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.
That was a sweet-looking pass.
Too bad he couldn't break it for a TD.
Hurry up, boys, or you'll be late for school.
Imagine if we still had Keyshawn.
Has anyone seen Emily?
I know, but we'd really be smoking with both guys out there. / Excuse me.
Hold on a sec. What?
- Where's Emily? - How should I know?
Well, didn't anyone bother to wake her?
Not my responsibility.
Hurry up, Michael, we leave in 10 minutes.
Emily?
Emily, come on, get up.
It's time to go.
Come on, sweetie. Emily?
Oh, my god.
Justin, come upstairs.
Emmy!
Emily!
Em!
Oh, my God!
Seven-year-old female admitted with subdural hematoma.
Pappiledema indicates pressure building for hours, maybe days.
- Cause? - Blunt trauma.
I ran a skeletal and neural workup
discovered a fractured left femur, healed approximately six weeks
hairline fractures to the ribs, bruising to the arms and pelvic region.
Vaginal trauma indicated sexual abuse, so we did a rape kit.
- Where is she now? - Neurosurgery.
- Her chances? - Too soon to tell.
- Who brought her in? - Her mother. Jamie McKenna.
- And the father? - Out of town on business.
Oh, great. Eight-car pile-up on the Triborough.
Overflow, five minutes out. If you need me...
We'll beep you.
So, have a nice weekend?
I don't remember having a weekend.
Law & Order SVU 2x04 Legacy
ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON NBC: 2000/11/10
She was crying when I picked her up from her father's
but she's always upset after her week with him.
She was fine when I put her to bed. / Wait.
I thought her father was out of town.
No. My husband is out of town.
Her father is part of a time in my life I'd just as soon forget.
If we didn't share custody, I'd never want to see him again.
Can we go now?
Justin, please.
I got a quiz in trig.
We're gonna need to talk to you, too, son.
How long will that be?
As long as it takes.
- Oh, God! - Where is she?
- You stay away from her! - I want to see her.
- Just take it easy there, pal. - Who are you?
Detective Stabler, who are you?
Emily's father.
What's your name? You got one?
Denny Corea.
How could you let this happen?
I left her alone with you.
What do you say we go for a little walk?
I won't let him get away with this.
I won't.
Do you think he did this to Emily?
He's always had a problem with his anger.
But ever since I married Randall, it's gotten worse.
I know Denny hates me, but why take it out on an innocent child?
All afternoon she watched The Lion King.
I cooked her a quick dinner and then her mother picked her up.
- Okay, what time was that? - About 6:00.
It's Jamie's week to have her.
You know, I should have never let her go back to that house.
Yeah, why not?
Because he touches her.
Okay. Who's that?
The animal Jamie married, Randall McKenna.
Your daughter tell you that?
She didn't have to.
I saw the bruises.
When I asked her what happened
she just started to cry.
- You report him? - Of course I reported him.
But Jamie told the case worker that it was me.
Okay. Why would she do that?
Because she wants Emily all to herself.
Even if it means hurting her?
Jamie wants what she wants, no matter who it hurts.
It's your basic "he said, she said" with a twist.
Mother blames the father. Father blames the stepfather.
What do the doctors say?
Abuse is long-term,
but the head injury occurred in a 10 to 24-hour window prior to admittance.
Looks like she was molested, too.
Rape kit turned up a hair and a nylon bristle embedded
- in abrasions to her backside. - From what?
Lab's working on it.
If the girl was good when her mom put her to bed,
- it had to be someone in the house. - Not necessarily.
The bleeding was internal.
It could have been hours before the symptoms showed.
What do we know about the father?
Denny Corea, age 32, Cuban immigrant
did time in '93 for robbery and assault.
He's now working as a cook at the Greenbriar School.
The same school Emily attends.
And the husband?
Randall McKenna, 40-ish investment banker with a Wall Street firm.
