Law & Order Special Victims Unit s05e14 Episode Script
Ritual
(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.
This ain't no job for the squeamish.
You find dog crap, pick it up.
Used condom, pick it up.
A needle, be careful, but you got to pick it up.
Okay.
What the hell? Hey, hey, Jimmy, take a look at this.
Is that blood in those bowls? Yeah, you get that sometimes.
Whackos sacrificing animals.
Mother of God! Buddy, you ain't gonna last too long if you let a few dead chickens creep you out.
Ah, Jimmy, this isn't no chicken.
(Warner) Black male, I'd say seven or eight years old.
Head, arms and legs are missing.
Looks like some kind of ritual killing.
Could be.
The limbs were severed through the bone instead of at the joints.
There are easier ways to cut up a body.
I'll check the blood in those bowls to see if it's his.
Did you see anybody hanging around? No, it's too cold, even for the homeless.
We're gonna need all the trash you picked up in the area.
Everything.
You find stuff like this before? Couple of dead goats, birds.
There's pretty freaky people in this city.
(Warner) Detectives.
Thank you so much.
You know, animals I've heard of.
What religion sacrifices kids? None that I know of.
Any chance he died of something else and this is some kind of a funeral rite? There's blood clotting at the neck.
This boy's throat was cut when he was still alive.
The child bled out when his carotid artery was cut, then he was dismembered.
He's in rigor, so I'd put time of death around 12 hours ago.
Is there anything to support the ritual sacrifice theory? Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.
So this wasn't a hack job.
No.
After he died, the extremities were removed methodically.
First, the flesh around the limbs and neck was flensed.
What? Scraped from the bone using a sharp knife like this.
Then the bone was severed with one blow from something like a butcher's cleaver.
What about the blood in the bowls? Blood type matches your victim.
I bet DNA will, too.
I've never seen anything like this before.
A dismemberment? Sure you have.
Not where blood was drained from the body by hanging it upside down.
How can you tell? The blood coagulated at the top of the spleen which means the body was inverted.
So is there any way we can ID him? An old scar on the abdomen.
Not surgical, but the wound was severe.
(Stabler) If it's from abuse, maybe we got a record of it.
I doubt it.
No signs of torture or other trauma.
This child was healthy and well-fed.
No hits from missing persons in the tri-state area going back three years.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists four kids with the right age and race, none with abdominal scars.
A kid killed for religious reasons, probably related to the murderer.
Get DNA from those four kids' parents just to make sure.
Guy who teaches the occult at the Academy confirms that's the kind of candle they use in Santeria.
First practiced by slaves brought here from Africa.
Owners forced them to convert to Christianity.
So the slaves just put saint names on the old gods.
How do you know all that? Drug dealers from the Caribbean and South America practice Santeria.
Put hexes on me, threw grave dust.
I can't tell you how many dead chickens I found in front of the precinct.
Killing a chicken's a long way from human sacrifice.
Which Santeria stopped doing about a century ago.
Let's go with what we got.
A ritualized murder by somebody who may practice Santeria.
"Martinez lmports.
" Olivia, Elliot, pay them a visit.
(Martinez) Yeah, we made this.
(Stabler) For who? Hey, that's a long list.
I supply hundreds of Botanicas and churches.
Is there any way to tell where you sent a particular candle? Come on! We sell thousands every month.
Maybe you could just check for us.
We don't want to bother all your customers.
Can I see the candle again? Ah, you're in luck.
This is our new St.
Cecilia.
You know she was one of our first Christian martyrs.
The executioner tried to cut her head off And they failed.
I know.
Could you do that list for us? Yeah, sure.
Okay, let's see what we got.
Ah, here we go.
Okay.
So far they've been shipped to three buyers.
One in Miami, one in New Orleans, and one in New York.
The Center for the Study of Santeria.
Thank you so much.
This is outrageous.
Santeria is a peaceful religion.
We're not murderers.
We're not accusing you of anything.
Mr.
Odufemi, we've some questions about these candles that you bought from Martinez lmports.
We buy them by the case and we sell them at cost to members.
We're going to need a membership list.
Why? We had nothing to do with this child's death.
Sir, with all due respect, your religion has a history of human sacrifice.
Are either one of you Catholic? I am.
Well, your church teaches that when you take communion, you're consuming the body and blood of Christ.
Does that make you a cannibal? This is about a murder, not religious tradition.
Our church outlawed human sacrifice in the 1930s.
There hasn't been one since.
You sacrifice animals.
Humanely.
And I'm sure, as you know, the Supreme Court ruled our rituals legal.
Sir, I don't give a damn about your legal rituals.
A candle you sold was placed a few feet from a dismembered child.
If you don't have a court order, I'm not giving you our list.
Why not? If your church outlawed ritual murder, your members have nothing to fear from us.
Except for persecution based on your bigotry.
Now, should I show you to the door or can you find your own way out? He was definitely hostile.
I might be hostile if you accused my religion of child sacrifice.
We still need a list of his members.
From what you told me, he never came out and said there was a list.
You get us in, we'll find it.
Before we trample on the Constitution and attack religious freedom, we need probable cause.
We traced the candle to Odufemi's Center.
But the candles were also sold by churches in Miami and New Orleans.
There's no proof this one came from the Center.
What is this, a Boy Scout meeting gone wrong? You got blood in bowls and a candle.
It's Santeria.
Casey, we checked those two churches and they haven't sold any candles yet.
That's still not enough for a warrant.
Very little of the victim's blood was found in the park.
If you're gonna kill a kid and drain his blood, you need a place with some privacy.
Come on, Counselor, just help us out here, all right? Talk to everyone who lives and works near the Santeria center.
Find me someone who's seen anything that backs up your theory.
(Rose) I don't want to sound prejudiced, but it sounds like voodoo to me.
Loud music, drums beating.
I know people have their culture, but I don't think young people should be exposed to such things.
You've seen children over there? Oh, coming and going, sometimes till 10:00.
School nights.
Do you remember seeing any children there last Monday? A whole group of them, not one of them more than eight years old.
Involving kids in stuff like that! It's a crying shame.
(Ramon) The Center? Pretty weird stuff going on in that place.
Give us an example.
The other night, I'm closing up, I hear this shrieking.
What kind of shrieking? I figured it was an animal, with the chickens and goats I see them bring in.
But when I saw the paper, I thought, uh-huh, maybe it was that kid you found in the park.
Our detectives found several witnesses.
Strange behavior is not grounds for a warrant.
An eyewitness saw children going into the center, the night our victim died.
One child would be noteworthy.
A group isn't.
The Center holds regular youth classes.
On that same night, another witness heard bloodcurdling screams.
Reported by an elderly white woman, and what nationality was the other witness? Latino, like many of the practitioners of Santeria.
Are you suggesting the witnesses were racially motivated? It wouldn't be the first time people had problems with neighbors of a different color.
A 7-year-old boy is dead.
Someone cut his throat, hung him up, and bled him like a pig.
The candle found near his body came from the Santeria Center.
All due respect, Your Honor, we have probable cause.
All right, you've got your warrant.
I hope this doesn't turn into a witch hunt.
We'll test the stain on the floor, but it's probably animal blood.
We found chicken carcasses in the garbage.
No lists in the filing cabinet or on the computer.
