.
- 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]
- Whelan's a good detective, but he's a lot to take in.
- Meaning? - You'll see.
- Hey, Terry Bruno.
Ah, I see you're still dressing like a perp.
- Hey, John.
Nice fedora. You know it's 2025, right?
- Hey, the clothes make the man, Terry.
Uh, who is this Tweedledum?
- Jake Griffin.
- Oh, Batman.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard about you.
- Okay, yeah. Hopefully not all bad.
- Uh, mixed, mostly.
Welcome to the circus, boys.
We got a guy inside, said his girlfriend
was snatched in the middle of the night, says she was raped.
So here you are. - How you wanna handle it?
- Well, we put a BOLO out on the girl, Nikki Suarez.
So we will handle the citywide search,
but the rape is all yours.
Terry, between us, the media is already
flinging some wild theories, so you're gonna need
to drill down on this guy's story.
- It sounds like you're not liking it.
- Hey, kid, everybody's got a story,
but this one's got some hair on it.
- All right, 10-4. We'll let you know.
- Okay.
- And when I woke up, the guy was wrapping
my entire head in duct tape.
And then--and then he pinned me down,
and that's when I realized that he had wrapped my wrists too.
- So you didn't get a good look at him?
- No.
- What about his voice?
- He sounded like a robot.
- Like a what?
- Look, I know.
All I could figure was that he was using some kind
of voice-altering technology.
- Okay, what happened next?
- And then it sounded like he was assaulting her.
And I didn't do anything
because I didn't want him to kill her.
And, uh--and he kept saying that he had cameras and lasers
set up watching me and that if I didn't
remain still for at least three hours, that he would kill her.
[suspenseful music]
- What'd you do?
- I did what he told me to do.
I stayed there, and I waited for what felt like three hours,
and then--and then when I finally got myself out,
Nikki was gone.
- Look, we're gonna find her,
but I need you to come down to the precinct to help us.
- Yeah, whatever you need.
You guys just have to find her.
- You buying any of this?
- He's definitely hiding something.
- Well, the plot thickens, boys.
We ran our guy, Morrison.
He did a two-year federal bid off a securities fraud case.
Got out three years ago.
- Great, an ex-con motivational speaker.
- Yeah, and a story with more holes than the BQE.
- So Jimmy tells him NYPD has a new forensic technique
where a murder victim's eyes could be removed
to determine the last image they saw before death.
- This is genius, but did it actually work?
- Like a charm.
Guy gave up everything, including stuff
we didn't even know about.
- Okay, I love it, and I'm gonna use it.
Thank you.
- Ah, a panel on generative AI and law enforcement.
Maybe Jimmy was onto something.
What a world. - Yeah.
How long were you two partners?
- Five years in uniform, four more as detectives.
- Ah.
- He was a great cop, a great partner.
You know how it is when it just clicks.
- I do.
I do.
And what got him?
- Here was a guy who'd been shot three times,
including one shielding a witness, and in the end,
it was cancer. - Ah.
- Jake was only 12.
All Jimmy dreamed of was seeing Jake take the oath.
I appreciate you taking him under your wing.
I mean, I know you didn't actually have a choice.
Appreciate it just the same.
- I was hesitant, but Griffin has potential.
- Yeah.
[phone buzzes]
- Benson.
Okay.
I'm three hours away, and I'm at a conference.
- Tell him we're heading back.
- Okay, I'm on my way back, okay?
I'm sorry, Chief. - Don't be.
Active kidnapping, great excuse to dip out of here.
- Right?
Thank you.
- Nikki Suarez, 24,
girlfriend of Greg Morrison, 50,
who's presently our guest in interrogation room one.
- Why'd you bring him in? - 'Cause he's hinky.
- Care to expand on that keen insight?
- He's rambling about the kidnapper
setting up lasers and cameras and voice changers.
- Plus, he's an ex-con who peddles nonsense
as a so-called motivational speaker.
He did two years at Club Fed for securities fraud.
