Original subtitles

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.

All right, listen up.

We're looking for Aretha Green...

13 years old, 5 feet tall, brown hair, brown eyes,

last seen wearing a pink shirt and overalls

entering the park at 110th Street, 1930 yesterday.

I want horizontal and vertical lines.

If you get into the brambles, move in twos.

Report back once you've cleared your grid.

Now let's move out.

Missing almost 14 hours now. You think we'll find her, sir?

Something you should get used to, Garland.

We find old men and toddlers.

Kids this age don't get found.

It's either solved or it isn't.

Mannox, 10-2 the command post.

Take your guys to the mobilization point

at Broadway and Fulton.

We're in the middle of a grid search here.

What's going on?

Something happened at the World Trade Center.

We're getting reports that a Cessna hit the North Tower.

10-4. We gotta go.

Some kid was using a magnetic rod with a net,

fishing for coins, ended up pulling up phalanges.

It's the finger bone.

I know what it is.

Forensic archaeologist already confirmed it's human.

That's when we sent the divers in,

called you guys.

Jesus.

- Get this to the morgue. - Yes, sir.

Baby? You in the bathroom?

Hello? Kendall?

$850,000 worth of watches, gone,

and they were all right here before I went out last night.

What about when you got back?

I didn't think to check.

And you said your girlfriend was with you,

Kendall Vance?

She probably went back to her dorm.

Her dorm?

On University and 8th. She goes to NYU.

Can you send me her info?

Just dropped you her card, but she has a test today,

- so she's not picking up. - How did you two meet?

- SugarBabyz website. - I see.

So you have an arrangement.

I don't like what you're implying.

We're in a very committed relationship.

Okay, sometimes, I help her out

with tuition or books. So what?

A detective from my squad is reaching out

to the registrar's office at NYU to try and locate her.

She wants to be a singer... Broadway.

That's great, Mr. Mazdani.

Hey, for what it's worth,

no one by that name is registered at NYU.

Are you sure?

She's never lied to me.

She's sweet, fragile like an injured fawn.

She'd been sexually assaulted.

- When? - A year ago.

I was helping her get over it.

Did she keep anything here at the condo?

Maybe a toothbrush in the bathroom.

Check for prints. Swab this for DNA.

Earlier today, police divers searching the Harlem Meer

in Central Park recovered the skeletal remains

of a young female approximately 12-13 years old.

We have dinner reservations

at Three Broomsticks in an hour.

Abby's changed her outfit three times already.

Of course she has.

- I'm okay like this? - Yeah, you look great.

Investigators still don't know how long

her body has been in the water.

Yeah, that's Kendall.

Eyval.

You speak Farsi?

It's a long story.

You really found the watches on her?

I thought she liked me.

In her own way.

The officer will see you out.

My client was living under an assumed name.

Can I ask how you found her?

You've got bigger problems, Counselor.

She's looking at grand larceny.

I advise you get her to confess.

She pleads this out, she might not even do time.

Chief.

Hey.

Thank you for meeting me.

Oh, so nice to hear from you.

How've you been? How's the family?

Just got back from a week in Orlando.

Made me long for the halcyon days of CompStat meetings.

I bet.

But you said... You said that you had a case

that you needed help with?

You heard about the body in the Meer?

Yeah, young girl. Just horrible.

It is. Take a look at this.

Aretha Green.

She went missing 20 years ago.

I think she's finally been found.

*LAW AND ORDER SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT* Season 23 Episode 19

Episode Title: "Tangled Strands of Justice"

Aired on: April 28, 2022.

Aretha Green touching

She disappeared the day before 9/11.

You were working the case? You must've been a rookie.

Patrol officer, four months out of the academy.

We were performing a grid search

in and around the Harlem Meer the morning of the 11th.

Grid search that was never finished.

The investigation went dormant after the attacks.

To this day, I still think about her mother.

I get that.

But isn't this Homicide's case, Chief?

Whoa, whoa.

Careful what you call me in here.

We don't want the roof caving in.

Besides, he's about to get a new title:

Deputy mayor of the new administration.

Needless to say,

any other department will see me as even more of an adversary

than they did before.

Well, I will deal with Homicide.

