Law & Order Special Victims Unit s13e05 Episode Script

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the special victims unit.
These are their stories.
It was Halloween night You're okay, Calvin? Yeah.
I think I'm gonna go Oh, Calvin! No, no, I think he's absolutely right.
But, you know what? Let's--let's find something else to do-- anything you want.
You tell me.
- That's great.
- Hmm? You know what? Isn't she a little young for this? But I like it.
But, baby, can't you go as a ghost? Nicky.
Let her enjoy herself.
She looks adorable.
Zara, I don't want you eating too much junk.
- But I want to.
- It's Halloween.
You used to eat so much you got sick.
But that's my point, ma.
Apartment 1A, Arnold Savatsky-- a level-two offender.
Trick or treat! I'm not supposed to open the door.
Police! Being a good boy.
Happy Halloween, Arnold.
You planning on handing out any candy today? Come on.
Every year the same thing? I know the drill.
Stay inside, no costumes, no kids.
That's right, Arnold.
See you next year.
I need diapers--three month.
I'm excited about the Halloween parade.
Must be fun around here tonight.
If you like nut jobs my baby, his skin is sensitive.
Do you have organic? All we have are regular, miss.
Can you check in the back? Trick or treat! Who wants a treat? NYPD.
What the hell you doing, bozo? Didn't your parole officer tell you not to open up the door on Halloween? You forgot your diapers! Trick or treat.
- Amaro.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
What'd you get? - Candy corn.
- Ooh! Oh, that's my favorite.
I got to go.
Sweetheart.
Yeah, okay.
I'm on my way.
Calvin, I'm so sorry.
What's wrong? I got to go.
Duty calls.
Thanks.
Bye.
They stole my car! My son was in the back seat! Someone stole my baby! Someone stole my son! A missing baby on Halloween Do we have any good news? The mom said their car was stolen with a three-month-old in the back seat.
There's no witnesses, nothing on the traffic cams.
Well, good.
So they left the kid in the car.
That's just great.
Who are these people? They're tourists--there's Allie Martell and Tim Holland.
They drove down from Buffalo for the parade.
- Just a kid herself.
- Where's the husband? Boyfriend.
He went to see a rental apartment.
She won't go to the precinct without him.
Well, don't give her a choice.
And let's hope we get a lead.
Before every village idiot in a Casey Anthony mask is too drunk to remember his own name.
- Yeah.
- What's happening? - Did you find Nate? - We got a hundred cops looking.
I don't know why Tim's not picking up.
Okay, how long has it been since you spoke to him? An hour ago.
He doesn't know about-- It's me.
Call me back.
Where are you? I tell you this, she's a good mother.
She wanted organic diapers.
Did you see her baby? No.
She was looking out the door, in a hurry.
Said the baby was in the car.
Did you get a look at the car? - See anyone driving it away? - No.
I was making change, she ran out.
Next thing, she's screaming.
I go outside to help.
Allie, why don't we wait for Tim back at the station? He won't know where I am.
Yeah, we'll make sure someone tells him.
Allie! What's going on? Where were you? I was calling! - Tim Holland? - Yeah.
What's happening? - They took him.
- What are you talking about? They took the car, and Nate was in the back seat.
I was only gone for a minute.
- What, are you kidding me? - He needed diapers! - I didn't want to wake him.
- What were you thinking? - Take a breath, calm down.
- I need to talk to Allie! - Not like that you're not.
- Does he explode - like that often? - Let me talk to Tim.
I'm the only one who can calm him down.
Okay, detective Amaro's pretty good at that.
Tim doesn't like cops-- not because of anything bad.
Why are you asking all these questions? Because there maybe something that you know, that you don't think is important.
Now, Allie, we need your help.
Come on.
So the last hour, where were you? Meeting the jerk-off who screwed us out of 200 bucks.
We rented an apartment on Craigslist.
We show up--there's six gay guys staying there.
You rented an apartment for tonight? We'll need the jerk-off's name.
We were a day late, we got a slow start.