You deleted them after our visit? Of course not.
I know the law.
If you knew anything about our religion, you'd know our believers could never do this.
And what makes you so sure? The child was found near a lake.
And that proves what? The lake is ruled by Yamaya.
She's an Orisha, the African equivalent to a saint.
And she's the mother and protector of all children.
To kill a child in her name would be blasphemous.
Maybe we're looking for a heretic.
I mean it's possible there are people still in Africa practicing human sacrifice, but not in this country.
Do you have any recent immigrants in your congregation? There's a few from West Africa, [phone rings.]
But they're not peasants.
These are educated people Good.
Benson.
Then they won't mind talking to me.
I want that list, or I'm going to be here at every service talking to her, and him, and him, and anyone else who walks in that door.
And I'll make damn sure Animal Control and the Health Department come on down here and pay you a visit at least once a day.
(Benson) We're on our way.
I want that list.
All right.
This is blackmail.
That was Warner.
She got something.
By testing a person's skin and hair, we can tell what chemicals they've been exposed to and when.
Like with drug testing.
Right.
Each geographical area on Earth has its own chemical signature.
I sent your victim's hair for an analysis of hydrogen and nitrogen isotopes, and they match isotope levels in New York City.
Can you tell how long he's been here? Based on the rate of hair growth, I'd say four weeks.
What about before that? The bones tell that story.
You can tell where he lived based on his bones? By analyzing strontium levels in the skeleton.
This is an x-ray of the boy's hip, and a graph showing the strontium in his bones.
I consulted a forensic anthropologist.
He compared the levels in the boy with geological samples from around the world.
He got a match.
(Stabler) Africa.
Can he be more specific? Nigeria.
Pre-Cambrian rock found only within matches strontium levels in your boy.
Looks like he lived there all his life.
He came to New York from Nigeria and wasn't here more than a month and he was killed.
Which is why nobody reported him missing.
He was brought here to be sacrificed.
So the victim came here from Nigeria within the last four weeks.
Rules out the Santeria Center.
No new members from Nigeria.
And all the parishioners' kids are accounted for.
Could be the boy was here legally.
Yeah.
We'll check with lmmigration, see if they got him on file.
United States accepts about 2,800 immigrants from Nigeria each year.
That's more than 200 a month.
How many of them are kids? Last month, around the age of your victim.
Any way to check up on 'em? After your call, I sent our people out to check on the local addresses listed on their l-94s.
All the kids are safe.
So our kid's got to be illegal.
Huh, not surprising.
The third largest moneymaker for organized crime in the US after drugs and guns, is the sale of human beings.
You mean worldwide? I mean the United States.
Fifteen thousand kids are trafficked here each year.
A lot from Africa.
Is the Nigerian government doing anything about this? There's a woman at the Consulate, Kema Mabuda.
She's passionate about stolen children.
The ritual murder of a child? That is terrible.
Have you come across anything like it before? You need to understand, most Nigerians are educated, but we do have the largest population in Africa.
In more remote areas, tradition dies hard.
You're saying human sacrifice does happen? Possibly.
Hundreds of children vanish every year from my country, and Thailand, and Albania.
They end up here and in Europe.
(Benson) For rituals? No, the slave trade.
Child labor in sweatshops, as domestics, or for sexual exploitation.
Some kidnapped, some sold to smugglers by their own families, often for as little as a television set.
Does your government keep records of missing children? As best we can.
Nearly half our population is under 16.
We've linked our victim to an area around Benin City.
Now, have there been any missing child reports from that area in the last month? No boys that age, but there is a note.
One of our switchboard operators logged a call two days ago from a girl worried about her missing brother.
Did you get a name? Ajani.
The note also says the caller hung up before the operator could get any more information.
Now, we could find out where that girl's call originated by checking your phone records.
I have your word your findings will only be used in the investigation? Yes.
Bring me the necessary forms.
I will sign them.
I'm surprised the Consulate agreed to the phone dump.
Half the population of Nigeria is Muslim.
You think our government would let them take a peek at our phone records? Mabuda knows we're not interested in their state secrets.
Eight calls to the consulate switchboard around the time Ajani's sister called.
Split them up, it shouldn't take long.
What do you bet this caller was looking for a scoop on safari vacations? Pretty white bread up here for anything else.
Yeah.
Not that many Nigerian kids in this neighborhood.
[Doorbell ringing.]
Can I help you? Detectives Munch and Tutuola.
We'd like to talk to Mr.
Or Mrs.
Laymon.
They're not home.
But if you have a card, I'll make sure they get it.
You know a child named Ajani? I'm sorry, you'll have to come back.
What's her name? I have to go now.
No, you don't.
You have no right to be here.
Unless you want to spend the night in jail, stand back, okay? What's your name? It's okay.
Did you call about your brother? We're here to help you.
Tell me your name.
Na'lmah.
You found Ajani? We're going to take you someplace safe and talk about that.
I start work at 6:00 and finish at midnight.
I can't go out unless the rich people are with me.
How'd you know that was your brother? Madam was watching the news.
I heard them say they found a boy.
They said he had a mark, right here.
Just like Ajani had when he fell climbing a tree.
How did you get to this country? Men, they came to our village.
They told my mother they would take me to a wonderful school in America.
Ajani begged her to let him come with me.
Na'lmah, when you came to the United States, where did those men keep you? A big room with no windows, lots of beds.
People came and looked at us.
I hoped someone would take my brother and me together, but madam only wanted me.
[Phone ringing.]
They kept her locked in the cellar so she couldn't get away.
We can collar the Laymons for unlawful imprisonment.
As soon as we find her mother, we'll arrange to have Ajani's body shipped home.
What did Munch get from the housekeeper? She said Mr.
Laymon's in Zurich.
Madam? Charity event at the Windsor Garden Hotel.
I suppose she does not know charity begins at home.
(Martinson) I want to congratulate the co-chairs of the flower show host committee.
Nancy Forner, Karen Stern, Sheyna Smith.
Ladies, please stand.
Pink hat, second table on the right.
And then an especial thank you goes to our design consultant, Alison Intrieri (Stabler) Marian Laymon.
Yes? Police.
Please come with us.
I'll do no such thing.
Sure you will.
Or we'll haul your ass out of here.
There's no need to speak to me that way.
Marian Laymon, you're under arrest for violation of the United States code, title 18, section 1584.
Would you mind telling me what that means? We're busting you for violating the Involuntary Servitude and Peonage Act.
In case you haven't heard, Lincoln freed the slaves.
My client wants to clear up this misunderstanding.
There's no misunderstanding.
Your client had a slave.
That girl is a domestic.
That's not what Na'lmah says.
She's a liar.
I should've fired her, but I felt sorry for the poor girl.
Mrs.
Laymon opened her home to a girl from a disadvantaged background and provided her with a job.
That is not a crime.
How did you find her? She was referred to me.
By who? Some day laborer working at my house.
I don't remember his name.
Maybe you remember how much you pay her? I provide her with room and board.
For an 18-hour day? It's more than she can ever earn in her country.
(Fin) How did she get from her own country? That's hardly Mrs.
Laymon's concern.
But you knew that she was not here legally.
(Langan) We know how difficult it can be at times to establish immigration status.
That's no excuse.
Harboring an illegal alien is still a crime.
Half of Park Avenue is guilty.