Are you still in touch with your old CO?

Carl Mannox was the duty captain in charge

of the investigation.

He's living in a retirement community now in Hempstead.

Wasn't happy I made deputy chief.

So Rollins, Velasco, you two are lead on this.

Take a ride out to Long Island, and not on your motorcycle.

Who'd you say this was?

Aretha Green.

It was a missing persons case that you were the lead on.

You know how many cases like this I saw

in 35 years on the force?

She disappeared on September 10, 2001.

Christ on a raft, that's right.

We were looking for her when the planes hit.

You took the initial report, right?

It's got my signature on it. Yeah, I remember now.

Mother was frantic.

Daughter left her scooter in the park.

She went out to get it, never came home.

Seemed like a nerdy kid.

You know, not somebody who would ever get

- into any trouble. - You initiated a grid search,

and then the Towers fell,

and it just got put on the back burner?

More like pushed off the stove.

There was before and there was after,

but during... So many tragedies unsolved.

Did the family ever try to contact you?

Yeah, every day for months, her mother would call.

She was a nurse.

Good people, but what could I tell her?

I had no leads.

We're pulling bodies out of the rubble from dawn till dusk.

I can't even imagine.

You were too young, but guys my age who were down there

lost a lot more since 9/11 than on it.

Nobody got off scot-free,

but some of us were luckier than others.

Diagnosed lung cancer 2016, and I'm still here.

So why are you reopening the case?

You didn't hear about the body

they found in Central Park?

I don't keep up with that stuff anymore.

They think it's Aretha?

I hope you see it through.

If you see the mother, tell her I'm sorry.

What are you doing on Long Island?

The girl from the Meer? Geez.

Yeah, well, let me know. I can help.

See you tonight.

I'm gonna make falafel. Bye.

Mr. Carisi, do you have a minute?

Ms. Miglani, what can I do for you?

I have a client who was picked up

by Major Case last night, grand larceny.

Okay.

Here's the thing, the guy she robbed

didn't know her real name, number, address,

but somehow, Major Case made the ID.

- They won't tell me how. - That's not really my purview.

No, but you know the client.

She was one of Henry Mesner's first victims last year.

The psycho who speared you in the ear.

Yeah, I remember Henry.

Which victim?

Libby Blandon? That was a brutal assault.

Her mother was Henry's psychiatrist.

Didn't Libby go back to school?

She dropped out, and now she's fleecing

rich guys for six-figure watches, allegedly.

Oh, that's too bad.

Wouldn't be the first victim

that we saw unravel after an assault,

especially one like that.

- So what can we do? - I'm not sure.

Her lawyer, Miglani, says that the sugar daddy Libby robbed

wouldn't have been able to ID her.

She used a burner cell, fake name, but Major Case

was still able to arrest her

less than 12 hours after the initial report.

- So how did they find her? - Major Case isn't saying.

They somehow rused the mother into calling her.

But here's the thing,

Miglani overheard one of the detectives say

that they didn't need to get Libby's DNA

- because they already had it. - Her DNA was in the system?

Has she been arrested since the assault?

Not in New York, not in CODIS.

Another city? Maybe another state?

- But that'd be fast. - Very.

She's already pled not guilty, been ROR'd.

Okay, well, after everything that Libby's been through,

she needs an advocate.

So how do I reach her?

The girl from the Meer... You got something for us, Doc?

Yes and no.

Still working up the genetic profile.

I'll throw it up against the next-of-kin database,

or if you think you can procure an antemortem exemplar...

We'll take care of that. So we know manner was homicide.

Cause?

Can't definitively determine that.

Maybe fractured skull.

Any other indicators washed away long ago.

Can you tell when she went in the water?

More than a year ago, less than 25.

Triangulating the post-mortem interval's

gonna take some time.

The good news is, we have a treasure trove of met a data:

Overalls, sneaker soles, this watch band.

We'll narrow it down.

So you think she could've been down there

- since September 2001? - It's possible.

Oh.

One other thing.

This smaller pile...

Fetal bones.

About 20, 24 weeks based on the density.

Fetal bones?

She was pregnant.

Those scooters were all the rage.

Aretha never left the house without it.

