Law & Order Special Victims Unit s24e06 Episode Script
Controlled Burn
1
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.
Human sexuality is, is strange enough.
But how do you,
as future criminologists,
learn to prevent what is
compulsive, deviant, criminal?
Well, that was rhetorical, but yeah?
Harsher laws.
Sounds good on the surface,
but, criminals don't obey
laws like the rest of us,
especially predators.
And there's a lot more of them
in the world than you might think.
Economic opportunities like these,
present themselves once in a lifetime,
if you're lucky.
So gentlemen, despite the reluctance
that your board has shown since
we shared our initial offer,
I'm prepared to put some
teeth behind my bite,
and, up the price 20%, to get this done.
Stop wasting my time.
Let's commit to this deal,
make some history.
Given the predator's desire,
tends to overcome
all rational thought
Hey, we're still on for tonight, right?
Actually, something came up.
Carla, you're killing me.
Bring your wife.
I told you,
she's out of town with her boyfriend.
We're, um
Ethically non-monogamous.
I'm sorry, Spencer.
There's no limit to how far
the sexual predator will go,
to satisfy his or her compulsions.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Maggie, how's it going?
Just working on this model,
so we can close the deal with Tectonic.
Speaking of which,
shouldn't you be in
there with the lady shark?
Yeah, look, I'm getting back.
It's just, um, there's a party tonight,
and I, uh, can't show up alone.
- So bring your wife.
- She's out of town, and, uh,
- you're the first person I thought of.
- Uh-huh.
Look, I'm really busy, and I
don't think I'm gonna have enough time
to go home to Jersey and
Great, so we'll just
go straight from work.
Yeah.
All of us,
do things to blow off steam,
that we know,
aren't good for us
trips to Vegas, retail therapy,
ordering a bottle instead of a glass.
These little ways that
we allow ourselves to
lose control, they're a lot like a
Controlled burn.
You know, a small fire,
set to burn off the dead brush
so the whole forest doesn't incinerate.
Now, criminal sexual compulsions,
they tend to start off small too.
So the question is,
how, how can we learn to prevent them,
from becoming, a catastrophic blaze?
Let's begin, shall we?
♪
Don't wake up the girls.
Ow.
I'm sorry.
- Was it too hard?
- No.
Do it again.
[UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Spencer, hey.
- Hey, wait up.
- What?
Spencer, I thought you said
this was a work party.
You got your computer, don't you?
- Yeah.
- Find an outlet,
get on the Wi-Fi, finish that model.
But, um, you know what?
Take ten minutes for yourself,
have a drink.
- Live a little.
- Yeah, but where are you
Don't let the party stop ♪
Dance on the rooftops ♪
♪
Oh, I didn't order that.
I know, it's uh, it's a gift
From an admirer.
No, no, no.
From that man.
♪
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC WINDING DOWN]
[SIGHS]
[WATER RUNNING, SCRUBBING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
[INHALES DEEPLY]
♪
[BREATHING RAGGEDLY]
Hey, miss?
Miss.
You okay?
[COUGHING]
Miss.
Miss!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Somebody's got a pep in her step.
I told you, I had
a good night last night.
Let me get this straight,
they wanted Carisi to do
a lecture at his old law school,
and he volunteers you,
- at last minute?
- [LAUGHS] Yeah.
- I'd be pissed.
- I was pissed, at first,
but, it was kind of fun.
Yeah, Professor Rollins
- does have a ring to it.
- Uh-huh.
- Sergeant, Detective.
- Hey.
- What you got for us?
- A real weird one.
Vic's name is Maggie D'Angelo.
Early 30s, signs of sexual
trauma, refused a rape kit.
What's the weird part?
Throat's in bad shape,
fingertip bruising on her neck.
Toxicology shows alcohol
and scopolamine.
Scopolamine?
That's rare.
Right, those put you in a highly
suggestible twilight state.
How'd she get here?
Guy over there brought her in.
One more thing,
she pulled this thong
out of her throat.
Have the lab run them for DNA.
I'll go talk to our friend over there.
All right.
Is she able to speak yet?
Yeah, just asked
for the Wi-Fi password.
Okay, thanks.
Maggie, I'm Detective Rollins.
Yeah, um, I told the nurse
that I didn't need any cops.
I'm fine.
It was just a dumb party.
Okay,
because someone had to bring you here,
to the hospital.
Do you remember that?
Um
not really, but it must have
been the drinks.
I have a low tolerance.
You were drugged.
And there are signs that
you've been sexually assaulted.
That's not possible.
I had cervical cancer a few years back,
and I never had the treatments,
that would allow me to
regain sexual function.
A lot of scar tissue.
I'm very sorry.
Could you tell me about the party?
Sorry, you don't really understand.
My boss is on his way here.
I get it, but something
did happen to you last night.
Our company is about
to be bought for $2 billion,
which, frankly, is a lot
more important to
me than one bad night.
I didn't touch that girl.
Never said you did.
I helped her.
I picked her up, and I took her here.
Where'd you find her?
West 10th Street, my street.
- They call me West 10th Wilson.
- Okay.
- Was anyone with her?
- Nah.
But
She was being chased by a giant crow.
Maggie, I'm here to help you.
I have a lot of work to do.
I-I understand that.
I get that.
Whatever you think happened to me,
it just
- It couldn't have.
- Because you're covered in bruises,
so somebody gave them to you.
Maggie has a visitor.
Spencer.
I'm assuming you're Maggie's boss.
Spencer Lewis.
Maggie, what happened?
I tried to find you last night.
Wait, you were at the party together?
Yeah, I thought she went home,
to work on our valuation model.
I'm almost done with that.
Where are my clothes?
I
I wasn't raped, so,
- Okay.
- you can leave now.
Maggie, I hear you.
But it's just best if we go
ahead and collect evidence,
and then maybe you'll
remember something
I said no.
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
I'm sorry, um, help me understand.
The hospital called the cops
because they think Maggie
was assaulted?
There is evidence of that, yes.
Well, she doesn't seem to think so.
Maggie is in denial.
There's drugs in her system.
She doesn't remember it, yet.
What can you tell me about this party?
Uh, it was just
a Wall Street type thing,
mixed with a bunch of
Burning Man billionaires, and,
polyamorous tech bros.
And who was hosting?
Do you have any idea how many
parties I go to in a night?
No, I don't,
but I'm sure you have the address.
Yeah, we took a quick ride
from the office.
I know you're just doing your job, but,
I'm fine.
Okay.
I'm almost done with this.
Don't worry about that right now.
Let's just get you home, all right?
Maggie, listen.
Will you just take my card?
If you change your mind,
if you remember anything,
you can give me a call.
What are we looking at?
I've seen shock and denial,
but that takes it to
a whole nother level.
And her boss was in a hurry
to get out of here.
I saw the wedding ring.
I get it.
Or he's the one that raped her.
Well, he gave me
the address of the party,
West 10th Street.