Has one son with Jamie and one son from a previous marriage.
Both boys were home but the younger one is learning disabled, non-verbal
and the older one, Justin, who's 15, couldn't add much.
What about Randall?
Still in D.C. On business.
Which brings us back to Desi.
So how's a society chick hook up with a fry cook in the first place?
In rehab. Jamie was kicking an amphetamine habit and
Denny was teaching a dance class at the time.
Jamie got pregnant and her mother demanded the clinic fire Denny,
or else she'd have their license revoked.
Well, she's got the juice.
Jamie McKenna's mother is Lois Huntington
chair of the Avery Huntington Foundation.
Widow of the late ambassador.
Benson, Stabler, pay a courtesy call.
Get some background on the custody issue.
You two visit ACS, see if any of the prior charges fit the M.O.
That Huntington money buys a lot of friends,
so let's get this moving before those friends put my number on their speed dialers.
You're saying Denny Corea raped Jamie?
I'm saying she was vulnerable and he took advantage of that vulnerability.
But you supported the agreement that awarded him custody.
Jamie was in no condition to care for a sick infant.
I tried to convince her to abort.
The drug abuse, did that start at an early age?
You make her sound like a common junkie.
They were prescription drugs. Diet pills.
- So she had a weight problem? - A discipline problem.
She was an only child, and her father indulged her.
When he died, she indulged herself.
Were they close?
She was Daddy's little girl.
And she took full advantage.
She finally became so incorrigible I sent her to boarding school.
And how old was she at the time?
Eleven. I wish I could say that it helped.
At least the pregnancy brought her to her senses.
She straightened up and she made a life for herself
and she wanted to share that life with Emily.
Did her husband support her decision to sue for custody?
Completely. And he paid the price.
The day after she filed,
Denny broke three bones in his face and threatened to kill him.
What did Randall do?
Against my advice, he offered Denny a deal.
He wouldn't file charges if Denny would agree to give up the child.
Denny agree?
He has until Friday to sign the papers.
I actually hope the vile creature refuses
and he gets the full measure of what he deserves.
Administration for Children's Services 154 William Street Monday, November 20
Our first contact with Emily was in April of 1994
when the hospital called us in.
The baby was very sick,
and since Jamie was struggling with her own addiction
custody was granted to the father.
Even though he had a record?
A prison record doesn't terminate parental rights.
How did Jamie's mother react to the arrangement?
Mrs. Huntington was the driving force behind it.
In fact, she used her connections to push through the paperwork.
And when did Jamie start challenging that arrangement?
About a year ago.
That's when the abuse charges surfaced.
We investigated, but we couldn't find sufficient evidence to pursue a case.
Broken bones ain't sufficient enough?
Normal childhood mishaps.
And how would you characterize this latest "mishap"?
We followed procedure.
And that lets you sleep at night?
I haven't had a good night's sleep in 10 years.
The Greenbriar School 329 East 66th Street Monday, November 20
Denny works three shifts in the kitchen.
And still finds time to join Emily's class for story time.
He tells such wonderful stories about his childhood in Cuba.
Yet you filed an abuse report with ACS.
I'm required by law to report any injury
even those that could be attributed to simple stress
or prepubescent clumsiness.
Which of the above caused a broken leg?
Emily said she fell when she was learning to ride a bicycle
that her father bought her for her birthday.
You don't think she was abused?
I don't think her father was responsible.
Why not?
I have known Denny for six years.
And, in all that time, I've never even heard him raise his voice to her.
Is there any other adult who had regular or prolonged contact with her?
Henry Abidin. He's the minister for protocol for the Brunei Mission.
He's a friend of the school.
And he's taken a special interest in Emily.
How special?
Well, he reads to her, he takes her to dance class and to the theater.
But he loves the child and she loves him.
No offense, Miss Dunlap.
But kids don't always come straight with their teachers.
Is there anyone else, a friend, classmate, who she was close to?
