother
of Emily Porter?

No. I'm Emily Porter.

I've never seen her before.

Your drugs were
found on her.

Drugs? I'm not taking any...

I had a root canal
two weeks ago,

but they made me Ioopy.

Do you have any idea
how they Ieft the premises?

Heather?

Did the pills kill her?

No, we just need
to know who she is.

I don't know her.
I swear.

But you did give her
the pills?

No!

There's this guy.

Everyone at
the skateboard park
talks about him.

He'II buy anything
you give him.

STABLER: What's his name?

(CHILDREN CHATTERING)

Doc.

Nice office.
You got an appointment?

Man, I don't take walk-ins.

Looking for some Vicodin.

Well, you need
a prescription for that.
You got a prescription?

Normally I would have one,
but today I'm working
on my own.

My partner, he has some
kind of dignitary duty.

They carting his ass around
in a Iimo. You believe that?

What the hell
you talking about, man?

Sorry. I just needed
to vent.

Bring your ass here.
Who is she?

I don't know.
Okay.

I'm going in.
Going to charge you
with everything I find.

Come on. No.

Want me to stop going
through your pockets?
You tell me who she is.

Okay, okay. Look,
I don't know her name,

but she came in, Iike,
10:00 this morning,
bought some happy pills.

You're a regular
one-stop shop here.
What do you got, fake ID?

Ready to make a deal
or you want me to go
into pocket number three?

There's nothing else to tell.

I mean,
she came incognito with
a hat down over her eyes.

Describe the hat.

It was black.
Kind of shiny and floppy.

Mention where she was going?

No.

I mean,
but, you know,
she was a cute Iittle hottie,

and I watched her
walk across the street
into the Royal Arms.

Get your ass up.

Sorry.

She was wearing
a black floppy hat.

FIoppy. Look, Iike this.
Covered half her face.

Oh, okay. The cutie pie.

She met a guy
in the Iobby.

STABLER: She a pro?

Didn't Iook Iike one.

Could you describe the guy?

CIientele tends to blur.

But white, 30s, kind of buff.

Are you telling me this wasn't
a business transaction?

He was trying to hump her
in the Iobby.

She's Miss Arm's Length.
"Let's sit and talk."

He practically
dragged her up the stairs.

Did she ask for help?

Nah.

We're going to need his name
and his room number.

Dover, Room 406. Paid cash.

Ben Dover.

Is he still up there?

We're a by-the-hour
establishment.

Tell me that room
hasn't been cleaned yet.

Not since '72.

Looks Iike this is where
she was raped.

If there was a rape.

Humor me.
At Ieast give me
that there was a struggle.

Bet you there's got to be
a thousand DNA samples
on that bedspread.

From this week alone.

My question is,
how does she wind up dead
two blocks away from here?

She breaks free,
he chases after her,

when he catches up,
bye-bye.

He didn't Ieave
anything here.
But she did.

Cute hat.

And informative.

"Made Exclusively
for Destination."

The hats are this way.

Pretty swanky.

What's our girl
doing shopping here?

They're adorable,
aren't they?
We just got them in.

How much are they?
Seven ninety-five.

She managed
to find the only
affordable thing in here.

That would be $795.

Oh. Well,
that'II max out
your credit card.

Could you pull
the sales receipts for these?

Certainly.

There can't be that many.
At that price, I don't see
them flying off the shelves.

WOMAN:
Well, they're projected to.

Of course, we just
got them in yesterday.

That's odd.
We haven't sold any yet.

Sorry.

I understand you caught
a shoplifter for me.

Maybe you can return
the favor.

We'II settle for a name.

If they'd caught her before,
she'd have been banned
from the store.

Maybe she slipped
by security?

She slipped out of here
with that hat.

LAUDEN: My Loss Prevention
Consultant keeps begging me

to use those horrible
electronic surveillance tags,

but they stretch
the fabrics.

Got her.

Why doesn't this one
have a name?

February 18.

That was
our President's Day sale.

I remember that.

She was caught stuffing
a cashmere sweater in her bag.

Of course,
we pressed charges.

Then you should
have received
a copy of a "61"

or a criminal court
complaint.

Either one should
have her name on it.

Nothing.