Let's stop by there
on the way back to the station.
My man.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
Is she going to be okay?
She thinks so.
Did he give you anything?
He's not the most reliable witness.
He blamed it on a crow.
- What?
- That's all I got.
♪
How long has this place
been on the market?
Over a year.
Has it been empty the whole time?
It's a $15 million property.
They don't go fast these days,
especially with these interest rates.
Anyone else have a key?
Just the property manager.
So this brownstone,
where the party was supposedly held,
was unoccupied?
According to the realtor.
No renter, no one has access.
And the victim,
nor the guy who invited her,
has any idea whose party this was?
We ran the address.
The property is owned by some
big-time asset management company.
We're sorting through
the chain of title.
All right, and this Maggie,
had a pair of underwear
lodged in her throat?
Not to mention scopolamine.
Well, that doesn't sound consensual.
We're running DNA.
Yeah, the lab's got a rush on it.
West 10th Street
was empty this morning.
Security camera on the block
picked up the homeless guy,
and our vic,
and you're never gonna
believe this, but
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
A guy in a crow mask.
So West 10th Wilson
was telling the truth.
So maybe, he wasn't so crazy after all.
♪
Do you remember being there?
It was very dark.
there was a lot of people.
Does anything else come to mind?
Um
I mean, I thought it
was a work party at first,
but it definitely was not.
Can you tell me more about that?
There was a,
sexual undercurrent to everything.
Like I told you this morning,
I can't have sex.
This is a security cam still,
from the street you were found on.
Do you remember anyone at
the party wearing a mask like this?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
He sent me a drink.
I had a few sips.
Okay, what else do you
remember about him?
His voice.
It was gentle.
Can you tell us what he said?
He
Told me, that I had a neck
like a Modigliani painting,
and, that's literally all I remember.
The drug that you were given,
it can have an effect on your memory.
And what if it doesn't come back?
Are you telling me I've lost
eight hours of my life?
Maggie, there was a pair
of women's underwear,
that was brought in with you.
They were in your throat.
Do you remember that?
No.
The lab did find semen on them.
Now would be a good time
to do a rape kit.
Okay.
What can you tell us about your boss?
So, you're saying Maggie
really was assaulted?
Why would I hurt her?
I'd be dead in the water without her.
That girl's a genius with numbers.
So you took her to a sex party?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let's just slow this down.
It was a business party.
You see him with Maggie?
- I was occupied.
- Yeah, I'll bet you were.
My wife and I
have a wonderful marriage.
I've been nothing but cooperative here.
That address you gave us,
somebody cleaned it up real fast.
We're gonna need to see a guest list.
Rich people value
one thing more than money.
What's that?
- Discretion.
- Wanna put that to the test?
Your company's in the middle
of being acquired.
I have a friend named Leo, at IRS,
that might want to look at your books.
Nice bluff, but,
he wouldn't find anything.
Yeah, but that would hit
a pause button real fast
on that deal of yours.
Okay, look,
I've got an invitation
to another party tonight.
Let me, um
- Let me see if I can get a plus-one.
- Hate to break it to you.
- It's gonna be more like a plus-five.
- And in return,
I would like to invite
the inside of your cheek,
to a swab party.
Okay, look, um.
- I-I can come down to the station.
- Shh. Say "ah."
Ah, ah.
Excuse me.
- Who are you?
- NYPD.
- I need to see some ID.
- Oh, Henry, it's okay.
They're just doing their jobs.
I apologize. I'm Lena Hess.
We're in the middle of acquiring
White & Jensen Equities.
It's a delicate time.
I saw that you were talking
with Spencer?
Yeah, he seemed to notice
you looking too.
Oh, we have a morality clause
in all of our contracts.
Spencer will soon be my direct report.
If he's involved in a criminal
matter, I'd like to know.
We don't discuss police business.
I understand.
But if there's anything
I can help with personally
while you continue to investigate him,
a character reference,
or, his whereabouts
at a given place and time,
don't hesitate.
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
Even her card smells rich.
So we took Spencer's samples
straight to the lab.
- And?
- And the DNA
from your rape kit wasn't Spencer's.
Then whose was it?
We don't know, and
It wasn't a match to
anything in our database.
There was nothing, right?
I mean, I can't have sex.
I'm sorry, Maggie.
You were assaulted.
It wasn't vaginally.
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
I know that may be hard to hear,
but considering the time frame,
we're lucky to have
collected evidence at all.
Why did I not help you this morning?
Because you were in denial,
and that is not uncommon, Maggie.
As a matter of fact, it's, it's normal.
Look, I just
I just want to find out what happened
during those missing eight hours.
And so do we.
We understand from Spencer
that there's a party tonight.
Someone there may be able to lead us
to the man who assaulted you.
- And you want me to go.
- No, no, no.
But, if we do find a lead,
we are gonna need you
to help us make the ID.
Well, how am I gonna do that
if I didn't see his face?
You let us worry about that.
♪
Same crowd Maggie described
at last night's party.
Any sign of our crow?
Spencer might have warned the guy.
Or he showed up maskless.
I don't want to take a chance
that anyone else
gets assaulted in that house.
Copy that.
Hey.
Sorry, guys, this is a private event.
We have an invitation.
[POUNDING DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
- Drugs.
- Check.
- Young girls.
- Check.
I'll do the honors.
NYPD, the party's over.
Nobody's leaving.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
I thought you'd want to see this,
behind the furnace room.
Had to cut the lock.
Security system.
That camera's in the bathroom.
I want all these hard drives seized.
Yeah, I'll call Carisi,
tell him we need a warrant,
so TARU can access them.
What the hell are we looking at?
This whole damn place is rigged up.
So your modeling agent invited you?
Man can't get in without woman.
Did you happen to go to the party
in the West Village last night?
I go to all of these things.
Did you see this man there?
Guy in a crow mask?
I didn't see him tonight.
But he was there last night.
Do you know his name?
I've seen him a few times.
I recognize the mask.
I have no idea who he is.
Okay, because we have reason to believe
that a woman was sexually
assaulted at that party.
I find that surprising.
I mean, he's got a thing for choking.
He tried it on one of my models once.
But when she said the
safe word, he stopped.
Yeah, well, these things can escalate.
So how do you hear about these things?
I just work here, all right?
I'm not actually into this stuff.
I get it.
My fetish is green and colored too.
Who hires you?
I couldn't even say if I wanted to.
All anonymous,
given a time and address,
then I get paid in crypto.
You got the warrant?
You pulled the entire system
out of the building?
And the 20 hard drives,
all of the cameras.
- We sent everything to TARU.
- You know you'll need another warrant
- to look at that footage.
- And another one
for the brownstone on 10th Street.
That one could be wired up too.
Where Maggie was assaulted.
By a man in a crow mask.
And we're still nowhere
in ID'ing this guy?
Nobody knows anything.
I mean, we made a couple
of arrests for possession,
but they've all lawyered up.
