Law & Order Special Victims Unit s25e12 Episode Script
Marauder
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.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SPIN DOCTORS' "TWO PRINCES"
PLAYING FAINTLY]
♪
[LAUGHTER]
This is it, folks.
It's moments like this
where it all comes down
to one shot at glory.
The crowd's on their feet
in Allentown tonight
to cheer on its hamper hero,
Crystal Sykes!
And that's some bread now ♪
This one said he wants ♪
To buy you rockets ♪
Shannah, I just want
to go to the pool.
Yeah, well, Mom said
we had to clean our room.
Okay, but this is your sock.
So why don't you just walk it
to the hamper?
Because that's boring, idiot.
Oh, my God, it stinks.
Eh, well, all the more reason
to make this shot.
With the game on the line,
Crystal makes the free throw!
- Yeah!
- [BOTH GRUNT]
Shannah, phone call.
Who is it?
- Michael.
- Yuck.
Hey, don't say that.
He's nice.
Shannah, I'm melting.
Just go ahead without me.
I'll meet you there.
Just go ahead now ♪
And if you'd like to tell me "maybe" ♪
Just go ahead now ♪
And if you would like ♪
To buy me flowers ♪
Just go ahead now ♪
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
Damn, girl.
Picked a hell of a day
to bike to the pool.
It's hot out here.
Not when I get there
it won't be.
Well, you ain't gonna
make it like that.
Tire's flat.
You got a bike pump?
No.
But I'm going to the pool,
same as you.
How about I give you a lift?
My sister should be coming
up the road any minute now.
Well, so you'll
beat her there.
My mom said not
to go with strangers.
[CHUCKLES]
I ain't asking you to get in.
Come on.
Hop in the back with your bike.
What's the matter, silly?
Never rode in the bed
of a pickup truck before?
Have too.
Well, come on then.
Toss it up in there.
♪
Don't worry.
I'll help you.
[ENGINE TURNS OVER]
♪
Hey.
Hey.
Thank you for meeting me.
You're the one who called.
Yeah, well,
you haven't come into work
since the Brouchard trial.
Yeah, I got your messages.
Yeah, and you didn't
call me back.
Uh, I'll take another.
And for my friend
- No, thanks, I'm good.
- All right, just the one.
Thank you.
Look, I know that
I'm not your boss,
but, is everything okay?
Oh, yeah.
Well, that is the most
"no" sounding "yeah"
I've ever heard in my life.
[LAUGHS]
Thank you.
It was the, um,
anniversary of her
disappearance three days ago.
- Oh, your sister?
- Yeah, Crystal.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
So that's, uh
That's why you went MIA?
Look, if you don't want
to talk to me, then
How about a good therapist?
[SCOFFS]
I got my own way
of dealing with things, okay?
So listen, I talked to Clay,
and, uh,
he's putting me on a case.
There's a missing boy
in Wisconsin.
How come you don't just try
to find your sister?
Honestly,
I'd just rather move on.
Well, is this
your way of moving on?
- [LAUGHS]
- Throwing a grenade
into your life
with a three-day bender?
All right.
- All right.
- I know that you're
too tough for therapy and
And closure, but, um
But what about your parents?
My parents are 70.
You don't think they want
to know what happened?
I think it nearly killed them
when the wrong remains
were found 20 years ago.
And what if he's still
out there hurting young girls?
You've dedicated your life
to helping victims.
Okay. Okay.
I don't need to know
what happened to my sister
to do my job.
Listen, you're drunk,
so at least let me
drive you home, okay?
I guess I will see you
when I see you.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Morning.
Good morning.
I can smell the mildew
on those files from here.
What case you working on,
disappearance
of the Lindbergh baby?
I caught a cold case last night.
Last night?
I thought you were with Sykes.
Yeah, I was.
So what's happening with her?
Is she coming back?
You know, Fin, to be honest
with you, I really don't know.
I think, um,
Sykes has some stuff
that she needs to work out.
Some of that stuff
wouldn't have to do
with her missing sister?
Okay, you didn't exactly
catch a cold case.
It caught you.
Okay.
So I went through
Crystal Sykes' case files
on, on ViCAP.
Sykes know that?
No, and she doesn't need
to hear it from you.
Fair enough.
What'd you find out?
So ViCAP flagged
some other abduction cases
that were in Connecticut,
New Jersey, and New York.
But didn't Sykes grow up
in Allentown?
Yes, and that's why I think
that we're looking at a marauder.
A serial predator that works an area.
So Crystal Sykes had
Polaroids taken of her
that were found in
the woods as evidence.
Now, I found some other cases
that were similar.
So where do we start?
We get lucky, trace the guy
through the camera?
Well, I already woke up
this poor kid at TARU
at 3:00 in the morning
and hit a dead end at the factory.
You know,
these Polaroids are analog.
No metadata.
You didn't happen to wake up
any of the white
shirts at 1PP, did you?
Uh, no.
Why would I do that?
Just wondering how they would
feel about Manhattan SVU
going after a 27-year-old
case in Allentown.
Well, luckily for us,
one of the cases
is actually in our jurisdiction.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Gwen Markham,
missing in 2002.
- Well, at least that's this century.
- Look
And a body was recovered.
And, maybe, there could be
some biological evidence
that they didn't think
was valuable, but is now.
That's worth looking into,
but this is gonna get messy.
I mean, we can keep this
from Sykes,
but what do we tell
the rest of the squad?
We tell them that
we're just doing our jobs.
We're looking at six cold cases,
all missing girls over
a decade-long time span.
Why are we looking into this now?
Because, uh, Carisi has
a case coming up on appeal
- And?
- He asked me to look into it.
So there are two kinds
of serial predators.
There are commuters, and marauders.
Commuters travel to a given
location to find victims.
Marauders stick to one locale
but offend all around it.
In this case, the Northeast.
Yeah, that's his crime range.
So he lives somewhere,
in here.
Hundred square miles.
Doesn't exactly narrow it down.
- Yeah, where do we start?
- Actually, we start
with the one crime that was
in our jurisdiction
Gwen Markham.
They located a body.
From 2002?
Did Homicide find any
forensic evidence on the body?
It was over 20 years ago,
but, forensics has improved
exponentially since then.
We're gonna exhume her?
Yes, with permission
from the family.
So what's the overlap
of these two New York cases?
Markham and Dao
both went missing
while headed home alone.
So Gwen Markham
here in Washington Heights
and Kimberly Dao in the Hudson Valley.
During the same time period?
About two years apart,
but it's close enough.
Now, Gwen Markham's family still lives
in the same place they did
when she went missing.
They willing to talk?
We won't know
till we knock on their door.
Fin and I are gonna talk
to the Markhams.
Kim Dao has a father.
He owns a dry cleaners upstate.
Velasco and Bruno,
if you could talk to Mr. Dao.
And, Curry,
see if you can come up
with any labs on Gwen Markham.
Okay.
♪
Every weekend,
Gwen and I would ride our bikes
along the river, down to the Village.
That weekend was no different.
So you and Gwen were
first cousins?
Mm-hmm.
You must have been close.
- They were the same age.
- She was like a sister to me.