No, she did not.

I let my granddaughter go out looking for it.

I don't suppose I'll ever forgive myself.

That's enough of that now, Dad.

You have to forgive us some.

We haven't had anybody comin' around

asking about Aretha in years.

A mistake we're here to remedy.

This about that girl in Central Park?

- It's not her, is it? - We're not sure.

The medical examiner

still needs to make an identification.

She was wearing overalls, blue ones.

They did find overalls and a watch.

Do you recognize that?

I gave her a watch that looked just like that

for a good report card.

Who did this to my baby?

We are still working this case.

But the first step is, we need to make sure

that this is definitely your daughter.

I don't understand.

We can make a DNA match through you,

but it'd be easier if you could give us something

of Aretha's to compare it to.

Something with her DNA on it.

I can do that.

I always thought she had run away.

You know, she'd been depressed the last few weeks,

and I thought maybe I did something wrong.

But I hoped, you know, someday, she'd forgive me, come home.

I couldn't keep her room the same, you know,

like a little girl's room.

Grief isn't meant to stay fixed, it's...

- Unstuck from time. - Yeah.

But I kept a few things: Her baby teeth.

Will that work?

Yeah.

I haven't spoken to my mother in months.

She kept blaming herself for what happened.

She said it so many times that I started to believe her.

Okay, but she was still able to contact you?

Yeah, in case of emergency.

So when her receptionist called

and said to get to the office right away,

I thought something terrible had happened.

That's where the police were waiting to arrest you?

The first of many questionable tactics.

But it still doesn't explain how they were able to ID you

and why your DNA was already in the system.

Have you ever been arrested before... as a juvenile?

No, first-timer.

Is it possible that somebody else at the SugarBabyz website

knew your real ID?

After what happened to me,

I didn't want to be Libby anymore.

I had a different identity for everyone I dated.

Okay.

It's not like I made a habit of this.

I just wanted to feel taken care of,

and Bijan was safe.

I should've never taken the watches.

Okay, Libby, that's not why we're here.

The point is, if her DNA

was not legitimately in the system...

Could they have gotten it from a genealogical website?

No, the only time I ever gave anyone a sample

of my DNA was when SVU did my rape kit.

Thank you.

Detective Szabo. Captain Benson, Manhattan SVU.

I know who you are. Why are you here?

To talk to you about Libby Blandon.

Well, one squad's vic is another squad's perp.

It happens.

So you do know that she was a victim of a brutal rape

a year ago?

And you want me to ask the ADA for leniency?

I already told her attorney if she confesses,

the ADA would be open to a plea deal.

Well, that's actually not why I'm here.

I was curious about how you ID'd her.

I didn't. The guy she robbed did...

Made a corporeal ID.

She couldn't even look him in the eye.

But how were you able to bring her in?

She used a fake name, fake number, and fake address.

But somehow, you managed to pick her up through her mother?

I respect the rank, Captain.

But I don't come down to your shop

and ask how you put your rapists in jail.

This doesn't have to be territorial.

Great.

Then let's not make it that way.

We're both on the same team just trying to solve our cases.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have DD5s to go over.

Hey, how'd it go with Major Case?

- Oh, I made a new friend. - Not givin' in, huh?

Not even an inch.

I mean, this one is a real ray of sunshine

and extremely defensive.

Carisi, do you think it's possible

that she accessed Libby's rape kit to get the DNA?

Nah, the M.E.'s office is like its own fiefdom.

There's procedures on the procedures

on top of layers of protocol.

For a cop to be allowed to access a victim's DNA

in order to arrest her? That's inconceivable.

That's what I thought.

I put a call to General Counsel at OCME anyway.

So the girl is definitely Aretha Green?

Yes. I was able to get a DNA match

from the baby tooth.

Okay, we'll let the family know.

Something else that may be difficult to tell the family,

- but may help solve the murder. - What's that, Doctor?

I was able to pull a DNA profile from the fetal bones.

It was a boy.

Whoever the father is, he wasn't in CODIS,

and he's a not familial match to Aretha.

- He was African American. - Not a lot to go on.

No, I wish there was more.

But these bonds have told me as much as they can tell.