- And what about the missing woman?
- There's a BOLO out on her.
2-1's in charge of the search.
But this guy isn't right.
- Yeah, the whole story is wild,
but if it's true, we still gotta find her.
- Captain is on her way back from Albany,
so why don't you two take your shot at Morrison,
and we'll coordinate with Whelan, CSU, and canvass?
- When we break him, we'll let you know.
- Okay.
- If you could help me out, I do not understand
the whole cameras and lasers thing.
- I just--I'm not saying he was telling the truth.
I am just telling you what he said.
- The whole voice-altering technology thing.
- Yes, he was obviously using something to make
voice recognition impossible.
- Well, maybe he thought you'd recognize him, you know?
Who else had access to the brownstone?
- I did renovations last month.
I gave the keys to my architect, Sean Davey.
- Sean Davey.
- You don't think he--
- We'll check it out.
Anyone else you got beef with?
You know, anyone else who would, uh--
who'd want a reason to punish you?
- Guys, please, I am begging you.
You have to find Nikki.
- The whole city is out looking for her,
but now is a chance for you to come clean.
Let's start at the beginning.
When was the last time you saw Nikki alive?
- Welcome back, Captain.
- Hey. So I spoke with Curry.
She said you're not liking this guy's story.
- It's more like a fairy tale.
The guy makes a living conning people.
He thinks he can con us.
- He's hiding something.
We just don't know what yet.
- Okay, Curry said that one of his neighbors
said that she heard them arguing a couple of nights ago?
Break it down for me.
- Captain.
- Oh, hold on.
Yeah?
- There's a woman here that says we have her boyfriend
in custody, Greg Morrison.
- Nikki?
- Nikki? No, no, I'm Kelsey.
Uh, is Greg here?
[suspenseful music]
- Uh, come, come.
[dramatic music]
* *
.
- What's going on? Why is Greg here?
Did he do something? - So Greg is here.
He's just answering a few questions for us.
So why don't you go ahead and have a seat?
So you said that you're Greg's girlfriend?
- How long--how long have you been seeing each other?
- About a year.
I live in Stanford.
We met after one of his lectures.
This morning, he wasn't answering his phone calls
when I tried to contact him, so I drove all the way down,
and--and then there was, like, a police officer at his place
and sent me here.
[suspenseful music]
Look, can you just tell me what's happening, please?
- Should I have told you guys
that I was also seeing Kelsey? yeah.
But--but that also has nothing to do
with Nikki being kidnapped.
- If that's even true.
- [sighs] Come on, guys, please.
Call me a louse.
Call me a cheater.
But you're losing focus here.
Are you gonna go find her or not?
- The whole department is looking for her.
We need you to coop--
- I think you know where Nikki is.
- What?
- I mean, how can we believe anything you say?
You've been lying to us from the jump.
- So Greg told us that his girlfriend had been abducted,
that she was kidnapped.
- What?
No, I'm--I'm fine.
- Yeah, no, I see that.
I will tell you that he used a different name.
He said that it was his girlfriend, Nikki.
* *
- I mean, who--who the hell--
I've never--I've never seen this person before.
- Okay, so that's Nikki Suarez.
I see that you don't know anything about this.
- No.
He said that's-- that's his girlfriend?
- I was gonna break things off with Kelsey.
And I understand that it was a bad thing
to hide it from you, but--
- Because you didn't wanna look like a bad guy, right?
- Yeah.
- Kinda guy that would kill one of his girlfriends?
- Is that what you guys think?
- We are just trying to understand
the nature of your relationships, okay?
It might help us find the guy who you said abducted her.
- Who I said abducted her?
Why do I feel like you guys don't believe me?
- I feel--
I feel so stupid.
God, I'm so embarrassed.
- Don't be.
Now, so Greg was some kind of motivational speaker, right?
- Yeah.
- So guys like this can be very, um,
you know, manipulative.
Was he ever, um, you know, controlling,
or was he ever violent with you?