Look, lady, I don't give a damn what you and your damn friends do.
Slavery's a Federal crime.
You're going to be spending the next 10 years in lockdown.
That's not the Junior League.
Cooperate with us, we'll put in a good word for you with the Feds.
If you don't, I guarantee you're not going to like the dress code in the joint.
What can we offer you? The name of the person who sold you Na'lmah.
I told you, I did not buy her! We're done with this.
I'm done.
That person is walking free, you're going to prison.
Book her.
(Langan) H-hold on.
Hold on.
Marian All right! L I did pay a fee, but I don't remember the man's name.
How'd you get in touch with him? I had a number, but, um, the person I gave it to said it was disconnected.
Probably a prepaid cell.
Where did you get Na'lmah? I went to a warehouse in Long Island City.
Guy who rented the warehouse paid cash for a six-month lease.
Never got his name.
Not even to run a credit check? It's just storage space.
They pay, they stay.
If not, we padlock it, auction the contents.
Here we are.
Looks like the guy ran out of money.
That's not our lock.
He's paid up for another month.
Bolt cutters.
[Chains rattling.]
Get the lights.
(Benson) Oh, my God.
It's okay.
We came here to help you.
His name is Ajani.
Take a good look at him.
Has anyone seen him here? Do any of you know Ajani? I do.
He cried when they took him away from his sister.
Who took him? A man or a woman? I don't remember.
Many people came.
They made us turn around, and they looked at our hands to see how strong we are.
Look really hard, you guys.
Huh? Try to remember.
I know you can help me out here.
He was my friend.
His bed was next to mine.
Okay.
What's your name, sweetheart? Kwasi.
This is really important, Kwasi.
Can you tell me about the person who took Ajani? He was very nice.
He brought us candy.
Was the man white or was he black? White.
And what did he say? He had magic powers and he would bring us luck.
Like Ajani's doll.
What doll? Ajani brought it from home.
The man liked it and said he would bring him lots of dolls for good luck if he would go with him.
Okay.
Good.
Thank you.
The mastermind behind this left those kids there to die once he found out Ajani was murdered.
BCIS is debriefing the kids, trying to track down the smugglers.
This little boy give you anything else on the guy who took Ajani? Kwasi only remembers that he was a white guy with candy.
(Fin) By the way Ajani was killed, whoever did it either knows Santeria or is damn good at faking it.
So what if the Santeria ritual is a cover? What's it covering? Trafficking in kids isn't just for sweatshop labor.
It's also for sex.
So you got a perv who uses Ajani as a sex slave.
He gets tired of him, he chops up the body to make it look like a sacrifice, but also to get rid of any evidence of sexual assault.
He knew about Ajani's doll.
He must've studied African folklore.
Go back to the Santeria center.
We only asked Odufemi about his members.
See if he recalls selling any candles to a white man.
Fin, go visit Na'lmah.
That doll's got to mean something more than good luck.
(Fin) What does the doll mean? It's not a doll, it's an ikenga.
My mother gave one to me and one to Ajani to protect us on our journey.
She made the pouch herself so I could wear it close to my heart.
Did she make a pouch for Ajani, too? Just like mine.
Where'd she get the ikengas? My great-great-grandfather carved them.
See his mark? My mother said they look like brother and sister.
Are they taking good care of you here? Yes.
They said they'd put me in a foster home as soon as they find one.
But I want to go back to my mother.
We haven't found her yet.
A neighbor said she went back to Lagos to look for you.
Take it.
For good luck, to help you find my mother.
Santeria has white followers all over the city, but, uh, none in this particular house.
You sure, you didn't sell any candles to a white man? Believe me, I would have remembered.
Anyone on your staff who might've sold them? It's possible.
We had a recent exhibit of some local artists.
And, uh, there were a few white people that bought some carvings and statues.
Did any of them buy candles? Uh, I didn't make any sales that day, but I will check.
Here's someone who bought two Senegalese statues and a box of St.
Cecilia candles.
Name is Maggie Shaye.
(Maggie) I buy a lot of things, Detective.
I'm always on the lookout for interesting primitive art.
What about those candles? Do you sell them here? No.
L I burned some here, and some at home.
They were cheap and I liked their scent.
Why are you asking me about my candles? Part of an investigation.
We're talking to dozens of people who bought them.
Uh, just for the record, were you here at the gallery Monday or Tuesday? No, I was in Ghana on a buying trip.
Then I discovered a fantastic new artist and cut my trip short by a month.
I've only been back since late Tuesday night.
I found this statue on your desk.
Can I buy it? I'm sorry, Detective, that's not for sale.
The ikenga was a welcome home gift from my husband.
(Fin) You know where he got it? flea market.
Lots of Africans sell their tribal objects there.
Can I get your husband's number? I know my wife would love to have one of those.
You can probably reach Allan in his office.
He teaches art history at Hudson.
I don't understand.
What would a present for my wife have to do with a police investigation? We really can't discuss that right now.
Do you know a lot about African art? (Allan) Actually, no.
My specialty is Tibetan sand paintings.
But you knew how valuable the doll was? I had no idea until my wife told me.
The man selling it said it was some kind of tribal symbol.
Would you recognize this man? I think so.
I'd be glad to go with you to the flea market next Saturday.
I'm sure we'd find him.
Is that convenient for you? That'd be great.
We'd appreciate that.
No problem.
If this is about smuggling antiquities, I feel strongly it should be stopped.
I'm active in the campaign to get the Elgin Marbles back to Greece.
Elgin Marbles, my ass.
This is our guy.
He's as slick as they come.
His wife's away for two months, he wants some fun, buys a boy for sex.
Then his wife calls and says, "Hi, honey, I'm coming home tomorrow.
" Shaye panics.
Has to get rid of Ajani and he stages the Santeria ritual to throw us off.
The wife deals in African art, he teaches art history.
It's a short leap to know about ikengas.
See, what I don't get is why didn't he throw away the doll or leave it in the park with the body? It's a trophy.
Gets his rocks off seeing his wife with it.
Ajani's sister kept her doll in a beaded pouch.
Where's the pouch to this one? That's why God invented search warrants.
Those ikengas are going to get us into Shaye's house and his office.
We've been over the floor, the tub, everything.
Hit the light.
That's all blood? No, bleach.
This was all cleaned recently.
It was done well.
Wait.
This doesn't make sense.
If there was blood here, it should still be in the grout.
No, not necessarily.
The grout's still fresh.
Seal it with a penetrating polymer, even blood won't get through.
Anything? Not a speck, not a hair.
If Ajani was here, we ain't going to prove it.
Stabler.
We got diddly.
You? So far, zip.
We'll keep you posted.
The Rites of Santeria.
Looks like the Professor's been doing his homework.
I bet that's got a chapter on ritual sacrifice.
The security said you wanted the keys to the filing cabinets? Thanks.
Who are you? Professor Shaye's research assistant.
He'd want me to help you.
So just tell me what you're looking for.
A small beaded pouch.
Blue fabric, red beads.
Why didn't you say so? Dr.
Shaye gave it to me as a present.
Where's Prof.
Shaye right now? He's lecturing.
In 990 AD, when the Tangut Tibetans conquered western China, it was the beginning of a of a stunning leap in their civilization and a fertile period in their I'm sorry, Detectives, I'm in the middle of a lecture.