Finding out who did this to her,

that baton passes back to you.

It's her?

We are so sorry for your loss.

She's been in the water all this time?

All alone?

We're gonna get through this, Cora.

I want my daughter's remains.

I wanna bury her.

Just put my baby to rest.

We'll arrange that as soon as we can.

There's something else, Ms. Green.

Aretha was pregnant at the time she died.

I'm sorry?

She was more than five months.

- No. - We have to ask,

did you have any idea?

No. But that can't be true.

They must have got it wrong.

It's not the kind of thing a doctor gets wrong, Mr. Green.

He found fetal bones of a boy.

No, no, I can't hear... That is not true.

No, she was just a baby herself.

Dad, would you tell them?

It's all right, Cora. I got you.

It's best that you just go now.

Of course.

But at some point, we will need to speak with both of you.

Whoever got Aretha pregnant

may also be responsible for her death.

I understand. Just not right now.

As OCME's General Counsel, I can assure you there's no way

that profile was accessed.

Victim DNA is never uploaded to any database.

And yet, it was.

Harry, this is Captain Benson of SVU.

- How can I help you? - Well, I'm trying

to figure out how a rape victim's DNA profile

was accessed in a criminal investigation.

Libby Blandon, her profile was uploaded three days ago.

Oh, that was a Major Case request.

Request for what, exactly?

They had DNA from a grand larceny suspect...

No ID, DNA wasn't in CODIS, not in our regular database...

How did you decide to run that DNA

against a rape victim's DNA?

Did you have a name or a date of birth?

The detective was told

she had been an assault vic in 2021, so I checked,

found her case was active, trial pending.

Hold on.

You ran DNA from a current crime scene

against multiple rape victims' kits

without checking with your supervisor?

It came from Major Case, not some precinct detective.

It's not illegal.

Because it never occurred to anybody

that they needed a law to prohibit it.

This is completely unethical.

And totally against OCME's protocol.

I am as stunned and appalled as you are, Captain.

I promise you, we'll be launching

an internal investigation.

Good, so will the DA's office.

And please tell me that this is the first time

that you've done this.

Thank you for coming in, Ms. Green.

I know this is not easy.

Keep going over this in my head.

It still doesn't make any sense.

We just ask you to think back.

You know, maybe Aretha had a boyfriend.

Aretha didn't have any boyfriends though.

She was a good girl.

I'm sure she was.

But sometimes, teenage girls keep things from their mothers.

No, my daughter was all about her studies.

If she had a boyfriend, I would have known it.

Okay.

But who looked after Aretha

when you worked the night shift?

My father was there,

and there is no way he would have ever tolerated

any boys hanging around.

We watched the news all day.

I remember thinking, "Is it possible Aretha went downtown,

maybe to help?"

She had gone missing a day before.

That's right.

Has she ever taken off on her own, maybe to a friend's house?

She came straight home from school.

Cora was pretty strict about that.

And she never had friends over, like a boy from class?

Sometimes to study.

But I was there.

You were always there?

Well, a man has to walk around once in a while

to stretch his legs, doesn't he?

Sure.

But if I left the house, it was only when Red was there.

In case, you know?

Uh, Red... Red, who?

I shouldn't say anymore.

I don't want Cora getting pissed off at me.

- So Cora had a boyfriend? - According to her father.

He was alone in the house with Aretha.

Cora never mentioned that.

There's nothing in the police report.

Do the old man a favor

and not let on he was the one who told us.

Who told you that?

Ms. Green, no one is judging you.

All we want is to find out what happened to Aretha.

- He would never... - No one is saying that either.

But maybe he saw something or heard something.

My baby is gone.

What difference does any of this make?

She's not coming back.

I know it doesn't feel that way now.

But I believe there's a reason

we found Aretha after all these years.

She wants us to know.

Red was married.

That's why I didn't mention it to the police.

Why drag his family through all this...

Hurt his wife more than we already had?

He was an X-ray technician.

We worked at the hospital together,

and after, um...

He moved to Uniondale.

He may still be there.

You've got to be kidding me.

Six victims' profiles were accessed by the OCME

in the past two years?

I hope there were no convictions.