And the rest of them are just
Wall Street guys playing dress-up.
There's no underage girls.
All sexual activity,
except for Maggie, seems consensual.
But as far as we know,
anything could be on those hard drives.
I'm assuming whoever
hosted those parties
- put the cameras in?
- These people went
to a lot of trouble to make sure that
Manhattan's power brokers were naked,
- on film.
- Not just naked,
but they recorded
their secret perversions.
So what are we looking at here?
- Blackmail scheme?
- A kompromat operation.
Look, if the house in the West Village
was wired up like this one,
that means that Maggie's
assault was recorded.
So, we have a uni out front,
making sure that nobody's
removing evidence.
I'll get you those warrants.
Real Time Crime finished tracking
chain of title on both properties.
The company that owns them all?
Tectonic.
The woman with the bodyguard?
Lena Hess.
Her company acquiring Spencer's.
There's $2 billion at stake.
Well, that's a hell of a coincidence.
Or, one hell of a motive for blackmail.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Apologies for the wait.
Nice to see you again.
We weren't properly introduced.
I'm Sergeant Tutuola,
and this is Captain Benson.
So we understand
that your company, Tectonic,
is in the process
of buying Spencer Lewis's?
Excuse me, may I ask how
capitalism is a police matter?
It's not,
but, it becomes one,
when your company owns a property,
where a woman was attacked.
The West 10th Street brownstone.
So you're aware.
Well, my head of security, Henry,
informed me that a
search warrant was
executed there today.
That's all I know.
You're saying a woman was assaulted?
At a party, held at your property.
Do you have any idea who threw it, or,
who had access?
The property manager has a key.
We're in the process of selling it.
And the Gramercy Park townhouse.
I was informed there was
a party there last night too.
Do you have any idea how that happened?
Well, it's a breach of trust,
somewhere along the line.
My head of security is trying
to get to the bottom of it.
We were hoping you could help
us get to the bottom of it.
Both the properties
are wired with hidden cameras.
We're talking about $20 million assets.
Security is an issue.
So is blackmail.
I have been the victim
of that once or twice myself.
And my world is dog-eat-dog,
and doing business
at a scale like my own
is a never-ending game
of brinksmanship.
I can only imagine.
If someone's using my properties
to throw illegal parties,
do you realize the
liability for me here?
I'm gonna need a copy of that footage.
It's a police matter now.
Well, I'm so very glad that it is.
Yeah, thank you.
You know, if we find out,
that you have any
connection to this assault,
whether it's overt or implied,
I'm coming back here with a gift.
What's that?
A pair of bracelets.
So we recovered hidden camera footage,
from the brownstone,
where Maggie was assaulted.
You know those expedited warrants
are limited in scope to the
weekend of the crime, right?
Right now, that's all we need.
Let me guess, Lena Hess denies it all?
Oh, yeah, she's claiming that
the surveillance was for
security purposes only.
Yeah, of course she does.
The class of people involved here,
are Manhattan's wealthiest
Most powerful,
yet nobody recognizes them,
when they walk down the street.
That's by design.
You're not telling me to tread lightly
because it's Lena Hess, are you?
These people operate under
an entirely different justice system.
Which really sucks, doesn't it?
- Did you invite her here?
- No, I didn't.
But I certainly admire her tenacity.
Maggie.
- Hey.
- Hey, I left you a message.
Yes, I know.
Look, I didn't want to call you back
until I had news to share.
And?
Is it in there?
- Can I see it?
- No, honey, it doesn't
It doesn't quite work like that.
Cancer took my body away from me once.
I just, I-I cannot do this again.
Okay, recovering from trauma,
can be a full-time job.
But, I also have a job to do.
Right?
And that job is for both of us.
So just
Trust me, and know that
I will get in touch with you,
the minute I have anything concrete,
okay?
Was that Maggie?
Yeah, she just left.
Good.
We found him.
[COUGHING, CHOKING]
He chokes her out completely,
a total of seven times.
I'm looking at criminal
sexual act in the first,
- and attempted murder.
- Then he stuffs
her panties in her mouth,
and does this.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
We need to find this son of a bitch.
Fido here might be able to tell us.
That's Spencer?
You said he didn't know
the guy in the crow mask.
Well, maybe if we show him this,
it'll refresh his memory.
- Where'd you get this?
- Those parties that you go to?
All the houses were wired up.
Oh, crap.
There's no law against S&M.
No one's threatening legal
action against his proclivities.
But, obstructing justice,
protecting a sexual predator,
is a good way to find
yourself in handcuffs
And, uh, not the good kind.
I had absolutely nothing to do
with Maggie getting assaulted.
No, 'cause we've
got a witness saying that
all male guests have to bring a woman
as the price of admission.
I mean, yeah, but that has nothing
The last I checked,
she's an adult woman
with agency and volition.
Did Maggie know what she was
- getting into?
- Look
- What do you want from me?
- I want the identity,
of this man.
Wait, that's the guy?
- Oh, so you do know him?
- I've seen him.
Well, you've seen
the footage we have of you.
I would get more specific real quick.
- What is this, Blackmail Spencer Day?
- No, no, no.
Think of it as saving you
from whoever installed those cameras,
because they clearly
intended to use that footage
as leverage of some kind.
Yeah, well, my wife won't care.
Yeah.
You're selling your company,
though, aren't you?
Shareholders might.
Oh, look at
Mr. Blumfeld over here.
Suddenly he's worried that
the checks won't clear.
[CHUCKLES]
Just tell them what you know, Spencer.
We met last month.
- Mhm.
- I don't know his name, but,
he mentioned that he's a timpanist,
for the New York Orchestra.
[LIVELY DRUM RHYTHM]
Ethan Schmidt!
Hey!
Ethan Schmidt.
You're under arrest,
for criminal sexual act in the first,
and attempted murder.
- Come on.
- Let's go.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Ethan Schmidt,
what do we know about him?
Two kids, married, no record.
We searched his house
and found the crow mask.
What about the twilight
drug he gave Maggie?
We found it in a drawer in his study.
Counselor, we have enough?
A victim ID would seal the deal.
Maggie said herself,
- she couldn't see his face.
- No,
but she heard his voice.
How did you find him?
Well, you're not the only
workaholic in New York.
We caught his face on film.
My assault was recorded?
You are gonna get rid of that, right?
It's evidence.
But right now, let's focus
on making the ID.
All right, you heard his voice.
Yeah, I'll never forget it.
So, Maggie,
this is Mr. Carisi.
He's our ADA.
And he's gonna show you
how the voice ID works.
Yeah. Take a seat.
You'll hear seven voices
repeat the same sentence,
the one you recall
the perpetrator saying.
Now, you can hear them
as many times as you need.
- Okay?
- Okay.
Can we hurry this up?
My client's been waiting all afternoon.
Well, he should get used to it,
because where he's going,
there's not much else to do.
Here, why don't you go slide those on?
Okay, you ready?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
♪
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
That's him.