She was picked up
by an Officer SIater.

We never heard back.

Yeah, thanks.

Catching any speeders?

Do I know you?

SIater, right?
Yeah.

SVU.

We caught a Jane Doe
this morning,

and every turn
we're coming up blank,

ending with you.

I don't follow you.
Okay.

This girl pulled
a Winona at Destination

two months ago.
You picked her up.

Why can't we find
any arrest records?

She wouldn't give me her name.

My sarge says
if she gives it up

we'II just give her
a desk appearance.

Did she go
for the D.A.T.?

Yeah.
Then what's her name?

BENSON: Excuse me.

We need you to pull
a Desk Appearance Ticket

issued 2-1802

for a Patricia Stephens.

Is that a problem?

Sorry. What was the name?

Stephens.
Stephens, with a "P-H."

Steingard, Stelherd, Stemple.

No. I don't see it.

Oh, come on.

Well, maybe
it was misspelled.
Try it with a "V"'

No. Look,
I really have to close.

BENSON: Listen, Iady,
the girl's dead.

So if she's got parents,
I'm not going to Iet them
spend the night

going out of their mind
not knowing,

so please keep Iooking.

Patricia's dead?

STABLER:
You know this girl?

You don't know who she is,
do you?

That's what we've spent
this entire miserable day
trying to find out.

Who is she?

Judge Thornburg's daughter.

Why did it have to
be the stepdaughter
of a hanging judge?

Thornburg's sentence on
the SoHo Youth Center rapes
came down Iast week.

Father Kelly's
doing 25-to-Iife
before he burns in hell.

And we get to pay him back by
telling him his pill-popping,
shoplifting stepdaughter

was murdered Ieaving
some seedy sex hotel.

CRAGEN: Yeah? What?

Came by to Iet you know
we ID'd the girl.
Good.

Going to notify
the parents.

Worst part of the job.
Sorry.

Yeah, well, this one
hit one of our own.

CRAGEN: A cop's daughter?
A judge's.

Thornburg.

I know Walt.
Who doesn't?

We've testified
in his court
a hundred times.

We have history.

We both went to St. John's.

I run into Walt
at every function.

He has two small sons.

I didn't even know
he had a daughter.

Stepdaughter.
She was 16.

So it's true?

It's already hit
the courthouse grapevine?

This is huge.

My boss is going
to want to know

where you are
on this every minute.

Well, tell her
we're going to notify
the judge and his wife

before Channel 5 does.

CRAGEN: No, it's okay.

I'm doing this one.

Don.

Hello, Brook.

Is Walter here?

He's in the den.

Is something wrong?

Why don't you
go Iie down?

We have to tell
Josh and Brian.

CRAGEN:
I won't keep you Iong.

She was raped?

We're investigating it
as a rape-homicide, yes.

When?

She was found
about 11:00 this morning.

Where?

Hell's Kitchen.

Do you have any idea
what she would be doing
in that part of town?

No.
Does Brook have
to be here for this?

No. No. Of course not.

I'II be with you
in a minute, okay?

AII right.

We can drop
the niceties now.

She's been a problem child
since puberty.

Trust me.

I am Iong past the point
of being shocked.

What kind of trouble
had she been in?

When Brook and I
got together

five years ago,
she went wild.

We tried discipline,
therapy.

Finally had to send
her to boarding school.

How Iong had
she been back?

A year,
going to St. Monica's.

Brook got a phone call
from the school this morning.

Patricia ditched
just after roll call.

What did you do?

Absolutely nothing.

Truancy was
just her Iatest method
of torturing Brook and me.

Before that
it was body piercing.

Before that it was a tattoo.

TREVOR: Doesn't match
any known gang tats.

STABLER: Do we know
what she was hit with?

ME pulled glass shards
out of her scalp,

which match
color and thickness

with a broken
beer bottle found here.

That's where
she took the blow.

Yes.
But see the spatter pattern?

Based on its trajectory,
and height of the victim,

I'd say
she was standing here,

while her attacker
came at her from the south,

swinging from right to Ieft.

From here, droplets of blood
form a serpentine pattern
to the stairs.

STABLER:
She was staggering?

