Law & Order Special Victims Unit s10e12 Episode Script
Hothouse
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.
Let your chi flow.
Does anyone remember the next form? Body in water.
No.
Snake Creeps Down.
No.
I mean, there's a body in the water! No ID.
CSU found a purse 50 yards down the bank, but it was washed clean.
Along with any fluids on the body.
Do you have any idea when she went in? No sign the fish fed on her, so she couldn't have been in long.
Long enough to get rid of anything that's going to help us.
Even the river couldn't get rid of this.
She bled from her wounds, which means her heart was pumping and she was alive when she sustained them.
Head bashed in.
Puncture wounds to the breasts.
My God.
She's got scars all over her.
Somebody's been working her over for a while.
Half-naked, jewelry.
Trick gone wrong? Or angry pimp syndrome.
That's a Tri-Bar Cross.
Russian Orthodox.
She was beaten and tortured.
She still believed in God.
You'd think he could have protected her just a little bit.
Any closer on the ID? No hit on her prints, and Missing Persons came up empty.
But I can tell you she's I carbon-dated the crystalline proteins in her eyes.
Well, she's just a kid.
Do you know what killed her? There was no water in her lungs, so she was dead before she went in the river.
Probably from one of the four blows to her head.
Any other injuries? Too many.
Over a number of years.
This wrist was fractured and set with a pin.
Scar tissue to the shoulders suggests multiple dislocations.
Old cigarette burns? Yeah.
The only recent injuries are the wounds to the head and the punctures to the breasts.
Well, she had surgery on her wrist, so some doctor knows who she is.
Good luck trying to find him.
I ran an isotope analysis of her hair.
It measures oxygen intake from drinking water, which varies from geographical location.
The most recent growth shows that she's been in New York the past couple of months.
Before that, distinct markers put her in the Ukraine.
Young Eastern European girl.
Severe abuse, wounds to the breasts.
She was trafficked for sex.
Like thousands of other girls smuggled in here with phony papers.
It's going to be tough to ID her.
I know a woman who might be able to better your odds.
She runs an organization that helps trafficked girls.
Her name's Grace Metcalf.
I don't recognize her.
But so few girls escape, and only a portion of those make it to me.
We believe she's from the Ukraine.
Well, Kiev to New York is a major trafficking quarter, and other countries in the former Eastern Bloc are close behind.
The economy stinks, and these girls have very few options.
So enter the traffickers with promises of glamour and big money abroad.
And what they get is a life in hell.
Naomi.
Abducted from a playground.
Risa.
Drugged at a nightclub and flown out the same night.
Anna.
Her mother sold her and her little sister for 50 euros.
You got names on any of these pricks? Four and five apiece.
They change identities like you change underwear.
What about other girls from the Ukraine? Anyone that our victim may have arrived with? Last summer, we helped a girl from Kiev.
Pulled her out of a brothel in Queens.
She still live here in the city? I wouldn't call it living.
She's too ashamed to go back home and worried if her traffickers find her, they'll kill her.
Look, the people that we're after may be the same ones that pimped that girl out.
So, we get them, she doesn't need to hide.
Her name is Veronica Pankovich.
She works in a laundry on 36th Street.
Pretends she doesn't speak English.
Veronica? Veronica.
I'm Detective Olivia Benson.
Veronica, listen to me.
You're not in trouble.
I know that you understand me.
I just want to talk, okay? I have to finish my work.
Grace Metcalf sent me.
Is there some place that we can talk privately? You found me.
Listen.
So they can, too.
We're going to be gone in a minute.
Nobody's gonna ever know that we were here.
Now, do you recognize this girl? She's from Kiev, like you.
I've never seen her before.
I can't help you.
No, no.
You can.
By telling us who brought you here.
He'll find out.
How do you know one of those women inside won't tell him? He's got people watching everywhere.
And when he finds me, I will die.
Look, if you tell us who he is, we'll have Victim Services relocate you to another city.
His name is Alik.
He smuggled me in and made me a prostitute.
Do you know where he lives? Where he hangs out? I have his cell phone number, but he'll never speak to a cop.
Claudia? Hello, Alik.
Please, sit.
Let's talk.
Well, like I said on the phone, I need eight girls.
Newcomers.
The younger, the better.
I mean, let's talk about you.
Oh! Where are you from? Chicago.
Lots of pretty girls there.
Yes, indeed.
Can't you shop at home? I have very important clients that come here for work.
I need to service them locally.
Fly your girls in.
Too risky.
Half my girls don't even have passports.
And my clients like variety.
Who gave you my phone number? One of your girls was in town.
I met her.
Very impressive.
She told me to phone you.
Are you interested or not? I might know some girls looking for work.
Open up.
Okay.
They're clean.
This one's teeth are a rotten mess.
You've got to get off the meth, honey.
No sale.
You think I let my girls shoot up? Not in their arms.
Between their toes, maybe.
Due diligence.
I respect that.
I'll take the first two.
Ten thousand.
Eight.
I still need six clean girls.
Get me another eight thousand, I'll deliver them tomorrow.
It's a done deal.
NYPD! Nobody move! Hey, get your hands up! We're going to get you someplace safe.
You're going downtown.
You're under arrest.
Bitch, you are dead! Sorry about that.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Those girls are friends of my family.
And you brought them here because you're such a nice guy? So they can live American dream.
I'm helping them find jobs.
Like you helped this girl? Wasn't me.
I've been in Miami all week.
I flew back this morning.
Check my ticket and hotel.
Were you just trolling South Beach for more girls to ruin their lives? You make it seem so tragic.
Their lives aren't terrible.
So what do you call daily beatings, rape, exposure to HIV? The good life? You think they're better off in the Ukraine? Rotting their livers on grain alcohol.
Trading sex for drugs.
I give them nice clothes, decent food, a place to stay.
Well, you gave her a lovely death.
She didn't deserve to die like that.
Oh, that's sweet.
What was she? One of your special girls? She wasn't one of mine.
But I do know her.
So who was she? We need an arrangement first.
Cough up a name.
Nope.
Nothing.
I don't know if you've noticed, but your balls are in a vise right now, pal.
I don't do American time.
I get deported to the Ukraine, serve my sentence there.
He'll do a few weeks, buy his way out, and be back trafficking more girls.
We'll give INTERPOL our file.
Put him on every international watch list.
That will at least slow him down.
Giving him a deal shows we're soft.
And not finding the killer makes us incompetent.
The boss lady.
Save the grin, ass-wipe.
There's no deal unless the name checks out and your alibi holds up.
It will.
What's her name? Elsa Lychkoff.
Your friends pimp her out? She wasn't a whore.
She was a good kid.
So how does a piece of crap like you know her? Because she was in the Ukrainian newspaper.
One of those genius math kids.
Always winning awards and getting her picture taken.
Sad.
I always dreamed of winning the Bradshaw Prize for Applied Mathematics.
My paper on dense triangle-free graph conjecture has made my dream come true.
Elsa Lychkoff.
The youngest winner ever.
And she's smarter than all of us combined.
Any mention of the proud parents? No, but this one says that she went to the Morewood School.
Never heard of it.
I have.
The place is a genius factory.
Couple of brainiacs from my old hood got shipped off there.
Kind of like an elite sports academy? Yeah.
But the kids they take never come home.
Well, where do they go? MIT, Harvard, Caltech.
So how did Morewood's top pupil wind up at the bottom of the river? This is the most exciting moment of my life.
This is a tragedy.
Elsa was one of our brightest students.