It's number three. That's him.
The jury's gonna
see this for what it is
a phishing expedition,
using an illegally recorded
consensual sex act.
The victim doesn't see it that way.
And we have video of your client,
choking a young woman
in and out of consciousness,
resuscitating her again, and again,
so that he can keep going.
The only reason he stopped is
because he thought he killed her.
What's a jury gonna say,
when they see him
put her on a sheet of plastic?
And that's just the
victim he got caught for.
How many are there?
I don't understand
what's wrong with me.
It started so young, when I
strangled my sister's pet bird.
What is that, is that guilt?
No, it's, um, not guild.
Uh Relief.
I've been struggling with
this compulsion my whole life.
I just want it to stop.
♪
I'll tell you who throws these parties
if you just get me some help.
What does my client get in return?
I can't make any promises.
[INAUDIBLE]
♪
A donor to the orchestra.
She's one of the most
powerful women in this city.
I met her one night
after a performance.
We started talking.
What about?
[LAUGHS]
The quasi ritenente crescendo
in Brahms' Symphony 2.
She asked me why I chose to
devote my life to the timpani.
I told her it was the
construction of that piece.
It is sublime.
She thought so too.
Who is the "she" in that sentence?
♪
Lena Hess.
You're saying Lena Hess
threw these parties?
She created a space for me
to do what I wanted to do,
drugs to facilitate.
At first, it was
Wonderful.
But I needed more,
and I always needed more.
After a while,
I didn't just have a
A compulsion.
It, had me.
That's a good story.
Rather, sadly, all true.
And we will be talking
to Ms. Hess.
And my client?
We get confirmation,
that she was in fact,
behind those parties,
I'll talk to the DA.
In the meantime, your client
is going to get arraigned
for sexual assault,
and attempted murder.
Ethan.
One last question,
just for me.
Of course.
What could possibly be
so pleasurable for you,
to choke a woman until she's dead?
You really want to know?
It's the vibration.
It has a quasi ritenente all its own.
♪
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Move through and
search the entire floor.
Copy that.
Search warrant
for my office and my home.
You're not gonna find anything.
Well, we know that
you're filming these parties.
The question is why.
All your years
investigating sex crimes,
you should know better
than anyone, Captain.
Tell me
What do the perpetrators
of all the most savage
things in the world
have in common?
You can't tell me
that you don't see it.
Enlighten me.
If men disappeared tomorrow,
so would war, and rape,
and just about every other ill
of mankind.
Wow.
That is a bold statement.
I
I almost feel sorry for you.
But I'm raising a son, who is good,
and who is kind,
and who is thoughtful.
I'm sure he is.
But I'm guessing by the lack of a ring,
that there's no male example
in the picture.
So
All of this is to get back at men,
to set them up,
to blackmail them,
for all the harm that
they've done to the world?
I don't make them light the fire.
I simply give them a little tinder.
They put the match to it every time.
And victims like Maggie get burned.
Better in my brownstone
than on the street,
- wouldn't you agree, Captain?
- Better for who?
Better for the world?
Or better for your portfolio?
Why not both?
Turn around.
You're under arrest.
Captain, we found something.
- Hey.
- 40, 50 hard drives, maybe more.
Enough for a couple dozen
high profile cases.
Well, I gotta hand it to her.
She got what she wanted.
That pair of bracelets you promised?
No.
The potential to take down
half of the most powerful
men in New York City.
♪
It's gonna take weeks,
for TARU to go through
all of Lena's footage.
Oh, let's just hope that the only thing
criminal on them is Maggie's assault.
I wouldn't be too hopeful.
The optimist in me
says that you're wrong.
And the cynic?
There's a reason that
Lena kept those tapes.
Yeah.
You know, what is Lena's deal?
There's a ton of powerful
women in New York.
She doesn't want to
blackmail any of them.
My take,
is that she's been victimized
sometime in the past.
Explains her crusade against men.
Is she wrong?
- It sounds like respect.
- Well, this job,
what percentage of perps are men?
All of them.
I mean, most of the time.
Yeah.
It sounds like there's a flaw
in the general design.
I'm just glad I'm raising daughters.
- Thanks.
- [CHUCKLES]
Noah will be fine.
I wish I could say the same
about the world.
This job will do that to you.
Hey, how's the fight going
with that monster?
I'm in a good place.
I'm figuring things out.
Whatever you're doing,
keep doing that.
On the charges of criminal
sexual act in the first,
unlawful surveillance,
and grand larceny,
- how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
People on bail?
Ms. Hess is a flight risk.
She has considerable means
and established relationships
with influential foreign nationals.
We request remand.
The people have vastly
overestimated my client's wealth.
Because it's in offshore accounts.
She has no record,
and is a well-respected
member member of her community.
I'm granting ROR,
on condition that the
defendant wear an ankle monitor,
and remain under house arrest
pending trial.
She doesn't seem worried
about anything.
Yeah, well, she might
have something on the judge.
Who knows who else?
TARU's going through the tapes.
If there is something,
they'll find it before trial.
So Lena Hess was behind these parties.
So much for your company's big sale.
Money doesn't matter to me anymore.
I'm just happy I'm alive.
I am never going back
into that office again.
Yeah.
Ethan,
made a deal with the DA, but,
he will do serious prison time.
And the best part of all of this,
is that you will not have to testify.
I can just go on with my life.
The question is,
what will you do with it?
I want to finally have that surgery,
for my scar tissue.
It sounds like a really good plan.
And
And when you're through all of that,
I hope that you'll come back,
and let us offer you,
the resources that we
have, for healing trauma.
Yeah, I don't really want
to speak with a therapist.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
I want to see the surveillance
footage of my attack.
Listen, Maggie, I'm
not sure that that's
the best thing for you.
Yeah, but it happened to me.
So shouldn't I have a right,
to try to make sense of this,
in my own way?
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Captain, sorry to interrupt.
We have a problem.
You've got to be kidding me.
We lost her?
Monitor signal went out for two hours.
No signs of tampering.
Lock still sealed tight.
She just slipped it off her ankle?
Driver found it in the back seat.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hey, is
Is that the woman you were driving?
- Yeah, that's her.
- What happened?
Nothing happened.
I picked her up.
I drove her to Teterboro Airport.
As soon as I found that ankle bracelet,
- I called the cops.
- All right, track the flight
and start working up
an extradition order.
We really do live
in a tiered justice system.
Yeah, and Lena's got a penthouse view.
Uni found this in the car.
What is this?
♪
[LINE TRILLING]
Captain Benson,
you got my thank you note,
for the bracelets
you were so kind to give me.
Where are you?
On my way to Brussels.
Or is it Dubai?
Either one is so beautiful
this time of year.
You trying to make me jealous,
or is there something
that I can do for you?
You have my footage.
A woman like you
could do a lot with that.
You have no idea
what kind of woman I am.
Don't play with fire.
Well, that's no fun, Captain.
What was that?