Well, so far, we've found two...

Both Major Case.

A male assault victim, nine years old at the time,

was picked up in the Bronx at 17 years old

and convicted of carjacking.

And a female sex worker who was raped two years ago

was recently convicted of forgery and wire fraud.

And our current case, Libby Blandon,

was raped a year ago,

is now awaiting indictment on grand larceny.

And I take it the Major Case detective is not forthcoming?

Detective Szabo? No, not even a little.

However, we did find out that all six breaches in the system

were made by the same forensic biologist, Harry Kent,

and each at the request of Detective Szabo.

Well, we all know what's going on here.

Look, Libby Blandon was raped and brutalized by Henry Mesner,

and instead of standing trial, he managed to get himself

back in that mental hospital.

My guess is that Libby has been

on a downward spiral ever since.

Libby's defense attorney can probably get the judge

to throw the DNA out,

but the problem is, there is corroboration

that's not reliant on the DNA. The victim identified her.

She was in possession of the stolen property.

And I don't care.

We can't let this set a precedent.

This whole case needs to be thrown out.

At a minimum, I will call the Queens DA.

Although I wish it was any other borough.

Heard they found Aretha.

Poor child. How's Cora?

- She's struggling. - I could imagine.

Damn, I wanted to reach out, but I'm still married.

How long were you and Cora together?

A few years, on and off, workplace romance.

After Aretha went missing, and then 9/11,

I had to get my life in order.

Moved my family and job out here.

Right, but you did know Aretha?

Of course. Smart girl.

I used to help her with her science homework.

She wanted to be a doctor.

So you two spent time alone together?

Sometimes, if Cora had a late shift,

and her father needed a break or had a doctor's appointment.

Coleman had the diabetes. He still alive?

He is. Mr. Washington,

do you recall if Aretha had a boyfriend?

No. I wish I could help you.

But that girl was all about schoolwork.

Always figured it had to be a stranger.

Maybe, but we're still working the case,

talking to anyone who had contact with Aretha.

And getting DNA.

- You asking me for mine? - Is that a problem?

Is there any way my wife and kids hear about this?

No, they don't need to know.

Okay, that's fine, then. I can come in.

When you talk to Cora, you can let her know my heart goes out.

I haven't stopped thinking about her or Nina.

- Nina? - Aretha's little sister.

I guess she'd be almost 30 by now.

Wait, you haven't talked to her?

Aretha had a sister,

and the mother never mentioned it?

Okay.

Well, sometimes it's not about what they tell you.

It's about what they don't tell you.

Keep me posted.

You have some nerve, Captain. You're coming after me?

- Excuse me? - I pick up a suspect

on grand larceny in less than 12 hours,

and all of a sudden, I'm getting harassed

by the DA's office, OCME, and...

Thank God my captain has my back.

Oh, you're gonna need him,

because not only was your behavior completely unethical,

but you violated all NYPD's protocols about victim privacy.

I am sorry Libby was raped.

But that doesn't give her a free pass to break the law!

How many times have you done this?

Done what? Use DNA to solve a crime?

Do you have any idea how difficult it is

to get a rape victim to come forward,

let alone agree

to the invasive trauma of a rape exam?

The minimum pact between us and them

is that we don't use their DNA against them.

Tell that to the mother of a 25-year-old boy

who was shot during a carjacking.

How 'bout you do your job by actually investigating

or getting subpoenas instead of trading sexual favors

for shortcuts to the DNA database?

You're scolding me for doing favors

for people I'm involved with?

- That's rich! - I have never

put a rape victim in jeopardy.

Oh, so you're some kind of saint?

You've never put your finger on the scale

for a former partner or an IAB rat?

- Get out of my office. - And you get out of my suit!

Get out now.

Get out.

Red asked about Nina? It's none of his business.

That why I never told the police

about him in the first place.

And you never told police you had a younger daughter?

They never asked.

After I called 911,

I sent Nina to the neighbors.

She was eight, crying over Aretha.

I didn't want the police upsetting her even further.

Cora did what she thought was right.

We understand that, but we need to speak with Nina.

- Where is she now? - God only knows.

I don't.

Nina never got over her sister.