It's okay, you can finish it in the car.
Allan Shaye, you're under arrest for the murder of Ajani Haruna.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.
I don't need a lawyer.
I don't even know why the hell I'm here.
That's why you're here.
The pouch? The ikenga I gave my wife was in it.
So what? That doesn't prove anything.
You keep thinking that way.
Ajani's mother made that pouch.
It's exactly like the one she made for his sister's ikenga.
Who's Ajani? The boy you murdered and hacked to pieces.
I told you, I got the statue and the pouch from a street vendor.
He must be your killer.
Why aren't we out there looking for him? So this is all just one crazy cosmic coincidence.
You just happen to buy a tribal artifact like the one worn by the dead boy's sister, your wife buys a candle like the one that was right next to his body.
Professor, I'm not that bright, you're the educated guy here.
Would you buy that coincidence? Yes.
Because that's what happened.
Why don't you tell me why we found bleach on every surface of your house.
I had a cleaning service in.
The place was filthy.
With Ajani Haruna's blood.
Actually, I wanted to spruce things up because my wife was coming home.
You think I wanted her to find the place looking like a bachelor pad? [Object thudding.]
I'll tell you what I think, pervert.
I think your wife surprised you by coming home early, so you had to get rid of Ajani, fast.
But you couldn't risk dropping him off somewhere because he might be able to finger you.
So you murdered him and you made it look like a religious ritual.
You can't hide from me behind your fancy education.
I smell you.
You're nothing but a skel who gets his rocks off screwing little boys.
(Maggie) That's insane.
He is not a child molester and he is certainly not a killer.
You seem very sure of that.
Let me ask you a question: What do you make of these? One your husband gave to you.
The other one belongs to the sister of the murdered boy.
You're wrong.
No.
There could be dozens of those.
You really believe that? I mean, you're the expert.
Two statues.
Same markings.
Both carved by the same person.
Both in the same handmade pouches made by the children's mother.
[Sobbing.]
So they could carry around their protectors.
Monday evening, I was in London when I called Allan.
I told him I would be coming home early.
I thought he would be happy.
He snapped at me.
He said I needed to give him more notice.
How was he going to get the house ready for me in just 12 hours? I asked him why he was so angry.
He calmed down immediately, apologized.
But I couldn't help thinking Thinking what? That he was having an affair and I had interrupted them.
Do you recognize these? The candle.
It's like the ones I bought at the Santeria Center before I left for Africa.
I asked Allan why one of them was missing.
He said he used it.
And the bowls And the bowls what? No.
No, I can't.
I can't.
Maggie, if you don't help us now, another child might die.
When I called from London, Allan asked me where I put the key to the storage room.
I keep inventory there.
That's where the bowls were.
And where is that room? In the basement under the gallery.
(O' Halloran) Detectives, I have blood over here.
You sure? This time, I doubt it's bleach.
(Munch) Looks like we got a trail.
It leads over to that crate.
"Ship to Allan Shaye, Tibetan Research Center, Katmandu, Nepal.
" I hope this isn't what I think it is.
Fancy box.
[Sighs.]
Call the medical examiner.
How much longer you gonna hold me? You'll be leaving soon.
For death row.
Your wife tells us this is a Moroccan tile box.
You bought it from a family in Marrakech.
Look familiar? Sorry we couldn't ship it to Tibet for you.
(Cragen) I'd like you to meet Assistant District Attorney Novak.
You got two choices.
Cooperate, you spend the rest of your life in prison.
Don't, you die by lethal injection.
Am I supposed to be intimidated? Nobody's been executed in New York State for 40 years.
Yeah, you're right.
But given your crime, I'd bet a jury'd be willing to break with tradition.
So go ahead, Prof.
Shaye.
Gamble.
It's your life.
You want to see what's inside? No, it's I'll cooperate.
Why did you do this? I could hardly risk having body parts floating up in the East River.
It would've ruined your Santeria scam, too, right? How did you find Ajani? Through a guy called Bosuh.
(Cragen) Who is he? He calls himself a facilitator.
He greases the wheels so people can ship things internationally.
Things.
You mean children.
(Cragen) How do you get in touch with this Bosuh? By cell phone.
I can give you his number.
If the number's no good, there's no deal.
It's good.
I talked to him last week.
He said he had a new shipment coming tomorrow.
Martin Bosuh.
BCIS has him as a Nigerian citizen currently in the United States on a work visa.
Comes and goes about once a month.
Interpol's got him on their radar.
Slaves, drugs, black market stuff.
We checked the cell number.
Working prepaid cell.
Untraceable.
We'd better have a plan before we dial.
This guy left a dozen kids locked up to starve to death.
He's got to know the heat is on.
I think the only way we're going to get this guy is if we try to buy a child.
And if we send you and Elliot in there, he's gonna smell cop before you get to the door.
Well, he may not suspect somebody from his own country.
(Bosuh) Mr.
And Mrs.
Robinson, what exactly are you looking for? My wife wants a girl who can cook, clean, keep house.
I cannot stand American servants.
They steal, they lie, they do not know their place.
And my husband's business requires discretion.
I understand.
She must be respectful, quiet, but above all, she must be obedient.
That is most important.
Do you have what we're looking for? I may.
What business are you in, Mr.
Robinson? My business.
(Bosuh) Your husband is a man of few words.
How long have you been married? Seven years.
Yes, seven years.
May I suggest, perhaps you would like a younger girl, one you can train to your liking.
A 5 or 6-year-old? Deal.
Excuse me a moment while I make the arrangements.
We're blown.
Wait right here.
Hey! Oh, no! Stop! Police! [Grunting.]
They were kids, you sick son of a bitch! Fin! Fin! Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough! Get back! Off.
Off of him.
(Stabler) Martin Bosuh, you're under arrest for kidnapping in the first degree.
Turn around.
Tell us where the children are and maybe the judge will take that into consideration.
I have nothing to say.
You'll be doing 10 years for each kid you left to die in that warehouse.
I don't think so.
I have this to bargain with.
(Stabler) You fell fleeing from the police.
Please, Detective.
Another African man, brutalized by a vicious cop? I don't think your police commissioner wants more bad publicity.
You have come to beat me again? I am not afraid of you.
You should be afraid of her.
What can a woman do? Claw my eyes out? [Chuckling.]
Deport you.
Your passport's been revoked.
(Benson) Meet Nigerian Under-consul Kema Mabuda.
I have a few friends home in Nigeria.
Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit.
Have them visit you.
At Kirikiri Prison, while you await your execution.
(Benson) They use a firing squad there, right? (Fin) Yeah.
And the warden thinks that's too easy.
So he ties you to a pole in the boiling sun.
Then he has his firing squad start on your ankles and work their way up real slow.
(Stabler) How soon can we get him on a plane? If I tell you what you want to know? I'll ask for leniency.
There is a truck arriving tonight.
[Sirens wailing.]
[Brakes screeching.]
Police! Get out of the truck! Put your hands in the air! Now! Get out! Out of the cab! Down! Now! Come on! Away from the truck.
Stand over there.
Right there.
Let's open her up.
It's okay.
Why don't you come ahead.
We're not going to hurt you, guys.
We're the police.
Come on.
Why don't you come ahead? Get them to Children's Services.