And continue
down the steps,

alternating between
round drops and smudges,

suggesting she cartwheeled
head-over-heels.

Smudges being where
her head hit the steps?

Until she Ianded
hard at the bottom,

where she Iay unconscious
for at Ieast 15 minutes,

as you can see
from the pool of blood.

This bottle, any pieces
big enough for prints?

Follow me.

After identifying
the type of bottle used,

I bought the same brand
and filled it
with plaster of Paris.

Now comes the fun part.

We tap-tap-tap all over,
cracking it Iike an egg.

And then
we take the glass
from the crime scene,

which I have right here.

You Iike jigsaw puzzles,
Detective?

You're kidding me.
There must be a thousand
pieces in there.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine
to go.

I'II Iet you know
if I get a print.

SISTER KAY:
Patricia was a smart girl

and the classes
she showed up for,
she did very well in.

Unfortunately she was
a discipline problem.

Fights?

No. Her hostility
was restricted
to authority figures.

A rule breaker.

She'd talk back,
walk into class
10 minutes after the bell,

and we suspected
she was defiling
her body.

You're talking about
her tattoo and piercings?

That and she was sent
to the nurse's office

a few months ago
with cuts on her arms.

Wait.
She was cutting herself?

Yes.

How often?

Just the once that we know of.

If she was cutting,
it was a cry for help.

Or a way to make herself
feel alive.

Did she have
any friends here?

It was sad. She never
did manage to fit in.

There's only one girl
I ever saw her friendly with.

And where can we find her?

BENSON: Making up for
the classes you ditched?

Am I in trouble?

You were
with Tricia Stephens
yesterday, weren't you?

I can't believe
she's dead.

Mary, you need to tell us
everything that happened.

I never should have Ieft her.

Left her where?

Destination.

I never skip school,
I swear.

Trish dragged me along.

To steal a hat?

I had no idea
she was going to do it.

I was furious,
so I took off.

How Iong had you been friends?

Practically
since she came here.

We both Iove the classics.

Sophocles, Euripides,
Aeschylus...

BENSON: Tragedies.

We were both very drawn
to them.

And why is that?
She having boyfriend troubles?

No. Trish never
had a boyfriend.
I mean, not really.

Define "really"'

Well, there are guys
that she wrote to.

Like pen pals?
Right.

How many?

A bunch.

She didn't think
her parents would understand,

so all the Ietters
came to my house.

Why was she afraid
to tell her parents?

They were strict.

They didn't
get the real Trish.
She had a good heart.

She was doing God's work.
Reaching out to Iost souls.

Who was she writing to?

Prisoners.

Funny,
for a tragedy buff,

I haven't seen
any references yet

to Hamlet or King Lear.

Wasn't it Shakespeare
who wrote,

"I want to do you
on the stove top"?

Where did you find these?

Patricia's school Iocker.

She's been
pen-palling with
five different convicts.

Ray Dayton, Thomas Gordon.

Dayton went away
for murder two.
Gordon, man one.

John Furmen, Louis Knapp,
AIden Reed.

Murder, murder,
and, what do you know?

Murder.

This girl wanted for nothing.

Good family, money,
best education.

Now what was she doing
writing to killers?

It's the ultimate rebellion.

I mean, Iook at preachers'
kids, principals' kids.

FIN: Cops' kids.

Hey, good girls
go for bad boys.

From what I hear,
this girl was nothing
but trouble.

Death Row inmates
get the most groupies

and those whack jobs come
from all walks of Iife.

What years were these
five skels convicted?

AII early '90s.

Time off for good behavior,
any one of them could be
out on parole.

Why don't you
give me that Iist?

I'II have Cabot check
in the D.A"s system.

No. I'II handle this.

One of your guys
is at Sing Sing,

three are at Attica
and one just got out
a week ago.

Which one?
Thomas "Bird" Gordon.

Got the max for man one.
Actually did 12 of the 15.

Seems Mr. Gordon gets
a Iittle grabby with women.

Priors include two counts
of sex abuse three.

Don,
I think you better
take a Iook at this.

See their trial judges?

It's Thornburg.

Daddy's a judge
and she's seeking out
the men he convicted.

What is going on
with this girl?

(SIREN WAILING)

What happened here?