My source at MIT just told me she was about to be accepted there.
How long has she attended Morewood? One year.
Our forensics show that she was in the Ukraine six months ago.
For an extended family trip to visit a dying grandmother.
Elsa's a US citizen.
She was born here.
Explains why her prints weren't on file at Immigration.
Have you told her parents? Not yet.
We're going to need their contact information.
Of course.
Was Elsa living at home? No.
Our students board here.
And no one noticed that she was missing? She wasn't.
After Elsa finished taking her last mid-term, she signed herself out for the weekend.
What time did she leave? Noon, Saturday.
She was due back tonight.
What can you tell us about her parents? Mr.
And Mrs.
Lychkoff are extremely supportive.
They understand the needs of a child as gifted as Elsa.
Did they know that she had a broken wrist and was burned by cigarettes? Are you insinuating that happened at Morewood? Any teachers have a problem with her? She outpaces a few of them intellectually, but there's no animosity.
And how about some of your other star pupils? Any hard feelings there? Our students may be competitive, but they're ruthlessly loyal to one another.
Elsa have any loyal friends we can talk to? She was very close to her roommate, Jennifer Banks.
I can't believe it.
She was my best friend.
Was Elsa upset by anything recently? Fighting with anyone? No.
She would have told me.
Problems with teachers? Are you kidding? They all love her.
She was the smartest kid in class, even after she stopped studying.
Stopped? Everything came easy to Elsa.
She didn't take notes, and she didn't cram all night like the rest of us.
She spend her time playing chess? I do.
I'm nine points away from Candidate Master.
The school hired two Grandmasters to coach me.
That's impressive.
So, if Elsa wasn't spending her time studying, what was she doing? I don't know.
Tell me, Jennifer.
She'd sneak out at night.
She have a boyfriend? No, but she flirted a lot.
Yeah? With who? Not anyone here at school.
Then where? She wouldn't let me go out with her.
She didn't want anyone seeing her be bad.
Bad? How? When she snuck out, she dressed kind of slutty.
Will you show me? Leather pants, thong, corset She didn't wear that stuff to class.
We have a dress code.
She'd get demerits just for having it.
And if her dad found out Did Mr.
Lychkoff ever hurt her? Elsa wouldn't talk about it.
But when she changed, I could see scars and burns on her skin.
Who did this? Have you found them? We're still investigating.
My Elsa.
She had so much potential.
How could she have been stolen from me? It sounds like you and Elsa were very close.
Only I understood her.
She was a prodigy, like me.
I was recruited from the Ukraine to be an aerospace engineer here in the States.
If you were the only one who understood her, why did you send her away? Morewood was the best place for Elsa.
A superior intellect does not come around very often.
So Elsa's gift had to be nourished by experts only.
Mothers.
They coddle too much.
She studied so hard.
She need a mother's care.
Maybe if we kept her at home She needed a discipline.
What? Like being jerked so hard that her shoulder dislocated? Or being burned by cigarettes? Like finding out she was sneaking away from school, so you discipline her? I never raised a hand to her! Somebody sure as hell did.
Mrs.
Lychkoff? Do you have any idea who would hurt your daughter? No.
I loved Elsa.
She was all I lived for! Stop wasting my time and find the bastard who killed my shining star! Guess he needed a shining star after he crashed and burned.
Lychkoff got fired by Boeing after six months.
Then hired by Lockheed, and they dumped his ass four months later.
Sounds like our genius is one dumb son of a bitch.
How does he make ends meet? Insurance scams, Ponzi schemes.
He has 13 open cases against him, most of them are for fraud.
Anything violent? No, but he's got bank liens up the wazoo.
He's into the IRS for 100 grand.
That could drive someone over the edge.
But torturing your only child? He tortured both of us.
I'm Katrina Lychkoff, Elsa's older sister.
The one my father threw away.
He said, "Get with the program or get out.
" What was the program? Unwavering dedication to intellectual superiority from the moment we were born.
And academics weren't really your thing.
My IQ is 135.
That's really high.
Not high enough for my father.
Elsa's was 165.
That's Einstein territory.
I'm sure you didn't come here to tell us how smart your sister is.
Elsa died after she left school to visit my parents.
And you think your father had something to do with it? There was a place in our house where he used to teach us.
We didn't see a classroom.
No one's ever seen it but us.
I could show you.
My mom called me at work.
She said they were going to the funeral home.
It's like an icebox in here.
That's funny, because my dad called it "hothousing.
" Gifted children need a devoted care and attention to grow.
Like raising an orchid in a hothouse to make it grow.
Yeah.
Elsa was Papa's exotic flower.
She needed devoted care and attention to flourish.
Hard to flourish without heat.
Cold stimulates the mind.
It was one of my Dad's pedagogical techniques.
Two lines are perpendicular if and only if the product of their slope is a negative one! I learned that on my sixth birthday.
What's with the rice? Did he force you to eat down here, too? No.
He made us kneel on it while he drilled us.
It's not so bad at first.
But after a while, the grains dig into your skin and you start to bleed.
How long did you go to school down here? Till I was 16.
Last year, he kicked me out of the house.
He wanted to spend all his time with Elsa.
He said she had true potential.
He was right.
The only job I could get was waitressing.
Because you were a teenager and you didn't have a chance to go to college.
Or save my sister.
I wanted to take her away from Papa, but Morewood is just as bad.
The pressure is too intense.
We heard that things came easy to her.
No, the pressure to make money.
Hold on.
Elsa had to work, too? Morewood paid my father to enroll her.
You mean they gave her a scholarship? Yeah.
Along with a huge bonus for sending her there.
He also entered her in competitions for the prize money.
She was the family cash cow.
What the hell is going on here? Katrina! She's dead to us.
You are trespassing on my property.
I'm pressing charges against you.
Me, first.
You're under arrest for assaulting Elsa Lychkoff.
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you can't afford one, one will be appointed to you.
I would never hurt Elsa.
She was my pride and joy.
Until she missed a math problem.
And then you beat her like a mule that wouldn't pull a plow.
This is how I was taught.
And it worked.
I earned my PhD at 23.
He failed his exams and was kicked out of university.
And then we moved to US and he started looking for jobs.
Telling everyone he have his degree.
Liv, hammer him on his PhD.
He never got it.
You sure you have that PhD? Because we did some checking, and there's no record of it.
I'm a very smart man.
You're a liar.
And you're lying about beating the crap out of your daughter.
No! I love her! And what about the other daughter that you kicked out 'cause she wasn't a genius? Do you love her, too? I was only trying to provide for my family.
Katrina would never succeed.
I couldn't waste any more time on her.
He was always getting fired and going to casinos to play cards.
Losing all our money.
What did you live on? I clean offices.
One job, and then two jobs.
Liv, he's a gambler.
You let your wife break her back while you were living it up in Atlantic City.
Yeah.
I count cards.
It's easy money.
That's if you're good at it.
You lost 80 grand at blackjack in the last year.
That's why you wanted Elsa at Morewood.
Their stipends would help you cover your gambling losses.
I only cared for my daughter's well-being.
And how's that? By beating her until she bled? I never hurt her! I saw the bruises.
The cigarette burns.
Did you confront him? No.
He said he was doing what was best for her.
And she was learning.
Her test scores proved it.
I let him do it.
I let him hurt my baby.
I only wanted what's best for her.
Oh, come on.
She's your meal ticket.
You don't care about who she is, what she wants.
You just ride her.
Getting her into the best schools.
Honing her into Daddy's perfect little genius.