Wrong number.
♪
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.
Human sexuality is, is strange enough.
But how do you,
as future criminologists,
learn to prevent what is
compulsive, deviant, criminal?
Well, that was rhetorical, but yeah?
Harsher laws.
Sounds good on the surface,
but, criminals don't obey
laws like the rest of us,
especially predators.
And there's a lot more of them
in the world than you might think.
Economic opportunities like these,
present themselves once in a lifetime,
if you're lucky.
So gentlemen, despite the reluctance
that your board has shown since
we shared our initial offer,
I'm prepared to put some
teeth behind my bite,
and, up the price 20%, to get this done.
Stop wasting my time.
Let's commit to this deal,
make some history.
Given the predator's desire,
tends to overcome
all rational thought
Hey, we're still on for tonight, right?
Actually, something came up.
Carla, you're killing me.
Bring your wife.
I told you,
she's out of town with her boyfriend.
We're, um
Ethically non-monogamous.
I'm sorry, Spencer.
There's no limit to how far
the sexual predator will go,
to satisfy his or her compulsions.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Maggie, how's it going?
Just working on this model,
so we can close the deal with Tectonic.
Speaking of which,
shouldn't you be in
there with the lady shark?
Yeah, look, I'm getting back.
It's just, um, there's a party tonight,
and I, uh, can't show up alone.
- So bring your wife.
- She's out of town, and, uh,
- you're the first person I thought of.
- Uh-huh.
Look, I'm really busy, and I
don't think I'm gonna have enough time
to go home to Jersey and
Great, so we'll just
go straight from work.
Yeah.
All of us,
do things to blow off steam,
that we know,
aren't good for us
trips to Vegas, retail therapy,
ordering a bottle instead of a glass.
These little ways that
we allow ourselves to
lose control, they're a lot like a
Controlled burn.
You know, a small fire,
set to burn off the dead brush
so the whole forest doesn't incinerate.
Now, criminal sexual compulsions,
they tend to start off small too.
So the question is,
how, how can we learn to prevent them,
from becoming, a catastrophic blaze?
Let's begin, shall we?
♪
Don't wake up the girls.
Ow.
I'm sorry.
- Was it too hard?
- No.
Do it again.
[UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Spencer, hey.
- Hey, wait up.
- What?
Spencer, I thought you said
this was a work party.
You got your computer, don't you?
- Yeah.
- Find an outlet,
get on the Wi-Fi, finish that model.
But, um, you know what?
Take ten minutes for yourself,
have a drink.
- Live a little.
- Yeah, but where are you
Don't let the party stop ♪
Dance on the rooftops ♪
♪
Oh, I didn't order that.
I know, it's uh, it's a gift
From an admirer.
No, no, no.
From that man.
♪
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC WINDING DOWN]
[SIGHS]
[WATER RUNNING, SCRUBBING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
[INHALES DEEPLY]
♪
[BREATHING RAGGEDLY]
Hey, miss?
Miss.
You okay?
[COUGHING]
Miss.
Miss!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Somebody's got a pep in her step.
I told you, I had
a good night last night.
Let me get this straight,
they wanted Carisi to do
a lecture at his old law school,
and he volunteers you,
- at last minute?
- [LAUGHS] Yeah.
- I'd be pissed.
- I was pissed, at first,
but, it was kind of fun.
Yeah, Professor Rollins
- does have a ring to it.
- Uh-huh.
- Sergeant, Detective.
- Hey.
- What you got for us?
- A real weird one.
Vic's name is Maggie D'Angelo.
Early 30s, signs of sexual
trauma, refused a rape kit.
What's the weird part?
Throat's in bad shape,
fingertip bruising on her neck.
Toxicology shows alcohol
and scopolamine.
Scopolamine?
That's rare.
Right, those put you in a highly
suggestible twilight state.
How'd she get here?
Guy over there brought her in.
One more thing,
she pulled this thong
out of her throat.
Have the lab run them for DNA.
I'll go talk to our friend over there.
All right.
Is she able to speak yet?
Yeah, just asked
for the Wi-Fi password.
Okay, thanks.
Maggie, I'm Detective Rollins.
Yeah, um, I told the nurse
that I didn't need any cops.
I'm fine.
It was just a dumb party.
Okay,
because someone had to bring you here,
to the hospital.
Do you remember that?
Um
not really, but it must have
been the drinks.
I have a low tolerance.
You were drugged.
And there are signs that
you've been sexually assaulted.
That's not possible.
I had cervical cancer a few years back,
and I never had the treatments,
that would allow me to
regain sexual function.
A lot of scar tissue.
I'm very sorry.
Could you tell me about the party?
Sorry, you don't really understand.
My boss is on his way here.
I get it, but something
did happen to you last night.
Our company is about
to be bought for $2 billion,
which, frankly, is a lot
more important to
me than one bad night.
I didn't touch that girl.
Never said you did.
I helped her.
I picked her up, and I took her here.
Where'd you find her?
West 10th Street, my street.
- They call me West 10th Wilson.
- Okay.
- Was anyone with her?
- Nah.
But
She was being chased by a giant crow.
Maggie, I'm here to help you.
I have a lot of work to do.
I-I understand that.
I get that.
Whatever you think happened to me,
it just
- It couldn't have.
- Because you're covered in bruises,
so somebody gave them to you.
Maggie has a visitor.
Spencer.
I'm assuming you're Maggie's boss.
Spencer Lewis.
Maggie, what happened?
I tried to find you last night.
Wait, you were at the party together?
Yeah, I thought she went home,
to work on our valuation model.
I'm almost done with that.
Where are my clothes?
I
I wasn't raped, so,
- Okay.
- you can leave now.
Maggie, I hear you.
But it's just best if we go
ahead and collect evidence,
and then maybe you'll
remember something
I said no.
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
I'm sorry, um, help me understand.
The hospital called the cops
because they think Maggie
was assaulted?
There is evidence of that, yes.
Well, she doesn't seem to think so.
Maggie is in denial.
There's drugs in her system.
She doesn't remember it, yet.
What can you tell me about this party?
Uh, it was just
a Wall Street type thing,
mixed with a bunch of
Burning Man billionaires, and,
polyamorous tech bros.
And who was hosting?
Do you have any idea how many
parties I go to in a night?
No, I don't,
but I'm sure you have the address.
Yeah, we took a quick ride
from the office.
I know you're just doing your job, but,
I'm fine.
Okay.
I'm almost done with this.
Don't worry about that right now.
Let's just get you home, all right?
Maggie, listen.
Will you just take my card?
If you change your mind,
if you remember anything,
you can give me a call.
What are we looking at?
I've seen shock and denial,
but that takes it to
a whole nother level.
And her boss was in a hurry
to get out of here.
I saw the wedding ring.
I get it.
Or he's the one that raped her.
Well, he gave me
the address of the party,
West 10th Street.
Let's stop by there
on the way back to the station.
My man.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
Is she going to be okay?