If you don't mind,
I'd like to ask you
to take us back to the day
that Gwen went missing.
[SIGHS]
It was July 19th.
It was summer.
We were off from school.
Gwen and I just got back from
one of our long bike rides.
Before she left,
I asked her to pick up eggs.
She forgot.
So you sent her back out?
It wasn't even late.
Back then, you knew people
in the neighborhood by name.
They'd wave, say hello.
It still don't make no sense.
We looked for days,
everyone did.
My aunt and uncle
We-we got all the tenants
in the building,
next door, the whole street.
After all that,
she was found by a dog.
[GROANS, SCOFFS]
Why are you dredging up the past?
Mr. Markham,
I appreciate how
How hard this is,
how difficult it is.
But we're just looking for any details
that the initial investigators
may have missed.
After 22 years, I still
remember her smile, her laugh.
But all the rest of that stuff,
the pain surrounding
the investigation,
we all locked it away
because it never went nowhere.
We understand your frustration.
As far as I'm concerned,
we buried all this with Gwen.
And whoever took her,
I hope he's underneath
the ground now, too,
and that his soul is burning in hell.
Lee, they only want to help.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
I'm sorry.
We don't mean to cause you
any more pain than you've
already gone through,
believe me.
The last time,
cops just gave up.
They left us
without any answers.
That's why we're here.
[CELL PHONE BUZZING]
If you would excuse me.
Of course.
Listen, if you think of anything,
day or night, give us a call,
doesn't matter.
If you guys are gonna
start all this again,
you better finish it.
I would be happy to.
No, no, no.
It's not any trouble at all.
I-I think we can get there
in, in probably two hours.
Great.
Thank you so much,
and thank you for calling me back.
Okay. See you soon.
- Who was that?
- I think I just figured out
a way around our
jurisdictional limitations.
- You did?
- That was the retired detective
on the Crystal Sykes
kidnapping case.
And he wants to talk to us?
What does he have to add
other than giving us
probable cause to include her
along with the New York cases?
Well, you can ask him yourself
after you drive us to Allentown.
Come on, let's take the stairs.
My daughter is still
out there.
She's coming home one day.
It's good to have hope.
She's 38, a woman now.
Who knows?
Is that your daughter?
Yes, that's Kim.
- She's beautiful.
- Thank you.
I don't have
a more recent photo of her,
but, I'm sure she still is.
Maybe she escaped
the man who took her
and just couldn't
find her way home.
Maybe she settled down
somewhere.
Maybe she got married.
[CHUCKLING]
I might be a grandfather.
Mr. Dao, we've been going
over your daughter's case file.
Is there anything else,
you can tell us about
Kim's disappearance?
You know, something, um,
you wouldn't know to tell
the police back in 2000.
You mean the greeting cards?
[TENSE MUSIC]
- Greeting cards?
- What greeting cards?
Handwritten, from Kimmy,
for different holidays.
You're saying your daughter
sent you holiday cards?
For years after she went missing.
And you think it was Kim's writing?
One day they just stopped.
How long after they started?
Like I said, uh, a few years.
Haven't gotten one since.
You think maybe this means
Kimmy escaped?
Where are
these greeting cards now?
♪
I want them back
[CHUCKLES]
In case Kimmy asks for them someday.
Lemonade.
Made it myself,
just like the wife used to.
Well, thank you,
Detective McCluskey.
I haven't been Detective
McCluskey in 20 years now.
Please, call me Ed.
- Ed.
- I gotta say,
I was glad you called.
But, why did you two start looking
at Crystal Sykes's old case?
- Curiosity.
- You know, we came, uh,
across your name on ViCAP,
and we were wondering what
what you remembered.
The thing that case taught me
memory is a monster.
I forget
It doesn't.
When's the last time
you got a call about her?
I keep in touch with Shannah
and her parents from time to time,
exchange Christmas cards,
run into each other every
couple of years in a
supermarket.
But, as far as hearing
from another cop,
this is the first time
in a long, long while.
♪
That photo looks a lot like
the one that Shannah showed me.
Who do you think
gave it to her?
How long ago?
After I found out she was
going to the FBI Academy.
What, you thought
it would motivate her?
I thought it might just
stop her from blaming herself.
But instead, Shannah just
locked it away in her purse.
Well, like you said,
memory is a monster.
Part of me thinks
that Crystal's case
is the only thing
keeping me alive.
You know, maybe the same goes
for Shannah.
Maybe she thinks that,
if she solves this case,
it'll take away the one thing
that's driving her.
Is that why you're going
behind her back?
Lying has a bad rep,
but it can be
pretty therapeutic.
Especially when you're going
for a greater truth.
Look
We put together
a geographic Venn diagram.
We've narrowed down
the perp's home base
to about a hundred square miles.
You gonna tell her
you're looking into it?
As soon as you find the guy.
- Me?
- We can't look
outside of New York
on this one.
Not without catching
a rain of hellfire from 1PP.
Well, I'm gonna
catch a rain of hellfire
from Shannah if she finds out
- I'm looking into it.
- Well, I'm not gonna tell her,
and neither is he.
Are you?
No.
Then we will send you
everything we have.
What the hell else have I got to do?
Lab get anything
off those greeting cards?
Well, I see
the sender was smart enough
to leave off the return addresses.
But what they didn't know
on the backside
of every letter is
a small barcode.
- It's called a VES tag.
- And?
TARU traced the point of origin
to a PO box in Bayonne, New Jersey.
- A name attached?
- Yeah, Ronald Givens.
- He have a record?
- He had a DUI in the '80s.
Other than that, he's clean.
Okay.
You get in contact with him?
Not without a Ouija board.
Givens died in 2012.
But he had a son named Ronnie Jr.
So head out to Jersey and see
what this Givens guy remembers
about his father.
And then we have Gwen Markham.
Yeah, managed to locate
her grave out in Queens.
Did you track down the tech
who did the original work?
Found one guy who was just
an assistant tech at the time.
He remembers him
and his old supervisor
pulling samples, but
- Nothing conclusive?
- No.
But that doesn't mean anything.
I mean, like you said,
technology's made leaps
and bounds since then.
It's at least enough
for a request for exhumation.
Look, I'm going to get Carisi
to push through
the court order, right?
It should be straightforward,
provided the parents go along with it.
From what you said
about how they reacted
to a whole new set of cops showing up,
it's a pretty big if.
My dad didn't send those.
Well, we think he did.
Kim Dao went missing
back in the summer of 2000.
Sure, I remember.
It was all over the local news.
Well, someone sent these
greeting cards to her father.
"Dear Dad, Daddy, I miss you.
Love, Kim."
Again, my dad
didn't send those.
Well, they came from a PO box
in your dad's name.
I know.
I sent them.
You sent them?
I was 14, same age as Kim.
You tortured her poor father.
You gave him false hope.
I was only trying to help.
Well, you're gonna have
to walk me through that.
Look, I thought Kim was
kind of cute
when I saw her picture
on the news.
I-I bonded with her.
You mean you fantasized about her.
I remember seeing her dad on TV
pleading for her safe return.