- No.
No, I mean, obviously he's shady and a frickin' good liar.
But honestly, he was always very respectful.
- I think you killed Nikki.
- If she's not really missing, we just--
we need to call off the search.
- Okay.
You guys obviously are not here to help me.
So I would like to leave now.
And if you don't let me leave, I want a lawyer.
- You're not gonna motivationally
speak your way out of this. - I would like a lawyer!
- One way or another, you're going down for this.
- Don't move. We'll be right back.
Come on.
- I don't like him.
If his girlfriend hadn't've showed up,
he never would have told us.
- Slow your roll.
Griff, what is your take?
- I don't know.
He's clearly not telling us the whole story.
- Okay, well, so we're not there yet, and he's invoked.
- I went in too hard. That's on me.
He's just pissing me off with this bogus story.
- I agree that he's suspect, but unless you have something
other than a theory, we need to let him go
and build a case that sticks.
So Rollins and Curry are speaking with Nikki's roommate.
You two start with this architect
who claims he has the key to his place.
- Gentlemen, how can I help you?
- Hey, I'm Detective Griffin.
This is Detective Bruno.
We're from Special Victims.
- Special Victims.
- We're investigating a kidnapping,
and the guy we're looking at said you had keys to his place.
- What happened to you?
- I blew out my meniscus playing ball in the park.
I had surgery last week.
Who--who are we talking about?
- Greg Morrison.
- He said I had his keys.
- Yeah, he did.
Yeah, why? You don't?
- Not anymore.
Morrison hired me to do the plans on his renovation
about a month ago, so he gave me the keys.
I drew up the plans and explained to him
the permitting process, and he asked
if I could pay off the building inspectors to expedite it.
- Sounds like our guy.
- I told him I didn't pay off public officials,
so he fired me and refused to pay my bill.
- Hmm. And the keys?
- I mailed them back to him with my final payment notice,
which he ignored.
- You ever meet his girlfriend?
- Nikki.
Seemed like a nice kid.
Is she the one that was kidnapped?
- That's what Morrison's saying, yeah.
Is there anything you could tell us about her
or her relationship with Morrison?
- No, not really.
I only saw 'em together once or twice.
But one time when I let myself in before he fired me,
I must have spooked her because she freaked out.
- Hmm.
- Something about a guy stalking her.
I told her to report it, but she said she wasn't sure,
and she--she didn't wanna seem paranoid.
- She give you his name?
- No.
But Morrison came home, and she clammed up about it,
like she didn't want him to know.
[suspenseful music]
* *
- Look, we're not close.
I mean, she moved in six months ago
but spent way too much time with that boyfriend, Greg.
Oh, y'all want anything?
- No.
I take it you don't like him much.
- He's old enough to be her father.
I mean, I saw right through him.
Motivational speaker, my ass.
He's a creep.
- Any reason to believe that he would hurt her?
- Like I said, we're not close.
It's not like she shared that sort of stuff.
- Well, they seem pretty happy here.
This is them, right?
- Yeah, that's him.
Such a douchey smile.
- Is she wearing a smart ring?
Did she wear that every day?
- Yeah, she's a fitness freak.
She said it tracked her heart rate and--
I don't know-- some other stuff.
- Like location.
* *
- Hey, your husband is gold.
He got us an emergency order for the location data
from Nikki's smart ring.
- He even knows how to load a dishwasher.
- Detective Whelan's already got a search going.
This is the last place that the ring pinged from.
- Hey, Whelan. - Captain Benson in the flesh.
How you doing?
- Well, I'll be better once we find this girl.
- Yeah, we're gonna find her.
I got a nose for stuff like this, you know.
I gotta say, I'm a bit surprised
to see you out in the wild.
My captain's likely at the 19th hole by now.
- I see you're still working the hat shtick.
- Ah, yeah, well, I'm gonna bring it back
if it's the last thing I do.
- Found it! - Oh.
* *
- Whelan, we've got a sighting.