I was too tired to drive-- we pulled over, I slept in the car.
Where's my kid? Where's my son? - Why did Tim leave you here? - The baby was sleeping.
We parked-- Tim said he'd be right back.
You need to find Nate.
He's lactose intolerant-- he needs soy formula.
Whoever took him won't know that.
We're going to find your baby, Allie.
With Halloween-night revelry complicating the NYPD's efforts to find three-month-old Nate Martell, police have issued an Amber alert.
Anyone with information should call the tip line.
The infant was last seen strapped in his blue-grey barnet car seat, in a 1990 red Honda Accord.
New York license plate-- SRO2876.
Well, that's just what the city needs, another tourist horror story.
Tell me we have a lead.
Stone-cold no.
Nothing on the surveillance cameras, no witnesses to the car theft.
We've got an alarm out on the Accord, but there's been no hits from the toll booths.
Where's Tim? He's with detective Amaro.
Let's go in here.
Can I get you anything? I guess I can't smoke in here.
Uh, no, but I can have somebody take you outside.
It's okay-- I got to quit anyway.
Nate, he started to grab the butts out of the ashtray.
Why am I in this room? Just to give you some privacy.
Just have a seat.
Is Allie okay? I want to see her.
Just give us a minute.
Three hours later, and no sign of the car or the kid.
Let's verify the parents' version.
Pull sale records, credit cards, and track their route into the city.
Any holes in their story? No, they're backing each other up, but she's definitely afraid of him.
And he's got some issues.
I'll get in touch with Buffalo, find out what's not on paper.
You two, talk to the Craigslist renter.
I want to know the last time anyone other than these two saw that baby alive.
Why are you still up? You had too much sugar.
I told you not to eat all-- all right, one last piece, then you brush your teeth, and you go to sleep.
I love you too.
That's my daughter.
Everything's a negotiation.
Gee, I wonder where she gets that from.
Any sign of Nate? From a tip line, on Halloween? It's been four hours.
No one's seen anything.
So what's your gut on Tim? Well, we got off to a bad start.
I got in his face, his ego's up.
And she saw you as protecting her.
You want to do-si-do? That's what I'm thinking.
I just heard back from the precinct captain in Buffalo.
Turns out Tim Holland has a domestic incident report on file six months ago.
That's when she was pregnant.
- Well, who called it in? - Allie's sister.
Allie refused to cooperate.
So no charges were filed.
I'll send fin and Rollins up to Buffalo, you two get their version.
Yeah, I remember him-- pretty pissy.
I'd be too-- you promised him an apartment and didn't deliver.
Hey, they showed up a day late.
I already rented it.
They? Did they have a baby with them? I only met the guy.
I said I had something else, but he was a pain in the ass about having a crib.
What's the biggy? Kid that little, you put in a laundry basket.
Hey, we done? I got a party.
In that outfit? I hope you're not looking to get lucky tonight.
Well, I hope you like hot wings.
We're on the next plane to Buffalo.
Tim loves me.
He never hit me.
So your sister called the police for no reason? She never liked him.
Allie what you tell me, it's to help find Nate.
You're not being disloyal.
Tim's jealous because he loves me so much.
When I first got pregnant, he didn't think the baby was his.
All right, but this report-- it's six months later.
It's dumb.
I had a drink with an ex.
Tim found out, he grabbed my arm, he shook me a little-- my sister overreacted.
Is that what he said? I can handle Tim.
He walks through the door, his mood-- it's like waves coming off him.
I know right away if it's going to be a bad night.
So you can take care of yourself.
But what about Nate? Did Tim ever have a bad night with him? Tim would never When Nate was born, he fell in love.
Tim, he tries to be all tough, but in the delivery room, he was bawling.
Is that what Allie said? What? That I hurt her? Well, no one's making any accusations, but We have this report from Buffalo.
It's a misunderstanding.
There were no charges.
Well, still, I'd like to get your side.
My side is her bitch sister hates me.
Okay.
I see the way they look at me.
The two of them-- her mother and her sister.
'Cause the dad left they hate all men.