Well, there is a little girl named Jennifer.
They're always together, they're like sisters.
Hi, Jennifer.
Hi. / I'm Detective Munch.
That's a funny name. Munch.
You think that's funny?
I guess if I ever have kids I have to call them "munchkins."
Could we talk about your friend Emily?
It's not nice to talk behind people's backs.
That's true.
But I think it would be okay just this one time.
You know, Emily's hurt and we're trying to help her.
You want to help her, too, don't you?
Yeah. / Good.
She ever talk to you about her friend Henry?
He's nice. He takes her to shows and buys her toy animals and stuff.
He makes everybody laugh with his funny songs.
How about her daddy?
She said he was mad.
How come?
Well, her mommy was trying to take her away.
She say anything else about her daddy?
She said they were going on a trip.
Where?
It's a secret.
It's okay, we're her friends.
They said they were going to Cuba.
That's an island.
Sure is, honey.
I have a Barbie with hair that grows.
- You wanna see it? - Maybe later.
Fin and I have to help Emily now.
But thank you for talking to me.
You're welcome.
- Can I go now? - Sure.
- I'll check the airlines. - Good.
- Can you move? - If you get me a forklift.
Denny Corea's looking like a real hothead.
Put Randall McKenna in the hospital day after Jamie filed for custody.
He's got until Friday to choose between jail time and signing away his kid.
What's the matter with you?
Injured in the line of duty.
Yeah, now I'm a pain in my own ass.
But, enough about me.
One of Emily's friends told us about a trip Denny was planning.
A buddy in customs checked the manifest for flights to Cuba
and guess what he found?
Two tickets in Denny and Emily's name departing for Cuba via Quebec this Friday.
One-way.
Well maybe it's time we brought Mr. Corea in for a little chat.
I just wanted to get her away from him.
Children's Services wouldn't believe me.
I didn't know what else to do.
Well, smacking Randall around didn't exactly bolster your case.
I wanted to talk to him. He is a father.
I thought I could shame him into leaving my daughter alone.
By rearranging his face?
He pushed me, okay? It happened so fast.
Is that what happened with the store clerk?
I don't understand.
A few years back. The convenience store?
You did time for beating him to a bloody pulp.
He tried to shoot me.
Because you were robbing his store.
I was hungry. I just defected.
The government says, "Welcome to America, goodbye and good luck."
Denny, that is a very sad story. But if you're such a victim
why is it that everyone else winds up getting hurt?
You are twisting everything.
Like you did with Emily? You twisted her little leg until it broke?
I would never hurt my daughter.
- I'm sure you never meant to. - Like you never meant to hurt Randall...
- Or the store clerk. - Or Jamie.
Please! / Denny, now come on. It's time to come clean here, all right?
For Emily's sake. It's just time to do the right thing.
We wanna help you but you gotta tell us the truth.
Guys. Got a minute?
What the hell, Captain? He was about to pop.
I just talked to the lab. Denny's not our man.
What?
Blood type doesn't match the hair sample from the rape kit.
With Denny out of the picture we need to reassess our profile
so I've asked Dr. Skoda here to lend us a hand.
This one's tough. The molestation occurred in such a complex social matrix...
English, please.
Child abusers are generally adept at
manipulating emotions and shading perceptions.
But in this case, the abuser had to contend
with two separate social and familial groups
one of which presumably offered a safe haven.
That requires some finely tuned social radar.
Well, if he's so finely tuned, why go after a kid?
It's not about intimacy. It's about displaced rage.
Rage over what?
Sexual inadequacies, abuse in his childhood.
So someone with low self-esteem.
Yeah.
But that's where the profile gets tricky.
The same insecurities that drive him to aberrant behavior in one area
can also drive him to excel in another.
So, he could be, whatever, head of a Fortune 500 company.
I guess Randall McKenna moves to the top of the list.
You said he was out of town.
Yeah. Well, I called his office to schedule an interview.