I also read that the police
investigation was stalled,
so I-I figured,
if he got some letters,
it might give them a reason
to keep looking.
And then what?
She'd get rescued
and invite you to prom?
I was an unpopular kid
who wanted his life to be as big as
what I was reading
in true crime books.
So what happened?
Why'd you stop?
I moved onto other stuff.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Anything else I can help you with?
Actually, there is.
You know,
if you'd licked the envelopes,
you could have saved us a trip.
Open up and say "ah."
So the greeting cards were sent
to Kim Dao's father by a teenager?
A true crime buff
with a vic fetish.
Yeah, he was 14
when Kim Dao went missing.
Doesn't rule him out
as a suspect.
Well, we have his DNA.
So when we exhume Gwen,
we have something to test it against.
Gwen's been buried
for over 20 years.
If the ground was wet
or the coffin got ruptured
- [CELL PHONE BUZZES]
- Who says we'll even get
- a viable sample?
- Ah, it's Carisi.
Hey, how'd it go?
What?
What happened?
I kn
I know, but can't you
Okay.
No, I understand.
So the court order was denied.
You were right.
Her parents don't want their
daughter's grave site disturbed.
There's got to be
another way around that, no?
What about the cousin, Cal?
He did seem pretty gung-ho
about solving it.
Maybe we can use him
to talk to the parents.
Let's do that.
So this is where she went missing
At least from what we think,
'cause the cops found
the carton of eggs
that she went out to buy
in the trash over there.
With your aunt and uncle
standing in our way,
it's gonna be next to impossible,
to exhume Gwen.
Well, you're the cops.
Can't you just, like,
subpoena them or something?
Yeah, unfortunately,
it doesn't work like that.
With no new evidence,
our DA's gonna tell us
to pound sand.
So
Do you think you can
talk sense into them?
I'll try.
But my uncle's head is harder
than the wood on that bench.
Well, you were the last one
to see her alive, weren't you?
[LAUGHS DRYLY] Yeah.
Before she went missing,
we made a plan to
meet at a handball court
in a schoolyard not far from here.
My friend Tony, we were gonna
teach her how to play.
So you have an alibi?
I told those cops everything
I know back in the day.
And as soon as they hit
a dead end just like this,
they start gunning
for me as a suspect.
Did you help them?
Were you, were you honest?
Yeah, you're damn right
I told them the truth.
I wanted to find whoever hurt Gwen.
I still do.
You know what?
Y-you two,
you talked a real big game yesterday.
But it turns out you're just
like all the other cops.
- He's right, you know.
- No, he's not.
This case went cold
- for a reason, Liv.
- Hey, Cal.
Wait up.
We're not giving up on Gwen,
and neither should you.
I'm sick of feeling powerless.
Well, then do something about it.
Look, you were young
when Gwen went missing.
But you're not a helpless
teenager anymore.
You're a grown man.
Maybe there were details
about this case that
you wanted to forget,
that you filed away,
that you kept hidden,
because you weren't ready
to deal with them.
I need you to rack your brain,
because if your aunt
and uncle won't help us
[SOFT SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
We need to bring
something bigger to court.
- Like what?
- Like new evidence.
A new suspect?
Something, that will cut
through the red tape.
♪
How'd the cousin take it?
He's frustrated.
The guy lost hope a long time ago.
Can't say I blame him.
But without that court order,
Gwen Markham doesn't get us
any closer to our marauder.
You track down next of kin
for any of the other open cases?
- No one who was willing to talk.
- [CELL PHONE BUZZES]
Yeah, we're stuck with
what we have in front of us.
We can re-canvass
the Markham case
and go after old witnesses.
I already tried, just
a bunch of circles.
Hey, guys,
I got to take this.
- Ed.
- Captain, um,
I got a copy
of that map you sent me,
and it got me thinking
about the Polaroids.
Polaroids, why?
Particularly in the other
two cases, where
where the Polaroids were found
in the woods, uh,
Scranton, Cherry Hill
just like Crystal's.
If I didn't know
better, I would say that,
the guy got married
around those years.
Why would you say that?
Well, the Polaroids
are souvenirs, right?
And he was suddenly scared
somebody he loved would find them.
Absolutely.
Uh, Ed
Ed, I got to go.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Cal, what's going on?
I did it.
I killed Gwen.
So I raped and killed
my own cousin.
♪
So this guy just walks in
and confesses
to a 22-year-old murder?
Apparently so.
So what's the play here?
Take his confession,
you and Curry.
All right, by the book.
We Mirandize him,
record the statement.
I expect nothing less
from you, Captain.
Mr. Markham,
do you understand
the rights
I've just read to you?
I do.
I don't need a lawyer.
Okay, then.
What do you want to tell us?
I've been waiting for
this moment for a long time.
[TENSE MUSIC]
It was me. I killed Gwen.
Walk us through
what happened.
[STAMMERING] You know how I, I-I
I told those original cops
that I was supposed to meet Gwen
at a handball court nearby?
You had an alibi.
Your friend Tony said you
were at the courts with him.
Yeah, that's the thing.
He, uh
Tony lied for me.
The truth is, is that I went
to the deli with her.
And, uh
I tried to get her to do stuff
with me on the walk back.
Your own cousin?
Yeah, I know it's sick.
But
I was having a bad time that summer.
I was lonely.
I was angry.
I'd watch her get dressed sometimes,
and I'd wonder.
Okay.
Then what?
Then she tried screaming,
and it freaked me out, so, uh
I put my hand on her throat,
you know, just to try
to get her to quiet down.
And, uh
She stopped breathing.
[CLEARS THROAT]
So I hid her body
behind a rock wall,
under some brush.
[SNIFFLES]
Mr. Markham,
is there a reason why
you're confessing now?
So, uh,
everyone can have closure
All of us
Including me.
What'd you say to him at the park
when you went after him?
I told him that we're not giving up,
but
We needed new evidence.
And then, poof, magically
he makes a full confession?
Well, I didn't put him up to it.
And the only way to clear him
is to exhume Gwen Markham's body.
If you think that
that's a false confession,
then you and I both know
that's the only way to do it.
And funnily enough,
it's also the best way
to ID Crystal Sykes's killer.
Yes, and I'm just
as surprised as you are.
This guy's going to Rikers.
And if it makes you feel
more comfortable,
I can have him sent to the
Brooklyn House of Detention.
And what happens if
there's no DNA on the body?
DNA is a very durable molecule.
If it's there,
the M.E. will find it.
For this guy's sake,
I hope so.
What are we looking for?
Low-level touch samples,
residual semen
No, I mean, why is Benson
so obsessed with this case?
You know Benson,
bringing closure to the families.
Yeah, but this is
a bit above and beyond,
don't you think?
Captain, some good news from the lab.
They found DNA
on Gwen's body?
Touch DNA, and they were able
to pull a profile from
the traces of semen.
- We get an actual match?
- Excluding Cal
Okay, good.
And our true crime nut,
Ronnie Jr.
But nothing in CODIS
on the actual perp?
Not so far.
All right, what about
the genealogical websites?
They're working on that.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Jane Doe?
Might as well have had
the common courtesy
- to use her name.
- Shannah, listen to me.