We have a woman who matches the description
of Nikki Suarez at Hector's Bodega,
533 Neptune Avenue in Brighton Beach.
- Okay, 10-4. I know right where that is.
How do you wanna handle this? - Tell them not to approach.
If this is indeed Nikki, then she may still be in shock.
- Okay, do not approach the suspect.
We're on our way.
- Watermelon... - It's okay. It's okay.
Maybe lemon Coke and cotton candy's really good,
even though it sounds gross. - Nikki?
- Coke and cotton candy.
- Nikki, I'm Captain Benson.
I'm a police officer, and I'm here to help you.
Okay? It's okay now.
It's over, Nikki.
It's over.
- [sobbing]
- All right, I got you. I got you. I got you.
You're safe.
It's okay.
.
- Yeah, we got her, thank God.
- That's great news.
How quickly can you get down here?
There's a press conference. I'd like you there with me.
- Oh, I can't.
Nikki's awake, and I need to interview her.
- You have a team of very capable investigators.
Have one of them do the initial interview.
You should be here.
- Chief Tynan, I was the first one to speak with her,
and she's traumatized, so I don't--
I don't think it would be fair for me
to pass off the initial interview to somebody else.
- Captain, our press people are saying
that your victim may have orchestrated
this entire kidnapping.
They're calling it a "Gone Girl" situation.
I need you to take the lead.
- [sighs] That is ridiculous.
- Then what do you advise I tell the press?
- Nothing. It's premature.
Can this not wait?
- No, it cannot.
- Well, then tell them that it's an ongoing investigation.
- This is important, Captain. I need you here.
- I have to go.
Okay, well, I apologize.
I'm sorry.
- I woke up with tape over my eyes and tape over my wrists.
It was really strong.
- Did he say anything?
- He kept calling me a bitch.
- Uh-huh.
- He said I should shut up and take it.
The whole time, I just, um--
I don't know--disassociated.
- That's your mind protecting you.
So where did he take you?
- I'm not sure.
I remember being in the trunk of a car.
- Okay.
And then what happened?
- He brought me inside somewhere.
He raped me again.
And then he just--
he left.
He said he was gonna come back with more men,
and if I moved, I thought he'd kill me.
- And how did you get away from him?
How did you escape?
- I remember yanking on the tape until I got free,
and then, um, I don't know.
The next thing I remember, I was in that store.
Um...
I have no idea how I even got there.
- That's okay.
So your memory's gonna come back in pieces, all right?
That's your--your survival instinct kicking in.
[suspenseful music]
So I--I need to tell you something
that's a little uncomfortable.
During our investigation, we found out that Greg,
your boyfriend, is--
is actually seeing somebody else.
- What? - Yeah.
He has a girlfriend.
- Who?
- Her name is Kelsey, Kelsey James.
Have you heard that name?
- I don't know who that is.
Do you think she had something to do with this?
- We don't know. We don't know.
We're just trying to figure out if your attack
was orchestrated.
- Oh, Nikki, baby. - Hold on, Mr. Morrison.
- Thank God you're okay. - Who's Kelsey?
- Mr. Morrison. - Wait, what?
- Who's Kelsey? - Baby, I'm--
- This is not the time. - What--what did you tell her?
- Now is not the time for this. - Baby--
- Get out. - Baby--
- Listen to me. I need you to step outside.
- Please-- - Step outside now.
Thank you.
Okay?
- Your goons spent all your time coming after me,
and now look what you've done.
- If you don't walk out of here right now,
I'm gonna lock you up
for witness tampering and obstruction.
Is that clear?
Now.
Go.
- Investigation led by Special Victims Unit
and the detectives from the 21st precinct,
Nikki Suarez has been found alive.
She's currently in the hospital receiving
needed medical attention.
- Chief Tynan, do you have any suspects?
- I have no further comment except to say that
this remains an ongoing investigation.
- Any truth to the rumors that the victim
orchestrated this entire kidnapping?