Found out his plane didn't leave until 7:00 Monday morning.
Didn't Denny say something about a friend who took Emily to go see The Lion King?
Yeah. Henry Abidin.
Minister of protocol for the Brunei Mission.
Well, we may run into a diplomatic brick wall
but see if he's willing to talk.
I assume your meeting is on the books?
Yeah. Done. Out.
Office of Randall McKenna 400 Wall Street Tuesday, November 21
Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I have a meeting at 30 Rock in 40 minutes.
Yeah, well, take five, we'll be out of your hair in no time.
I'm sorry. Look, it's been a hard couple of weeks.
How can I help you?
Just a little history.
You and Jamie have been married for what, three years?
Yeah. / How'd you two hook up?
Her mother was a client.
She introduced us at a party.
Were you still married to your first wife at the time? / Separated.
So Jamie's pregnancy only hastened the inevitable.
Michael's four. We did the math.
Is there a point to this conversation?
Where were you Sunday night?
I was here, then at home. Why?
Spend any quality time with your stepdaughter?
What are you driving at?
Denny Corea says you've been molesting her.
And you believed him?
Look what he did to me.
He also said that you tried to blackmail him into giving up custody.
I offered him an opportunity to avoid prison.
And to close off any further investigation.
Oh, this is nuts.
You had access.
She slept in the next bedroom.
I thought Denny was your primary suspect.
Blood analysis excluded him.
And now you're scrambling to cover your ass.
Of course, you could help expose our better halves
by offering up a sample of your own.
You've already insulted me.
I'll be damned if I will allow you to invade my privacy.
We'll get a court order to compel you.
Well, then, I guess from now on you'll be talking to my lawyer.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
I'm already late for my meeting.
Mission of Brunei Darussalam 422 East 64th Street Tuesday, November 21
Right this way, gentlemen.
The minister will be right with you.
I got one of those hanging from a rope in my shower.
Only mine's got a spring-fresh scent.
Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen. Henry Abidin.
Odafin Tutuola.
Oh, Tutuola. "The gentle one."
You know Yoruban?
In my business, one tends to know a little about a lot.
John Munch. Romanian, "the handsome one."
I assume your visit concerns poor Emily.
Yes, it does.
Her grandmother told me.
You know Lois Huntington?
No, we met while Avery was still alive.
In fact, it was she who first suggested
The Greenbriar School might be a potential beneficiary
of the royal family's charitable interests.
Were you aware that her granddaughter was a student there?
Yes.
But the fact that Emily proved to be such a delight was an unexpected bonus.
You took her to a show on Sunday.
The matinee of The Lion King.
Where did you go after that?
I brought her home to her father.
I don't suppose you have anyone to corroborate
your whereabouts between the show and home.
As a matter of fact,
her grandmother joined us at the theatre and my driver drove us.
Grandma's a regular on these field trips?
She is.
Emily's father's in sync with that?
Considering the animosity between him and Lois
we felt it best he not know.
Any other secrets you wanna tell us?
Gentlemen, I know it's your job to be suspicious.
But that little girl won my heart with her joyful spirit.
And I'll do whatever I can to see to it the person responsible
for dimming that spirit goes to jail for a very long time.
- What, more questions? - Yep.
What time did your dad leave for the airport on Monday morning?
I don't know, I was asleep.
Okay, can you tell us what time he came home the night before?
I don't know, I was asleep.
Hear any noises during the night?
Just him and Jamie arguing.
Yeah? Over what? What else?
Emily.
Why?
I don't know. I put my headset on so I didn't have to listen.
They argue a lot?
All the time. It's why he never comes home anymore.
Hey, Justin!
We done?
For now. Yeah.
So, what have we got?
Henry Abidin waived his diplomatic status
and agreed to submit a blood sample for analysis.
And Randall McKenna?
Heard from his lawyer. He's fighting.
Odd choice for a loving stepfather.