Take good care of them.
They're a long way from home.
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.
This ain't no job for the squeamish.
You find dog crap, pick it up.
Used condom, pick it up.
A needle, be careful, but you got to pick it up.
Okay.
What the hell? Hey, hey, Jimmy, take a look at this.
Is that blood in those bowls? Yeah, you get that sometimes.
Whackos sacrificing animals.
Mother of God! Buddy, you ain't gonna last too long if you let a few dead chickens creep you out.
Ah, Jimmy, this isn't no chicken.
(Warner) Black male, I'd say seven or eight years old.
Head, arms and legs are missing.
Looks like some kind of ritual killing.
Could be.
The limbs were severed through the bone instead of at the joints.
There are easier ways to cut up a body.
I'll check the blood in those bowls to see if it's his.
Did you see anybody hanging around? No, it's too cold, even for the homeless.
We're gonna need all the trash you picked up in the area.
Everything.
You find stuff like this before? Couple of dead goats, birds.
There's pretty freaky people in this city.
(Warner) Detectives.
Thank you so much.
You know, animals I've heard of.
What religion sacrifices kids? None that I know of.
Any chance he died of something else and this is some kind of a funeral rite? There's blood clotting at the neck.
This boy's throat was cut when he was still alive.
The child bled out when his carotid artery was cut, then he was dismembered.
He's in rigor, so I'd put time of death around 12 hours ago.
Is there anything to support the ritual sacrifice theory? Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.
So this wasn't a hack job.
No.
After he died, the extremities were removed methodically.
First, the flesh around the limbs and neck was flensed.
What? Scraped from the bone using a sharp knife like this.
Then the bone was severed with one blow from something like a butcher's cleaver.
What about the blood in the bowls? Blood type matches your victim.
I bet DNA will, too.
I've never seen anything like this before.
A dismemberment? Sure you have.
Not where blood was drained from the body by hanging it upside down.
How can you tell? The blood coagulated at the top of the spleen which means the body was inverted.
So is there any way we can ID him? An old scar on the abdomen.
Not surgical, but the wound was severe.
(Stabler) If it's from abuse, maybe we got a record of it.
I doubt it.
No signs of torture or other trauma.
This child was healthy and well-fed.
No hits from missing persons in the tri-state area going back three years.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists four kids with the right age and race, none with abdominal scars.
A kid killed for religious reasons, probably related to the murderer.
Get DNA from those four kids' parents just to make sure.
Guy who teaches the occult at the Academy confirms that's the kind of candle they use in Santeria.
First practiced by slaves brought here from Africa.
Owners forced them to convert to Christianity.
So the slaves just put saint names on the old gods.
How do you know all that? Drug dealers from the Caribbean and South America practice Santeria.
Put hexes on me, threw grave dust.
I can't tell you how many dead chickens I found in front of the precinct.
Killing a chicken's a long way from human sacrifice.
Which Santeria stopped doing about a century ago.
Let's go with what we got.
A ritualized murder by somebody who may practice Santeria.
"Martinez lmports.
" Olivia, Elliot, pay them a visit.
(Martinez) Yeah, we made this.
(Stabler) For who? Hey, that's a long list.
I supply hundreds of Botanicas and churches.
Is there any way to tell where you sent a particular candle? Come on! We sell thousands every month.
Maybe you could just check for us.
We don't want to bother all your customers.
Can I see the candle again? Ah, you're in luck.
This is our new St.
Cecilia.
You know she was one of our first Christian martyrs.
The executioner tried to cut her head off And they failed.
I know.
Could you do that list for us? Yeah, sure.
Okay, let's see what we got.
Ah, here we go.
Okay.
So far they've been shipped to three buyers.
One in Miami, one in New Orleans, and one in New York.
The Center for the Study of Santeria.
Thank you so much.
This is outrageous.
Santeria is a peaceful religion.
We're not murderers.
We're not accusing you of anything.
Mr.
Odufemi, we've some questions about these candles that you bought from Martinez lmports.
We buy them by the case and we sell them at cost to members.
We're going to need a membership list.
Why? We had nothing to do with this child's death.
Sir, with all due respect, your religion has a history of human sacrifice.
Are either one of you Catholic? I am.
Well, your church teaches that when you take communion, you're consuming the body and blood of Christ.
Does that make you a cannibal? This is about a murder, not religious tradition.
Our church outlawed human sacrifice in the 1930s.
There hasn't been one since.
You sacrifice animals.
Humanely.
And I'm sure, as you know, the Supreme Court ruled our rituals legal.
Sir, I don't give a damn about your legal rituals.
A candle you sold was placed a few feet from a dismembered child.
If you don't have a court order, I'm not giving you our list.
Why not? If your church outlawed ritual murder, your members have nothing to fear from us.
Except for persecution based on your bigotry.
Now, should I show you to the door or can you find your own way out? He was definitely hostile.
I might be hostile if you accused my religion of child sacrifice.
We still need a list of his members.
From what you told me, he never came out and said there was a list.
You get us in, we'll find it.
Before we trample on the Constitution and attack religious freedom, we need probable cause.
We traced the candle to Odufemi's Center.
But the candles were also sold by churches in Miami and New Orleans.
There's no proof this one came from the Center.
What is this, a Boy Scout meeting gone wrong? You got blood in bowls and a candle.
It's Santeria.
Casey, we checked those two churches and they haven't sold any candles yet.
That's still not enough for a warrant.
Very little of the victim's blood was found in the park.
If you're gonna kill a kid and drain his blood, you need a place with some privacy.
Come on, Counselor, just help us out here, all right? Talk to everyone who lives and works near the Santeria center.
Find me someone who's seen anything that backs up your theory.
(Rose) I don't want to sound prejudiced, but it sounds like voodoo to me.
Loud music, drums beating.
I know people have their culture, but I don't think young people should be exposed to such things.
You've seen children over there? Oh, coming and going, sometimes till 10:00.
School nights.
Do you remember seeing any children there last Monday? A whole group of them, not one of them more than eight years old.
Involving kids in stuff like that! It's a crying shame.
(Ramon) The Center? Pretty weird stuff going on in that place.
Give us an example.
The other night, I'm closing up, I hear this shrieking.
What kind of shrieking? I figured it was an animal, with the chickens and goats I see them bring in.
But when I saw the paper, I thought, uh-huh, maybe it was that kid you found in the park.
Our detectives found several witnesses.
Strange behavior is not grounds for a warrant.
An eyewitness saw children going into the center, the night our victim died.
One child would be noteworthy.
A group isn't.
The Center holds regular youth classes.
On that same night, another witness heard bloodcurdling screams.
Reported by an elderly white woman, and what nationality was the other witness? Latino, like many of the practitioners of Santeria.
Are you suggesting the witnesses were racially motivated? It wouldn't be the first time people had problems with neighbors of a different color.
A 7-year-old boy is dead.
Someone cut his throat, hung him up, and bled him like a pig.
The candle found near his body came from the Santeria Center.
All due respect, Your Honor, we have probable cause.
All right, you've got your warrant.
I hope this doesn't turn into a witch hunt.
We'll test the stain on the floor, but it's probably animal blood.
We found chicken carcasses in the garbage.
No lists in the filing cabinet or on the computer.
You deleted them after our visit? Of course not.
I know the law.