- She lost her faith. - She gave her faith to drugs...

Chose a life on the street over her own family.

When was the last time you saw Nina?

Five years ago.

She came around asking for money... again...

To put another hole in her arm.

I told her, "Don't come around here anymore."

I had already lost one daughter.

I didn't want to watch the other one just fade away.

- I'm so sorry. - Don't be.

I ran out of tears for her a long time ago.

I always thought they'd find her body

before they found Aretha's.

You get something on Nina Green?

Yeah, she racked up a lot of charges over the years.

Possession of a controlled substance,

loitering, prostitution. Most recent?

January, prostitution and possession.

Is she still doing time?

No, she got parole last month.

She's at a halfway house... St. Bernadine's.

- Should we give 'em a call? - No.

I don't want to spook her. It's better that we go

in person.

Nina Green, yes, she's one of our residents,

- but she's not here now. - Where is she?

I'm not sure.

She's been doing real well working her program.

Then this afternoon, her grandfather paid a visit.

Her grandfather? Did they go somewhere together?

I don't thinks so.

He wasn't here long, but Nina was real upset afterwards.

She didn't speak at all during group.

She went out for a smoke and hasn't come back.

Do you have any idea where she went?

My fear... is to score. She wouldn't have to go far.

Up until today, she's been a model resident.

I hope you don't have to violate her.

That's not why we're here.

If she comes back, tell her we need to talk with her, okay?

It's important. It's about her sister, Aretha.

How does anyone still have my DNA?

Well, the DNA was never destroyed.

The case is still open, pending Henry Mesner's trial.

Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen.

Libby, they're trying to help us.

I should just plead guilty. I did it.

I don't wanna be like Henry,

just playing the system to get off.

I agree. You should make restitution.

But I'm not just looking out for you.

Using DNA from a rape kit to prosecute

sets a dangerous precedent for all rape victims.

You better hurry. The Queens grand jury

just handed down an indictment.

Libby Blandon, on the charge of grand larceny,

in the second degree, how do you plead?

Not guilty, Your Honor.

The People are not requesting bail.

Good decision,

especially since the charge is not bail-optional.

Defendant is ROR pending a trial date.

Let's take a five minute recess.

Detective Szabo.

This girl you were so worried about,

she should have pled out.

You're the detective from Major Case.

Lorraine Maxwell, head of the Manhattan trial division.

- Of course. - You'll be hearing from us.

The DA's office is reviewing all of your arrests.

Glad you have the time for that.

Lorraine Maxwell slumming in Queens.

The U.S. Open isn't until August.

I'm not here for my health, Larry.

This is Captain Benson from SVU.

To what do we owe the pleasure?

We have an interest in this case.

We're having a hard time

getting DA Drakos to call us back.

That's not the first time I've heard that.

- Want me to put in a call? - What'll it cost me?

A steak dinner in Manhattan.

I'm sorry, Lorraine.

I must've missed your phone calls.

I am assuming this is about the provenance

of the DNA in the grand larceny case?

The provenance isn't in question.

It came from a victim's rape kit.

Your victim was ID'd and indicted by a grand jury.

What do you want me to do?

Well, you could start by dropping the case.

The woman is guilty of a felony.

Look, if there was improper police procedures

or OCME lapses then the NYPD can look into that,

and her defense attorney can bring it up at trial.

The detective never should've had access to that DNA.

Any subsequent arrest and indictment

stemming from that evidence is tainted.

Under what law?

Look, I have nothing but sympathy for rape victims...

But it doesn't give them

a Get Out of Jail Free card.

I drop this, where does it stop?

Murder? What message does that send?

What message? What message does it send

to rape victims if they know that their DNA

will be used against them?

The chilling effect on reporting

is gonna set us back decades.

Well then, instead of traipsing

all the way out to Queens and preaching to me,

you should be fixing your problem with the OCME.

You should know that we're not dropping this.

And you should know that I'm not dropping this case.

What are you gonna do? Go to the press?

The Queens District Attorney's Office does not bow down

to political pressure.

You're not on moral high ground here.

This is quicksand.

Hey.

- I didn't do nothin'. - Oh, yeah?

- What's this? - A few dime bags.

