Snitch

A group named Eco Friendly New York has arrived at a particularly garbage-strewn portion of the East River to clean it up, and also, in the case of one eco-friendly New Yorker, hopefully get laid (he won't). Someone should probably tell Dick Wolf that NBC's Green Week is long over, so his half-assed contribution is no longer necessary. Using long tools to pull garbage out of the water, one of the volunteers shakes her head at people using the river as a garbage dump. "People just don't know how easy it is to be green," commiserates the other. Maybe that's because that bitch Kermit is always saying just the opposite. I was kind of hoping a giant monster would be hanging from the underside of the bridge, like in The Host, but no dice. It's just your everyday dead body tied up in a garbage bag. New York, I love you, but you're bringing me down.

Later, Warner's on the scene -- the victim is an African-American teenager who was dead before she was tossed in the water. She's been bound with cable. Water would have washed away any fluids, so they don't know if she was raped, but she was abused; there's "significant genital scarring."

Nearby, a detective has found...another body? Some guy lying in a car park. Elliot searches his pockets, doesn't find any ID, but gets a fistful of knuckles when the guy wakes up, slugs Elliot, and takes off running. Elliot chases while Olivia tries to cut him off, and then the dude seems to freak out as he's climbing a fence: he falls off, and he's out cold. "Hope he lives long enough to confess," says Olivia. Elliot raises his eyebrows. "Either way," say the eyebrows.

The dude wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed, and, after running his prints, the detectives know his name: Jesse. And he's got a history of picking up hookers. Given the scratches on his hands and face, the detectives think a little assignation might have gotten out of hand. Jesse claims he doesn't remember anything. "She was so beautiful. I have a weakness for young women. I killed her?" He definitely isn't sure about that last bit, but the detectives are ready to wrap this one up. Too bad for them, because after they tell the doctor they need Jesse transferred to the prison ward at Bellevue, she explains that Jesse's got epilepsy, the side effects of which include blackouts, being highly prone to suggestion (Jesse calls out from his room: "Yes, I am highly prone to suggestion!"), and punching cops named Elliot. Well, maybe that last one's more of a perk than a side effect. Elliot's not impressed. After all, he doesn't tell the doctor how to treat patients, and he won't accept the doctor telling him how to scare innocent people into confessing to crimes they didn't commit, and Stabler wants the guy transferred anyway.

But Jesse's viability as a suspect takes more hits back at the squad room, where Chester and Fin reveal that the cable she was tied with likely came from an area where some cable was stolen (makes sense; why use ordinary, freely available rope on your victims, when you can riskily cut cable from outside a building?) and probably went into the river there, and then they show off some East River Sim video game that shows where the victim likely went into the water, far upstream from where she was found. And if the victim did go into the water where she was found, then Jesse's not the guy, as he was passed in front of a bodega.

Benson and Stabler head over to Warner's House of 1,000 Corpses, where she tells them the victim was killed with something made of wood. Rough-hewn oak, from a construction site or home remodeling. Oh, and the genital scarring is from an improperly performed female circumcision. "She was mutilated?" says Olivia. Haven't we seen this plotline before? Or does it not count when it was on one of the other L&Os? "Along with 150 million other women in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia," says Warner. She and Olivia trade some pamphlet facts about female circumcision. Setting aside the 150 million other women, the detectives decide to focus on this one particular victim. Olivia asks Elliot if he's still friends with "Agent Williams from Immigration." Elliot nods and oddly says, "Good, mm-hmmm."

Ah. It all becomes clear, as the gorgeous Agent Williams flirts with Elliot, saying he didn't need to come all the way down there to get the fingerprints run. Elliot says they're in a bit of a hurry, since the body's fresh. Speaking of fresh, Agent Williams presses on: "Surprised I haven't heard from you," she says, coyly. Elliot sucks on his teeth and comes right out with it: "I got back together with my wife." Williams doesn't miss a beat. "Oh, good for you! Thought that might happen." A bemused Olivia takes it all in.

Fortunately, to save everyone from further embarrassment, the computer spits out the name of Nikkiel Kwambe from Nigeria. She's 15, here on a family visa that expired six months ago. The only address they have for her is that of her sponsor, her aunt, Mira Otume.

It's a store called Nigerian Crafts on 124th street. There's loud African music blaring as the woman behind the counter says Mira Otume is going to be busy for the couple of hours. The detectives insist on having the music turned down. Hey, if it's too loud, you're too old! When the music's shut off, the sound of nearby shouting draws them into the basement, where a screaming woman is being held down on a table, surrounded by six or eight other women, one of whom is holding a scalpel. Elliot and Olivia break it up, and arrest Dr. Giggles.