Well, that's got to be frustrating.
I love Allie.
- She knows it.
- Well, still, people you love can make you angry.
Especially people you love.
I apologized.
I was on my knees.
So is that what happens? You get angry and then you do things you regret? I want to talk to Allie.
What are you guys putting in her head? Just sit tight.
We might have a lead on the car-- abandoned, off the Willis Avenue Bridge.
Anything? - Window's broken.
- Is he in there? No.
Pop the trunk.
Get me a lock puller.
A lock puller--c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Let's go, let's go, let's go! - You got it? - Yeah.
He's not here.
We need a level-one mobilization.
Check the hillside, check those woods.
Check the embankment, get divers in that river.
This baby could be out here.
Sixteen hours since the baby was report missing, no leads.
I'm not feeling a happy ending.
CSU come up with anything in the car? Aside from the broken window, there's no sign of foul play.
There's no blood in the back seat, - no blood in the trunk.
- What about prints? There's no hits-- the only prints on the steering wheel were Tim's.
Okay, so either the car thief wore gloves or this didn't go down the way they say.
Keep them talking.
You have some news? Police found your car.
Oh, well, that's good, isn't it? Yes and no.
We didn't find Nate.
Now you said Nate was in the car seat.
That's right-- strapped in.
That's a long ride-- from Buffalo to New York-- for a little guy.
Cars put him to sleep.
So when did you decide to make the trip? Last week.
Tim really wanted to see the Halloween parade.
Well, how about you? Did you want to come? Yeah, of course.
But I had to ask for time off from work.
And where do you work? From home--debt collection.
It's not bad.
I guess I sound nice on the phone.
I don't get hung up on much.
So what about Tim? Did he have a job? Construction-- day labor.
Not a lot lately.
Tough times can be hard on a man.
Everyone's out of work up there.
It's not his fault.
You never know what's going to set Tim off.
My sister's jumping out of her skin half the time.
Is she scared to leave him? They don't live together.
He's still at his mom's, if you can believe that.
She stays with me.
He's over a lot.
Eats my food like he paid for it.
You ever seen him abusive toward his son? No not when I'm around.
Then why'd you call the cops on him? Going to tell us what happened? Tim had been pounding 40s, making crazy accusations that she was sneaking out on him.
He twisted her arm so bad it was purple for a week.
Allie didn't want to press charges? He's in her blind spot.
She wanted to name the baby Ty, but he wanted Nathan-- for Nathan Gerby.
He leads the Sabres in penalty minutes.
Is it okay if we look in Nate's bedroom? He sleeps with Allie.
When's the last time you saw Nate? Sunday, right before they left.
And what time was that again? Um, they got a late start.
The car needed a new fan belt-- about 4:00.
And you actually saw them put Nate in the car? Yep, sucking on his toy keys, holding his dinosaur.
You're going to find him, right? You hear about people getting carjacked with the baby in the back.
The baby's always fine.
When are you going to find my son? We are doing everything that we can.
I don't understand why I have to stay here and answer questions.
Because anything that you remember may help us.
I wasn't even there! I understand that, Tim.
I know that you were meeting about the Craigslist rental.
- Did you talk to the guy? - We did.
I'm not lying about that.
I understand how-- how stressful this is, and how inful this is, how angry you are-- Yeah? Do you know why? Because I wasn't there.
I wasn't there to protect my boy.
Aw, I screwed up.
I screwed it up.
It's okay, Tim, it's okay.
No, it's not.
You don't think so, and she doesn't think so.
She? Allie? You think Allie's going to blame you because your baby's missing? She'll find a way.
I need to talk to somebody.
What do you got there? I didn't do anything.
Mr.
Hernandez says he just bought the car seat from a peddler in Tompkins Square.
He brought it home, his wife recognized it from the news.
So can we confirm that it's Nate's? A model number or registration number? It does match their photos, down to the clip-on toy keys.
CSU is processing it now.
I have unis canvassing the park.
You take Mr.
Hernandez down to the park and find that peddler.