If you knew anything about our religion, you'd know our believers could never do this.
And what makes you so sure? The child was found near a lake.
And that proves what? The lake is ruled by Yamaya.
She's an Orisha, the African equivalent to a saint.
And she's the mother and protector of all children.
To kill a child in her name would be blasphemous.
Maybe we're looking for a heretic.
I mean it's possible there are people still in Africa practicing human sacrifice, but not in this country.
Do you have any recent immigrants in your congregation? There's a few from West Africa, [phone rings.]
But they're not peasants.
These are educated people Good.
Benson.
Then they won't mind talking to me.
I want that list, or I'm going to be here at every service talking to her, and him, and him, and anyone else who walks in that door.
And I'll make damn sure Animal Control and the Health Department come on down here and pay you a visit at least once a day.
(Benson) We're on our way.
I want that list.
All right.
This is blackmail.
That was Warner.
She got something.
By testing a person's skin and hair, we can tell what chemicals they've been exposed to and when.
Like with drug testing.
Right.
Each geographical area on Earth has its own chemical signature.
I sent your victim's hair for an analysis of hydrogen and nitrogen isotopes, and they match isotope levels in New York City.
Can you tell how long he's been here? Based on the rate of hair growth, I'd say four weeks.
What about before that? The bones tell that story.
You can tell where he lived based on his bones? By analyzing strontium levels in the skeleton.
This is an x-ray of the boy's hip, and a graph showing the strontium in his bones.
I consulted a forensic anthropologist.
He compared the levels in the boy with geological samples from around the world.
He got a match.
(Stabler) Africa.
Can he be more specific? Nigeria.
Pre-Cambrian rock found only within matches strontium levels in your boy.
Looks like he lived there all his life.
He came to New York from Nigeria and wasn't here more than a month and he was killed.
Which is why nobody reported him missing.
He was brought here to be sacrificed.
So the victim came here from Nigeria within the last four weeks.
Rules out the Santeria Center.
No new members from Nigeria.
And all the parishioners' kids are accounted for.
Could be the boy was here legally.
Yeah.
We'll check with lmmigration, see if they got him on file.
United States accepts about 2,800 immigrants from Nigeria each year.
That's more than 200 a month.
How many of them are kids? Last month, around the age of your victim.
Any way to check up on 'em? After your call, I sent our people out to check on the local addresses listed on their l-94s.
All the kids are safe.
So our kid's got to be illegal.
Huh, not surprising.
The third largest moneymaker for organized crime in the US after drugs and guns, is the sale of human beings.
You mean worldwide? I mean the United States.
Fifteen thousand kids are trafficked here each year.
A lot from Africa.
Is the Nigerian government doing anything about this? There's a woman at the Consulate, Kema Mabuda.
She's passionate about stolen children.
The ritual murder of a child? That is terrible.
Have you come across anything like it before? You need to understand, most Nigerians are educated, but we do have the largest population in Africa.
In more remote areas, tradition dies hard.
You're saying human sacrifice does happen? Possibly.
Hundreds of children vanish every year from my country, and Thailand, and Albania.
They end up here and in Europe.
(Benson) For rituals? No, the slave trade.
Child labor in sweatshops, as domestics, or for sexual exploitation.
Some kidnapped, some sold to smugglers by their own families, often for as little as a television set.
Does your government keep records of missing children? As best we can.
Nearly half our population is under 16.
We've linked our victim to an area around Benin City.
Now, have there been any missing child reports from that area in the last month? No boys that age, but there is a note.
One of our switchboard operators logged a call two days ago from a girl worried about her missing brother.
Did you get a name? Ajani.
The note also says the caller hung up before the operator could get any more information.
Now, we could find out where that girl's call originated by checking your phone records.
I have your word your findings will only be used in the investigation? Yes.
Bring me the necessary forms.
I will sign them.
I'm surprised the Consulate agreed to the phone dump.
Half the population of Nigeria is Muslim.
You think our government would let them take a peek at our phone records? Mabuda knows we're not interested in their state secrets.
Eight calls to the consulate switchboard around the time Ajani's sister called.
Split them up, it shouldn't take long.
What do you bet this caller was looking for a scoop on safari vacations? Pretty white bread up here for anything else.
Yeah.
Not that many Nigerian kids in this neighborhood.
[Doorbell ringing.]
Can I help you? Detectives Munch and Tutuola.
We'd like to talk to Mr.
Or Mrs.
Laymon.
They're not home.
But if you have a card, I'll make sure they get it.
You know a child named Ajani? I'm sorry, you'll have to come back.
What's her name? I have to go now.
No, you don't.
You have no right to be here.
Unless you want to spend the night in jail, stand back, okay? What's your name? It's okay.
Did you call about your brother? We're here to help you.
Tell me your name.
Na'lmah.
You found Ajani? We're going to take you someplace safe and talk about that.
I start work at 6:00 and finish at midnight.
I can't go out unless the rich people are with me.
How'd you know that was your brother? Madam was watching the news.
I heard them say they found a boy.
They said he had a mark, right here.
Just like Ajani had when he fell climbing a tree.
How did you get to this country? Men, they came to our village.
They told my mother they would take me to a wonderful school in America.
Ajani begged her to let him come with me.
Na'lmah, when you came to the United States, where did those men keep you? A big room with no windows, lots of beds.
People came and looked at us.
I hoped someone would take my brother and me together, but madam only wanted me.
[Phone ringing.]
They kept her locked in the cellar so she couldn't get away.
We can collar the Laymons for unlawful imprisonment.
As soon as we find her mother, we'll arrange to have Ajani's body shipped home.
What did Munch get from the housekeeper? She said Mr.
Laymon's in Zurich.
Madam? Charity event at the Windsor Garden Hotel.
I suppose she does not know charity begins at home.
(Martinson) I want to congratulate the co-chairs of the flower show host committee.
Nancy Forner, Karen Stern, Sheyna Smith.
Ladies, please stand.
Pink hat, second table on the right.
And then an especial thank you goes to our design consultant, Alison Intrieri (Stabler) Marian Laymon.
Yes? Police.
Please come with us.
I'll do no such thing.
Sure you will.
Or we'll haul your ass out of here.
There's no need to speak to me that way.
Marian Laymon, you're under arrest for violation of the United States code, title 18, section 1584.
Would you mind telling me what that means? We're busting you for violating the Involuntary Servitude and Peonage Act.
In case you haven't heard, Lincoln freed the slaves.
My client wants to clear up this misunderstanding.
There's no misunderstanding.
Your client had a slave.
That girl is a domestic.
That's not what Na'lmah says.
She's a liar.
I should've fired her, but I felt sorry for the poor girl.
Mrs.
Laymon opened her home to a girl from a disadvantaged background and provided her with a job.
That is not a crime.
How did you find her? She was referred to me.
By who? Some day laborer working at my house.
I don't remember his name.
Maybe you remember how much you pay her? I provide her with room and board.
For an 18-hour day? It's more than she can ever earn in her country.
(Fin) How did she get from her own country? That's hardly Mrs.
Laymon's concern.
But you knew that she was not here legally.
(Langan) We know how difficult it can be at times to establish immigration status.
That's no excuse.
Harboring an illegal alien is still a crime.
Half of Park Avenue is guilty.