Yes, yes.
I did this.
Yes.
But you rode her too hard, didn't you? And she started acting up.
She started neglecting her studies, sneaking out of her school.
So you confronted her.
Right? You tried knocking some sense into her? I'm sorry.
So you beat her to death, and you dumped your own daughter's body into the river.
Oh, God, forgive me! Sit back down, Joseph! Sit down! Forgive me! Sit down! Elsa! Stop it! Elsa! Joseph, stop it! Elsa! Stop it! Forgive me! Captain! Somebody call a bus! Have the hospital call us when he's conscious.
Or if he saves us all the trouble and croaks.
We still need a formal confession to close the case.
You'll need to find the perp to do that.
I called the casinos down in A.
C.
A couple of the pit bosses say Lychkoff's a regular.
They sent this surveillance photo.
He was there the day Elsa was murdered.
But we don't know the exact time that Elsa was killed.
He was glued to the tables for two days straight.
The guy's a creep.
He's just not our creep.
This guy must have felt pretty guilty about the abuse he put Elsa through to bash his head in like that.
All right.
So Dad's off the hook.
I guess we take another look at the school.
Well, not every star pupil there shines so bright.
Start with these three rap sheets.
All right.
Take a look at that.
The kid gets an "A" for arson.
You burned down a garage.
What else have you burned? I was working on a chemistry experiment.
I knocked over a Bunsen burner.
Well, the Fire Department said that accelerant was used.
Duh.
I need them to make the organic compounds I use in my research.
I'm not some little kid playing pyro, here.
I already have three patents on my work.
I'm going to Harvard in the fall.
Breaking and entering.
Armed robbery.
That will impress the admissions committee.
It was three years ago.
Colleges won't find out, because I was never convicted.
You robbed a gas station.
My older brother did.
I only tagged along to prove that I wasn't a nerd.
It's called accessory to a crime.
Once I realized what he was doing, I ran out of the gas station.
And the D.
A.
Believed that? I guess so.
He made a deal with my parents to send me here.
Because this place is like a jail.
I didn't do anything.
What do you call rape two? Fun and games? There wasn't any rape.
There wasn't even any sex.
She said she couldn't believe I was going to be her boyfriend.
I told her it was one and done, and she flipped out.
So you figured a punch in the face would calm her down? I pushed her away.
She fell and hit her head on the bedpost.
She was just pissed at me that I rejected her, so she called the cops.
Okay.
Elsa Lychkoff.
She one of your "one and done's"? No way.
Girls around here are so wrapped up in their own heads, they've got no idea what's going on with their bodies.
Still, a guy as handsome as you.
You sure she wasn't interested? Elsa was into older dudes.
How much older? Not pervy old, like you.
She used to hang out with this guy that went to school here.
I think he lives in Newark now.
Name? Danny Burke.
You've got the wrong guy.
I'm not interested in little girls.
I'm 23.
Elsa was 14.
That makes her jailbait.
Look, I met her at a party.
She said that she went to Morewood and that she was really unhappy.
And you offered to make her feel all better? Not that way.
I was like a big brother.
Someone she could look up to.
You're quite the role model.
Giving up a promising future for a dead-end life in this dump? Yeah.
But it's my dump.
I'm not going to live my life the way those a-holes at Morewood want me to.
Aren't you a little old to be rebelling against your high school? "Be the best.
Great isn't good enough.
Maximize your potential.
" They even feed their students a special diet to increase brain activity.
Omega-3s and all that crap.
That place is toxic.
Is that why you dropped out a month before graduating? I couldn't take it anymore.
And neither could Elsa.
She wanted to be a kid, not their effing robot.
She hated Morewood.
She was looking for a way out.
Like through her window, dressed like a slut? What are you talking about? We saw her clothes.
Leather and lace.
You got the wrong girl.
Elsa wouldn't even wear makeup.
You know her roommate Jennifer? Yeah.
Elsa hated that little bitch.
Mommy could buy her admission to Morewood, but she couldn't buy Elsa's brains.
So she was jealous of Elsa? Pathologically.
Jennifer kept begging Elsa to tank one exam, just once, so that Jennifer could be number one.
And Elsa wouldn't? It was World War llI in their room.
Elsa asked for a new roommate.
And when the Nazi headmistress said no, Elsa gave Jennifer the silent treatment.
And how did Jennifer react? Did you ever see a nerd spaz out? It's ugly.
Jennifer.
Just a minute.
You lied about the clothes.
They're yours, aren't they? What? They were from Halloween.
Elsa liked them, so I let her wear them.
That's what friends do.
But she's not your friend.
And Elsa never would have worn those clothes.
Who told you that? Danny Burke.
He's a prevaricator.
Synonym for liar.
Hey.
This isn't a vocabulary test.
Elsa was murdered.
Look.
I don't have time for this.
Okay? They put me in a tournament next week, and I need to study Molnar-Nagy 1966.
I'm in zugzwang, but if I can solve it Maybe it's h7 to j6.
Hey.
The only way you're going to solve this is by talking to us.
Tell us what happened to Elsa.
I want my mom.
I'm Suzanne Banks, Jennifer's mom.
Why is she alone in there? What did you do to her? The question is, what did she do to her roommate? Elsa? They were best friends.
Weren't they? I'm glad she's dead.
Don't say such a thing! Why not? It's the truth.
Elsa got all the attention.
She was in the newspaper, she had scholarship offers.
Well, sweetie.
You have a college fund.
That's not the point.
It's about the competition.
Being the best.
There is no second place.
That's why the school roomed us together, so we'd push each other.
But Elsa always came out on top.
It wasn't fair.
She never studied, and I worked so hard.
But she was smarter than me.
Baby, that's not true.
It is true, Mom.
I'm smart, but she's a genius.
And she never let me forget it.
Was she mean to you? She wouldn't even talk to me.
Not a word.
Like I was too insignificant, too stupid to waste her breath on.
Oh, baby I'm not a baby! And I'm not stupid.
I just wanted to be the best.
But you just couldn't beat her.
It wasn't fair.
She didn't want to go to MIT.
She was going to drop out like that loser, Danny.
So why couldn't she let me win? Just once, so that I could be the smartest girl at Morewood.
Then every college would want me.
Did you ever say this to Elsa? I told you, she wouldn't speak to me.
So I followed her onto the ferry one day when she went to see Danny, but she couldn't run away from me in the middle of the Hudson River.
Whoa.
Jennifer, that's enough.
I think we'd better go now.
Don't tell me what to do! Don't! Don't tell me what to do! I'm sick and tired of everyone always telling me what to do.
What to say.
How to think.
How to act.
I just wanted to talk to her.
That's all.
I just wanted to talk to her, and then take the next ferry back.
But she screamed at me.
Why was I following her? She called me a loser.
She said I was pathetic and dumb, and that I was only at Morewood because my family is rich.
That I'd never be able to make it on brains alone, like her.
She tried walking away, and so I grabbed her arm.
And she pushed me, so I jabbed her chest with my pen! And she pushed me again Jennifer, stop! and so I pulled her hair, and I slammed her head into the railing over and over and over again! Did anybody see you fighting? Everyone was inside because it was raining.
She tried screaming for help, but no one could hear her because the ferry horn started to blow.
That's when she fell down, and I pushed her into the river.
I'm number one now, Mom.
Aren't you happy for me? She made a full confession.
And her mother let it happen? Well, there was no stopping Jennifer.
The kid was on fire.
Great.
Won't be any Miranda issues at trial.