Hey, guys.
Wanna buy a radio? - What about some - That's him, that's him.
NYPD.
- We need to talk Mr.
-- - Coogan.
And I got a permit.
And I ain't doing anything illegal.
Yeah, where'd you get all this stuff? I got suppliers.
We'll need their names.
That's confidential-- trade secrets.
Okay.
Have it your way.
Mr.
Coogan, you're under arrest for larceny.
I'm a Vietnam vet just trying to make a living.
NYPD is out of control! Won't let a man make a buck! We need to pack this up.
I didn't see any baby.
If I did, I would have run.
I don't like babies.
But you did break into the car.
I ain't admitting to that either.
Well, your prints are all over it.
You're alled to lie to me, right? Wait a minute.
Back up.
You don't care about the stolen goods.
This is about a baby? Now you can trust me on that, I swear.
Fine.
I broke the window, took the stuff.
No baby.
- So the car was locked.
- Yeah.
Nobody leaves their car unlocked with all that stuff in it.
What time was that? Just getting dark.
Crazies in masks running around.
Halloween night.
Gives me post-traumatic.
I want my lawyer.
This guy lawyers up? Uh, he didn't take the kid.
Where are we with the parents? Well, something happened between Buffalo and here, but I don't make either of them as hard-core criminals.
They would have come up with a better story.
Well, just keep them talking.
We still don't have enough probable cause to arrest.
Well, we might now.
Prelim labs came back on the items taken from their car.
Something on the car seat? Well, the cooler.
Lab found fecal matter with traces of soy formula.
They put their baby in the cooler? That baby's body.
Where am I? What time is it? It's 8:00 P.
M.
You all right, Allie? You were dreaming? Yes.
You know, I, uh never remember my dreams.
I do.
Well, you remember what you were dreaming about just now? No.
You still haven't found Nate.
You would have said right out if you did.
He's dead, isn't he? Is that what you think? You would have found him by now.
Let's go back to Sunday-- the day you left Buffalo.
We've been over this.
Well, maybe somebody followed you, knew you were leaving.
Sometimes the smallest detail makes all the difference, okay? Yeah-- those are our suitcases.
When can I see Allie? You know, detective Amaro said that she's sleeping, and She probably needs it.
Is this your son's car seat? Yes.
Yeah? Do you recognize this? Is that your cooler, Tim? Those coolers, they all look alike.
Yeah, some of them do.
Yeah, so how do you know that one's even ours? Because this one has your fingerprints on it.
- Well, then, there you go.
- Yeah, yeah.
The lab found something else inside.
Found fecal matter, and traces of soy formula, just like Nate drinks.
Do you want to explain that to me? I don't know.
Uh, Nate's a handful.
Maybe Allie was busy-- she put a diaper in there.
No mother puts dirty diapers in a cooler.
So you have two choices, Tim.
The good outcome would be that we find out that this is an accident.
And that the baby fell and hit his head.
- No.
- And the bad outcome would be that you lost your temper, and maybe shook Nate.
- That's not what happened.
- Then tell me what did happen.
Because I know that that baby wasn't taken from-- Don't you attack me! I'm sorry.
That doesn't matter.
How did Nate end up in the cooler? Tim's overloaded-- shut down.
Amaro getting anywhere? They haven't left Buffalo yet.
Do you remember what time you got up? Nate woke me up.
I remember those days.
Being tired all the time.
If I could just sleep.
Tim, he takes pills sometimes, but I'm afraid to-- that I won't hear Nate.
Well, you're a good mom.
So you're up at 5:00.
Then what happens? I gave Nate his bottle.
Just him and me in the kitchen.
It was so quiet.
Nate gets fed.
Then what about you? What do you have for breakfast? Coffee.
- Just coffee? - Yeah, instant.
You gotta take better care of yourself, Allie.
Not just worry about how everyone else is doing all the time.
Okay? All right, so the fan belt's fixed.
Then you leave your sister's on Sunday, at around 4:00? Yeah.
But you don't get into New York till Monday afternoon.