- I can explain all of this.
- I asked you to leave
my sister's case alone.
What, you didn't think I'd
I'd find out
with all my contacts
in Allentown?
Of course I did.
But I read your sister's file
[LAUGHING DRYLY]
Well, hold on.
It looks like you did
a little more than that.
- I mean, look at this board.
- And I found
that there were five
other missing girls.
This is not about the vics.
This is not about me.
This is about you.
This guy has been at
this for over 30 years.
- Mm-hmm.
- There are five other open cases,
which means there
are five other families
involved in this, Shannah.
So it's not about you,
- or me or Crystal.
- Oh, okay.
- It's bigger than us.
- You know what?
Allentown PD paid a visit
to my parents today.
My mother called me crying.
- What can I do?
- I want you to leave it alone.
I'm sorry, but I
I can't do that.
Embedding here was a mistake.
I'm sorry you feel that way,
because I certainly don't.
Good luck with your open cases.
I hope they help distract you
from your own endless
amounts of baggage.
I know that this is painful
Johnny D.
William Lewis.
You think you're the only one
who can look into
someone's background?
♪
Hey, Fin, I really don't need
an "I told you so" from you.
Have I ever?
No, you haven't, but
Probably should have told Sykes.
It's better to ask for
forgiveness than permission,
the 16th Precinct way, right?
I don't see forgiveness
coming my way anytime soon.
But we did get new forensics
off Gwen's body.
At least you were right about that.
And what about Cal,
sitting in the Brooklyn House of D
on a false confession?
Carisi said he'll
work it out with the DA.
[CELL PHONE BUZZES]
Ah.
Well, I hope I don't have
to ask for more forgiveness.
Hey.
Carisi says he'll ROR
Cal Markham by end of day.
Okay.
You want me to tell Cal
the good news, or you want to?
Well let's let's both do it.
And who's gonna tell
Bruno and Curry
they got fed
a false confession?
You're the sergeant.
[LAUGHS]
I'll tell Bruno,
but the last thing I need is
Curry going all IAB on my ass.
Okay.
My client did not murder
his cousin.
- And we know that.
- But he did confess.
I did, and I'd do it again.
I just wanted to find the real killer.
And we know that, too.
So did you find this guy?
We're getting closer.
We got a DNA hit off her body.
- And?
- We're still tracing it.
Meanwhile, when is my client
getting out of here?
I spoke with the ADA, and
the charges will be dropped.
- When?
- We're working on that.
I don't care,
just as long as you find
whoever killed Gwen.
Promise me that.
I'll tell you what we can promise you,
that we're doing everything we can.
Well, all said and done,
Cal won't be able
to sue the department,
not when it was his idea.
Huh, great news.
Curry got a genealogical
match off the DNA.
- How much of a match?
- Thank you.
A daughter, Hanna Kincaid, 35,
lives in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
I did that genetic test so long ago.
My husband didn't believe
that I have Welsh blood.
Proved him wrong.
Best part of any marriage.
But what does this have to do
with a police investigation
in Manhattan?
We're looking
into a series of crimes
that ended over 20 years ago.
I don't understand.
We have DNA evidence
that you might be a
genealogical match to
a person we're interested in,
a male relative.
That's impossible.
The person we're looking
for would be in their
60s or 70s by now.
You know anybody in that age range?
Just my dad.
He turned 72 last month.
But my father is not a criminal.
He coached my T-ball team,
took us camping.
What did he do for a living?
Insurance claims adjuster.
Let me guess, traveled a lot
around the East Coast?
[TENSE MUSIC]
Oh, he's a good man.
He goes to church,
has grandchildren.
He's been happily married
to my mother for 40 years.
Today is their anniversary.
I'm headed there now.
Where's the party?
You ready to blow out
our candles, sweetheart?
[LAUGHTER]
[INHALES DEEPLY]
[CHEERS]
Thank you. Thank you.
♪
Can I help you?
What's this?
We're looking for Richard Kincaid.
Well, that's my husband.
Who are you people?
Manhattan SVU.
What's going on?
We have some questions
we need to ask him.
Where is he?
Hey!
Hey.
NYPD.
Hey!
Hands on your head.
Do you like taking photos
of young girls?
Wh-wh
I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, then what's
with the go bag?
Huh?
Packed and ready to flee
a stack of cash,
change of clothes,
and a .357.
Sitting here waiting all these years.
You've been expecting us, huh?
Richard, what's going on?
- Rich No.
- I don't understand this.
I mean, why are you doing
this to me?
For Crystal,
and for all the other girls.
It's over, Richard.
I need you to search everywhere.
Rip this house apart if you have to.
We know that he liked
to keep Polaroids as trophies.
So there's got to be
a stash somewhere.
You didn't hide the Polaroids
when you got married.
You hid them when she was
old enough to find them.
♪
So one of our dogs found this,
out behind your home.
This is Gwen Markham.
Do you remember her?
She disappeared from
a park in Manhattan.
That photo looks like
a long time ago.
It was.
But, we just found out that,
your DNA,
matches the DNA on her body.
A 22-year-old sample.
It's degraded.
A well-preserved sample like this,
half-life's over 500 years.
This is Kim Dao.
She went missing
while riding her scooter home
from a sleepover,
Middletown, New York.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Peyton Freeman,
she was walking to a gas station
to buy her stepdad cigarettes.
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
You may have DNA in
the Markham case, but,
you have no genetic
evidence tying my client
to any of these other cases.
Okay, so how do you explain
the Polaroids found
stashed in the woods?
For all you know,
he found them in the woods,
like the kids who found
Crystal Sykes's Polaroids.
That's right. I found them.
You found them?
Well, aside from being a
marauder-type serial predator,
your client's a very bad liar.
MO is the same.
Teenage girls, taken.
They were alone, no witnesses,
all in the Northeast.
♪
Crystal Sykes,
she was biking to a
local swimming pool.
You cut and dyed her hair.
- I remember her.
- Richard,
I'd advise you to stop talking.
He's already looking at life
in prison for Gwen's murder.
And Pennsylvania
has the death penalty.
What do you want?
I want to know where
these bodies are buried.
And if you cooperate with me,
then the Pennsylvania DA
will try to avoid capital punishment.
And that way you get
to see your wife,
you get to see
your grandchildren.
Richard, I advise you against this.
No.
I could live for another 20 years.
I want to see my grandkids grow up.
Well, that's a lot
more than your victims
or, their families will ever have.
I'll show you
where the girls are buried
All of them.
♪
I made the choice to kill her,
after finding this place
a beautiful place,
for a beautiful young girl.
Peyton almost talked
me out of strangling her.
My whole life had
felt pretty pointless,
until I started this.
These girls were so pretty,
so young.
I wanted them to stay that way.
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
- Hey.
- Hi.
- Where's the M.E.?
- I asked him
to give us a minute.
Is that her?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
You know, um,
if you want to be sure
Are you asking me for DNA?
♪
I asked you to leave it alone.
Why didn't you?
I did it for Crystal.
[CHOKING UP]
It really hurts.
Please tell me what I can do.
[CRYING] I'm sorry.
Just give me some space for a sec.