But there are some other issues.
Cue the violins.
She needs to be locked up, but someplace where she can get help.
You want me to dump the case on Family Court.
We don't want you to dump anything.
Jennifer is a killer, but she's 14.
She's not a hardened criminal.
Try her as a juvenile.
I would, but it's not my call.
I got Warner's results on the tide charts.
Elsa's body went into the river just off Hoboken.
The horn blew because the boat was docking.
This isn't a New York case.
It's New Jersey.
Which is bad news for Jennifer.
They try kids her age as adults, and send them to prison for life.
No way, Detectives.
She's a troubled girl.
Not a stone-cold killer.
The world is full of troubled girls.
Most don't commit murder.
And the world recognizes the difference between kids who kill and adults.
You know, the only other country that gives a child life without parole is Somalia.
Now, do you really want to belong to that club? I didn't write the law.
I just enforce it.
Right.
You've put away three kids for life in the past eight months.
Two blacks, one Hispanic.
Now you put away a rich white girl? Kind of makes you colorblind, doesn't it? Your rich white girl has a 160 IQ and no history of abuse, addiction or mental illness.
Don't tell me she didn't know what she did was wrong.
She's 14 years old.
Are you the same person that you were back then? At 14, I wasn't a murderer.
Whose side are you on? Justice, for Elsa and for Jennifer.
She's not some psychopath that has to be locked up before she kills again.
She's cold and conniving.
She knew what she was doing, and she knew the consequences.
The hearing's tomorrow.
I'm calling you both as witnesses.
When you questioned Jennifer Banks, did she show remorse for murdering Elsa Lychkoff? Not exactly.
Didn't she, in fact, say, "I'm glad she's dead"? Yes.
Was Jennifer defending herself when she attacked the victim? She told us that Elsa pushed her.
Elsa pushed her away, after Jennifer grabbed her arm.
Then what did Jennifer do? She jabbed her in the chest with a pen.
"Jabbed" or "stabbed"? The M.
E.
Report documents stab wounds.
Three of them.
She grabbed Elsa's hair and slammed her head against the railing.
How many times? Four.
And Jennifer confessed to all these acts of violence? Yes.
Did Jennifer board the ferry planning to kill Elsa? No, she went there to talk.
She and Elsa weren't getting along.
She wanted to clear the air.
Her academic achievements, her IQ, her accomplishments at chess.
Clearly, Jennifer is a brilliant girl.
With the intellect of an adult and the emotions of a child.
She was forced to compete, forced to excel in a grown-up world.
At school, at chess, at everything.
She cracked.
Can that crack be repaired? Only if she gets help.
Did Jennifer Banks know that her actions were wrong? I'm not a shrink.
Your partner testified that she is exceptionally bright.
Bright enough to spin a story to best create a false scent.
Bright enough to manipulate you into discovering fake evidence to cover her tracks.
Correct? Yes.
She almost got away with it, didn't she? Nothing further.
I've heard enough.
I'll hear this case in adult court.
Detective, you may step down.
Game over.
Thanks for your help.
Over? Ms.
Banks.
The game is never over.
There's always a way out.
Jennifer.
Counselor, control your client.
Replay the moves.
Look for the crack.
No! Don't! Quit it! Be smarter.
Bailiff! Be better.
Fight harder! Remove the defendant.
Jennifer.
Calm down.
Best isn't good enough! Ms.
Banks, please! I see everything! Calm down.
Order! I know the rules! You can't stop me! Order! No! Get your hands off of me! Don't touch me, you stupid idiots! You don't understand! No, you can't understand! No.
No, wait.
Please don't go.
Don't go, please.
Wait.
Why am I here? Why am I here? Why am I Why am I here? Jennifer, you killed Elsa.
Did I? Nothing makes sense.
It's all blank.
And I'm trapped in this horrible endgame of a chess match that I don't remember sitting down to play.
Jennifer, you confessed.
I can remember things, but then I can't.
Was it me who did this, or was I dreaming? But I can't be dreaming.
I don't sleep.
I never sleep.
What do you mean, you never sleep? I go and go for days until I crash.
Nobody can survive without sleep.
I can.
With my secret weapon.
Are you taking something? Provigil.
It helps me study.
One little pill, and every synapse firing.
Where do you get it? I get it from kids with ADD.
Everyone's on drugs at Morewood.
Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin.
Anything to help you focus.
Does the school know? They tell you how to game your doctor into prescribing it.
Jennifer.
Jennifer, how long had you been up the night before you killed Elsa? Six days.
I was cramming for exams.
Pop a pill, I could read four books a night.
And did you take it after the tests? I didn't need to.
But then I had to prep for the chess tournament, so I bought some more.
And how long have you been up now? Three days.
But it's not working this time.
My mind is like a jigsaw puzzle, and all the pieces are all over the place.
And it's a big mess, and I can't put it back together.
I need Provigil.
Please, you have to bring me some.
Tell me where it is.
I keep it safe where no one will find it, so no one can steal my secret.
Take one, and I'm Einstein, Descartes and Shakespeare.
I wrote a play in one night.
My brain was finally working.
I could understand everything.
I wrote it all down.
I realized I could talk to Elsa.
Make her like me again.
This type of hypergraphia is common with Provigil abuse.
The drug was developed to treat narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, then the government discovered its military value as a stimulant, gave it to the troops to keep them alert in the field.
Now kids are using it to cram for their exams.
When used properly, it is an effective treatment for ADD.
Properly.
Yeah, right.
Tell me those kids at Morewood popping pills all have attention deficit.
I'll tip off a friend in the Health Department, see if we can stop the pill-pushing.
Okay.
So if Jennifer was abusing Provigil, she could have been up for six days straight.
The world record is 11 days.
Until Guinness stopped acknowledging the category because of the health risks involved.
How serious? Potentially deadly.
That's why sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique.
Well, Jennifer was a mess in court after only three days without sleep.
I'm not surprised.
One study showed that 17 hours without sleep is the equivalent of having a.
05 blood alcohol content.
That's legally impaired.
So what symptoms would she have? Anything ranging from irritability to delusions to psychosis.
Jennifer was manic in interrogation and out of her mind in the courtroom.
She would have been much worse on the night of the murder.
An insanity plea? That's the last stop for every hack lawyer too stupid or lazy to prepare a credible defense.
But if the facts support it, it's a winner.
Your girl missed a nap.
That doesn't justify murder.
Sleep deprivation psychosis is a clinical condition.
Jennifer Banks was temporarily out of her mind when she killed Elsa.
I'm sure defense counsel will try it on the jury.
I don't think it'll fly.
You didn't get where you are without pulling a few all-nighters.
Yeah.
I've gone two days without sleep.
Only thing I murdered at the end of it was my pillow.
I knew a cop who worked a double homicide for 41 hours straight, then went home and went to bed.
He had an asthma attack, so he reached for his inhaler, but he grabbed his service revolver instead.
He put it in his mouth and he blew his brains out.
What do you want from me? I want you to read Jennifer's journal.
Sleep on it.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant is remanded to the Department of Juvenile Justice for a period not to exceed seven years.
Change of heart, Ms.
Gil? Newly discovered evidence shows the defendant's mental status at the time of the murder warrants leniency.
You're a very lucky young lady.
Don't squander your good fortune.
Good luck.
You'll be out by 21.
Thank you.
Well, at least she still has a chance.
My next case.
Fifteen.
Raped and murdered his six-year-old stepsister.
No remorse.
Says he'd do it again.