Family's like a jigsaw puzzle. Nobody gives you the whole picture.
Well, let's look at the pieces we've got.
One suspect eliminated, one cooperating and one hiding behind his lawyer.
Picture's getting clearer.
What's the status on the court order?
Cabot's meeting with Judge Petrovsky in the morning.
- And the little girl? - Still in a coma.
Well, let's all say a prayer this doesn't turn into a murder case.
Sad as it sounds,
she's probably safer in that hospital bed than she's ever been in her own.
Hospital X-ray tech, report to 5 East.
Chambers of Judge Lena Petrovsky Wednesday, November 22
Investigating officers believe
the head trauma is an extension of an ongoing pattern of abuse.
Blood analysis has excluded her father and Mr. Abidin from the suspect pool
leaving only Mr. McKenna with access and opportunity.
There is not a shred of solid evidence linking my client to the crime.
Mr. McKenna refuses to submit a sample for analysis.
They haven't established exclusive opportunity.
We can provide a detailed timeline of Emily's whereabouts
during the 24 hours prior to her admission into the hospital.
Mr. McKenna has a clear window of access.
Can your client account for his whereabouts during this window?
He was home, your Honor, with his family.
Not to be redundant, but that's precisely our point.
A point well-taken.
I hereby order your client to present himself
to the medical examiner by 10:00 a.m. Tomorrow, Mr. Woodrow
or he will find himself in contempt.
Hey, Alex.
We heard that Randall McKenna didn't bother to show up to his own hearing.
Why should he? His lawyer's already on his way to appeal the ruling.
Did he have grounds?
No, but Woodrow's got to blow some smoke to earn his retainer.
End of the day, I'm sure we'll prevail.
Olivia, I want you to put a tag on Mr. McKenna.
If he is one minute late to the M.E I want him arrested for contempt.
Yeah. Thanks, John. There's no need for that tag.
Randall McKenna is in critical condition at Mercy General.
- What happened? - According to Munch...
cerebral hemorrhage due to blunt force trauma.
Somebody beat the hell out of him.
Apartment of Denny Corea 860 West 118th Street Wednesday, November 22
I haven't seen Denny since yesterday.
He's usually working
or looking after that sweet little girl of his.
Did he seem upset or agitated when you saw him?
Huh?
Did he seem upset?
You don't have to shout.
He was worried about his daughter.
He said her mother married a bad man.
Is Denny in trouble?
That's what we're trying to find out, Mrs. Fergus.
Yeah?
That was Benson.
They picked up Denny trying to sneak into the hospital to see his daughter.
Hope he said his goodbyes.
A bloody T-shirt and a witness who puts you at the scene.
Not to mention a set of knuckles looks like you've been shadow boxing with a concrete wall.
We can wait for Randall to regain consciousness
but we thought you might want us to hear your side of the story first.
I didn't mean to hurt him.
Okay. Go on.
Friday's the deadline...
he set for signing the custody papers.
I couldn't hand my daughter over...
to the man who was molesting her.
Jamie said I broke the deal...
and Randall was pressing charges.
- For the assault. - Yes.
I went to his office to see if we can talk.
But the guard stopped me at the lobby.
So I waited for him by the car.
For how long?
He didn't come out till almost midnight.
When he saw me...
he started yelling...
saying that if I didn't leave him alone...
he was gonna charge me with harassment.
What did you do?
I begged him not to do this.
I mean, with my record, you know, I could be deported.
So, he listen?
He laughed.
He said that Jamie's mother...
knew people at the State Department.
That I was already as good as gone.
And then what?
Next thing I know...
I was on top of him...
hitting him again and again...
until I realized that...
he wasn't moving anymore.
I found a pay phone, I called 911.
I went home.
And I changed my clothes.
I wanted to see my daughter just one more time, you know?
Before I turned myself in.
So.
What happens now?
It's hard to say.