♪
[SOBBING]
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.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SPIN DOCTORS' "TWO PRINCES"
PLAYING FAINTLY]
♪
[LAUGHTER]
This is it, folks.
It's moments like this
where it all comes down
to one shot at glory.
The crowd's on their feet
in Allentown tonight
to cheer on its hamper hero,
Crystal Sykes!
And that's some bread now ♪
This one said he wants ♪
To buy you rockets ♪
Shannah, I just want
to go to the pool.
Yeah, well, Mom said
we had to clean our room.
Okay, but this is your sock.
So why don't you just walk it
to the hamper?
Because that's boring, idiot.
Oh, my God, it stinks.
Eh, well, all the more reason
to make this shot.
With the game on the line,
Crystal makes the free throw!
- Yeah!
- [BOTH GRUNT]
Shannah, phone call.
Who is it?
- Michael.
- Yuck.
Hey, don't say that.
He's nice.
Shannah, I'm melting.
Just go ahead without me.
I'll meet you there.
Just go ahead now ♪
And if you'd like to tell me "maybe" ♪
Just go ahead now ♪
And if you would like ♪
To buy me flowers ♪
Just go ahead now ♪
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
♪
Damn, girl.
Picked a hell of a day
to bike to the pool.
It's hot out here.
Not when I get there
it won't be.
Well, you ain't gonna
make it like that.
Tire's flat.
You got a bike pump?
No.
But I'm going to the pool,
same as you.
How about I give you a lift?
My sister should be coming
up the road any minute now.
Well, so you'll
beat her there.
My mom said not
to go with strangers.
[CHUCKLES]
I ain't asking you to get in.
Come on.
Hop in the back with your bike.
What's the matter, silly?
Never rode in the bed
of a pickup truck before?
Have too.
Well, come on then.
Toss it up in there.
♪
Don't worry.
I'll help you.
[ENGINE TURNS OVER]
♪
Hey.
Hey.
Thank you for meeting me.
You're the one who called.
Yeah, well,
you haven't come into work
since the Brouchard trial.
Yeah, I got your messages.
Yeah, and you didn't
call me back.
Uh, I'll take another.
And for my friend
- No, thanks, I'm good.
- All right, just the one.
Thank you.
Look, I know that
I'm not your boss,
but, is everything okay?
Oh, yeah.
Well, that is the most
"no" sounding "yeah"
I've ever heard in my life.
[LAUGHS]
Thank you.
It was the, um,
anniversary of her
disappearance three days ago.
- Oh, your sister?
- Yeah, Crystal.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
So that's, uh
That's why you went MIA?
Look, if you don't want
to talk to me, then
How about a good therapist?
[SCOFFS]
I got my own way
of dealing with things, okay?
So listen, I talked to Clay,
and, uh,
he's putting me on a case.
There's a missing boy
in Wisconsin.
How come you don't just try
to find your sister?
Honestly,
I'd just rather move on.
Well, is this
your way of moving on?
- [LAUGHS]
- Throwing a grenade
into your life
with a three-day bender?
All right.
- All right.
- I know that you're
too tough for therapy and
And closure, but, um
But what about your parents?
My parents are 70.
You don't think they want
to know what happened?
I think it nearly killed them
when the wrong remains
were found 20 years ago.
And what if he's still
out there hurting young girls?
You've dedicated your life
to helping victims.
Okay. Okay.
I don't need to know
what happened to my sister
to do my job.
Listen, you're drunk,
so at least let me
drive you home, okay?
I guess I will see you
when I see you.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Morning.
Good morning.
I can smell the mildew
on those files from here.
What case you working on,
disappearance
of the Lindbergh baby?
I caught a cold case last night.
Last night?
I thought you were with Sykes.
Yeah, I was.
So what's happening with her?
Is she coming back?
You know, Fin, to be honest
with you, I really don't know.
I think, um,
Sykes has some stuff
that she needs to work out.
Some of that stuff
wouldn't have to do
with her missing sister?
Okay, you didn't exactly
catch a cold case.
It caught you.
Okay.
So I went through
Crystal Sykes' case files
on, on ViCAP.
Sykes know that?
No, and she doesn't need
to hear it from you.
Fair enough.
What'd you find out?
So ViCAP flagged
some other abduction cases
that were in Connecticut,
New Jersey, and New York.
But didn't Sykes grow up
in Allentown?
Yes, and that's why I think
that we're looking at a marauder.
A serial predator that works an area.
So Crystal Sykes had
Polaroids taken of her
that were found in
the woods as evidence.
Now, I found some other cases
that were similar.
So where do we start?
We get lucky, trace the guy
through the camera?
Well, I already woke up
this poor kid at TARU
at 3:00 in the morning
and hit a dead end at the factory.
You know,
these Polaroids are analog.
No metadata.
You didn't happen to wake up
any of the white
shirts at 1PP, did you?
Uh, no.
Why would I do that?
Just wondering how they would
feel about Manhattan SVU
going after a 27-year-old
case in Allentown.
Well, luckily for us,
one of the cases
is actually in our jurisdiction.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Gwen Markham,
missing in 2002.
- Well, at least that's this century.
- Look
And a body was recovered.
And, maybe, there could be
some biological evidence
that they didn't think
was valuable, but is now.
That's worth looking into,
but this is gonna get messy.
I mean, we can keep this
from Sykes,
but what do we tell
the rest of the squad?
We tell them that
we're just doing our jobs.
We're looking at six cold cases,
all missing girls over
a decade-long time span.
Why are we looking into this now?
Because, uh, Carisi has
a case coming up on appeal
- And?
- He asked me to look into it.
So there are two kinds
of serial predators.
There are commuters, and marauders.
Commuters travel to a given
location to find victims.
Marauders stick to one locale
but offend all around it.
In this case, the Northeast.
Yeah, that's his crime range.
So he lives somewhere,
in here.
Hundred square miles.
Doesn't exactly narrow it down.
- Yeah, where do we start?
- Actually, we start
with the one crime that was
in our jurisdiction
Gwen Markham.
They located a body.
From 2002?
Did Homicide find any
forensic evidence on the body?
It was over 20 years ago,
but, forensics has improved
exponentially since then.
We're gonna exhume her?
Yes, with permission
from the family.
So what's the overlap
of these two New York cases?
Markham and Dao
both went missing
while headed home alone.
So Gwen Markham
here in Washington Heights
and Kimberly Dao in the Hudson Valley.
During the same time period?
About two years apart,
but it's close enough.
Now, Gwen Markham's family still lives
in the same place they did
when she went missing.
They willing to talk?
We won't know
till we knock on their door.
Fin and I are gonna talk
to the Markhams.
Kim Dao has a father.
He owns a dry cleaners upstate.
Velasco and Bruno,
if you could talk to Mr. Dao.
And, Curry,
see if you can come up
with any labs on Gwen Markham.
Okay.
♪
Every weekend,
Gwen and I would ride our bikes
along the river, down to the Village.
That weekend was no different.
So you and Gwen were
first cousins?
Mm-hmm.
You must have been close.
- They were the same age.
- She was like a sister to me.