You want him out at 21, too?
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.
Let your chi flow.
Does anyone remember the next form? Body in water.
No.
Snake Creeps Down.
No.
I mean, there's a body in the water! No ID.
CSU found a purse 50 yards down the bank, but it was washed clean.
Along with any fluids on the body.
Do you have any idea when she went in? No sign the fish fed on her, so she couldn't have been in long.
Long enough to get rid of anything that's going to help us.
Even the river couldn't get rid of this.
She bled from her wounds, which means her heart was pumping and she was alive when she sustained them.
Head bashed in.
Puncture wounds to the breasts.
My God.
She's got scars all over her.
Somebody's been working her over for a while.
Half-naked, jewelry.
Trick gone wrong? Or angry pimp syndrome.
That's a Tri-Bar Cross.
Russian Orthodox.
She was beaten and tortured.
She still believed in God.
You'd think he could have protected her just a little bit.
Any closer on the ID? No hit on her prints, and Missing Persons came up empty.
But I can tell you she's I carbon-dated the crystalline proteins in her eyes.
Well, she's just a kid.
Do you know what killed her? There was no water in her lungs, so she was dead before she went in the river.
Probably from one of the four blows to her head.
Any other injuries? Too many.
Over a number of years.
This wrist was fractured and set with a pin.
Scar tissue to the shoulders suggests multiple dislocations.
Old cigarette burns? Yeah.
The only recent injuries are the wounds to the head and the punctures to the breasts.
Well, she had surgery on her wrist, so some doctor knows who she is.
Good luck trying to find him.
I ran an isotope analysis of her hair.
It measures oxygen intake from drinking water, which varies from geographical location.
The most recent growth shows that she's been in New York the past couple of months.
Before that, distinct markers put her in the Ukraine.
Young Eastern European girl.
Severe abuse, wounds to the breasts.
She was trafficked for sex.
Like thousands of other girls smuggled in here with phony papers.
It's going to be tough to ID her.
I know a woman who might be able to better your odds.
She runs an organization that helps trafficked girls.
Her name's Grace Metcalf.
I don't recognize her.
But so few girls escape, and only a portion of those make it to me.
We believe she's from the Ukraine.
Well, Kiev to New York is a major trafficking quarter, and other countries in the former Eastern Bloc are close behind.
The economy stinks, and these girls have very few options.
So enter the traffickers with promises of glamour and big money abroad.
And what they get is a life in hell.
Naomi.
Abducted from a playground.
Risa.
Drugged at a nightclub and flown out the same night.
Anna.
Her mother sold her and her little sister for 50 euros.
You got names on any of these pricks? Four and five apiece.
They change identities like you change underwear.
What about other girls from the Ukraine? Anyone that our victim may have arrived with? Last summer, we helped a girl from Kiev.
Pulled her out of a brothel in Queens.
She still live here in the city? I wouldn't call it living.
She's too ashamed to go back home and worried if her traffickers find her, they'll kill her.
Look, the people that we're after may be the same ones that pimped that girl out.
So, we get them, she doesn't need to hide.
Her name is Veronica Pankovich.
She works in a laundry on 36th Street.
Pretends she doesn't speak English.
Veronica? Veronica.
I'm Detective Olivia Benson.
Veronica, listen to me.
You're not in trouble.
I know that you understand me.
I just want to talk, okay? I have to finish my work.
Grace Metcalf sent me.
Is there some place that we can talk privately? You found me.
Listen.
So they can, too.
We're going to be gone in a minute.
Nobody's gonna ever know that we were here.
Now, do you recognize this girl? She's from Kiev, like you.
I've never seen her before.
I can't help you.
No, no.
You can.
By telling us who brought you here.
He'll find out.
How do you know one of those women inside won't tell him? He's got people watching everywhere.
And when he finds me, I will die.
Look, if you tell us who he is, we'll have Victim Services relocate you to another city.
His name is Alik.
He smuggled me in and made me a prostitute.
Do you know where he lives? Where he hangs out? I have his cell phone number, but he'll never speak to a cop.
Claudia? Hello, Alik.
Please, sit.
Let's talk.
Well, like I said on the phone, I need eight girls.
Newcomers.
The younger, the better.
I mean, let's talk about you.
Oh! Where are you from? Chicago.
Lots of pretty girls there.
Yes, indeed.
Can't you shop at home? I have very important clients that come here for work.
I need to service them locally.
Fly your girls in.
Too risky.
Half my girls don't even have passports.
And my clients like variety.
Who gave you my phone number? One of your girls was in town.
I met her.
Very impressive.
She told me to phone you.
Are you interested or not? I might know some girls looking for work.
Open up.
Okay.
They're clean.
This one's teeth are a rotten mess.
You've got to get off the meth, honey.
No sale.
You think I let my girls shoot up? Not in their arms.
Between their toes, maybe.
Due diligence.
I respect that.
I'll take the first two.
Ten thousand.
Eight.
I still need six clean girls.
Get me another eight thousand, I'll deliver them tomorrow.
It's a done deal.
NYPD! Nobody move! Hey, get your hands up! We're going to get you someplace safe.
You're going downtown.
You're under arrest.
Bitch, you are dead! Sorry about that.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Those girls are friends of my family.
And you brought them here because you're such a nice guy? So they can live American dream.
I'm helping them find jobs.
Like you helped this girl? Wasn't me.
I've been in Miami all week.
I flew back this morning.
Check my ticket and hotel.
Were you just trolling South Beach for more girls to ruin their lives? You make it seem so tragic.
Their lives aren't terrible.
So what do you call daily beatings, rape, exposure to HIV? The good life? You think they're better off in the Ukraine? Rotting their livers on grain alcohol.
Trading sex for drugs.
I give them nice clothes, decent food, a place to stay.
Well, you gave her a lovely death.
She didn't deserve to die like that.
Oh, that's sweet.
What was she? One of your special girls? She wasn't one of mine.
But I do know her.
So who was she? We need an arrangement first.
Cough up a name.
Nope.
Nothing.
I don't know if you've noticed, but your balls are in a vise right now, pal.
I don't do American time.
I get deported to the Ukraine, serve my sentence there.
He'll do a few weeks, buy his way out, and be back trafficking more girls.
We'll give INTERPOL our file.
Put him on every international watch list.
That will at least slow him down.
Giving him a deal shows we're soft.
And not finding the killer makes us incompetent.
The boss lady.
Save the grin, ass-wipe.
There's no deal unless the name checks out and your alibi holds up.
It will.
What's her name? Elsa Lychkoff.
Your friends pimp her out? She wasn't a whore.
She was a good kid.
So how does a piece of crap like you know her? Because she was in the Ukrainian newspaper.
One of those genius math kids.
Always winning awards and getting her picture taken.
Sad.
I always dreamed of winning the Bradshaw Prize for Applied Mathematics.
My paper on dense triangle-free graph conjecture has made my dream come true.
Elsa Lychkoff.
The youngest winner ever.
And she's smarter than all of us combined.
Any mention of the proud parents? No, but this one says that she went to the Morewood School.
Never heard of it.
I have.
The place is a genius factory.
Couple of brainiacs from my old hood got shipped off there.
Kind of like an elite sports academy? Yeah.
But the kids they take never come home.
Well, where do they go? MIT, Harvard, Caltech.
So how did Morewood's top pupil wind up at the bottom of the river? This is the most exciting moment of my life.
This is a tragedy.
Elsa was one of our brightest students.
My source at MIT just told me she was about to be accepted there.