Look, lady, I don't give a damn what you and your damn friends do.
Slavery's a Federal crime.
You're going to be spending the next 10 years in lockdown.
That's not the Junior League.
Cooperate with us, we'll put in a good word for you with the Feds.
If you don't, I guarantee you're not going to like the dress code in the joint.
What can we offer you? The name of the person who sold you Na'lmah.
I told you, I did not buy her! We're done with this.
I'm done.
That person is walking free, you're going to prison.
Book her.
(Langan) H-hold on.
Hold on.
Marian All right! L I did pay a fee, but I don't remember the man's name.
How'd you get in touch with him? I had a number, but, um, the person I gave it to said it was disconnected.
Probably a prepaid cell.
Where did you get Na'lmah? I went to a warehouse in Long Island City.
Guy who rented the warehouse paid cash for a six-month lease.
Never got his name.
Not even to run a credit check? It's just storage space.
They pay, they stay.
If not, we padlock it, auction the contents.
Here we are.
Looks like the guy ran out of money.
That's not our lock.
He's paid up for another month.
Bolt cutters.
[Chains rattling.]
Get the lights.
(Benson) Oh, my God.
It's okay.
We came here to help you.
His name is Ajani.
Take a good look at him.
Has anyone seen him here? Do any of you know Ajani? I do.
He cried when they took him away from his sister.
Who took him? A man or a woman? I don't remember.
Many people came.
They made us turn around, and they looked at our hands to see how strong we are.
Look really hard, you guys.
Huh? Try to remember.
I know you can help me out here.
He was my friend.
His bed was next to mine.
Okay.
What's your name, sweetheart? Kwasi.
This is really important, Kwasi.
Can you tell me about the person who took Ajani? He was very nice.
He brought us candy.
Was the man white or was he black? White.
And what did he say? He had magic powers and he would bring us luck.
Like Ajani's doll.
What doll? Ajani brought it from home.
The man liked it and said he would bring him lots of dolls for good luck if he would go with him.
Okay.
Good.
Thank you.
The mastermind behind this left those kids there to die once he found out Ajani was murdered.
BCIS is debriefing the kids, trying to track down the smugglers.
This little boy give you anything else on the guy who took Ajani? Kwasi only remembers that he was a white guy with candy.
(Fin) By the way Ajani was killed, whoever did it either knows Santeria or is damn good at faking it.
So what if the Santeria ritual is a cover? What's it covering? Trafficking in kids isn't just for sweatshop labor.
It's also for sex.
So you got a perv who uses Ajani as a sex slave.
He gets tired of him, he chops up the body to make it look like a sacrifice, but also to get rid of any evidence of sexual assault.
He knew about Ajani's doll.
He must've studied African folklore.
Go back to the Santeria center.
We only asked Odufemi about his members.
See if he recalls selling any candles to a white man.
Fin, go visit Na'lmah.
That doll's got to mean something more than good luck.
(Fin) What does the doll mean? It's not a doll, it's an ikenga.
My mother gave one to me and one to Ajani to protect us on our journey.
She made the pouch herself so I could wear it close to my heart.
Did she make a pouch for Ajani, too? Just like mine.
Where'd she get the ikengas? My great-great-grandfather carved them.
See his mark? My mother said they look like brother and sister.
Are they taking good care of you here? Yes.
They said they'd put me in a foster home as soon as they find one.
But I want to go back to my mother.
We haven't found her yet.
A neighbor said she went back to Lagos to look for you.
Take it.
For good luck, to help you find my mother.
Santeria has white followers all over the city, but, uh, none in this particular house.
You sure, you didn't sell any candles to a white man? Believe me, I would have remembered.
Anyone on your staff who might've sold them? It's possible.
We had a recent exhibit of some local artists.
And, uh, there were a few white people that bought some carvings and statues.
Did any of them buy candles? Uh, I didn't make any sales that day, but I will check.
Here's someone who bought two Senegalese statues and a box of St.
Cecilia candles.
Name is Maggie Shaye.
(Maggie) I buy a lot of things, Detective.
I'm always on the lookout for interesting primitive art.
What about those candles? Do you sell them here? No.
L I burned some here, and some at home.
They were cheap and I liked their scent.
Why are you asking me about my candles? Part of an investigation.
We're talking to dozens of people who bought them.
Uh, just for the record, were you here at the gallery Monday or Tuesday? No, I was in Ghana on a buying trip.
Then I discovered a fantastic new artist and cut my trip short by a month.
I've only been back since late Tuesday night.
I found this statue on your desk.
Can I buy it? I'm sorry, Detective, that's not for sale.
The ikenga was a welcome home gift from my husband.
(Fin) You know where he got it? flea market.
Lots of Africans sell their tribal objects there.
Can I get your husband's number? I know my wife would love to have one of those.
You can probably reach Allan in his office.
He teaches art history at Hudson.
I don't understand.
What would a present for my wife have to do with a police investigation? We really can't discuss that right now.
Do you know a lot about African art? (Allan) Actually, no.
My specialty is Tibetan sand paintings.
But you knew how valuable the doll was? I had no idea until my wife told me.
The man selling it said it was some kind of tribal symbol.
Would you recognize this man? I think so.
I'd be glad to go with you to the flea market next Saturday.
I'm sure we'd find him.
Is that convenient for you? That'd be great.
We'd appreciate that.
No problem.
If this is about smuggling antiquities, I feel strongly it should be stopped.
I'm active in the campaign to get the Elgin Marbles back to Greece.
Elgin Marbles, my ass.
This is our guy.
He's as slick as they come.
His wife's away for two months, he wants some fun, buys a boy for sex.
Then his wife calls and says, "Hi, honey, I'm coming home tomorrow.
" Shaye panics.
Has to get rid of Ajani and he stages the Santeria ritual to throw us off.
The wife deals in African art, he teaches art history.
It's a short leap to know about ikengas.
See, what I don't get is why didn't he throw away the doll or leave it in the park with the body? It's a trophy.
Gets his rocks off seeing his wife with it.
Ajani's sister kept her doll in a beaded pouch.
Where's the pouch to this one? That's why God invented search warrants.
Those ikengas are going to get us into Shaye's house and his office.
We've been over the floor, the tub, everything.
Hit the light.
That's all blood? No, bleach.
This was all cleaned recently.
It was done well.
Wait.
This doesn't make sense.
If there was blood here, it should still be in the grout.
No, not necessarily.
The grout's still fresh.
Seal it with a penetrating polymer, even blood won't get through.
Anything? Not a speck, not a hair.
If Ajani was here, we ain't going to prove it.
Stabler.
We got diddly.
You? So far, zip.
We'll keep you posted.
The Rites of Santeria.
Looks like the Professor's been doing his homework.
I bet that's got a chapter on ritual sacrifice.
The security said you wanted the keys to the filing cabinets? Thanks.
Who are you? Professor Shaye's research assistant.
He'd want me to help you.
So just tell me what you're looking for.
A small beaded pouch.
Blue fabric, red beads.
Why didn't you say so? Dr.
Shaye gave it to me as a present.
Where's Prof.
Shaye right now? He's lecturing.
In 990 AD, when the Tangut Tibetans conquered western China, it was the beginning of a of a stunning leap in their civilization and a fertile period in their I'm sorry, Detectives, I'm in the middle of a lecture.