If you don't mind,
I'd like to ask you
to take us back to the day
that Gwen went missing.
[SIGHS]
It was July 19th.
It was summer.
We were off from school.
Gwen and I just got back from
one of our long bike rides.
Before she left,
I asked her to pick up eggs.
She forgot.
So you sent her back out?
It wasn't even late.
Back then, you knew people
in the neighborhood by name.
They'd wave, say hello.
It still don't make no sense.
We looked for days,
everyone did.
My aunt and uncle
We-we got all the tenants
in the building,
next door, the whole street.
After all that,
she was found by a dog.
[GROANS, SCOFFS]
Why are you dredging up the past?
Mr. Markham,
I appreciate how
How hard this is,
how difficult it is.
But we're just looking for any details
that the initial investigators
may have missed.
After 22 years, I still
remember her smile, her laugh.
But all the rest of that stuff,
the pain surrounding
the investigation,
we all locked it away
because it never went nowhere.
We understand your frustration.
As far as I'm concerned,
we buried all this with Gwen.
And whoever took her,
I hope he's underneath
the ground now, too,
and that his soul is burning in hell.
Lee, they only want to help.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
I'm sorry.
We don't mean to cause you
any more pain than you've
already gone through,
believe me.
The last time,
cops just gave up.
They left us
without any answers.
That's why we're here.
[CELL PHONE BUZZING]
If you would excuse me.
Of course.
Listen, if you think of anything,
day or night, give us a call,
doesn't matter.
If you guys are gonna
start all this again,
you better finish it.
I would be happy to.
No, no, no.
It's not any trouble at all.
I-I think we can get there
in, in probably two hours.
Great.
Thank you so much,
and thank you for calling me back.
Okay. See you soon.
- Who was that?
- I think I just figured out
a way around our
jurisdictional limitations.
- You did?
- That was the retired detective
on the Crystal Sykes
kidnapping case.
And he wants to talk to us?
What does he have to add
other than giving us
probable cause to include her
along with the New York cases?
Well, you can ask him yourself
after you drive us to Allentown.
Come on, let's take the stairs.
My daughter is still
out there.
She's coming home one day.
It's good to have hope.
She's 38, a woman now.
Who knows?
Is that your daughter?
Yes, that's Kim.
- She's beautiful.
- Thank you.
I don't have
a more recent photo of her,
but, I'm sure she still is.
Maybe she escaped
the man who took her
and just couldn't
find her way home.
Maybe she settled down
somewhere.
Maybe she got married.
[CHUCKLING]
I might be a grandfather.
Mr. Dao, we've been going
over your daughter's case file.
Is there anything else,
you can tell us about
Kim's disappearance?
You know, something, um,
you wouldn't know to tell
the police back in 2000.
You mean the greeting cards?
[TENSE MUSIC]
- Greeting cards?
- What greeting cards?
Handwritten, from Kimmy,
for different holidays.
You're saying your daughter
sent you holiday cards?
For years after she went missing.
And you think it was Kim's writing?
One day they just stopped.
How long after they started?
Like I said, uh, a few years.
Haven't gotten one since.
You think maybe this means
Kimmy escaped?
Where are
these greeting cards now?
♪
I want them back
[CHUCKLES]
In case Kimmy asks for them someday.
Lemonade.
Made it myself,
just like the wife used to.
Well, thank you,
Detective McCluskey.
I haven't been Detective
McCluskey in 20 years now.
Please, call me Ed.
- Ed.
- I gotta say,
I was glad you called.
But, why did you two start looking
at Crystal Sykes's old case?
- Curiosity.
- You know, we came, uh,
across your name on ViCAP,
and we were wondering what
what you remembered.
The thing that case taught me
memory is a monster.
I forget
It doesn't.
When's the last time
you got a call about her?
I keep in touch with Shannah
and her parents from time to time,
exchange Christmas cards,
run into each other every
couple of years in a
supermarket.
But, as far as hearing
from another cop,
this is the first time
in a long, long while.
♪
That photo looks a lot like
the one that Shannah showed me.
Who do you think
gave it to her?
How long ago?
After I found out she was
going to the FBI Academy.
What, you thought
it would motivate her?
I thought it might just
stop her from blaming herself.
But instead, Shannah just
locked it away in her purse.
Well, like you said,
memory is a monster.
Part of me thinks
that Crystal's case
is the only thing
keeping me alive.
You know, maybe the same goes
for Shannah.
Maybe she thinks that,
if she solves this case,
it'll take away the one thing
that's driving her.
Is that why you're going
behind her back?
Lying has a bad rep,
but it can be
pretty therapeutic.
Especially when you're going
for a greater truth.
Look
We put together
a geographic Venn diagram.
We've narrowed down
the perp's home base
to about a hundred square miles.
You gonna tell her
you're looking into it?
As soon as you find the guy.
- Me?
- We can't look
outside of New York
on this one.
Not without catching
a rain of hellfire from 1PP.
Well, I'm gonna
catch a rain of hellfire
from Shannah if she finds out
- I'm looking into it.
- Well, I'm not gonna tell her,
and neither is he.
Are you?
No.
Then we will send you
everything we have.
What the hell else have I got to do?
Lab get anything
off those greeting cards?
Well, I see
the sender was smart enough
to leave off the return addresses.
But what they didn't know
on the backside
of every letter is
a small barcode.
- It's called a VES tag.
- And?
TARU traced the point of origin
to a PO box in Bayonne, New Jersey.
- A name attached?
- Yeah, Ronald Givens.
- He have a record?
- He had a DUI in the '80s.
Other than that, he's clean.
Okay.
You get in contact with him?
Not without a Ouija board.
Givens died in 2012.
But he had a son named Ronnie Jr.
So head out to Jersey and see
what this Givens guy remembers
about his father.
And then we have Gwen Markham.
Yeah, managed to locate
her grave out in Queens.
Did you track down the tech
who did the original work?
Found one guy who was just
an assistant tech at the time.
He remembers him
and his old supervisor
pulling samples, but
- Nothing conclusive?
- No.
But that doesn't mean anything.
I mean, like you said,
technology's made leaps
and bounds since then.
It's at least enough
for a request for exhumation.
Look, I'm going to get Carisi
to push through
the court order, right?
It should be straightforward,
provided the parents go along with it.
From what you said
about how they reacted
to a whole new set of cops showing up,
it's a pretty big if.
My dad didn't send those.
Well, we think he did.
Kim Dao went missing
back in the summer of 2000.
Sure, I remember.
It was all over the local news.
Well, someone sent these
greeting cards to her father.
"Dear Dad, Daddy, I miss you.
Love, Kim."
Again, my dad
didn't send those.
Well, they came from a PO box
in your dad's name.
I know.
I sent them.
You sent them?
I was 14, same age as Kim.
You tortured her poor father.
You gave him false hope.
I was only trying to help.
Well, you're gonna have
to walk me through that.
Look, I thought Kim was
kind of cute
when I saw her picture
on the news.
I-I bonded with her.
You mean you fantasized about her.
I remember seeing her dad on TV
pleading for her safe return.
I also read that the police
investigation was stalled,
so I-I figured,
if he got some letters,
it might give them a reason
to keep looking.