How long has she attended Morewood? One year.
Our forensics show that she was in the Ukraine six months ago.
For an extended family trip to visit a dying grandmother.
Elsa's a US citizen.
She was born here.
Explains why her prints weren't on file at Immigration.
Have you told her parents? Not yet.
We're going to need their contact information.
Of course.
Was Elsa living at home? No.
Our students board here.
And no one noticed that she was missing? She wasn't.
After Elsa finished taking her last mid-term, she signed herself out for the weekend.
What time did she leave? Noon, Saturday.
She was due back tonight.
What can you tell us about her parents? Mr.
And Mrs.
Lychkoff are extremely supportive.
They understand the needs of a child as gifted as Elsa.
Did they know that she had a broken wrist and was burned by cigarettes? Are you insinuating that happened at Morewood? Any teachers have a problem with her? She outpaces a few of them intellectually, but there's no animosity.
And how about some of your other star pupils? Any hard feelings there? Our students may be competitive, but they're ruthlessly loyal to one another.
Elsa have any loyal friends we can talk to? She was very close to her roommate, Jennifer Banks.
I can't believe it.
She was my best friend.
Was Elsa upset by anything recently? Fighting with anyone? No.
She would have told me.
Problems with teachers? Are you kidding? They all love her.
She was the smartest kid in class, even after she stopped studying.
Stopped? Everything came easy to Elsa.
She didn't take notes, and she didn't cram all night like the rest of us.
She spend her time playing chess? I do.
I'm nine points away from Candidate Master.
The school hired two Grandmasters to coach me.
That's impressive.
So, if Elsa wasn't spending her time studying, what was she doing? I don't know.
Tell me, Jennifer.
She'd sneak out at night.
She have a boyfriend? No, but she flirted a lot.
Yeah? With who? Not anyone here at school.
Then where? She wouldn't let me go out with her.
She didn't want anyone seeing her be bad.
Bad? How? When she snuck out, she dressed kind of slutty.
Will you show me? Leather pants, thong, corset She didn't wear that stuff to class.
We have a dress code.
She'd get demerits just for having it.
And if her dad found out Did Mr.
Lychkoff ever hurt her? Elsa wouldn't talk about it.
But when she changed, I could see scars and burns on her skin.
Who did this? Have you found them? We're still investigating.
My Elsa.
She had so much potential.
How could she have been stolen from me? It sounds like you and Elsa were very close.
Only I understood her.
She was a prodigy, like me.
I was recruited from the Ukraine to be an aerospace engineer here in the States.
If you were the only one who understood her, why did you send her away? Morewood was the best place for Elsa.
A superior intellect does not come around very often.
So Elsa's gift had to be nourished by experts only.
Mothers.
They coddle too much.
She studied so hard.
She need a mother's care.
Maybe if we kept her at home She needed a discipline.
What? Like being jerked so hard that her shoulder dislocated? Or being burned by cigarettes? Like finding out she was sneaking away from school, so you discipline her? I never raised a hand to her! Somebody sure as hell did.
Mrs.
Lychkoff? Do you have any idea who would hurt your daughter? No.
I loved Elsa.
She was all I lived for! Stop wasting my time and find the bastard who killed my shining star! Guess he needed a shining star after he crashed and burned.
Lychkoff got fired by Boeing after six months.
Then hired by Lockheed, and they dumped his ass four months later.
Sounds like our genius is one dumb son of a bitch.
How does he make ends meet? Insurance scams, Ponzi schemes.
He has 13 open cases against him, most of them are for fraud.
Anything violent? No, but he's got bank liens up the wazoo.
He's into the IRS for 100 grand.
That could drive someone over the edge.
But torturing your only child? He tortured both of us.
I'm Katrina Lychkoff, Elsa's older sister.
The one my father threw away.
He said, "Get with the program or get out.
" What was the program? Unwavering dedication to intellectual superiority from the moment we were born.
And academics weren't really your thing.
My IQ is 135.
That's really high.
Not high enough for my father.
Elsa's was 165.
That's Einstein territory.
I'm sure you didn't come here to tell us how smart your sister is.
Elsa died after she left school to visit my parents.
And you think your father had something to do with it? There was a place in our house where he used to teach us.
We didn't see a classroom.
No one's ever seen it but us.
I could show you.
My mom called me at work.
She said they were going to the funeral home.
It's like an icebox in here.
That's funny, because my dad called it "hothousing.
" Gifted children need a devoted care and attention to grow.
Like raising an orchid in a hothouse to make it grow.
Yeah.
Elsa was Papa's exotic flower.
She needed devoted care and attention to flourish.
Hard to flourish without heat.
Cold stimulates the mind.
It was one of my Dad's pedagogical techniques.
Two lines are perpendicular if and only if the product of their slope is a negative one! I learned that on my sixth birthday.
What's with the rice? Did he force you to eat down here, too? No.
He made us kneel on it while he drilled us.
It's not so bad at first.
But after a while, the grains dig into your skin and you start to bleed.
How long did you go to school down here? Till I was 16.
Last year, he kicked me out of the house.
He wanted to spend all his time with Elsa.
He said she had true potential.
He was right.
The only job I could get was waitressing.
Because you were a teenager and you didn't have a chance to go to college.
Or save my sister.
I wanted to take her away from Papa, but Morewood is just as bad.
The pressure is too intense.
We heard that things came easy to her.
No, the pressure to make money.
Hold on.
Elsa had to work, too? Morewood paid my father to enroll her.
You mean they gave her a scholarship? Yeah.
Along with a huge bonus for sending her there.
He also entered her in competitions for the prize money.
She was the family cash cow.
What the hell is going on here? Katrina! She's dead to us.
You are trespassing on my property.
I'm pressing charges against you.
Me, first.
You're under arrest for assaulting Elsa Lychkoff.
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you can't afford one, one will be appointed to you.
I would never hurt Elsa.
She was my pride and joy.
Until she missed a math problem.
And then you beat her like a mule that wouldn't pull a plow.
This is how I was taught.
And it worked.
I earned my PhD at 23.
He failed his exams and was kicked out of university.
And then we moved to US and he started looking for jobs.
Telling everyone he have his degree.
Liv, hammer him on his PhD.
He never got it.
You sure you have that PhD? Because we did some checking, and there's no record of it.
I'm a very smart man.
You're a liar.
And you're lying about beating the crap out of your daughter.
No! I love her! And what about the other daughter that you kicked out 'cause she wasn't a genius? Do you love her, too? I was only trying to provide for my family.
Katrina would never succeed.
I couldn't waste any more time on her.
He was always getting fired and going to casinos to play cards.
Losing all our money.
What did you live on? I clean offices.
One job, and then two jobs.
Liv, he's a gambler.
You let your wife break her back while you were living it up in Atlantic City.
Yeah.
I count cards.
It's easy money.
That's if you're good at it.
You lost 80 grand at blackjack in the last year.
That's why you wanted Elsa at Morewood.
Their stipends would help you cover your gambling losses.
I only cared for my daughter's well-being.
And how's that? By beating her until she bled? I never hurt her! I saw the bruises.
The cigarette burns.
Did you confront him? No.
He said he was doing what was best for her.
And she was learning.
Her test scores proved it.
I let him do it.
I let him hurt my baby.
I only wanted what's best for her.
Oh, come on.
She's your meal ticket.
You don't care about who she is, what she wants.
You just ride her.
Getting her into the best schools.
Honing her into Daddy's perfect little genius.
Yes, yes.