It's okay, you can finish it in the car.
Allan Shaye, you're under arrest for the murder of Ajani Haruna.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.
I don't need a lawyer.
I don't even know why the hell I'm here.
That's why you're here.
The pouch? The ikenga I gave my wife was in it.
So what? That doesn't prove anything.
You keep thinking that way.
Ajani's mother made that pouch.
It's exactly like the one she made for his sister's ikenga.
Who's Ajani? The boy you murdered and hacked to pieces.
I told you, I got the statue and the pouch from a street vendor.
He must be your killer.
Why aren't we out there looking for him? So this is all just one crazy cosmic coincidence.
You just happen to buy a tribal artifact like the one worn by the dead boy's sister, your wife buys a candle like the one that was right next to his body.
Professor, I'm not that bright, you're the educated guy here.
Would you buy that coincidence? Yes.
Because that's what happened.
Why don't you tell me why we found bleach on every surface of your house.
I had a cleaning service in.
The place was filthy.
With Ajani Haruna's blood.
Actually, I wanted to spruce things up because my wife was coming home.
You think I wanted her to find the place looking like a bachelor pad? [Object thudding.]
I'll tell you what I think, pervert.
I think your wife surprised you by coming home early, so you had to get rid of Ajani, fast.
But you couldn't risk dropping him off somewhere because he might be able to finger you.
So you murdered him and you made it look like a religious ritual.
You can't hide from me behind your fancy education.
I smell you.
You're nothing but a skel who gets his rocks off screwing little boys.
(Maggie) That's insane.
He is not a child molester and he is certainly not a killer.
You seem very sure of that.
Let me ask you a question: What do you make of these? One your husband gave to you.
The other one belongs to the sister of the murdered boy.
You're wrong.
No.
There could be dozens of those.
You really believe that? I mean, you're the expert.
Two statues.
Same markings.
Both carved by the same person.
Both in the same handmade pouches made by the children's mother.
[Sobbing.]
So they could carry around their protectors.
Monday evening, I was in London when I called Allan.
I told him I would be coming home early.
I thought he would be happy.
He snapped at me.
He said I needed to give him more notice.
How was he going to get the house ready for me in just 12 hours? I asked him why he was so angry.
He calmed down immediately, apologized.
But I couldn't help thinking Thinking what? That he was having an affair and I had interrupted them.
Do you recognize these? The candle.
It's like the ones I bought at the Santeria Center before I left for Africa.
I asked Allan why one of them was missing.
He said he used it.
And the bowls And the bowls what? No.
No, I can't.
I can't.
Maggie, if you don't help us now, another child might die.
When I called from London, Allan asked me where I put the key to the storage room.
I keep inventory there.
That's where the bowls were.
And where is that room? In the basement under the gallery.
(O' Halloran) Detectives, I have blood over here.
You sure? This time, I doubt it's bleach.
(Munch) Looks like we got a trail.
It leads over to that crate.
"Ship to Allan Shaye, Tibetan Research Center, Katmandu, Nepal.
" I hope this isn't what I think it is.
Fancy box.
[Sighs.]
Call the medical examiner.
How much longer you gonna hold me? You'll be leaving soon.
For death row.
Your wife tells us this is a Moroccan tile box.
You bought it from a family in Marrakech.
Look familiar? Sorry we couldn't ship it to Tibet for you.
(Cragen) I'd like you to meet Assistant District Attorney Novak.
You got two choices.
Cooperate, you spend the rest of your life in prison.
Don't, you die by lethal injection.
Am I supposed to be intimidated? Nobody's been executed in New York State for 40 years.
Yeah, you're right.
But given your crime, I'd bet a jury'd be willing to break with tradition.
So go ahead, Prof.
Shaye.
Gamble.
It's your life.
You want to see what's inside? No, it's I'll cooperate.
Why did you do this? I could hardly risk having body parts floating up in the East River.
It would've ruined your Santeria scam, too, right? How did you find Ajani? Through a guy called Bosuh.
(Cragen) Who is he? He calls himself a facilitator.
He greases the wheels so people can ship things internationally.
Things.
You mean children.
(Cragen) How do you get in touch with this Bosuh? By cell phone.
I can give you his number.
If the number's no good, there's no deal.
It's good.
I talked to him last week.
He said he had a new shipment coming tomorrow.
Martin Bosuh.
BCIS has him as a Nigerian citizen currently in the United States on a work visa.
Comes and goes about once a month.
Interpol's got him on their radar.
Slaves, drugs, black market stuff.
We checked the cell number.
Working prepaid cell.
Untraceable.
We'd better have a plan before we dial.
This guy left a dozen kids locked up to starve to death.
He's got to know the heat is on.
I think the only way we're going to get this guy is if we try to buy a child.
And if we send you and Elliot in there, he's gonna smell cop before you get to the door.
Well, he may not suspect somebody from his own country.
(Bosuh) Mr.
And Mrs.
Robinson, what exactly are you looking for? My wife wants a girl who can cook, clean, keep house.
I cannot stand American servants.
They steal, they lie, they do not know their place.
And my husband's business requires discretion.
I understand.
She must be respectful, quiet, but above all, she must be obedient.
That is most important.
Do you have what we're looking for? I may.
What business are you in, Mr.
Robinson? My business.
(Bosuh) Your husband is a man of few words.
How long have you been married? Seven years.
Yes, seven years.
May I suggest, perhaps you would like a younger girl, one you can train to your liking.
A 5 or 6-year-old? Deal.
Excuse me a moment while I make the arrangements.
We're blown.
Wait right here.
Hey! Oh, no! Stop! Police! [Grunting.]
They were kids, you sick son of a bitch! Fin! Fin! Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough! Get back! Off.
Off of him.
(Stabler) Martin Bosuh, you're under arrest for kidnapping in the first degree.
Turn around.
Tell us where the children are and maybe the judge will take that into consideration.
I have nothing to say.
You'll be doing 10 years for each kid you left to die in that warehouse.
I don't think so.
I have this to bargain with.
(Stabler) You fell fleeing from the police.
Please, Detective.
Another African man, brutalized by a vicious cop? I don't think your police commissioner wants more bad publicity.
You have come to beat me again? I am not afraid of you.
You should be afraid of her.
What can a woman do? Claw my eyes out? [Chuckling.]
Deport you.
Your passport's been revoked.
(Benson) Meet Nigerian Under-consul Kema Mabuda.
I have a few friends home in Nigeria.
Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit.
Have them visit you.
At Kirikiri Prison, while you await your execution.
(Benson) They use a firing squad there, right? (Fin) Yeah.
And the warden thinks that's too easy.
So he ties you to a pole in the boiling sun.
Then he has his firing squad start on your ankles and work their way up real slow.
(Stabler) How soon can we get him on a plane? If I tell you what you want to know? I'll ask for leniency.
There is a truck arriving tonight.
[Sirens wailing.]
[Brakes screeching.]
Police! Get out of the truck! Put your hands in the air! Now! Get out! Out of the cab! Down! Now! Come on! Away from the truck.
Stand over there.
Right there.
Let's open her up.
It's okay.
Why don't you come ahead.
We're not going to hurt you, guys.
We're the police.
Come on.
Why don't you come ahead? Get them to Children's Services.
Take good care of them.
They're a long way from home.