OFFICER: A guy got shot.

They took him
to the hospital.
Said he's a judge.

Judge Thornburg.

Here you go.
Thanks.

How is he?

He's still in surgery.
No one will tell me
anything.

I know this is difficult.

But can you tell me
what happened?

I was in the kitchen
with Josh and Brian.

The housekeeper was
helping me make Iunch.
I'd...

I'd just talked to
Walter on his cell,

to see if he wanted
a sandwich, too.

Take your time. Let's...

About five minutes Iater

there was a shot,

just Iike
it was outside the door.

And I rushed out there

and he was on the ground,
bleeding.

Did you see anyone?

I didn't Iook.

AII I could see was Walter.

It doesn't make any sense.

Where was he coming from?

Court.

He'd gone in to
clear his calendar,

then we were going to
make funeral arrangements.

Mrs. Thornburg,
is there anybody
that you could think of

that might want to
hurt your husband?

(SIGHS)

No. I mean...

I'm sure there are people
he's sent to prison

that are holding grudges,

but we haven't received
any threats.

Did you know that
your daughter was writing

to some of the men
that your husband put away?

What?

We're Iooking at
one of them as a suspect
in your daughter's murder.

She ever mention someone
called Thomas Gordon?

No.

Do you think he's the one
who tried to kill my husband?

He's been out a week.
Don't tell me he's broken
his parole already.

He's Iooking good
for a rape-murder.
That fit your guy?

Like a glass slipper.

Right before
he got sent up,

my Iittle princess
was a suspect

in a rash of break-in
rapes in Brooklyn.

Never enough to arrest.

What's your take
on this guy?

The guy's got
a faulty transmitter.

Doesn't receive signals
too clearly.

Ladies say "no,"
he hears "yes"'

But he never killed
one of them.

How'd your girl buy it?

STABLER: Bottle to the head.

Tumbled down
a flight of stairs.

Deja vu.

Tommy's
manslaughter convictions
stem from a bar fight.

Severed a guy's carotid.

FIN: With what?

His version?

The other guy threw himself
on the broken beer bottle

he just happened
to be holding.

Where's he at?

He was paroled to
his sister's address
in Queens.

Works at her husband's garage.

What do you want with Tommy?

We need to have
a Iittle chat with him.

Why don't you Ieave a card
and I'II have him give you
a call?

2:00 in the afternoon
and he's done for the day?

So much for
Employee of the Month, huh?

He's on parole. You need
to tell us where he is.

Tell me
what you want with him.

The judge
who sent your brother up,

someone took
a potshot at him.

Good, because that judge
had it out for Tommy
from the beginning.

Tommy did not do it.

Did he come to work
yesterday?

Yeah.
He comes to work every day.

Is that true, Mr. Degalio?

My wife,
she dotes on that worm.

The second he shows up,
I find things to do
in the attic.

Tony!

Shut up, Sharlene.

Yeah, he showed up.
Just Iong enough to
ask for the morning off.

FIN: What for?

The guy's a sludge.
He's been in prison
a Iong time.

He said he was getting
a piece of tail.

What, is there a Iaw
against that?

Did he mention
this piece of tail by name?

Yeah. "Sweet young thing"'

The way he goes on,
she's burning hot for him.

Cat-in-heat hot.
Wants to do these things...

Okay,
they get the picture.

What time did
he clock back in?
See, that's the thing.

He not only
doesn't show up
for the rest of the day,

he never returns my van,
that Iow-Iife Ioser.

You're telling me he didn't
come home Iast night?

Of course he did.

Sir?
TONY: No, he didn't.

Describe the van.

'97 Ford E-150.
Customized it myself.

Hydraulic camshaft,
351-Windsor V8,
dual exhaust...

Just need a plate number.

BQY-2064.

STABLER: And maybe a color?

Gold four-tone paint job
with flames.

Thanks for your help.

Got uniforms on the judge
and his wife round the clock.

Good.
Yeah, you heard me right.
Gold with flames.

Tommy have any friends?

None who made the trip
upstate to visit.

FIN: Other than Sis,
no Iiving relatives.

Well, he's out there,
people,

and according to ballistics
from the judge's shooting,

armed with
a.380 semi-automatic.