- Again, the investigation is ongoing.
- Chief, is this a "Gone Girl" scenario?
- We're investigating all angles.
That is the definition of an ongoing investigation.
- Chief Tynan, one more question.
Do you believe Ms. Suarez's story?
- Okay, so the rape kit came back negative for semen.
Are we sure that no condoms were recovered
from Morrison's house? - Nothing.
What did Nikki say about the ex-boyfriend?
- Quentin Welsum-- she met him on a dating app,
but it was only one date eight months ago.
And then a couple of weeks ago,
he started blowing up her phone,
saying that she was a man hater
and that she was a low-value woman,
and she thinks that she may have seen him,
you know, a couple times outside of Morrison's house.
- This is Quentin Welsum, 38-year-old white male,
runs a tech startup out of Queens.
- Voice-altering software?
- He hasn't been to work for the last three days,
but the staff there does say that it's not
unusual for him to disappear.
- Okay, what about his residence?
- Same.
Doorman says no one has seen him in a couple of days.
- I blew it.
I spent all this time zeroing in on Morrison,
and now Welsum's on the run.
- Bruno, you went with your gut.
I get it.
Believe me, I've done the same thing.
Now, we have a BOLO out on him,
and if he's still in the city, we're gonna find him.
- And he's got a 2024 Queens conviction for stalking.
Look at this.
It came in first as burglary.
And I spoke to the ADA in Queens who told me
that they reduced it to stalking.
He's got a conditional discharge.
- Okay. So he's escalating.
[phone buzzes] Benson.
[suspenseful music]
Great.
Great. We're on our way.
So Whelan just said they got a hit on his license plate
in Brighton Beach.
Let's roll.
[officers shouting]
- Hey! Police!
- Freeze!
* *
- Stop! Police!
- [grunts]
- That's gonna leave a mark.
- What the hell was that?
- It's 18 months of kickboxing finally paying off.
.
- I wanna make a complaint. That was police brutality.
That bitch busted my eye.
- Okay, okay, I'm not saying I agree.
Do not quote me.
But that's a pretty ugly shiner.
- Why'd you run? - I was scared.
You know there's a lot of Russian gangsters in Brighton?
- Come on, come on.
Help us here.
- Okay, look, you guys seem okay.
I honestly got nothing to do with this.
And this is the second time some wacky girl's accusing me
of something I didn't do.
- Oh, you mean your case in Queens.
- Yeah. Nonsense, just like this.
- Let's start with Nikki Suarez.
She is saying you stalked her.
- She is a lying bitch.
We went on one bad date, and all she did was moan
about not being married.
And, you know, she wanted to bang me.
She wanted it, but I was afraid it was a trap.
- Okay, Quentin, I hear you. I hear you. I do.
But come on, help us help you.
Like, maybe if there was someone who could alibi you out
from what happened two nights ago,
that would go a long way.
- And I'm sure Nikki's not gonna help
because she can't even ID the guy that grabbed her.
But an alibi...
- Ned Wilson.
I was with him all night.
[knocking]
[lock clicks]
- Ned Wilson?
- Who's asking?
- Step outside, please.
- No, I don't think--
- Hey, we're from Manhattan SVU.
We wanna ask you about Quentin Welsum.
- What, is he in trouble? - What do you think?
When's the last time you saw him?
- Two nights ago. - For how long?
- What'd he say?
- Well, he said that he was with you all night long,
but we know he's lying because he raped and kidnapped a woman.
But if you wanna lie for him, then that's gonna
put you in some seri--
- Whoa, whoa, I'm not doing time for that guy.
Look, he came by two nights ago.
He asked me to borrow my car.
I told him no, but the guy's insistent,
and he gave me 100 bucks, so.
- So what?
- I gave him the keys to my car, and that's it.
And when he returned it yesterday,
he said if anyone asks, I was with him all night.
But I wasn't. - Okay.
Where's the car?
[tense music]
* *
- Yep, right here. Duct tape.