Back at the squad, the debate Female Circumcision: Dangerous Felony vs. Cultural Celebration continues. Otume denies knowing Nikkiel, at least until the detectives tell her Nikkiel's dead. Otume starts to cry, and the detectives know an opening when they see one, threatening four years of jail for every circumcision performed. But the judge just might show some leniency if Otume tells the detectives Nikkiel's address.

Chung chung! Nikkiel's apartment. A nervous woman opens the door to the detectives, and confirm that Nikkiel lives there. While making furtive glances behind her, the woman wants to know if Nikkiel's okay. Olivia, who hasn't even asked who this person is, tells her Nikkiel's been killed. The sound of a back door closing sends the detectives running, Olivia through the house and Elliot around the back. Olivia chases a man out the back and over a wall (this is somewhat remarkable, as the man seems to be holding his left arm in his pocket). He doesn't get too far down the back alley before he runs into Elliot's drawn gun. The detectives yell for him to put both his hands up, and he frantically tells them his arm is broken. Elliot gets him to bend over a car while Olivia keeps her gun trained on the guy and shows him a picture of Nikkiel. This is Chukwei Bothame, and as Elliot drags Chukwei's left arm (which looks scarred) forward so he can be cuffed, he denies having hurt Nikkiel. "I didn't do anything to her. That is my wife."

At the morgue, Chukwei stares at his wife's dead body. He asks to touch her. Denied! "You think I killed her," he says, and Elliot is quite upfront in admitting that. Interrogation gets them nowhere; he insists that the circumcision was her idea. Also, he couldn't have beaten her, what with his gimpy left arm and all. "I don't doubt your right arm," says Olivia. Realizing the cops aren't listening to anything he's saying, Chukwei says he wants an attorney. Well, those are the magic words; Cragen pops in to say Bothame is free to go, but he shouldn't be surprised to find cops searching his home.

Outside the interrogation room, a slightly peeved Elliot and Olivia want to know why they're not at least holding Chukwei. Cragen says Chukwei's alibi checks out (at least it does pending further probing) and what other charges can they hold him on? Cragen really folds like a cheap deck chair in his old age, doesn't he? Elliot suggests statutory rape; Chukwei and Nikkeil's marriage would nullify that, except their licence is from Nigeria and might not be valid in the U.S. Elliot and Olivia will chase that down while Fin and Chester toss the Chukwei's home.

Fin interviews the woman who answered the door earlier; she says she's Amani, Chukwei's cousin, and she and Nikkiel ran a day-care to help pay the rent (which explains all the little rugrats running around). Meanwhile, Chester admires Chukwei's carved sculptures (which are made from African savannah, not oak -- still, Fin wants to get a sample tested). Nothing spoils a police questioning like a little boy wearing a T-shirt with printed blood spatter and "Lie or Die" emblazoned on it. An upset Amani takes the t-shirt off the boy, and the boy tells the detectives the shirt was given to him by some man. "He gave it to me, said it was a present." She tells the kid, Obi, to go play in the backyard, and then informs the cops that she has to tend to the children. "Who's telling you to lie?" asks Fin, and Chester says, "You knew the second you saw that shirt." But she's clammed up. Fortunately, Fin knows just where to find the vendor.

The vendor is a skinny, bearded dude who says his shirts are a "protest against the police's over-reliance on self-serving criminal informants." So you can imagine his reaction when Chester wants to know who's bought shirts from him in the last couple of hours. Since nothing's more valuable to this guy than his "credibility," the detectives offer to hang out in front of his operation for a while. Buddy says the real money in the Stop Snitching "movement" comes from a website.

Back at the squad, Munch fills them in on Stinkinrat.com, which publishes the addresses of people thought to be police informants.

Chukwei's on there, identified as a key witness in a murder case against Dennis King, also known as D-King (also known as Method Man in another life), charged with the beating death of a 16-year-old named Damon Moore. Police reported that 28 people saw the murder, but only Chukwei and Toby Torres came forward. Toby was killed a day after his info was posted on the site. "We got the wrong guy. Chukwei's on our side," says Munch, theorizing that D-King killed Nikkiel to shut Chukwei up.