I did this.
Yes.
But you rode her too hard, didn't you? And she started acting up.
She started neglecting her studies, sneaking out of her school.
So you confronted her.
Right? You tried knocking some sense into her? I'm sorry.
So you beat her to death, and you dumped your own daughter's body into the river.
Oh, God, forgive me! Sit back down, Joseph! Sit down! Forgive me! Sit down! Elsa! Stop it! Elsa! Joseph, stop it! Elsa! Stop it! Forgive me! Captain! Somebody call a bus! Have the hospital call us when he's conscious.
Or if he saves us all the trouble and croaks.
We still need a formal confession to close the case.
You'll need to find the perp to do that.
I called the casinos down in A.
C.
A couple of the pit bosses say Lychkoff's a regular.
They sent this surveillance photo.
He was there the day Elsa was murdered.
But we don't know the exact time that Elsa was killed.
He was glued to the tables for two days straight.
The guy's a creep.
He's just not our creep.
This guy must have felt pretty guilty about the abuse he put Elsa through to bash his head in like that.
All right.
So Dad's off the hook.
I guess we take another look at the school.
Well, not every star pupil there shines so bright.
Start with these three rap sheets.
All right.
Take a look at that.
The kid gets an "A" for arson.
You burned down a garage.
What else have you burned? I was working on a chemistry experiment.
I knocked over a Bunsen burner.
Well, the Fire Department said that accelerant was used.
Duh.
I need them to make the organic compounds I use in my research.
I'm not some little kid playing pyro, here.
I already have three patents on my work.
I'm going to Harvard in the fall.
Breaking and entering.
Armed robbery.
That will impress the admissions committee.
It was three years ago.
Colleges won't find out, because I was never convicted.
You robbed a gas station.
My older brother did.
I only tagged along to prove that I wasn't a nerd.
It's called accessory to a crime.
Once I realized what he was doing, I ran out of the gas station.
And the D.
A.
Believed that? I guess so.
He made a deal with my parents to send me here.
Because this place is like a jail.
I didn't do anything.
What do you call rape two? Fun and games? There wasn't any rape.
There wasn't even any sex.
She said she couldn't believe I was going to be her boyfriend.
I told her it was one and done, and she flipped out.
So you figured a punch in the face would calm her down? I pushed her away.
She fell and hit her head on the bedpost.
She was just pissed at me that I rejected her, so she called the cops.
Okay.
Elsa Lychkoff.
She one of your "one and done's"? No way.
Girls around here are so wrapped up in their own heads, they've got no idea what's going on with their bodies.
Still, a guy as handsome as you.
You sure she wasn't interested? Elsa was into older dudes.
How much older? Not pervy old, like you.
She used to hang out with this guy that went to school here.
I think he lives in Newark now.
Name? Danny Burke.
You've got the wrong guy.
I'm not interested in little girls.
I'm 23.
Elsa was 14.
That makes her jailbait.
Look, I met her at a party.
She said that she went to Morewood and that she was really unhappy.
And you offered to make her feel all better? Not that way.
I was like a big brother.
Someone she could look up to.
You're quite the role model.
Giving up a promising future for a dead-end life in this dump? Yeah.
But it's my dump.
I'm not going to live my life the way those a-holes at Morewood want me to.
Aren't you a little old to be rebelling against your high school? "Be the best.
Great isn't good enough.
Maximize your potential.
" They even feed their students a special diet to increase brain activity.
Omega-3s and all that crap.
That place is toxic.
Is that why you dropped out a month before graduating? I couldn't take it anymore.
And neither could Elsa.
She wanted to be a kid, not their effing robot.
She hated Morewood.
She was looking for a way out.
Like through her window, dressed like a slut? What are you talking about? We saw her clothes.
Leather and lace.
You got the wrong girl.
Elsa wouldn't even wear makeup.
You know her roommate Jennifer? Yeah.
Elsa hated that little bitch.
Mommy could buy her admission to Morewood, but she couldn't buy Elsa's brains.
So she was jealous of Elsa? Pathologically.
Jennifer kept begging Elsa to tank one exam, just once, so that Jennifer could be number one.
And Elsa wouldn't? It was World War llI in their room.
Elsa asked for a new roommate.
And when the Nazi headmistress said no, Elsa gave Jennifer the silent treatment.
And how did Jennifer react? Did you ever see a nerd spaz out? It's ugly.
Jennifer.
Just a minute.
You lied about the clothes.
They're yours, aren't they? What? They were from Halloween.
Elsa liked them, so I let her wear them.
That's what friends do.
But she's not your friend.
And Elsa never would have worn those clothes.
Who told you that? Danny Burke.
He's a prevaricator.
Synonym for liar.
Hey.
This isn't a vocabulary test.
Elsa was murdered.
Look.
I don't have time for this.
Okay? They put me in a tournament next week, and I need to study Molnar-Nagy 1966.
I'm in zugzwang, but if I can solve it Maybe it's h7 to j6.
Hey.
The only way you're going to solve this is by talking to us.
Tell us what happened to Elsa.
I want my mom.
I'm Suzanne Banks, Jennifer's mom.
Why is she alone in there? What did you do to her? The question is, what did she do to her roommate? Elsa? They were best friends.
Weren't they? I'm glad she's dead.
Don't say such a thing! Why not? It's the truth.
Elsa got all the attention.
She was in the newspaper, she had scholarship offers.
Well, sweetie.
You have a college fund.
That's not the point.
It's about the competition.
Being the best.
There is no second place.
That's why the school roomed us together, so we'd push each other.
But Elsa always came out on top.
It wasn't fair.
She never studied, and I worked so hard.
But she was smarter than me.
Baby, that's not true.
It is true, Mom.
I'm smart, but she's a genius.
And she never let me forget it.
Was she mean to you? She wouldn't even talk to me.
Not a word.
Like I was too insignificant, too stupid to waste her breath on.
Oh, baby I'm not a baby! And I'm not stupid.
I just wanted to be the best.
But you just couldn't beat her.
It wasn't fair.
She didn't want to go to MIT.
She was going to drop out like that loser, Danny.
So why couldn't she let me win? Just once, so that I could be the smartest girl at Morewood.
Then every college would want me.
Did you ever say this to Elsa? I told you, she wouldn't speak to me.
So I followed her onto the ferry one day when she went to see Danny, but she couldn't run away from me in the middle of the Hudson River.
Whoa.
Jennifer, that's enough.
I think we'd better go now.
Don't tell me what to do! Don't! Don't tell me what to do! I'm sick and tired of everyone always telling me what to do.
What to say.
How to think.
How to act.
I just wanted to talk to her.
That's all.
I just wanted to talk to her, and then take the next ferry back.
But she screamed at me.
Why was I following her? She called me a loser.
She said I was pathetic and dumb, and that I was only at Morewood because my family is rich.
That I'd never be able to make it on brains alone, like her.
She tried walking away, and so I grabbed her arm.
And she pushed me, so I jabbed her chest with my pen! And she pushed me again Jennifer, stop! and so I pulled her hair, and I slammed her head into the railing over and over and over again! Did anybody see you fighting? Everyone was inside because it was raining.
She tried screaming for help, but no one could hear her because the ferry horn started to blow.
That's when she fell down, and I pushed her into the river.
I'm number one now, Mom.
Aren't you happy for me? She made a full confession.
And her mother let it happen? Well, there was no stopping Jennifer.
The kid was on fire.
Great.
Won't be any Miranda issues at trial.
But there are some other issues.