- We should check this for fingerprints.
- Yeah, if Quentin's are on there, he's toast.
- All right, we'll expedite this
and tow in the car to do a complete process.
- Thank you.
Let us know if you find anything else.
- Wait, tow the car? - Yeah, it's all right, Ned.
I'm sure insurance will get you a rental.
- No, no, I don't have insurance.
- Well, sucks to be you.
- Bad news, Q. - What?
Oh, don't tell me Ned didn't stand up.
- No, bingo.
And we found a roll of duct tape in his car,
which he said you borrowed.
- I paid him $100.
- Yeah? For the car or the alibi?
- Look, guys, I didn't do--
- Enough, scumbag. We got you.
You lied to us about an alibi.
You have a prior for stalking.
We found your prints on the duct tape.
And you called Nikki 36 times.
We have the phone records.
You're done.
- Okay, listen, I didn't wanna tell.
I promised Nikki.
But I am not going down for something
that she put me up to.
- What the hell are you babbling about now?
- She orchestrated the whole thing.
She found out her boyfriend was cheating on her,
and she wanted revenge.
She wanted to--to bring all this heat on him or whatever,
so she asked me to fake kidnap her.
- You're full of it.
- Well, you saw the news.
Even your boss didn't rule it out.
- You--you must really think we're stupid, huh?
- Dan Olin.
- What about him? - He's my lawyer.
I'm--I'm done with you bozos.
* *
- You believe this guy? - No.
But this is not the worst move I've seen a defendant make.
- You think it holds up?
- Look, I told Tynan that the press conference
was a bad idea, and now she's handed him a defense.
- Hey, Liv, we got a problem.
- Oh, well, good morning to you too.
What's the problem?
- Griffin's DD5s.
- Carisi, hold on.
Hey, what's going on?
- Hey, Griffin.
Who taught you how to write reports?
- Carisi.
- What report are you--what? I just--
- Carisi, hold on. Take it easy.
- Take it easy?
We're about to go to trial,
and Griffin's 5s are gonna sink us.
"Greg Morrison is the prime suspect
"in the disappearance and probable murder
of Nikki Suarez." What is that?
- It's my fault.
I was the one who was wrong on Morrison,
and I let my ego get the best of me.
I should have known better, all right?
Don't put this on Griffin.
- It's nobody's fault.
He was our prime suspect at the time.
Carisi, if you wanna be mad at somebody, direct it at me.
- You are not gonna be the one on the stand
defending this report.
Olin is gonna roast this kid.
- It is not uncommon for a case to take a different course.
- Liv, with Tynan's press conference and these 5s,
we are in deep.
- And we will be prepared, Carisi.
[tense music]
* *
- Detective, you had better study up on your cross
because with these 5s, there is no way
that I can keep you off the stand.
* *
.
- He said he was gonna come back with other men,
and if I moved, he'd know and kill me.
- And what did you do?
- I was able to free myself.
The next thing I remember,
Captain Benson was talking to me in the bodega.
- Ms. Suarez, there's been some media speculation
that you might have had something to do
with orchestrating this crime.
Did you?
- Absolutely not.
What happened to me was horrific.
I--I have trouble sleeping.
I can hardly eat.
To suggest I had anything to do with this is a lie.
- Thank you, Nikki.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
- Mr. Olin.
- Thank you, Judge.
Ms. Suarez,
can you identify the man who did this to you?
- No, I couldn't see him.
My eyes were taped closed.
- Could you identify his voice perhaps?
- He used some sort of voice-altering device.
- A voice-altering device?
- Yes.
- So as you sit here today, you can't tell this jury
that it was my client who did this horrible thing
to you, correct?
- That's true.
- Thank you.
I'm done, Judge.
- Well, the print is partial,
meaning it doesn't contain all possible ridge detail.
There is a sufficient number of unique characteristics
that correspond with the defendant's left thumbprint.
In my professional opinion, the partial latent print
is consistent to have come from the defendant.