She thinks so.
Did he give you anything?
He's not the most reliable witness.
He blamed it on a crow.
- What?
- That's all I got.
♪
How long has this place
been on the market?
Over a year.
Has it been empty the whole time?
It's a $15 million property.
They don't go fast these days,
especially with these interest rates.
Anyone else have a key?
Just the property manager.
So this brownstone,
where the party was supposedly held,
was unoccupied?
According to the realtor.
No renter, no one has access.
And the victim,
nor the guy who invited her,
has any idea whose party this was?
We ran the address.
The property is owned by some
big-time asset management company.
We're sorting through
the chain of title.
All right, and this Maggie,
had a pair of underwear
lodged in her throat?
Not to mention scopolamine.
Well, that doesn't sound consensual.
We're running DNA.
Yeah, the lab's got a rush on it.
West 10th Street
was empty this morning.
Security camera on the block
picked up the homeless guy,
and our vic,
and you're never gonna
believe this, but
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
A guy in a crow mask.
So West 10th Wilson
was telling the truth.
So maybe, he wasn't so crazy after all.
♪
Do you remember being there?
It was very dark.
there was a lot of people.
Does anything else come to mind?
Um
I mean, I thought it
was a work party at first,
but it definitely was not.
Can you tell me more about that?
There was a,
sexual undercurrent to everything.
Like I told you this morning,
I can't have sex.
This is a security cam still,
from the street you were found on.
Do you remember anyone at
the party wearing a mask like this?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
He sent me a drink.
I had a few sips.
Okay, what else do you
remember about him?
His voice.
It was gentle.
Can you tell us what he said?
He
Told me, that I had a neck
like a Modigliani painting,
and, that's literally all I remember.
The drug that you were given,
it can have an effect on your memory.
And what if it doesn't come back?
Are you telling me I've lost
eight hours of my life?
Maggie, there was a pair
of women's underwear,
that was brought in with you.
They were in your throat.
Do you remember that?
No.
The lab did find semen on them.
Now would be a good time
to do a rape kit.
Okay.
What can you tell us about your boss?
So, you're saying Maggie
really was assaulted?
Why would I hurt her?
I'd be dead in the water without her.
That girl's a genius with numbers.
So you took her to a sex party?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let's just slow this down.
It was a business party.
You see him with Maggie?
- I was occupied.
- Yeah, I'll bet you were.
My wife and I
have a wonderful marriage.
I've been nothing but cooperative here.
That address you gave us,
somebody cleaned it up real fast.
We're gonna need to see a guest list.
Rich people value
one thing more than money.
What's that?
- Discretion.
- Wanna put that to the test?
Your company's in the middle
of being acquired.
I have a friend named Leo, at IRS,
that might want to look at your books.
Nice bluff, but,
he wouldn't find anything.
Yeah, but that would hit
a pause button real fast
on that deal of yours.
Okay, look,
I've got an invitation
to another party tonight.
Let me, um
- Let me see if I can get a plus-one.
- Hate to break it to you.
- It's gonna be more like a plus-five.
- And in return,
I would like to invite
the inside of your cheek,
to a swab party.
Okay, look, um.
- I-I can come down to the station.
- Shh. Say "ah."
Ah, ah.
Excuse me.
- Who are you?
- NYPD.
- I need to see some ID.
- Oh, Henry, it's okay.
They're just doing their jobs.
I apologize. I'm Lena Hess.
We're in the middle of acquiring
White & Jensen Equities.
It's a delicate time.
I saw that you were talking
with Spencer?
Yeah, he seemed to notice
you looking too.
Oh, we have a morality clause
in all of our contracts.
Spencer will soon be my direct report.
If he's involved in a criminal
matter, I'd like to know.
We don't discuss police business.
I understand.
But if there's anything
I can help with personally
while you continue to investigate him,
a character reference,
or, his whereabouts
at a given place and time,
don't hesitate.
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
Even her card smells rich.
So we took Spencer's samples
straight to the lab.
- And?
- And the DNA
from your rape kit wasn't Spencer's.
Then whose was it?
We don't know, and
It wasn't a match to
anything in our database.
There was nothing, right?
I mean, I can't have sex.
I'm sorry, Maggie.
You were assaulted.
It wasn't vaginally.
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
I know that may be hard to hear,
but considering the time frame,
we're lucky to have
collected evidence at all.
Why did I not help you this morning?
Because you were in denial,
and that is not uncommon, Maggie.
As a matter of fact, it's, it's normal.
Look, I just
I just want to find out what happened
during those missing eight hours.
And so do we.
We understand from Spencer
that there's a party tonight.
Someone there may be able to lead us
to the man who assaulted you.
- And you want me to go.
- No, no, no.
But, if we do find a lead,
we are gonna need you
to help us make the ID.
Well, how am I gonna do that
if I didn't see his face?
You let us worry about that.
♪
Same crowd Maggie described
at last night's party.
Any sign of our crow?
Spencer might have warned the guy.
Or he showed up maskless.
I don't want to take a chance
that anyone else
gets assaulted in that house.
Copy that.
Hey.
Sorry, guys, this is a private event.
We have an invitation.
[POUNDING DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
- Drugs.
- Check.
- Young girls.
- Check.
I'll do the honors.
NYPD, the party's over.
Nobody's leaving.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
I thought you'd want to see this,
behind the furnace room.
Had to cut the lock.
Security system.
That camera's in the bathroom.
I want all these hard drives seized.
Yeah, I'll call Carisi,
tell him we need a warrant,
so TARU can access them.
What the hell are we looking at?
This whole damn place is rigged up.
So your modeling agent invited you?
Man can't get in without woman.
Did you happen to go to the party
in the West Village last night?
I go to all of these things.
Did you see this man there?
Guy in a crow mask?
I didn't see him tonight.
But he was there last night.
Do you know his name?
I've seen him a few times.
I recognize the mask.
I have no idea who he is.
Okay, because we have reason to believe
that a woman was sexually
assaulted at that party.
I find that surprising.
I mean, he's got a thing for choking.
He tried it on one of my models once.
But when she said the
safe word, he stopped.
Yeah, well, these things can escalate.
So how do you hear about these things?
I just work here, all right?
I'm not actually into this stuff.
I get it.
My fetish is green and colored too.
Who hires you?
I couldn't even say if I wanted to.
All anonymous,
given a time and address,
then I get paid in crypto.
You got the warrant?
You pulled the entire system
out of the building?
And the 20 hard drives,
all of the cameras.
- We sent everything to TARU.
- You know you'll need another warrant
- to look at that footage.
- And another one
for the brownstone on 10th Street.
That one could be wired up too.
Where Maggie was assaulted.
By a man in a crow mask.
And we're still nowhere
in ID'ing this guy?
Nobody knows anything.
I mean, we made a couple
of arrests for possession,
but they've all lawyered up.
And the rest of them are just
Wall Street guys playing dress-up.
There's no underage girls.