- I'll be released in an hour. - Good point.

We'll save you the trouble. You sell to this girl today?

She didn't have the cash, said she'd be back.

Where is she?

Selling what God gave her.

Go screw yourself.

Son of a bitch!

- Nina Green? - Are you kidding me?

I was just giving that guy directions.

This is about your sister, Aretha.

My grandfather told me you found her.

Didn't believe it...

I thought it was another one of his lies.

What other lies, Nina?

How much does my mother know?

She knows that Aretha was murdered

and that she was pregnant.

- Why would you tell her that? - You knew?

Aretha told me.

But I never wanted my mom to find out.

Okay.

My grandfather said it would kill her.

Wait, how did he know?

So the grandfather's DNA was a match for the fetal bones?

I thought the DNA ruled out family members.

It did.

It never occurred to us that Coleman might not be

Aretha's biological grandfather.

Oh, you think he knows?

The man's kept a lot of secrets for a long time.

Well, he refused a lawyer, so he's gotta know

in some sense that this is over.

- You ready? - I am.

It's good to see you, by the way.

I wish it were under better circumstances.

It's been some 50 years ago now.

My girlfriend told me she was pregnant with Cora.

I was a National Guard reservist...

Out of town a lot.

I didn't think the baby could be mine.

But she told you it was.

She swore. I always had my doubts.

But I did the right thing. I stepped up.

I got married.

I always treated Cora like she was my own.

You didn't do the right thing by Aretha though.

You raped and killed that 13-year-old girl.

No!

It was an accident.

When Aretha told me she was pregnant,

I told her she could not have that baby.

She said she was gonna tell Cora.

What did you do?

I couldn't reason with her.

I guess I got angry. I shook her.

She fell against the tub.

Hit her head.

I never meant to kill her.

I loved that girl.

She was the light of my life.

And us together...

She was not my grandchild.

So it was not a sin against God.

So he's pleading guilty?

He's not fighting this anymore.

He's gonna die in prison.

How's the mother?

We're on our way to tell her now.

I don't envy you.

On the other front, any progress with the rape kit DNA?

We may have found some common ground.

- Keep me posted. - I will.

Nice to see you again, Lorraine.

And you too. I miss you around here.

Give my best to Lamai.

Will absolutely do. Take care.

You too.

Common ground?

I had dinner last night with Judge Cohen,

and he had a few more drinks than I did.

So he said that he told Libby's attorney

to request a bench trial.

So he's signaling to Miglani

that he's gonna find Libby not guilty.

Well, that's great news for Libby,

but not for the other convictions.

Judge Cohen had some ideas about that too.

Apparently, DA Drakos' husband was stepping out.

So she cut and pasted Judge Cohen's signature

on phone company orders for a wiretap.

And he's been sitting on that the entire time?

Never underestimate the complexity

of politics in Queens.

Oh, as a matter of fact,

the DA's making a statement now.

And with the help of OCME

and Detective Szabo from Major Case,

we have discovered a flaw in the OCME database.

She discovered the flaw? They created the flaw.

So in a sense, they discovered it.

I am dropping

all charges against the current defendant

because the Fourth Amendment,

right to privacy, is paramount.

I will be looking into all prior convictions

based on victims' DNA and looking to overturn them.

I will also be calling on all other city DAs to join me

in asking for legislation

to ensure that this practice becomes illegal.

She's calling on other DAs to help her with her crusade?

Wow, that is chutzpah.

You know, I've learned that the best way

to get anything done is to let other people take the credit.

Again, we're so sorry.

If you wanna talk more about this...

I've heard enough... That he wasn't even my father,

and what he did to Aretha?

- I couldn't tell you, Mama. - Oh, I know,

and I know that's why you ran away.

But that's over now.

For what it's worth, he's agreed to spare you a trial.

He's going to prison,

most likely for the rest of his life.

I don't care anymore.

I don't want to hear his name ever again.

It's me and Nina now. That's all that matters.

We're making arrangements for a service for Aretha.

We'll leave you in peace.

That never gets any easier.

- No. - You okay, Chief?

Cases like this, I don't miss being a cop.

I guess I saw enough to last me.

Godspeed to you both.