And then what?
She'd get rescued
and invite you to prom?
I was an unpopular kid
who wanted his life to be as big as
what I was reading
in true crime books.
So what happened?
Why'd you stop?
I moved onto other stuff.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Anything else I can help you with?
Actually, there is.
You know,
if you'd licked the envelopes,
you could have saved us a trip.
Open up and say "ah."
So the greeting cards were sent
to Kim Dao's father by a teenager?
A true crime buff
with a vic fetish.
Yeah, he was 14
when Kim Dao went missing.
Doesn't rule him out
as a suspect.
Well, we have his DNA.
So when we exhume Gwen,
we have something to test it against.
Gwen's been buried
for over 20 years.
If the ground was wet
or the coffin got ruptured
- [CELL PHONE BUZZES]
- Who says we'll even get
- a viable sample?
- Ah, it's Carisi.
Hey, how'd it go?
What?
What happened?
I kn
I know, but can't you
Okay.
No, I understand.
So the court order was denied.
You were right.
Her parents don't want their
daughter's grave site disturbed.
There's got to be
another way around that, no?
What about the cousin, Cal?
He did seem pretty gung-ho
about solving it.
Maybe we can use him
to talk to the parents.
Let's do that.
So this is where she went missing
At least from what we think,
'cause the cops found
the carton of eggs
that she went out to buy
in the trash over there.
With your aunt and uncle
standing in our way,
it's gonna be next to impossible,
to exhume Gwen.
Well, you're the cops.
Can't you just, like,
subpoena them or something?
Yeah, unfortunately,
it doesn't work like that.
With no new evidence,
our DA's gonna tell us
to pound sand.
So
Do you think you can
talk sense into them?
I'll try.
But my uncle's head is harder
than the wood on that bench.
Well, you were the last one
to see her alive, weren't you?
[LAUGHS DRYLY] Yeah.
Before she went missing,
we made a plan to
meet at a handball court
in a schoolyard not far from here.
My friend Tony, we were gonna
teach her how to play.
So you have an alibi?
I told those cops everything
I know back in the day.
And as soon as they hit
a dead end just like this,
they start gunning
for me as a suspect.
Did you help them?
Were you, were you honest?
Yeah, you're damn right
I told them the truth.
I wanted to find whoever hurt Gwen.
I still do.
You know what?
Y-you two,
you talked a real big game yesterday.
But it turns out you're just
like all the other cops.
- He's right, you know.
- No, he's not.
This case went cold
- for a reason, Liv.
- Hey, Cal.
Wait up.
We're not giving up on Gwen,
and neither should you.
I'm sick of feeling powerless.
Well, then do something about it.
Look, you were young
when Gwen went missing.
But you're not a helpless
teenager anymore.
You're a grown man.
Maybe there were details
about this case that
you wanted to forget,
that you filed away,
that you kept hidden,
because you weren't ready
to deal with them.
I need you to rack your brain,
because if your aunt
and uncle won't help us
[SOFT SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
We need to bring
something bigger to court.
- Like what?
- Like new evidence.
A new suspect?
Something, that will cut
through the red tape.
♪
How'd the cousin take it?
He's frustrated.
The guy lost hope a long time ago.
Can't say I blame him.
But without that court order,
Gwen Markham doesn't get us
any closer to our marauder.
You track down next of kin
for any of the other open cases?
- No one who was willing to talk.
- [CELL PHONE BUZZES]
Yeah, we're stuck with
what we have in front of us.
We can re-canvass
the Markham case
and go after old witnesses.
I already tried, just
a bunch of circles.
Hey, guys,
I got to take this.
- Ed.
- Captain, um,
I got a copy
of that map you sent me,
and it got me thinking
about the Polaroids.
Polaroids, why?
Particularly in the other
two cases, where
where the Polaroids were found
in the woods, uh,
Scranton, Cherry Hill
just like Crystal's.
If I didn't know
better, I would say that,
the guy got married
around those years.
Why would you say that?
Well, the Polaroids
are souvenirs, right?
And he was suddenly scared
somebody he loved would find them.
Absolutely.
Uh, Ed
Ed, I got to go.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Cal, what's going on?
I did it.
I killed Gwen.
So I raped and killed
my own cousin.
♪
So this guy just walks in
and confesses
to a 22-year-old murder?
Apparently so.
So what's the play here?
Take his confession,
you and Curry.
All right, by the book.
We Mirandize him,
record the statement.
I expect nothing less
from you, Captain.
Mr. Markham,
do you understand
the rights
I've just read to you?
I do.
I don't need a lawyer.
Okay, then.
What do you want to tell us?
I've been waiting for
this moment for a long time.
[TENSE MUSIC]
It was me. I killed Gwen.
Walk us through
what happened.
[STAMMERING] You know how I, I-I
I told those original cops
that I was supposed to meet Gwen
at a handball court nearby?
You had an alibi.
Your friend Tony said you
were at the courts with him.
Yeah, that's the thing.
He, uh
Tony lied for me.
The truth is, is that I went
to the deli with her.
And, uh
I tried to get her to do stuff
with me on the walk back.
Your own cousin?
Yeah, I know it's sick.
But
I was having a bad time that summer.
I was lonely.
I was angry.
I'd watch her get dressed sometimes,
and I'd wonder.
Okay.
Then what?
Then she tried screaming,
and it freaked me out, so, uh
I put my hand on her throat,
you know, just to try
to get her to quiet down.
And, uh
She stopped breathing.
[CLEARS THROAT]
So I hid her body
behind a rock wall,
under some brush.
[SNIFFLES]
Mr. Markham,
is there a reason why
you're confessing now?
So, uh,
everyone can have closure
All of us
Including me.
What'd you say to him at the park
when you went after him?
I told him that we're not giving up,
but
We needed new evidence.
And then, poof, magically
he makes a full confession?
Well, I didn't put him up to it.
And the only way to clear him
is to exhume Gwen Markham's body.
If you think that
that's a false confession,
then you and I both know
that's the only way to do it.
And funnily enough,
it's also the best way
to ID Crystal Sykes's killer.
Yes, and I'm just
as surprised as you are.
This guy's going to Rikers.
And if it makes you feel
more comfortable,
I can have him sent to the
Brooklyn House of Detention.
And what happens if
there's no DNA on the body?
DNA is a very durable molecule.
If it's there,
the M.E. will find it.
For this guy's sake,
I hope so.
What are we looking for?
Low-level touch samples,
residual semen
No, I mean, why is Benson
so obsessed with this case?
You know Benson,
bringing closure to the families.
Yeah, but this is
a bit above and beyond,
don't you think?
Captain, some good news from the lab.
They found DNA
on Gwen's body?
Touch DNA, and they were able
to pull a profile from
the traces of semen.
- We get an actual match?
- Excluding Cal
Okay, good.
And our true crime nut,
Ronnie Jr.
But nothing in CODIS
on the actual perp?
Not so far.
All right, what about
the genealogical websites?
They're working on that.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Jane Doe?
Might as well have had
the common courtesy
- to use her name.
- Shannah, listen to me.
- I can explain all of this.
