This is one of those episodes where I have mixed feelings. I like the way the story was told and it made good use of the whole cast. But something Benson said about the horrific crime scene - that you never get used to it – is partly where I had a problem. I think as viewers, we ARE used to it. We know we are being taken into a fictional crime scene. And when the detectives walk in and say something like, “what’s that smell?” this automatically mean that a body (or bodies) will be found. The suspense is gone. I found it slightly amusing, however, that Benson seemed in perfect control – which made it appear she IS used to it despite what she said, and that McGrath, the man in charge, was rattled beyond belief.
Speaking of McGrath, Benson implies there is some sort of truce between them, and she doesn’t have to go over every one of her cases with him. He could be placating her for now.
Lucky for Rollins and Velasco that a kid just happened to be at the building to tell them about the “vampire” – a perfect excuse to break into the building. Did they have the proper warrant to do so or could they say they had probable cause? If they didn’t have the proper approval or if they couldn’t establish they had probable cause to break in, couldn’t all the evidence found there be thrown out and the perp be off the hook? And lucky for Benson and Fin that the son of one of the victims just happened to be on the spectrum and just happened to be the type that can remember details, like the perp's license number.
I also found the medical examiner to be a little…creepy. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, maybe it was him referring to two bodies he had around Christmas as his “Christmas Angels.” I understand the idea of bringing a photo of the loved one to the morgue so the person identifying the body can look at that after seeing the body to help them focus on a good memory. But I don’t understand why Benson thinks this is such a novel idea. Nobody likes to look at a dead body, which is why, at wakes and funeral homes where bodies are laid out, that for as long as I can recall, people have kept photos of their loved ones displayed nearby or at the services – to remember the person as they were in happier times. Maybe in the world of medical examiners this is some revolutionary thing?
They were too quick to point the finger at Country. The only thing they had on him was the fact that he had knives and a cleaver (I have them too!) and that the girls stopped by his place and left their things. But they were ready to ruin his life despite not having any real evidence.
In case you missed it, Octavio Pisano is now in the main credits.
Here is the recap:
Tania Cruz, after hanging out with her friend “Beauty”, working the streets, meets with her sister Daria who brings her a backpack with some food. Tania later leaves the bag with a man named Country who runs a restaurant. Elsewhere, she calls her sister and leaves a message on her answering machine and says she was says she was raped and begs to come live with her. She screams and a man who tells her to scream all she wants, nobody cares.
At SVU, Benson and Fin, at the coffee station, talk about McGrath, who Benson says is being respectful - or pretending to be for now. At least she doesn’t have to go over every one of her cases with him. Rollins is dealing with Daria who loudly is expressing concern for her sister, explaining her sister Tania’s phone call. Benson and Fin walk in as Velasco explains to them how Daria ended in SVU and Benson leads her into the interview room. There, Daria explains that she didn’t hear the voicemail until the morning and her sister’s issues – she is a homeless survival sex worker - and when she last saw her. They ask if she knows anyone who she hangs out with.
Rollins and Velasco check with some girls – Snowflake and Missy – that are at the location where Tania stays and they tell them to talk to Beauty. They later speak with Beauty about Tania and that she last saw her last night and that she was headed to Country’s to get her coat.
Fin meets up with Country who explains Tania came in to get her coat and left her backpack as the girls have no place to keep their things. Back at SVU, Daria confirms it is Tania’s backpack and said Tania says Country looks out for her. Snowflake and Missy enter SVU and explain to Rollins that now Beauty is missing. Benson and Velasco later speak with Snowflake and Missy, who explain that Tania left her important bag with them which has her cell phone. After they leave, Benson and Velasco are worried there are two girls missing in two days, and Benson tells him to get Beauty's cell phone records. She also tells him to check with the precinct to see if they “circular filed” any other missing women reports.