You did a real number on him, Denny.
No worse than what he did to my baby.
He should have let the system work for him.
His experience with the system hasn't exactly been encouraging.
Hardly an excuse.
I'm just saying, "What if it was your kid?"
Okay. Thanks. That was the lab.
We got a make on the nylon bristle.
Traced it to a plant in Akron that manufactures hairbrushes.
So that hair sample in the rape kit came from a brush?
And it doesn't belong to Randall.
DNA doesn't match.
Denny stomped the wrong guy.
He was in the right neighborhood.
Preliminary analysis tagged someone in Randall's bloodline.
McKenna Residence 660 West 84th Street Wednesday, November 22
I don't understand.
I know. I'm sorry, Jamie but these detectives have a job to do.
But we're the victims here. My husband, my daughter.
- Haven't we suffered enough? - Yes, and I know it's hard.
But why don't we just go downstairs for a minute. Okay?
Hey, what the hell are you doing? That's mine.
None of this would be happening
if that bitch hadn't sucked my dad into her crappy life.
That go for Emily, too?
All she does is cry.
- I bet that gets on your nerves? - Damn straight.
- That why you let her have it? - Have what?
Come on, Justin, we know you hurt her.
I didn't touch her.
- Well, then, who did? - I don't know. Maybe she did.
- Who is she? - The bitch.
With your hairbrush?
All I know is, everything was fine until she showed up.
Now it all sucks.
Why can't they both just go away and leave us alone?
Sometimes I'd come home to find her in her room crying,
and Justin just standing there watching.
I knew he resented the attention Randall gave her
but I never dreamed he was hurting her.
He said that you and Randall argued about her.
If we argued at all, it was about Justin's attitude toward Emily.
Was Justin alone with her the night she was injured?
After I put Emily to bed,
I took Michael to the drug store to refill his asthma medication.
The line was so long, it took us an hour to get home.
And where was your husband?
At the office. He didn't come home until late.
I looked in on her before I went to bed.
She looked so peaceful.
I thought she was sleeping.
How could I be so blind?
The lab scored a direct DNA hit with the hair from Justin's brush.
Could explain why his father didn't want to give a sample.
Why? Do you think he knew?
Might have suspected.
Where are we with the boy?
He's one angry kid, but he isn't ready to give it up.
What do you say we toss him in a cell for a while
see if that doesn't take the edge off?
Are you sure there's nothing else I can do?
I can write out my statement, if you'd like.
No, that's all right. We've got it all on tape
and we can take care of the paperwork in the morning.
Okay. Thank you.
- Good night. - Good night.
She seems almost disappointed.
Her husband may never walk, her daughter's in a coma
her stepson is going to jail...
and her ex-boyfriend's facing deportation.
She's not disappointed, Munch. She's numb.
You don't look convinced.
It's the small things. For example,
if Emily had been showing abuse symptoms for months
how come we haven't turned up a single hospital record?
Then there's this.
It's an interesting idea for a key chain.
- Found it in Emily's room. - Who's Erica Smith?
Nobody at Emily's school or dance class has any idea.
Think there's something to it?
One way to find out.
Hudson Free Clinic 107 West 97th Street Thursday, November 23
There it is, Erica Smith,
admitted on May 20th complaining of vaginal bleeding.
A day before the school filed its abuse report.
The attending prescribed an antibacterial ointment and the girl was sent home.
Didn't anyone here suspect abuse?
The ACS was notified, but we never heard from the mother or the agency again.
- You got a home address? - Yeah. Right there.
If that's her address, she's living in the middle of the East River.
- You thinking what I'm thinking? - We've been had.
We checked the X-rays and blood type from the medical records
against Emily's, and they're one and the same.
We also found matches at four separate clinics and hospitals.
In each case, she used a different alias and paid in cash
so there'd be no paper trail.
She could have been covering for her husband. / Or Justin.
We've been assuming the attacker is male because of the sexual abuse.