- Thank you, Detective.
Nothing further.
- Are you familiar with the President's Council of Advisors
on Science and Technology's 2016 report,
which proved that error rates rise for partial
or poor quality prints, correct?
- It does, yes.
- Now, on direct, you said my client's thumbprint
was consistent with the print recovered.
- I did.
- But you can't say with absolute scientific certainty
that it is, in fact, my client's thumbprint, correct?
- That's true, but I think--
- That's enough. Thank you, Detective.
I'm done.
- And can you tell the jury what the defendant told you
about his supposed alibi?
- Yeah, he said he was innocent
because he was with a Ned Wilson
at the time of the crime.
- And was he?
- No.
No, Captain Curry and Sergeant Rollins were able to ascertain
that he was lying about that.
- Detective, is it fair to say that at the beginning
of this investigation, you and your partner
believed that Greg Morrison could have been involved
in Ms. Suarez's disappearance?
- Yeah.
Yeah, but over the course of the investigation,
we determined that he was not involved.
- Thank you, Detective. Nothing further.
- You said "we determined."
Who is "we"?
- Myself, Detective Bruno, our entire team.
- So that's your job, to determine who is guilty?
- We make determinations based on the evidence.
- And, in fact, you initially determined that--
let me get this right.
You determined that, and I quote,
"Greg Morrison is the prime suspect
"in the disappearance and probable murder
of Nikki Suarez."
- Yes, but--
- Is that what you wrote in your DD5?
- Yes.
- Because you knew at the time
that Morrison was the prime suspect.
- Yeah, so, well, we--at the time,
we determined that he was--
- It sounds like you were acting like judge and jury.
- What? No-- - That's enough.
Let me ask you this, Detective.
Did there come a time when you determined
that Ms. Suarez might have orchestrated this entire hoax?
- No. - No?
Did you see Chief of Detectives Tynan's press conference?
- Yes, I did, but--
- When asked about Ms. Suarez orchestrating
a "Gone Girl" type hoax, what did she say?
- What did she-- I--I--I don't remember.
- She said that the investigation was ongoing.
Same words you just said, ongoing investigation.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Isn't it true that the entire NYPD
was grasping at straws
throughout this ongoing investigation?
- Well, I--
I don't understand the question.
- Some of you thought Greg Morrison was guilty.
Others thought it was a hoax.
Did anyone bother to do any follow-up whatsoever
to determine if Greg Morrison or Ms. Suarez
were in any way involved in this hoax?
- We determined your client was guilty and--
- Because you played judge and jury
throughout this ongoing investigation, correct?
- No, no, I--no.
[tense music]
- I'm done with this witness, Your Honor.
* *
.
- Hey.
- How's Griffin?
- He's feeling defeated.
- Defeated?
That's a good word.
Olin's killing us.
He's taking a shotgun approach, and each pellet's
ripping holes in our case.
- Carisi...
Put me up there. - What?
- You need somebody to marshal the evidence.
You need somebody to show the jury the nature
of ongoing investigations.
- I don't think that will help.
- Well, then let me at least get up there
and defend my people and take responsibility.
- Liv, you don't have to do this.
- We have nothing to lose.
- Olin will come at you hard.
- Let him try.
I'm not scared of him.
The defendant met the victim at a prior date.
He was undoubtedly stalking her.
He had access to the voice-altering software.
And his print was on the duct tape.
Now, all of these facts,
when they're viewed in isolation,
may seem circumstantial, but when viewed in totality,
it made us understand that the defendant
planned and executed the rape and kidnapping of Nikki Suarez.
- Thank you, Captain. Nothing further.
- Captain Benson, where were you
when Detectives Bruno and Griffin first brought
Mr. Morrison in for questioning?
- Objection. Relevance.
- Overruled.
- I was at a police conference.
- With Chief Tynan?
- Yes.
- So you were unavailable to supervise this investigation
from the start.