All sexual activity,
except for Maggie, seems consensual.
But as far as we know,
anything could be on those hard drives.
I'm assuming whoever
hosted those parties
- put the cameras in?
- These people went
to a lot of trouble to make sure that
Manhattan's power brokers were naked,
- on film.
- Not just naked,
but they recorded
their secret perversions.
So what are we looking at here?
- Blackmail scheme?
- A kompromat operation.
Look, if the house in the West Village
was wired up like this one,
that means that Maggie's
assault was recorded.
So, we have a uni out front,
making sure that nobody's
removing evidence.
I'll get you those warrants.
Real Time Crime finished tracking
chain of title on both properties.
The company that owns them all?
Tectonic.
The woman with the bodyguard?
Lena Hess.
Her company acquiring Spencer's.
There's $2 billion at stake.
Well, that's a hell of a coincidence.
Or, one hell of a motive for blackmail.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Apologies for the wait.
Nice to see you again.
We weren't properly introduced.
I'm Sergeant Tutuola,
and this is Captain Benson.
So we understand
that your company, Tectonic,
is in the process
of buying Spencer Lewis's?
Excuse me, may I ask how
capitalism is a police matter?
It's not,
but, it becomes one,
when your company owns a property,
where a woman was attacked.
The West 10th Street brownstone.
So you're aware.
Well, my head of security, Henry,
informed me that a
search warrant was
executed there today.
That's all I know.
You're saying a woman was assaulted?
At a party, held at your property.
Do you have any idea who threw it, or,
who had access?
The property manager has a key.
We're in the process of selling it.
And the Gramercy Park townhouse.
I was informed there was
a party there last night too.
Do you have any idea how that happened?
Well, it's a breach of trust,
somewhere along the line.
My head of security is trying
to get to the bottom of it.
We were hoping you could help
us get to the bottom of it.
Both the properties
are wired with hidden cameras.
We're talking about $20 million assets.
Security is an issue.
So is blackmail.
I have been the victim
of that once or twice myself.
And my world is dog-eat-dog,
and doing business
at a scale like my own
is a never-ending game
of brinksmanship.
I can only imagine.
If someone's using my properties
to throw illegal parties,
do you realize the
liability for me here?
I'm gonna need a copy of that footage.
It's a police matter now.
Well, I'm so very glad that it is.
Yeah, thank you.
You know, if we find out,
that you have any
connection to this assault,
whether it's overt or implied,
I'm coming back here with a gift.
What's that?
A pair of bracelets.
So we recovered hidden camera footage,
from the brownstone,
where Maggie was assaulted.
You know those expedited warrants
are limited in scope to the
weekend of the crime, right?
Right now, that's all we need.
Let me guess, Lena Hess denies it all?
Oh, yeah, she's claiming that
the surveillance was for
security purposes only.
Yeah, of course she does.
The class of people involved here,
are Manhattan's wealthiest
Most powerful,
yet nobody recognizes them,
when they walk down the street.
That's by design.
You're not telling me to tread lightly
because it's Lena Hess, are you?
These people operate under
an entirely different justice system.
Which really sucks, doesn't it?
- Did you invite her here?
- No, I didn't.
But I certainly admire her tenacity.
Maggie.
- Hey.
- Hey, I left you a message.
Yes, I know.
Look, I didn't want to call you back
until I had news to share.
And?
Is it in there?
- Can I see it?
- No, honey, it doesn't
It doesn't quite work like that.
Cancer took my body away from me once.
I just, I-I cannot do this again.
Okay, recovering from trauma,
can be a full-time job.
But, I also have a job to do.
Right?
And that job is for both of us.
So just
Trust me, and know that
I will get in touch with you,
the minute I have anything concrete,
okay?
Was that Maggie?
Yeah, she just left.
Good.
We found him.
[COUGHING, CHOKING]
He chokes her out completely,
a total of seven times.
I'm looking at criminal
sexual act in the first,
- and attempted murder.
- Then he stuffs
her panties in her mouth,
and does this.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
We need to find this son of a bitch.
Fido here might be able to tell us.
That's Spencer?
You said he didn't know
the guy in the crow mask.
Well, maybe if we show him this,
it'll refresh his memory.
- Where'd you get this?
- Those parties that you go to?
All the houses were wired up.
Oh, crap.
There's no law against S&M.
No one's threatening legal
action against his proclivities.
But, obstructing justice,
protecting a sexual predator,
is a good way to find
yourself in handcuffs
And, uh, not the good kind.
I had absolutely nothing to do
with Maggie getting assaulted.
No, 'cause we've
got a witness saying that
all male guests have to bring a woman
as the price of admission.
I mean, yeah, but that has nothing
The last I checked,
she's an adult woman
with agency and volition.
Did Maggie know what she was
- getting into?
- Look
- What do you want from me?
- I want the identity,
of this man.
Wait, that's the guy?
- Oh, so you do know him?
- I've seen him.
Well, you've seen
the footage we have of you.
I would get more specific real quick.
- What is this, Blackmail Spencer Day?
- No, no, no.
Think of it as saving you
from whoever installed those cameras,
because they clearly
intended to use that footage
as leverage of some kind.
Yeah, well, my wife won't care.
Yeah.
You're selling your company,
though, aren't you?
Shareholders might.
Oh, look at
Mr. Blumfeld over here.
Suddenly he's worried that
the checks won't clear.
[CHUCKLES]
Just tell them what you know, Spencer.
We met last month.
- Mhm.
- I don't know his name, but,
he mentioned that he's a timpanist,
for the New York Orchestra.
[LIVELY DRUM RHYTHM]
Ethan Schmidt!
Hey!
Ethan Schmidt.
You're under arrest,
for criminal sexual act in the first,
and attempted murder.
- Come on.
- Let's go.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Ethan Schmidt,
what do we know about him?
Two kids, married, no record.
We searched his house
and found the crow mask.
What about the twilight
drug he gave Maggie?
We found it in a drawer in his study.
Counselor, we have enough?
A victim ID would seal the deal.
Maggie said herself,
- she couldn't see his face.
- No,
but she heard his voice.
How did you find him?
Well, you're not the only
workaholic in New York.
We caught his face on film.
My assault was recorded?
You are gonna get rid of that, right?
It's evidence.
But right now, let's focus
on making the ID.
All right, you heard his voice.
Yeah, I'll never forget it.
So, Maggie,
this is Mr. Carisi.
He's our ADA.
And he's gonna show you
how the voice ID works.
Yeah. Take a seat.
You'll hear seven voices
repeat the same sentence,
the one you recall
the perpetrator saying.
Now, you can hear them
as many times as you need.
- Okay?
- Okay.
Can we hurry this up?
My client's been waiting all afternoon.
Well, he should get used to it,
because where he's going,
there's not much else to do.
Here, why don't you go slide those on?
Okay, you ready?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
♪
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
You have a neck like a Modigliani.
That's him.
It's number three. That's him.