- I asked you to leave
my sister's case alone.
What, you didn't think I'd
I'd find out
with all my contacts
in Allentown?
Of course I did.
But I read your sister's file
[LAUGHING DRYLY]
Well, hold on.
It looks like you did
a little more than that.
- I mean, look at this board.
- And I found
that there were five
other missing girls.
This is not about the vics.
This is not about me.
This is about you.
This guy has been at
this for over 30 years.
- Mm-hmm.
- There are five other open cases,
which means there
are five other families
involved in this, Shannah.
So it's not about you,
- or me or Crystal.
- Oh, okay.
- It's bigger than us.
- You know what?
Allentown PD paid a visit
to my parents today.
My mother called me crying.
- What can I do?
- I want you to leave it alone.
I'm sorry, but I
I can't do that.
Embedding here was a mistake.
I'm sorry you feel that way,
because I certainly don't.
Good luck with your open cases.
I hope they help distract you
from your own endless
amounts of baggage.
I know that this is painful
Johnny D.
William Lewis.
You think you're the only one
who can look into
someone's background?
♪
Hey, Fin, I really don't need
an "I told you so" from you.
Have I ever?
No, you haven't, but
Probably should have told Sykes.
It's better to ask for
forgiveness than permission,
the 16th Precinct way, right?
I don't see forgiveness
coming my way anytime soon.
But we did get new forensics
off Gwen's body.
At least you were right about that.
And what about Cal,
sitting in the Brooklyn House of D
on a false confession?
Carisi said he'll
work it out with the DA.
[CELL PHONE BUZZES]
Ah.
Well, I hope I don't have
to ask for more forgiveness.
Hey.
Carisi says he'll ROR
Cal Markham by end of day.
Okay.
You want me to tell Cal
the good news, or you want to?
Well let's let's both do it.
And who's gonna tell
Bruno and Curry
they got fed
a false confession?
You're the sergeant.
[LAUGHS]
I'll tell Bruno,
but the last thing I need is
Curry going all IAB on my ass.
Okay.
My client did not murder
his cousin.
- And we know that.
- But he did confess.
I did, and I'd do it again.
I just wanted to find the real killer.
And we know that, too.
So did you find this guy?
We're getting closer.
We got a DNA hit off her body.
- And?
- We're still tracing it.
Meanwhile, when is my client
getting out of here?
I spoke with the ADA, and
the charges will be dropped.
- When?
- We're working on that.
I don't care,
just as long as you find
whoever killed Gwen.
Promise me that.
I'll tell you what we can promise you,
that we're doing everything we can.
Well, all said and done,
Cal won't be able
to sue the department,
not when it was his idea.
Huh, great news.
Curry got a genealogical
match off the DNA.
- How much of a match?
- Thank you.
A daughter, Hanna Kincaid, 35,
lives in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
I did that genetic test so long ago.
My husband didn't believe
that I have Welsh blood.
Proved him wrong.
Best part of any marriage.
But what does this have to do
with a police investigation
in Manhattan?
We're looking
into a series of crimes
that ended over 20 years ago.
I don't understand.
We have DNA evidence
that you might be a
genealogical match to
a person we're interested in,
a male relative.
That's impossible.
The person we're looking
for would be in their
60s or 70s by now.
You know anybody in that age range?
Just my dad.
He turned 72 last month.
But my father is not a criminal.
He coached my T-ball team,
took us camping.
What did he do for a living?
Insurance claims adjuster.
Let me guess, traveled a lot
around the East Coast?
[TENSE MUSIC]
Oh, he's a good man.
He goes to church,
has grandchildren.
He's been happily married
to my mother for 40 years.
Today is their anniversary.
I'm headed there now.
Where's the party?
You ready to blow out
our candles, sweetheart?
[LAUGHTER]
[INHALES DEEPLY]
[CHEERS]
Thank you. Thank you.
♪
Can I help you?
What's this?
We're looking for Richard Kincaid.
Well, that's my husband.
Who are you people?
Manhattan SVU.
What's going on?
We have some questions
we need to ask him.
Where is he?
Hey!
Hey.
NYPD.
Hey!
Hands on your head.
Do you like taking photos
of young girls?
Wh-wh
I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, then what's
with the go bag?
Huh?
Packed and ready to flee
a stack of cash,
change of clothes,
and a .357.
Sitting here waiting all these years.
You've been expecting us, huh?
Richard, what's going on?
- Rich No.
- I don't understand this.
I mean, why are you doing
this to me?
For Crystal,
and for all the other girls.
It's over, Richard.
I need you to search everywhere.
Rip this house apart if you have to.
We know that he liked
to keep Polaroids as trophies.
So there's got to be
a stash somewhere.
You didn't hide the Polaroids
when you got married.
You hid them when she was
old enough to find them.
♪
So one of our dogs found this,
out behind your home.
This is Gwen Markham.
Do you remember her?
She disappeared from
a park in Manhattan.
That photo looks like
a long time ago.
It was.
But, we just found out that,
your DNA,
matches the DNA on her body.
A 22-year-old sample.
It's degraded.
A well-preserved sample like this,
half-life's over 500 years.
This is Kim Dao.
She went missing
while riding her scooter home
from a sleepover,
Middletown, New York.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Peyton Freeman,
she was walking to a gas station
to buy her stepdad cigarettes.
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
You may have DNA in
the Markham case, but,
you have no genetic
evidence tying my client
to any of these other cases.
Okay, so how do you explain
the Polaroids found
stashed in the woods?
For all you know,
he found them in the woods,
like the kids who found
Crystal Sykes's Polaroids.
That's right. I found them.
You found them?
Well, aside from being a
marauder-type serial predator,
your client's a very bad liar.
MO is the same.
Teenage girls, taken.
They were alone, no witnesses,
all in the Northeast.
♪
Crystal Sykes,
she was biking to a
local swimming pool.
You cut and dyed her hair.
- I remember her.
- Richard,
I'd advise you to stop talking.
He's already looking at life
in prison for Gwen's murder.
And Pennsylvania
has the death penalty.
What do you want?
I want to know where
these bodies are buried.
And if you cooperate with me,
then the Pennsylvania DA
will try to avoid capital punishment.
And that way you get
to see your wife,
you get to see
your grandchildren.
Richard, I advise you against this.
No.
I could live for another 20 years.
I want to see my grandkids grow up.
Well, that's a lot
more than your victims
or, their families will ever have.
I'll show you
where the girls are buried
All of them.
♪
I made the choice to kill her,
after finding this place
a beautiful place,
for a beautiful young girl.
Peyton almost talked
me out of strangling her.
My whole life had
felt pretty pointless,
until I started this.
These girls were so pretty,
so young.
I wanted them to stay that way.
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
- Hey.
- Hi.
- Where's the M.E.?
- I asked him
to give us a minute.
Is that her?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
You know, um,
if you want to be sure
Are you asking me for DNA?
♪
I asked you to leave it alone.
Why didn't you?
I did it for Crystal.
[CHOKING UP]
It really hurts.
Please tell me what I can do.
[CRYING] I'm sorry.
Just give me some space for a sec.
♪
[SOBBING]