- No, I was in constant contact with my entire team throughout.
- Did you tell Chief Tynan to hold
the now-infamous press conference?
- No, I did not.
- But you saw it. - Yes, of course.
- So after you saw her performance,
where she did not dispute the possibility
that Ms. Suarez orchestrated her own kidnapping,
did you call Chief Tynan?
- No, I did not,
because I knew that the allegation was ridiculous.
- That was your determination.
- That is a fact.
- Hmm.
Very good, Captain.
But you know that facts are for the jury to determine, correct?
- I know my job, and I understand the job of the jury,
but all I can tell you is that the defendant raped
and kidnapped Nikki Suarez.
- Objection. Not responsive.
- Sustained.
Jury will disregard Captain Benson's opinion
as to the defendant's guilt or innocence.
Thank you, Your Honor.
No further questions.
[tense music]
* *
- Well, we did what we could.
- Well, it doesn't feel like enough.
- Mr. Carisi? The judge wants you back.
- Here we go.
* *
- I have a note from the jury.
They are, in their words, hopelessly deadlocked.
It's been two days. I'm declaring a mistrial.
- Your Honor, in light of this,
I ask that you release Mr. Welsum.
- Judge, we will retry this case
as soon as you are available.
The people move to continue to remand.
- Granted.
Defendant is remanded.
We'll adjourn for three weeks and set a new trial date.
* *
- Hey, heads up, guys.
I have something I wanna say.
What is this?
- It's my transfer papers.
I don't think I should be here anymore.
- Okay. Sit--sit down, Detective.
Sit down.
We all did our jobs.
Obviously, this is not the outcome that we wanted,
but it's not over, not by a long shot.
Now, these cases are tough.
But we will not stop until Nikki gets justice.
Obviously you're disappointed.
So am I.
But I am proud of you.
I need you all to go home and get some rest
because we're back at it tomorrow.
Okay?
Okay.
Chief Tynan.
- Since you always seem so busy,
I decided to come see you.
- Okay.
- Been a long time since I've been in a squad room.
[chuckles] Still feels like home.
Captain, may we have a word?
- Of course, of course.
This way, my office.
- See you for Sunday dinner, Jake.
- Yeah, yeah, Chief. I'll be there.
- Excellent.
- Hey, um, Griff, can I be your plus-one?
- I think we should throw a wire on him.
- Hey, I can help you put these back together, partner.
- Ha, ha. - Who's got the tape?
- Yeah.
You guys are very funny.
[sighs]
- I'm concerned.
- We're gonna get him at the retrial.
- From what I hear, Jake looked like a fool
on the witness stand.
- He did not.
He held his own against a very skilled lawyer
on an extremely difficult case.
And if I may,
your press conference didn't help matters.
- My press conference?
No, it was the department's press conference,
one that the police commissioner
asked me to conduct, which I did
because I understand the chain of command.
- This isn't about chain of command.
I told you it was premature.
- Captain, it is unbelievable to me
that after all these years in law enforcement,
you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding
of what your job is.
- My job is to help victims,
end of story.
- Your job, as a captain,
is not to boom doors with ESU
or to search for evidence with the K-9 unit.
It is to teach and oversee your detectives
so that you do not find yourself in the position
of having to defend their shortcomings.
- My team is the best in the department.
- I'm sure you believe that. - I do.
- I'm starting to question your supervision.
[tense music]
- Meaning what?
- You should reconsider my offer to come to Police Plaza.
- So you can keep an eye on me?
- So this unit can be led by a captain
who understands how to supervise.
- I'm not interested.
- Well, Captain, chain of command
dictates that that is not your decision to make.
- So, Chief, I've been here for a very long time,
and I have seen administrators like you come and go.
I know how to do my job.
And I would like very much for us to work together
and do something good for this city.
But you don't need to tell me how to do my job.
What you need to do is stay out of my way.
* *
- That is not how this works.
Good night, Captain.
* *
[dramatic music]
* *
[wolf howls]