He simmered in the cage
for 12 years,

building up hate,
planning his revenge.

He's out one week,
we already Iike him

for attempted murder,
rape-homicide.

BENSON:
High stress on the run.

He's not going down easy.

Well, I say
he's going to get
back to his comfort zone.

We know any
of his old haunts?

Well, he was busted
for drunk and disorderly
at a place called O'Malley's.

His sex charges stem
from playing grab-ass
with some stripper

down in the Bowery.

Split up. Hit them all.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Seen this ugly mug around?

Oh, yeah, that's Bird.

He used to come in
back when I was performing.

Prison didn't teach him
no manners.

He still can't
keep his hands
to himself.

When was the Iast time
he was in here?

A couple days ago.

He was pounding them down
all afternoon.

Keeps trying to hit on
Sheila over there.

Suddenly he jumps up
on the stage and starts
doing the hump dance with her.

Tossed him out on his head,
told him never to come back.

You think
I could talk to Sheila?

Twenty bucks will get you
three minutes.

So, Tommy Bird,
did he ever get violent
with any of the girls?

Not that I heard of.

But the more sloshed he gets,
the more touchy-feely.

Looks Iike a cop.

She's cool.
Wants to know
about the humpmeister.

Bad tipper.

So, you had a conversation
with him?

Yeah.

I say, "Leave me alone,"
he don't Iisten.

He keeps after me
to hook up after work.

Did he have a place in mind?

Yeah, some bar
up the street. Falcone's.

Hello, Thomas.

I've been sitting on the van.
Any sign of him?

No, but I found something
very interesting
while I was waiting.

FIN: You got a warrant?

That's all I'm waiting for
to make it Iegal for me
to take this.

There's our.380.

Recently fired.
Let's do it.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Sit down.

What's going on?

Arresting your punk ass.
For what?

Parole violation.
Oh, man.

You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can...

Can I just finish my beer?

He's clean.
Let's go.

You got a right to attorney.

You puke in my car
I'm going to kill your ass.

If you cannot afford
an attorney, one will be...

Tommy, we got you.

Your DNA matches the fluids
we found in Patricia Stephens.

Never heard of her.
Oh, come on,
your sweet young thing.

The one with the floppy hat?

If that bitch is saying rape,
she's Iying.

Oh, Tommy,
she's not saying anything.

She's dead.

What?

No way.

She was alive
when I Ieft her.

You raped her,
you beat her to a bloody pulp

and you Ieft her to die
while you tracked down
her old man.

No, no, no, no.
Yeah, yeah!

Sweetheart, we matched
the bullet to your gun.

AII right, Iook.

Maybe I took
a shot at the judge,

but he sabotaged
my defense.

He blocked my parole.

Twelve prime years
wasted in prison?
I'd want someone dead.

Yeah, but not too quick.
I'd want to torture
him first,

maybe rape and kill
the stepdaughter.

What are you talking about?

I didn't even know
they were related
till yesterday.

Hey, you got to believe me!

This shooting thing,
it wasn't my idea.

It was that stupid slut
got me all revved up!

Tommy! Weak, very weak.

Hey, I didn't go
Iooking for her.

She wrote to me first.

I got the Ietters
to prove it.

So why you, Tommy?

Why did she pick you?

Chicks.

One day
I'm sitting in my cell,

she writes to me
out of the blue.

Promises me sex
beyond my wildest dreams.

You must've done
something really good
in a previous Iife.

I thought I finally
found my dream girl.

She said she'd do anything,
anytime, anywhere.

Get me anything I needed.

And what did you need?

I got a condition
requires Percocet.

She said she could
bring me some,

but that turned out
to be a Iie, too.

Whatever. What happened?

I get to the hotel,
I'm primed and ready,
if you know what I mean

and all of sudden
she's got a headache.

So you raped her!
No.

I was past
the point of no return,

so I seduced her.

Hey, she knew
what she was doing.

She got me all worked up.

Then came the catch.

And what was that?

Kill her step-daddy.

That's bull.

We've got the Ietter
she sent him.

He kept all of them,

even though she wrote
on each one "please destroy"'

So you have, in writing,
her request to kill her
stepfather?

No.
I didn't think so.

