Law & Order: SVU
Thursdays 9:00 PM on NBCLaw & Order: SVU Season 20 Episode 15
Brothel
Recap
Some guy walks towards an apartment. He tells a guy outside he's here to play. He is buzzed in.
Upstairs he tells another guy he's a friend of the house and walks into a red lit room where he takes his belt off and a woman grabs him then says he's not a cop and a bunch of scantily-dressed girls come out. Later one of the girls is screaming STOP IT. The bouncer comes in to see what's going on and the girl Tori has a gun and knocks out the security guard while the guy she was with is bound and gagged on the bed. She runs away and on a roof is confronted by the other bouncer. They hold guns on each other and then her body is found the next day and SVU is called in.
Upstairs he tells another guy he's a friend of the house and walks into a red lit room where he takes his belt off and a woman grabs him then says he's not a cop and a bunch of scantily-dressed girls come out. Later one of the girls is screaming STOP IT. The bouncer comes in to see what's going on and the girl Tori has a gun and knocks out the security guard while the guy she was with is bound and gagged on the bed. She runs away and on a roof is confronted by the other bouncer. They hold guns on each other and then her body is found the next day and SVU is called in. They quickly find the brothel, which has been abandoned, and Rollins comments they know what their victim was running from.
Fin thinks maybe someone pushed their Jane Doe. They find out that her name was Tori and that she was a heroin addict.
They all go to treatment court where a defendant is in front of the judge because he didn't comply with treatment. The guy says he went to visit his son. He is sentenced to writing three letters a week to the boy. SVU asks the judge about Tori. He's sad to hear about her. He thought she was on the right track.
THey talk to the defense attorney who says Tori disappeared a month ago and he couldn't find her. He says he tried his best but Tori was sexually abused at 12 and on the streets at 16.
Rollins thinks this whole thing is a waste of time. Maybe Tori jumped. Benson says Tori was brutalized and the whole brothel disappeared in the middle of the night. Carisi recognizes a shoe in the evidence box as a high-end shoe. The shoe store owner wants to keep his customer list private. The guy has his files in a shoebox. He says his shoes are custom made.
The cops catch up with the shoe owner who, as usual, has never heard of not saying incriminating things to the cops and says OMG Tori died? I knew they'd kill her
Benson is skeptical of the man's story (which is what we saw in the beginning) He says security or the woman threw Tori off the roof. He says he was untied in a panic and everyone was running out. Rollins says this is the story you're going with? He denies killing Tori. Benson asks how he found out about the brothel? He said he went to a bar when the subway was delayed and some guy next to him gave him a number.
Fin goes to see an old friend in Vice (Jennifer Esposito). She says these brothels are hard to find, especially now the feds have shut down a big site where they were all listed, it's even harder. They find an ad for the Dollhouse that still uses Tori. They go to the judge and get a warrant while he's eating dinner with a friend. Fin joins a sting operation A bunch of cops with guns break into the brothel but i's abandoned. Fin thinks someone tipped them off.
Baker and SVU argue with each other about who the mole was. Benson tells them to cut this out. Either they knew they were coming or they got a bad feeling. Either way they're onto them now. Carisi gets word that the gun found by Tori's body was taken from an evidence room. Only a cop would have access to it.
SVU goes to see the property clerk, who is offended by the idea that he let evidence get away but when he eventually looks he finds a brick where the gun belongs. Baker is upset to hear this news. Baker tells a cop some story about evidence being mixed up and finds out who signed evidence into lock-up. She wants Fin to hold off on calling IAB.
Benson says IAB needs to handle this. Fin asks her to wait. Benson orders surveillance on all three cops.
Carisi thinks stakeouts are boring. Baker joins them and insists Ramirez is a good cop. Ramirez comes out and smokes a cigarette. A van pulls up and Fin realizes something is going down. Ramirez takes a girl out of the back of the van. Baker says they need to get a warrant. She'll get it and text them.She leaves and Fin calls Rolins. Rollins says Bromlin turned out his lights, she's on her way.
Carisi asks Fin if there's history between him and Baker. Fin says she was the first after his divorce but he wasn't ready and it messed her up. Carisi thinks Baker seems great now. Fin thinks it is taking Baker too long to get a warrant. Carisi sees some action at the apartment and the cops respond. Rollins askswhat happened. Carisi and Fin don't know. They go into the apartment. Empty as usual. Rollins thinks there has to be a back exit. She finds a girl who is ODing on heroin.
Baker shows up and wants to know where Ramirez is. Fin asks where she's been. She is offended that he thinks she had something to do with this.
Baker is upset and says she was with the judge and Fin knows her. He says he used to. She's mad at him for suspecting her.
Fin hopes he's wrong about Baker.Benson is upset he didn't have IAB or backup when he talked to her. He says if the victim ID's Baker he will make the call himself.
The girl asks if she is under arrest. She wants a fix. The girl says she can't do this. Benson says they can protect her but only if she tells them what she knows. The girl says that is Carlos who runs the Dollhouse. She says she ran away when she was 15. She says a woman named Fee introduced her to Carlos. She says at first it wasn't so bad but when you needed a fix they'd make you work and threaten to call the cops if you didn't cooperate. She says a girl tried to escape and they pushed her off a roof. She ID's Tori. She says Tori is better off now. She doesn't.She doesn't recognize any of the women, including Baker, and says she is sure about that.
Benson asks if Fin is on speaking terms with Baker. He says not yet. She tells him to apologize.
Baker doesn't want to work with them. Fin apologizes and says they have to nail the bastards.
Carisi and Baker purposely talk about a girl being jammed up for heroin in front of Ramirez. Carisi leaves and Baker offers Ramirez coffee from her desk. He says he's gonna make a coffee run and goes. The cops follow him. Ramirez meets some guy who turns out to be the judge!
Benson is shocked by this. They find that there have been 14 raids that were tipped off -- all signed off on by the judge. Benson says this is all circumstantial. They need absolute proof.
Ann comes to see Benson. She's starting treatment again. Benson encourages her, says she can make whatever life for herself she wants. Ann asks does she really believe that? Benson does. Ann thanks her tearfully and leaves.
- Show:
- Law & Order: SVU
- Season:
- Law & Order: SVU Season 20
- Episode Number:
- 15