Chukwei's lawyer, Sarah Flint of West Africa Legal Services, goes up one side of Olivia and Elliot and down the other, because Chukwei was a "political prisoner" in Africa. She met him there, when she was with...oh, I don't know, Human Rights Something or Other. She sympathizes somewhat with wanting to encourage Chukwei to co-operate, but the D.A. told her "intimidation is out of control" and there's not a lot of money for witness protection. Plus she's late for Nikkiel's funeral...Olivia offers her a ride, and Sarah looks suspicious, like she wasn't fishing for that offer in the first place.

Over at Savior Christian Cemetery, Sarah tells the detectives Chukwei's marriage to Nikkiel was arranged over the phone. Elliot says that doesn't sound very romantic. Christians in Nikkiel's village had come under attack, and her sisters had been raped and murdered. Elliot manages to not point out how non-romantic that is.

The detectives, who fortunately dressed in black today, understandably get a frosty reception from Chukwei. Sarah calms him by telling him the detectives want to find who killed Nikkiel. "So you want evidence on D-King. Look right over there," says Chukwei. The detectives see five guys hanging around a nearby grave. Their mood is somewhat less solemn than over at Nikkiel's funeral.

D-King's one of the guys, so Olivia and Elliot head over to talk to him at the grave of a Reggie Tauzin. He says he's there to pay his respects, but the detectives arrest him anyway for intimidating a witness.

Steven Weber is still available to play defence attorney Matthew Braden. His claims that D-King was only there to pray at the grave of a friend killed by cops fall on Elliot's deaf ears. Then Gloria Reuben walks in, her foot in a cast or some kind of protective boot for some reason, and Braden starts acting like an embarrassed first-year university student in the cafeteria when his drunken Frosh Week hookup walks in. "Christine. It's always a pleasure to see you," he says. At least he stands up; Elliot can't be arsed. She introduces herself to him as ADA Danielson, homicide bureau chief. She's trying King's murder case. Braden's all, "No evidence, so sayonara," but Christine says they're holding him because he didn't stay far enough away from Chukwei. D-King seems unperturbed. "Nice booty," he tells Christine. Or possibly "bootie." Christine is unfazed: "Watch it kick your ass."

The ass-kicking begins with a bail hearing, in which Christine easily bests Braden and gets a bail of $500,000 set on D-King, who smirks and winks at Chukwei on his way out of court. Afterwards, Chukwei's worried because D-King has "more money than God" and fears for his safety if D-King gets back on the street.

Outside the courthouse, Chukwei has his fears confirmed: a gaggle of anti-snitchers have convened on the steps, just standing there, listening to music. It's kind of like that famous scene in The Birds, only with hip-hop music playing. Elliot and Olivia come riding to Chukwei's rescue, telling him he's going to be in protective custody until the trial. He wants to know about Amani, Sarah and the children, and after Elliot says the protective custody is only for his immediate family, Chukwei says Sarah and Amani are his wives too. After Elliot so patronizingly explained what an immediate family is, Chukwei might want to return the favour and define "polygamy," since, judging from the looks on their faces, neither detective has heard of it.

So this leads to another squadroom debates over the cultural practice of polygamy (after all, Chukwei could face charges over it). But the D.A.'s office would rather have D-King than Chukwei, so Cragen orders the detectives to move Chukwei and his immediate-yet-extended family into protective custody.

Elliot takes Chukwei to a motel, and he and Elliot head over to his house while the womenfolk pack (and defend polygamy). "We're a global society now. The U.S. needs to be more tolerant," says Sarah. Elliot asks what if she wants to marry a cat. Relevant, sure. Comparing a consenting adult to an animal is a fair debate tactic, isn't it? See also: arguments against gay marriage. Men can't marry men, because what if someone wants to marry a dog? Sarah, understandably, tells Elliot not to make fun of her.

Elliot and Olivia harass Christine for better protection for Chukwei and his family, but Christine says her office has $1.2 million to spend on thousands of witnesses each year: "Every dollar I spend on Chukwei I'm taking away from another witness's safety. Her advice? time Chukwei should "witness a federal crime," since those guys really know how to treat witnesses. Elliot smiles in spite of himself. In the end, Olivia and Elliot finagle a couple of alarm pendants with a panic button that's a direct line to SVU, which they'll give to Amani and Sarah. Unfortunately, thanks to budget cuts, the direct line goes right to a recording of Chester reading out little-known factoids about New York City.

Elliot goes to see the family at the motel, but they're not there, since they've shown up en masse at the squad, because someone slipped a note under their door. So tape up a "NO FLYERS" sign on the door, problem solved.