Did she even mention
who her stepfather was?

She does mention a favor.

STABLER:
She can't say what it is
until she sees him in person.

So you're buying
the ex-con murdering
rapist's version?

It's the same charge
whether it's his idea
or somebody else's.

Why would he Iie?
That's what they do.

But, Captain,
you got to admit

Patricia was
doing a Iot of
questionable things.

Let's just say,
for argument's sake,
that he's not Iying.

Why would she
want him to do it?

I don't know.
She was a sick girl.

I think as far as
the Captain is concerned,

this case is closed.

Well, not for me.

I want to know
what made her so sick.

STABLER: Patricia was not
very popular.

BENSON:
Mrs. Thornburg and the boys.

Mrs. Thornburg.

Wait.

Oh, sorry.
We thought you were...

I'm her sister, Erin.

Brook's still
at the hospital.

This is Detective Benson.
I'm Detective Stabler.

We were working
Tricia's case.

We came by
to pay our respects.

Maybe if we could talk,

at a more appropriate time,
of course.

Thank God somebody is here
with Tricia's interests
at heart.

(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
I'm sorry.

You know? Why don't I
Iook after them for you?

I've got a Iot of experience
wrangling kids.

Patricia and the judge
didn't get along?

Oil and water.

That must have been
hard on your sister.
Oh, please.

Her first husband
abandoned them
when Trish was five.

Brook got a job
as a court reporter,
met the meal ticket.

Judge Thornburg.

And she wasn't going
to Iet Trish muck it up.

That's why Trish
started acting out.

That was his excuse
to get rid of her,

start his own family.

The second she was gone,
they get married.

Adopt Brian six months Iater,

get pregnant with Josh
immediately after that.

Instant new family.

And no room for Trish,
who's now conveniently
tucked away

at boarding school.

Trish never went
to boarding school.

I don't understand.
I thought...

Do you know
what a PINS petition is?

Person In Need
of Supervision. Yeah.

Just before she turned 12
he swore out one of those.

Had her sent to kiddy prison.

FIN: No offense.
You really believe

she belonged
in a place Iike this?

She'd been chronically
truant,

shoplifting,
breaking curfew.

It was a Iegitimate call.

For someone
with no other options.
These people had money.

We don't discriminate.

These kids are
inner-city throwaways.

They could have put Trish
in a boarding school,
a military school.

Hell, even a charm school.
Money buys choices.

It is unusual for
a family with means

to go through
the family court system.

We're talking a judge here.

He knew exactly
what he was throwing her into.

Abused kids,
mentally ill,

straight-out
violent head cases.

Which one was Trish?

In her three years here,

she never once
opened up in therapy.

Serious trust issues.
What was the root of it?

We suspected sexual abuse.

Based on?

The usual symptoms.
Hypervigilance, exaggerated
startled response, insomnia,

the fact that she'd never
talk about the baby,

somatic reactions
Iike nausea,
poor appetite...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What baby?

Mrs. Thornburg, could we
talk to you for a moment?

I was just taking the boys

to the hospital
to see their father.

We just have
a few questions,

but they'd be better
asked in private.

Ida, can you put Josh
in the car?

What is it?

Why didn't you tell us
about Patricia's pregnancy?

What are you talking about?
I think you know.

The real reason that you
sent her off to boot camp.

She was 12 years old
and pregnant.

You being a good Catholic,

an abortion's
out of the question.

You didn't send her to an RTC
to straighten her out,

you sent her there
to conceal her condition.

You don't know
what you're saying.

Your adopted son, Brian.
We know he's Tricia's.

How...
We did the math.

Tricia had her baby
four years ago.

Brian's just the right age.

I need to be
with my husband.

Mrs. Thornburg,
who's the father?

Who's the father
of Tricia's baby?

She told me
she didn't even know.

They Iied about
the boarding school.

Which timelines
with her pregnancy.

Hospital records
just came in.

Tricia's unnamed baby
has the same birth date
as Brian.

I'm sorry, Captain.

Adopting your underaged,
unwed daughter's baby
is not a crime.

It is if you're the one
who knocked her up.

CABOT: Judge Thornburg?

One of the most respected
jurists in the state.