At the 27th precinct in Harlem on Monday, October 25, Rollins and Velasco manage to get a file of missing women from the last few years – NHI – house slang for No Humans Involved. The file is full, and Rollins notices two look like Tania and Beauty, thinking the perp has a type, worrying it is a serial.
Later, Benson recaps the girls missing in that neighborhood and who filed the reports. They didn’t get much other information. Benson wonders if they didn’t end up in the morgue.
At the ME’s office at 421 East 26th Street on Tuesday, October 26, Benson and Fin meet with the ME who has matched their descriptions to Jane Does. He talks about two dead girls, found around Christmas, that he called Christmas Angels. There were no missing person reports. One of the girls was partially eviscerated, crudely, using a butcher’s knife and meat cleaver.
Fin, Rollins and Velasco are at Country’s restaurant, taking his knives and cleaver, having a warrant. After questioning him a bit – he had been arrested before and him being friendly with the girls - they ask him to come downtown.
In the SVU interrogation room, Benson and Rollins question him further and they show him they have him on surveillance video in his car, once with two people and later with only Country in it. When Benson says they are tearing his place and car apart, he says they won’t find anything. Benson threatens him with sending him back to prison because he lied, violating his parole. He finally admits that Tania had a date who wanted to meet her uptown and she didn’t want to wait for the bus so he dropped her off. He didn’t see her date. He dropped he off and took off. Benson presses for the address.
At 9th Avenue in East Inwood on Tuesday October 26, Rollins and Velasco are at the location and see a few kids playing nearby. One of them says a vampire who lives there. He was in there Sunday night. The kid thinks Tania went in there. Later, Velasco breaks the lock and he and Rollins walk in the building to an awful smell. They quickly find mummified bodies all over and both Tania’s and Beauty’s bodies.
Later, with crime scene people, Benson, Fin, Rollins and Velasco discuss the next steps. The ME says they are looking at a mass-fatality event over time, DIY mummification, explaining the technique the perp used. He can ID them though DA and fingerprints. The perp kept a meticulous dissection room so the perp’s DA will not likely be found. McGrath arrives and is clearly disturbed at the scene and Benson suggests they talk outside. He’s still rattled when he’s outside and Benson explains Country Jones is in custody, and that he led them here. McGrath wonders if he didn’t want to be caught, McGrath getting more sickened by the crime. He tells Benson to make the case because this is evil He leaves. Velasco comments to Benson he didn’t expect the Chief to be so upset, and Benson explains it is upsetting. When Velasco explains that he had to look, Benson says she’s been doing this for 20 years and she has never seen anything like this. She adds that you never get used to it – any of it.
Back in SVU interrogation, Benson and Fin continue to question Country about all the unclaimed items he’s holding and if they find out anything that’s in his place belongs to those girls, he’s done. They show him the photos of the girls and he’s clearly disturbed. He sees one of the girls and breaks down and says he is sorry. Velasco comes in and says the ME has something.
At the morgue, the ME explains to Benson and Fin that his team went over the bodies and all 12 were strangled, and some of the bodies were stuffed with the women’s own clothing. This gives them more information to go by and they expanded their search. He found two women missing in the last 10 years – one wearing a photo with the coat the same as one mummified victims and another wearing the charm bracelet on another with her name and birth date. Benson looks at when these girls went missing, and Country was in prison in South Carolina at the time. Country is not the man, and whoever is knows they broke into his “hell hole”.
Later, McGrath, with Benson, speaks to the press at the location of the murders, asking for information. Nearby, Velasco tells Fin the owner of the building died 10 years ago with no will and he owned 15 buildings in the neighborhood and it is in court. They all live in Wuhan and the LLC pays the taxes. The kid – Jamal - who told them about the vampire living in the building approaches them and says the vampire was white like a ghost and sometimes in a pickup truck. Velasco hears they identified the Connecticut victim’s mother.