Tim was too tired to drive.
So we slept at a rest stop.
Stop it, Allie.
What? So far, you've been telling the truth-- having breakfast with Nate, the late start.
But this thing with sleeping in the car, that's a lie.
- No, it's not.
- Allie stop.
Allie? We had to sleep at a motel, the Binghamton Motor Lodge.
Tim didn't want my sister to know.
So that's the first lie.
Fin, where are you? Yeah, they checked in late, went straight to the bar-- well, our bar area.
Wild Turkey, rocks, and Coors light.
They got pretty hammered.
They have a baby with them? We don't let minors in here.
Listen, they say their baby was snatched in New York City.
I'm not here to bust you for your liquor license.
Did you see him? Yeah.
He was in a car seat the whole time.
Under the table.
It's really wrong.
Were they mistreating the baby? More like forgetting he was even there.
They were loud-- arguing.
You remember about what? A Halloween costume-- some pumpkin thing.
Uh, guy said no kid of his was going to wear that, so he threw it in the trash.
They left here with the baby? - Yeah.
- What time? Uh, closing time--4:00.
Okay, Allie, can you have a seat? Two of our detectives are at the motel right now.
Now you told me you went right to bed.
But people ID'd you, at the bar.
With Nate.
We had to bring him in.
There was no one to watch him.
Allie, she lies sometimes.
Not on purpose, she just likes to tell people what she thinks they want to hear.
So why don't you tell me about the motel? You were drinking.
- Yeah.
- So whatever happened, Tim, wasn't your fault-- it was the alcohol.
I don't think that you left the house intending to hurt your son.
I think whatever happened, it wasn't intentional.
I didn't do it.
So it was Allie.
No.
She would never-- You two were arguing at the bar.
Maybe she got upset.
Tim was in such a bad mood, I thought, if we had a drink, we could maybe have some fun-- - be on vacation.
- All right, so what happened? Tim got drunk? He lost his temper with you? - With Nate? - No.
He doesn't mean the things he does! You tried to stop him, but you couldn't help Nate.
Now you can! You're Nate's mom, all right? You can help him now.
How? I just want to go back and make it not happen.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
She's, um, smarter than me.
She talks faster.
Sometimes I just-- I need her to shut up--so I can-- one minute.
You got all this responsibility on you.
You're exhausted, you're tired.
And she just won't leave you be for one second.
That stupid costume.
Would you let your son go out looking like a pumpkin? You're frustrated.
Maybe you just took that out on Nate.
No.
Nate was in his car seat.
The car got stolen, like Allie said.
Tim, you just said that Allie is a liar.
You can't have it both ways.
So which one is it? When is this guy going to give it up? Liv's getting to him-- he's gonna go.
Oh, please tell me they've been Mirandized.
Early on.
You got something.
She's going to draw a map of where they buried the baby.
Found something.
This never gets easy.
- Oh.
- Oh, lord.
With his blanket and his toy.
She didn't want him to be alone.
This baby was cared for, healthy well-nourished, well-developed, size appropriate, no signs of abuse.
The way he was buried-- he was loved.
So how did he die? I don't know yet.
Could it have been an accident? No visible signs of trauma.
Nothing in the throat or lungs.
Nothing in the stomach contents.
No needle marks.
We'll have to wait for the tox screen.
It would help to know where he died.
Yeah, we're working on it.
Thanks, Melinda.
You okay? So, whatever happened, they either did it together, or she's covering for him.
Allie and Tim aren't going anywhere.
Why don't you, uh, go home and hug your daughter.
Uh, she's taking a nap, so You know, Amaro, SVU Yeah, I know.
I'm the last person to be giving parental advice.
No, right now, this kid-- he needs us.
You found him? Yeah.
How was he? Was he okay? Allie tell us what happened.
I didn't kill my son.
So you're saying Allie did? She would never.
No.
Tim, your son is on an autopsy table right now.
Tell us how it happened.
I don't know.
I don't know.
If you plead guilty, and say that Allie had nothing to do with it, then she goes free.