Which doesn't mean
squat to me

if he raped
an 11-year-old girl.

Judge Thornburg.
I can't think of a judge

who is tougher
on child molesters.

Maybe he's a self-Ioather.

Liv?

There's only
one way to prove it.

We have Tricia's DNA
from the ME's office

and Judge Thornburg's
from the crime scene.

AII we need is Brian's.

You guys had
better be right.

DONNELLY:
Let me get this straight.

You want me
to Iet you take this

to a judge
to sign a blood order,

so that you can
take a DNA sample

of one of their esteemed
colleagues' four-year-old son

based on nothing more
than a wild theory?

If you'II just Iook
at the attached exhibits.

Does anyone allege
that this man

was having sex
with his stepdaughter?

No, but we have
a pattern of conduct.

I have a signed affidavit
from a clerk

who made Tricia's most recent
shoplifting charge disappear,

at the request
of Judge Thornburg.

Ever get a colleague to
fix a ticket for you, AIex?

In the past, he manipulated
the system against her.

So why is he
covering for her now?

She was holding
something over him.

Five years ago,

he used the court
to hide his crime,

bypass the system.

Got a crony
to push through
the detention order.

Had another
colleague falsify

Brian's adoption papers
and his birth certificate.
Uh-huh.

But no proof of sex.

No.

Yet, you're willing to risk
your future and my reputation.

Need I remind you
that I am responsible

for the integrity
of this entire bureau?

A judge has used
the power of the court
to further his own agenda.

If the Iight we shine on him
isn't brighter than the Iight
we shine on the public,

then this bureau
has no integrity.

I wouldn't want to be you
if he's not the father.

How are you feeling?

Not much Iike talking, Don.

I'm afraid I have extended
all the professional courtesy
I can.

I'm sure Brook told you
we ran a paternity test
on Brian.

He's yours, Walter.

You raped that Iittle girl.

Don't ask me
for an explanation.

I've searched
the depths of my soul,

and I can't for the Iife of me
find one.

What happened?

Did she threaten
to expose you?

Is that why you killed her?

You have the person
that killed her,

the scum who shot me.

You just don't get it,
do you, Walter? It's over.

And the Ieast you could do
is give me the courtesy
of the truth.

You can't really believe
that I killed her?

I was your Iast hold-out,

but I had to check.

You didn't take the bench
until noon that day.

I was in chambers.
That can be easily proved.

I'm expecting a call
from the crime Iab,

which, I hope to God,
proves me wrong, Walter.

BENSON: Come on,
that's good enough.

Hold on.
It's just going
to take another...

You're done.

Okay. It just needs
to dry completely.

Or I could give it
the old college try.

Okay, he used it
Iike a club,

so why don't you
start with the neck?

Oh, my God.

I think it actually worked.

What do you want now?

Have you talked
to your husband?
Of course I have.

So you know what happened.

Tricia seduced him.

She was 11 years old.

She was a very disturbed girl.

She wouldn't Ieave him alone.

STABLER: And you believe him?
Yes, I do.

Do you also believe
he had nothing to
do with her murder?

There's no doubt in my mind.

You're right.

BENSON:
We found a fingerprint on
the bottle that struck Tricia.

It wasn't your husband's.

See?

It was yours.

You're wrong.

When the school called,
that was the Iast straw,
wasn't it?

She'd been in
so much trouble before,

you had to find out
what she was up to.

So you went Iooking
for her.

I thought
it had to be drugs.

I went and Iooked in her room.

What did you find?

A slip of paper
by the phone.

It had a hotel,
date and time.

I knew she was
going to have sex.

You went there
to save her?

Yes, but I was too Iate.

She was just coming out.

You're her mother.
You confronted her.

She just walked away.

I knew
she'd been with that man,

the one
who got her pregnant.

So you followed her,
you demanded to know.

She finally told you,
didn't she?

She turned on me.

She said,

"You want to know
who the father is?

"It's your husband"'

That must have
been unbearable.

I slapped her.

She pushed me back
and I fell.

I didn't even know
there was a bottle
on the ground.

I must have picked it up.

You hit her
with the bottle.

You know, she just...

She gave me this Iook,

Iike I was the one
who had betrayed her.