But suppose it was Jamie all along.
It's possible these injuries aren't even sexual.
It's an interesting tactic.
Abuse the kid, pin it on the ex...
Dad goes to jail, Mom wins custody by default.
And if her daughter dies in the process?
Bonus.
Excuse me?
The kid is nothing more than a means to an end.
Which is?
Attention.
Sympathy.
Love.
People who've suffered abuse in childhood
tend to repeat the pattern with their own children.
This is an extreme case because of the rage.
But, in the end, she's just wrapping herself in the warm cloak of victimhood.
Yeah, but if she's looking for sympathy, why use the aliases?
To control the outcome.
Rape kit analysis would have excluded Denny from the get-go.
Leaving her without a scapegoat.
Till Justin showed up.
Justin, we know this is a pain in the ass for you.
Just meet us halfway, maybe we can help you out.
Whatever.
You said that you didn't hurt your stepsister.
- I didn't. - But your stepmother said...
that you were the only one that was alone with her that night.
Yeah, for about two minutes.
But Jamie said she was gone for an hour.
Maybe she was.
All right, that's enough. Enough. Sit down.
Very clearly,
we are trying to get you out of here.
You understand that? Now, you keep talking in circles,
you're gonna be spending your varsity years behind bars.
Look, I don't know how long she was gone.
All I know is, once she was out the door, I took off.
Where did you go?
I was bored as hell, so I went for a run in the park.
Okay. Where?
Down the ice rink over the baseball diamonds, and back.
Anybody see you?
I'm sure they did, but I didn't take names.
How long were you gone?
I don't know. An hour.
Was your stepmother there when you got home?
Chewed me out for leaving that brat alone.
I mean, the kid was asleep. What difference did it make?
If he's telling the truth Jamie could have hurt the girl before he got home.
Without proof, it's just more finger-pointing.
We need corroborating testimony.
Too bad our only other witnesses are either mute or in a coma.
What about the druggist? Jamie said that she went to fill a prescription.
She didn't give a name, but if the kid's got a chronic condition
maybe she has an account in the neighborhood.
Well, that's a start. But we need someone closer to home.
Well, the neighbors were not helpful.
What about that nosey doorman that jacked us when we served the search warrant?
He said that he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Maybe you didn't ask the right questions.
First the little girl, then her husband.
My heart goes out to her.
Do you remember seeing Jamie heading out with her four-year-old on Sunday night?
Come to think of it kid was breathing heavy.
He's got asthma, you know.
I offered to flag a cab, but she said they were just going down the block.
How about the older boy?
Justin? / Yeah.
That one's got an attitude.
Came storming out right after Jamie toward the park.
Told him it ain't safe for a kid after dark but would he listen?
You got a time?
Around 9:00. I was just about to take my break.
And do you remember what time Jamie got back?
Didn't see her.
But she could've walked in while I was taking a powder.
Excuse me. Where's Fin?
- We split up to cover more ground. - You find the drugstore?
Pharmacist checked Jamie's receipt.
It was time-coded 9:09 p.m., after closing.
But she called and made such a stink that he waited for her.
He said she was in and out in five minutes.
How far a walk?
Five minutes. Ten minutes with a kid in tow.
That puts her back here 9:20, 9:30.
What you learn from the doorman?
Couldn't place Jamie, but remembers Justin getting back after 10:00.
Plenty of time to do serious damage.
You're circling the building
but unless you place her in the apartment at the time of the assault
you don't have a case.
What about the hospital fraud?
Well, it's not fraud if she paid the bills.
Consciousness of guilt?
Even if you can prove Jamie was the one who took Emily to those facilities,
you can't bootstrap aggravated child abuse
to her conduct without a more definitive causal link.
You remember how Skoda said Jamie has this need for attention?
Well, I gave her my pager number
in case she needed somebody to talk to...
and guess who's been paging me?
She's feeling needy.