The jury's gonna
see this for what it is
a phishing expedition,
using an illegally recorded
consensual sex act.
The victim doesn't see it that way.
And we have video of your client,
choking a young woman
in and out of consciousness,
resuscitating her again, and again,
so that he can keep going.
The only reason he stopped is
because he thought he killed her.
What's a jury gonna say,
when they see him
put her on a sheet of plastic?
And that's just the
victim he got caught for.
How many are there?
I don't understand
what's wrong with me.
It started so young, when I
strangled my sister's pet bird.
What is that, is that guilt?
No, it's, um, not guild.
Uh Relief.
I've been struggling with
this compulsion my whole life.
I just want it to stop.
♪
I'll tell you who throws these parties
if you just get me some help.
What does my client get in return?
I can't make any promises.
[INAUDIBLE]
♪
A donor to the orchestra.
She's one of the most
powerful women in this city.
I met her one night
after a performance.
We started talking.
What about?
[LAUGHS]
The quasi ritenente crescendo
in Brahms' Symphony 2.
She asked me why I chose to
devote my life to the timpani.
I told her it was the
construction of that piece.
It is sublime.
She thought so too.
Who is the "she" in that sentence?
♪
Lena Hess.
You're saying Lena Hess
threw these parties?
She created a space for me
to do what I wanted to do,
drugs to facilitate.
At first, it was
Wonderful.
But I needed more,
and I always needed more.
After a while,
I didn't just have a
A compulsion.
It, had me.
That's a good story.
Rather, sadly, all true.
And we will be talking
to Ms. Hess.
And my client?
We get confirmation,
that she was in fact,
behind those parties,
I'll talk to the DA.
In the meantime, your client
is going to get arraigned
for sexual assault,
and attempted murder.
Ethan.
One last question,
just for me.
Of course.
What could possibly be
so pleasurable for you,
to choke a woman until she's dead?
You really want to know?
It's the vibration.
It has a quasi ritenente all its own.
♪
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Move through and
search the entire floor.
Copy that.
Search warrant
for my office and my home.
You're not gonna find anything.
Well, we know that
you're filming these parties.
The question is why.
All your years
investigating sex crimes,
you should know better
than anyone, Captain.
Tell me
What do the perpetrators
of all the most savage
things in the world
have in common?
You can't tell me
that you don't see it.
Enlighten me.
If men disappeared tomorrow,
so would war, and rape,
and just about every other ill
of mankind.
Wow.
That is a bold statement.
I
I almost feel sorry for you.
But I'm raising a son, who is good,
and who is kind,
and who is thoughtful.
I'm sure he is.
But I'm guessing by the lack of a ring,
that there's no male example
in the picture.
So
All of this is to get back at men,
to set them up,
to blackmail them,
for all the harm that
they've done to the world?
I don't make them light the fire.
I simply give them a little tinder.
They put the match to it every time.
And victims like Maggie get burned.
Better in my brownstone
than on the street,
- wouldn't you agree, Captain?
- Better for who?
Better for the world?
Or better for your portfolio?
Why not both?
Turn around.
You're under arrest.
Captain, we found something.
- Hey.
- 40, 50 hard drives, maybe more.
Enough for a couple dozen
high profile cases.
Well, I gotta hand it to her.
She got what she wanted.
That pair of bracelets you promised?
No.
The potential to take down
half of the most powerful
men in New York City.
♪
It's gonna take weeks,
for TARU to go through
all of Lena's footage.
Oh, let's just hope that the only thing
criminal on them is Maggie's assault.
I wouldn't be too hopeful.
The optimist in me
says that you're wrong.
And the cynic?
There's a reason that
Lena kept those tapes.
Yeah.
You know, what is Lena's deal?
There's a ton of powerful
women in New York.
She doesn't want to
blackmail any of them.
My take,
is that she's been victimized
sometime in the past.
Explains her crusade against men.
Is she wrong?
- It sounds like respect.
- Well, this job,
what percentage of perps are men?
All of them.
I mean, most of the time.
Yeah.
It sounds like there's a flaw
in the general design.
I'm just glad I'm raising daughters.
- Thanks.
- [CHUCKLES]
Noah will be fine.
I wish I could say the same
about the world.
This job will do that to you.
Hey, how's the fight going
with that monster?
I'm in a good place.
I'm figuring things out.
Whatever you're doing,
keep doing that.
On the charges of criminal
sexual act in the first,
unlawful surveillance,
and grand larceny,
- how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
People on bail?
Ms. Hess is a flight risk.
She has considerable means
and established relationships
with influential foreign nationals.
We request remand.
The people have vastly
overestimated my client's wealth.
Because it's in offshore accounts.
She has no record,
and is a well-respected
member member of her community.
I'm granting ROR,
on condition that the
defendant wear an ankle monitor,
and remain under house arrest
pending trial.
She doesn't seem worried
about anything.
Yeah, well, she might
have something on the judge.
Who knows who else?
TARU's going through the tapes.
If there is something,
they'll find it before trial.
So Lena Hess was behind these parties.
So much for your company's big sale.
Money doesn't matter to me anymore.
I'm just happy I'm alive.
I am never going back
into that office again.
Yeah.
Ethan,
made a deal with the DA, but,
he will do serious prison time.
And the best part of all of this,
is that you will not have to testify.
I can just go on with my life.
The question is,
what will you do with it?
I want to finally have that surgery,
for my scar tissue.
It sounds like a really good plan.
And
And when you're through all of that,
I hope that you'll come back,
and let us offer you,
the resources that we
have, for healing trauma.
Yeah, I don't really want
to speak with a therapist.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
I want to see the surveillance
footage of my attack.
Listen, Maggie, I'm
not sure that that's
the best thing for you.
Yeah, but it happened to me.
So shouldn't I have a right,
to try to make sense of this,
in my own way?
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Captain, sorry to interrupt.
We have a problem.
You've got to be kidding me.
We lost her?
Monitor signal went out for two hours.
No signs of tampering.
Lock still sealed tight.
She just slipped it off her ankle?
Driver found it in the back seat.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hey, is
Is that the woman you were driving?
- Yeah, that's her.
- What happened?
Nothing happened.
I picked her up.
I drove her to Teterboro Airport.
As soon as I found that ankle bracelet,
- I called the cops.
- All right, track the flight
and start working up
an extradition order.
We really do live
in a tiered justice system.
Yeah, and Lena's got a penthouse view.
Uni found this in the car.
What is this?
♪
[LINE TRILLING]
Captain Benson,
you got my thank you note,
for the bracelets
you were so kind to give me.
Where are you?
On my way to Brussels.
Or is it Dubai?
Either one is so beautiful
this time of year.
You trying to make me jealous,
or is there something
that I can do for you?
You have my footage.
A woman like you
could do a lot with that.
You have no idea
what kind of woman I am.
Don't play with fire.
Well, that's no fun, Captain.
What was that?
Wrong number.
♪