Chukwei reads the note to the detectives: "'Tomorrow, Obi Bothame will be beaten to death in front of his mother, brothers and sisters.'" Oh, but don't worry! Olivia's got a couple of neat-o little gadgets that, while they won't save your child's life, will at least alert the police so they can come and seal off the murder scene! Well, since King knows where they are, they might as well stay at home. Elliot offers to stay with them. Elliot, maybe you should clear that with your wife, who WAS JUST IN A CAR ACCIDENT AND DELIVERED A BABY. I mean, good GOD.

And while Chukwei seems to be impressed by Elliot's offer, when it comes to the trial, Chukwei refuses to say anything about seeing the beating King administered, much to Christine's consternation. She thunders about the intimidation and King being a suspect in the murder of another witness, getting to the point where the judge has to ask her if she's gunning for a mistrial. Chukwei apologizes for wasting the court's time. That's not gonna be good enough for Elliot, who's standing, glowering, at the back of the courtroom.

Outside, he and Olivia debate the merits of charging Chukwei with perjury, but Elliot gets distracted by giving Braden a good ol' "How do you sleep?" Braden ridiculously tries to equate King's intimidation with police threatening criminal charges against people who refuse to testify. Oh, as for how he'll be sleeping? With a bellyful of Cristal, thanks to D-King. Fortunately, it's not over yet; the judge granted a continuance of King's bail, and they have 24 hours to prove intimidation.

So they check out the death threat. Forensics guy has compared the paper the death threat came on to papers from King's printers, copiers, etc., and the roller marks don't match on any of them. So he tried a couple of other samples, and found a match -- from the printer in Chukwei's home office. Since Chukwei was in protective custody at the time and this is too sophisticated for a kid, looks like either Amani or Sarah printed it, most likely to force the police to provide them with more protection. O'Halloran's phone rings. He answers, and passes the message on to the detectives that Amani triggered her safety pendant. Why did SVU call O'Halloran instead one of the detectives directly?

Anyway, arriving at the scene, Elliot and Olivia find one lone forensics tech gathering fibres. Amani was unconscious when patrol showed up, and Sarah's at Rikers with Chukwei. No sign of forced entry. Olivia says Amani may have printed the death threat, but she sure didn't beat herself unconscious. Maybe King or one of his crew followed her inside? As luck would have it, King and a crowd are hanging around outside, across the street.

The detectives stroll out to chat with King, who smugly points out that he's the required distance away from the house. "If just one of you steps up, King's done," says Olivia, like that's going to work. Her cellphone rings, so she leaves Elliot and King to their machismo-off. "I think they're afraid of you, detective. That's why you got no witnesses," says King. "Yeah, we do," says Olivia, getting off the phone, smirking at King, who suddenly looks worried.

At Saint Bernadette's Hospital, Amani spills it. She didn't write the death threat. Sarah did. And she killed Nikkiel too, after an argument over Chukwei. After Nikkiel took a tumble down the stairs, Sarah took her, ostensibly to the hospital, but returned without Nikkiel and with a threat to Amani to keep her mouth shut for fear of deportation. And now that the police are holding Chukwei again, Amani told Sarah she wouldn't let him go to prison over something Sarah did, which is the point when Sarah beat her up.

At Riker's, Sarah, sitting with Chukwei, says Amani is lying, so the detectives point out the death threat came from their own computer. She uses the "we needed more protection" excuse, but the detectives figure she wanted Chukwei to drop out of testifying so they'd stop investigating Nikkiel's murder. Chukwei believes the detectives, so Sarah drops the pretense and blames Chukwei for bringing Nikkiel into the marriage in the first place. Sarah could accept Amani (big of her, given that Amani was there first) but she says he didn't have to marry Nikkiel. Chukwei disbelievingly points out he did it to save her. "You didn't have to fall in love with her," she says, caresses his cheek. An angry Chukwei slaps her hand away, and yells for the guards, who take him away, while Elliot and Olivia handcuff Sarah, who's screaming that King deserves to go to prison, not Chukwei.

Which is how it looks like things are going to end up; Chukwei testifies against D-King, who ill-advisely loses his shit, flipping over the table and threatening to kill everyone. Reminds me of my high school prom... Elliot tackles D-King, because the bailiffs on this show always need the stars to bail them out. As the judge clears the courtroom, Olivia asks Chukwei, holding Amani, if he's OK. "Yes. I am no longer afraid," he says. Which made me worry that we were leading up to one of those "detectives/lawyers kick back and savour the victory until they get a phone call telling them the crucial witness has just been shot," but yay! Happy ending! Wu-Tang!