At the morgue, Daria is there to confirm Tania’s body. The ME asks if she brought a photo of the two of them together that he asked. She has. He tells her to place it on the table near her feet. He tells her to look at Tania as long as she needs, and then look to the picture as that is how she should be remembered. She looks at Tania then quickly looks away and then grabs the photo and hold it to her. Benson tries to console her but Daria wants to go and she leaves. The ME says that is very common to insist on seeing the remains and Benson states she’s never seen that before with the photo. The ME says one doesn’t need to retain the image of a cold, traumatized body; you can encourage recall of happy memories, especially in such a young woman. Benson seems moved and choked up, and she quickly exits.
At the home of Lois Hart, 219 Bates Street in Enfield, Connecticut on Wednesday October 27, Benson and Fin speak to her about Meredith. He son, Jack, who is on the spectrum, is there and she doesn’t think he is listening and she will tell him about his mother later. She explains the problems she had with her daughter and “bad boys” and once she ran off with a man – a carney from a town fair, and she ran off with him. While they were talking, Jack mentions that they last saw his mother on July 7, 2016, and then is able to tell them the description of the truck and the New Jersey license number – 6IL I90. His mom told him not to tell his grandmother and worry her.
Later, Rollins and Velasco arrive at the address and see the truck with the same license number, concluding the perp is home. As they approach the house a woman walks out with the trash and Rollins explains they are looking for Trace Lambert. She says he is not home but he walks out the door and asks who is she talking to. Rollins asks if he can come in the city and talk to them. As another squad car approaches, he asks if he is under arrest and Rollins says they can do that and he’d have to spend the night in Jersey City booking, and Velasco suggests he come with them. His mother says she is coming to and she is calling a cab.
With Trace in interrogation, Benson and the team talk outside the room about Trace’s record and that he hasn’t asked for a lawyer. There is no trace of him on the bodies and Fin adds that the timeline fits. Benson tells Velasco to get his mother a cup of coffee and play the good son to see if he can get anything out of her.
Fin and Rollins question Trace and present him with the facts that they do have and what happened to the girls. He tries to explain away things he may have purchased that may implicate him. Meanwhile, Velasco speaks with his mother who says Trace is a loser and Benson walks in and is interesting in what she can say about her son.
After this, Benson walks in to speak with Trace and gives Fin and Rollins a break. When they leave the room, Benson says Trace’s mom says he barely talks to girls and is “soft.” They discuss Meredith and that his mom though she was out of his league. He thinks she loved him but Benson questions that she left him. She brings up again what his mom said that being a carnival worker was his limit. Benson continues to portray Trace as being stupid but says the perp was very smart and special and that when he’s found out, people will make documentaries about him. This gets Trace to start admitting things about knowing the building owner, and that the killer pretended to be a buyer and poisoned the owner – and that it was his plan. Benson laughs to get him going even more, and he says he did kill them, they were his girls and they destroyed 10 years of his work. He explains what each girl did as he killed them. He said Meredith just kept saying no, no, no and he kept her alive for days. He killed all of them, and tells her to tell his mother that – tell her what he did. Benson nods her head and leaves the room.
Later, Benson on the phone with Carisi and thanks him, and when she ends the call, she tells Fin that Trace’s lawyer cut a deal. He will plead guilty to a dozen homicides to avoid Federal prosecution. Fin comments that’s New York, but the FBI is checking missing persons in every town on the eastern seaboard that his carnival went through for the last 10 years and Trace can still get the death penalty. Now in the squad room, she asks the ME what he has, and he explains he was able to ID two more victims. Their DNA was in the system and no one ever reported them missing – Dawn, who would have just turned 26, and Katie, 32. This would mean 8 bodies ID’d. Benson asks if he will be able to ID the rest of them and doesn’t know, but after all they have been through, he is not going to abandon them now. He leaves the room as Fin sees Beauty’s grandmother arrive. Benson watches as Fin greets her, then turns off the screen which showed all the victims in their mummified form, then looks to the screen with some of their photographs as we fade to black.