Now I know that you want to protect her I want to talk to her.
I've seen how Tim can be, how he loses control.
No, you're wrong about him.
Okay, you want to be loyal, we get that.
You're trying to do the right thing.
- No.
- Look, Allie, you drew me that map.
You wanted us to find Nate, you wanted us to know.
I can't.
You need to make a decision right now.
Maybe I should call a lawyer? All a lawyer's going to do is tell you to stop talking, and look out for yourself.
You're not that kind of man, are you? I asked Allie to marry me when she was pregnant.
She said she didn't want to do it like that, like I was, uh complicated.
But I didn't feel that way.
I know.
You love her.
And that's why you're going to do the right thing now.
Then tell us what happened in that motel room.
I didn't take care of him.
Yes, yes, you did.
The ME said he was loved and cared for.
You were a good mother.
You're still a good mother.
You're going to tell us what Tim did.
And you're going to do that for Nate.
He wouldn't stop crying.
I just wanted him to stop crying so I could close my eyes.
So what did you do, Tim? I picked him up, and I shook him.
Allie was screaming at me.
But I kept shaking him until he stopped crying.
No, it wasn't Tim.
He gets blamed for everything.
It wasn't his fault.
Whose fault was it? I did it.
It was me.
Nate was crying.
He I thought if I gave him a bath he'd quiet down.
I put him in the tub and dozed off.
I woke up-- Nate was under water.
They're still protecting each other.
Warner saw no signs of trauma.
You saying they made this all up? Yeah, I don't know.
Look, Warner said no water in the lungs, but that seemed real.
Could be playing us-- create reasonable doubt.
They're not that sophisticated.
It's fine.
We've got two confessions, I'll charge them both for now, and we'll let a jury decide.
On what? There's no cause of death yet.
You want to help? Lean on the ME.
If that's what the parents told you, they're both lying.
This baby wasn't dropped, shaken, drowned, or smothered.
Nothing on the tox screen.
It wasn't murder or an accident.
- So how did he die? - I need to examine the motel room, the home.
We know this baby wasn't breast fed.
Is the mother a smoker? Yeah.
Why? Risk factor for SIDS-- sudden infant death syndrome.
It'll take a while to confirm, but right now, that's what my gut's telling me.
So they each confessed to killing Nate because they love each other.
Allie's trying to save Tim, and Tim is trying to protect Allie.
Do we tell them that their baby died of natural causes? No.
Look, ME's not positive.
They need to tell us what really happened.
Till they do, we'll never know for sure.
Okay, I didn't shake him.
The truth I don't know what happened.
I passed out.
And when I woke up Allie was holding Nate on the bed.
Nate was fussy.
He wouldn't settle.
I was afraid he'd wake Tim, so I put him in our bed.
On his back, the way you're supposed to.
I was careful.
No covers, no pillows.
I woke up-- Nate wasn't breathing.
Okay.
Then what'd you do? She's rocking him singing to him You are my sunshine.
I asked her what was wrong, but she didn't answer me.
She just kept singing.
I tried to get him to wake up-- singing, stroking his cheek.
I tried to breathe into his mouth.
Why didn't you call for help? Who would believe us? It was my idea.
We put Nate in the cooler.
We drove to New York.
We buried him.
Tim left the car under the bridge.
I told the police our baby had been taken.
Everybody knows in New York City, bad things happen all the time.
I did it.
I must have rolled over on him or something.
I killed him.
I killed my baby.
No.
Allie Allie the ME says that Nate died of SIDS.
What? Yeah.
Sometimes, babies Th--they just die.
Are you sure? Yeah.
The three of us lying in bed together Tim snoring It wasn't perfect, but it was good, you know? I was happy.
And then Why? Why us? When you woke me up before, I was dreaming that Nate was dead.
Then I woke up.
I thought it was just a nightmare-- Nate was asleep everything was fine.
And then I remembered.
Can I talk to Tim now? Now what? We let them go.
Really? After what they put the city through? They're gonna be paying for this for the rest of their lives.
Just send them home.