Cue the violins.
She needs to be locked up, but someplace where she can get help.
You want me to dump the case on Family Court.
We don't want you to dump anything.
Jennifer is a killer, but she's 14.
She's not a hardened criminal.
Try her as a juvenile.
I would, but it's not my call.
I got Warner's results on the tide charts.
Elsa's body went into the river just off Hoboken.
The horn blew because the boat was docking.
This isn't a New York case.
It's New Jersey.
Which is bad news for Jennifer.
They try kids her age as adults, and send them to prison for life.
No way, Detectives.
She's a troubled girl.
Not a stone-cold killer.
The world is full of troubled girls.
Most don't commit murder.
And the world recognizes the difference between kids who kill and adults.
You know, the only other country that gives a child life without parole is Somalia.
Now, do you really want to belong to that club? I didn't write the law.
I just enforce it.
Right.
You've put away three kids for life in the past eight months.
Two blacks, one Hispanic.
Now you put away a rich white girl? Kind of makes you colorblind, doesn't it? Your rich white girl has a 160 IQ and no history of abuse, addiction or mental illness.
Don't tell me she didn't know what she did was wrong.
She's 14 years old.
Are you the same person that you were back then? At 14, I wasn't a murderer.
Whose side are you on? Justice, for Elsa and for Jennifer.
She's not some psychopath that has to be locked up before she kills again.
She's cold and conniving.
She knew what she was doing, and she knew the consequences.
The hearing's tomorrow.
I'm calling you both as witnesses.
When you questioned Jennifer Banks, did she show remorse for murdering Elsa Lychkoff? Not exactly.
Didn't she, in fact, say, "I'm glad she's dead"? Yes.
Was Jennifer defending herself when she attacked the victim? She told us that Elsa pushed her.
Elsa pushed her away, after Jennifer grabbed her arm.
Then what did Jennifer do? She jabbed her in the chest with a pen.
"Jabbed" or "stabbed"? The M.
E.
Report documents stab wounds.
Three of them.
She grabbed Elsa's hair and slammed her head against the railing.
How many times? Four.
And Jennifer confessed to all these acts of violence? Yes.
Did Jennifer board the ferry planning to kill Elsa? No, she went there to talk.
She and Elsa weren't getting along.
She wanted to clear the air.
Her academic achievements, her IQ, her accomplishments at chess.
Clearly, Jennifer is a brilliant girl.
With the intellect of an adult and the emotions of a child.
She was forced to compete, forced to excel in a grown-up world.
At school, at chess, at everything.
She cracked.
Can that crack be repaired? Only if she gets help.
Did Jennifer Banks know that her actions were wrong? I'm not a shrink.
Your partner testified that she is exceptionally bright.
Bright enough to spin a story to best create a false scent.
Bright enough to manipulate you into discovering fake evidence to cover her tracks.
Correct? Yes.
She almost got away with it, didn't she? Nothing further.
I've heard enough.
I'll hear this case in adult court.
Detective, you may step down.
Game over.
Thanks for your help.
Over? Ms.
Banks.
The game is never over.
There's always a way out.
Jennifer.
Counselor, control your client.
Replay the moves.
Look for the crack.
No! Don't! Quit it! Be smarter.
Bailiff! Be better.
Fight harder! Remove the defendant.
Jennifer.
Calm down.
Best isn't good enough! Ms.
Banks, please! I see everything! Calm down.
Order! I know the rules! You can't stop me! Order! No! Get your hands off of me! Don't touch me, you stupid idiots! You don't understand! No, you can't understand! No.
No, wait.
Please don't go.
Don't go, please.
Wait.
Why am I here? Why am I here? Why am I Why am I here? Jennifer, you killed Elsa.
Did I? Nothing makes sense.
It's all blank.
And I'm trapped in this horrible endgame of a chess match that I don't remember sitting down to play.
Jennifer, you confessed.
I can remember things, but then I can't.
Was it me who did this, or was I dreaming? But I can't be dreaming.
I don't sleep.
I never sleep.
What do you mean, you never sleep? I go and go for days until I crash.
Nobody can survive without sleep.
I can.
With my secret weapon.
Are you taking something? Provigil.
It helps me study.
One little pill, and every synapse firing.
Where do you get it? I get it from kids with ADD.
Everyone's on drugs at Morewood.
Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin.
Anything to help you focus.
Does the school know? They tell you how to game your doctor into prescribing it.
Jennifer.
Jennifer, how long had you been up the night before you killed Elsa? Six days.
I was cramming for exams.
Pop a pill, I could read four books a night.
And did you take it after the tests? I didn't need to.
But then I had to prep for the chess tournament, so I bought some more.
And how long have you been up now? Three days.
But it's not working this time.
My mind is like a jigsaw puzzle, and all the pieces are all over the place.
And it's a big mess, and I can't put it back together.
I need Provigil.
Please, you have to bring me some.
Tell me where it is.
I keep it safe where no one will find it, so no one can steal my secret.
Take one, and I'm Einstein, Descartes and Shakespeare.
I wrote a play in one night.
My brain was finally working.
I could understand everything.
I wrote it all down.
I realized I could talk to Elsa.
Make her like me again.
This type of hypergraphia is common with Provigil abuse.
The drug was developed to treat narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, then the government discovered its military value as a stimulant, gave it to the troops to keep them alert in the field.
Now kids are using it to cram for their exams.
When used properly, it is an effective treatment for ADD.
Properly.
Yeah, right.
Tell me those kids at Morewood popping pills all have attention deficit.
I'll tip off a friend in the Health Department, see if we can stop the pill-pushing.
Okay.
So if Jennifer was abusing Provigil, she could have been up for six days straight.
The world record is 11 days.
Until Guinness stopped acknowledging the category because of the health risks involved.
How serious? Potentially deadly.
That's why sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique.
Well, Jennifer was a mess in court after only three days without sleep.
I'm not surprised.
One study showed that 17 hours without sleep is the equivalent of having a.
05 blood alcohol content.
That's legally impaired.
So what symptoms would she have? Anything ranging from irritability to delusions to psychosis.
Jennifer was manic in interrogation and out of her mind in the courtroom.
She would have been much worse on the night of the murder.
An insanity plea? That's the last stop for every hack lawyer too stupid or lazy to prepare a credible defense.
But if the facts support it, it's a winner.
Your girl missed a nap.
That doesn't justify murder.
Sleep deprivation psychosis is a clinical condition.
Jennifer Banks was temporarily out of her mind when she killed Elsa.
I'm sure defense counsel will try it on the jury.
I don't think it'll fly.
You didn't get where you are without pulling a few all-nighters.
Yeah.
I've gone two days without sleep.
Only thing I murdered at the end of it was my pillow.
I knew a cop who worked a double homicide for 41 hours straight, then went home and went to bed.
He had an asthma attack, so he reached for his inhaler, but he grabbed his service revolver instead.
He put it in his mouth and he blew his brains out.
What do you want from me? I want you to read Jennifer's journal.
Sleep on it.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant is remanded to the Department of Juvenile Justice for a period not to exceed seven years.
Change of heart, Ms.
Gil? Newly discovered evidence shows the defendant's mental status at the time of the murder warrants leniency.
You're a very lucky young lady.
Don't squander your good fortune.
Good luck.
You'll be out by 21.
Thank you.
Well, at least she still has a chance.
My next case.
Fifteen.
Raped and murdered his six-year-old stepsister.
No remorse.
Says he'd do it again.
You want him out at 21, too?