If Skoda's right, it's more than need.
I think she's jonesing for a sympathy fix.
And what do you propose?
Feed the junkie.
Thanks for coming down.
I just want to help in whatever way I can.
As you know, we're holding Justin until he can be arraigned...
and then we'll release him into your custody...
assuming you want to take him.
I don't know.
He scares me. I'm sure he just hurt Emily to get back at me.
Must be hard to be an outcast in your own house.
You don't know the half of it.
Actually, I do.
This is my file.
I thought it was sealed.
I have a friend in Children's Services.
She remembered you.
How?
She remembered how nervous her superiors were about investigating an ambassador
for sexually abusing his 11-year-old daughter.
It must have been a very painful time for you.
Yes, it was.
How did your mother take it?
She was jealous, because Daddy couldn't stand to touch her.
So she sent me away to boarding school. I begged her not to but
what Mother wants, Mother gets.
She abandoned you, Jamie.
I survived.
But still. Must be hard facing that kind of rejection from your own daughter.
What do you mean?
Emily came out of her coma a few hours ago.
She told us everything.
She wants to see you.
But first you and I have a couple of details we need to straighten out.
What details?
- Let's start with the hairbrush. - It's Justin's.
Yes, but we got a partial print...
- and with Emily's testimony... - Emily's a liar.
- Now why would she lie? - Her father poisoned her against me.
It's been very painful, very hurtful.
I know, Jamie.
Been carrying the pain long enough.
Just tell me your side of the story
and you can start to heal.
We were driving home and she wouldn't stop crying
so I pulled over to try and talk to her.
But when she told me she and her daddy were leaving me forever...
I pulled her out of the car and she hit her head on the curb.
- How? - She fell.
Come on, Jamie.
I didn't shove her hard.
I just wanted her to stop whining...
so I could talk to her.
Did that stop her?
It was the first time she was quiet all day.
And she was sleepy.
So when I got home, I put her to bed and Michael and I went to the drugstore.
But when we came back...
she was crying again.
I told her...
how important it was for her to be a good girl...
so that her new daddy could love her, too, but she wouldn't stop.
It was like she was doing it to spite me.
Is that why you used the hairbrush?
I had to teach her discipline.
My mother used a hairbrush to teach me
but Emily just kept screaming louder and louder, what was I supposed to do?
The only thing you could do.
I threw her against the wall.
Then what?
She finally stopped.
And then I tucked her into bed kissed her on her cheek,
and then I told her I loved her.
I just wanted her to stop crying.
Was that too much to ask?
It's good work, John.
Took a chance with that bluff about Emily coming out of her coma.
I'm not sure what we would have done if Jamie had pressed to see her.
She didn't care about the kids.
How did you know?
We searched her house...
I looked at that four-year-old...
flashed on a little girl that used to live across the street from us
in our old neighborhood on the Lower East Side.
She had that same look in her eyes.
What look?
Sad, lost.
She used to stand on her porch every afternoon when I came home from school.
Like she was waiting for me.
Sometimes, she'd have a black eye or a bloody lip.
Never said anything to me.
Just looked at me like she was trying to tell me something.
But I was too full of my own teenage crap to pay any attention.
One day, I came home...
she wasn't there.
Found out her mother threw her through a plate glass window.
Went to the funeral.
Saw her dad.
It's the first time I saw a grown man cry.
What happened to her mother?
They sent her to a sanitarium.
She told my mother...
she didn't understand what all the fuss was about.
She was the one that had to get a new window.
Months later, I'd come home...
and I'd look up at the porch.
I swear, I saw that little girl standing there, looking at me with that look.
I almost let her down again.
"But on you will go though the weather be foul"
"On you will go though your enemies prowl"
"On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl"
"Onward up many a frightening creek though your arms may get sore"
"And your sneakers may leak"
"On and on you will hike and I know you'll hike far"
"And face up to your problems whatever they are"