"Dr. Wong!" I smile to the familiar small man I've known since I was a child.
He smiles back to me "Maddison, hello!" He opens his arms for a hug and I lean down to give him one. "It's such a pleasure seeing you here." He says once we separate. "You'll do a great job here at SVU. Are you settling in nicely?" He asks.
"You two know each other?" Olivia asks with a small smirk.
I smile back to her "He and my father go way back. He was there at my communion."
"And confirmation." He adds on.
I laugh along with him. "Yes, I am settling in just fine." I inform him.
"Very good, tell your father I said hello." He nods his head to me and steps away to leave the hall we are all in.
"What was his evaluation?" I ask now that he is gone.
Murphy exhales to explain "he's sick, never got treatment and is bound to injure somebody at some point. Let's get going, we have a trial to prepare for." He looks to Barba and the two of them leave the hall with Benson and I trailing behind.
The next day after Nick is off the stand he meets us in the hall "that lawyer sandbagged me." He hums out with anger. I can see his eyes tense as he fights spewing more words out, clearly enraged with how his cross was done.
"It's alright, I'm sure you did just fine." I say, not sure what he is referring too. I wasn't in the courtroom during his or Finn's testimony, in case they decide to pull Amanda and I in later.
"The jury see's you're a good cop and was just protecting your family, it's alright." Olivia encourages him to relax in a low soothing tone.
Barba comes out soon after and we all huddle together in the middle of the hall "did you get a read on the jury?" Amanda asks.
He says "they're sickened by the details, but our emotional case is stronger than our legal one is." He looks over to Murphy "Simon's taking the stand tomorrow?"
My phone pings and I go to grab it as Olivia says back "jury's gonna see him for who he really is."
"I hope so." Barba responds "He's compartmentalized this part of his life for all those years. He may be able to hide it from them."
"Not from his ex-wife." I say as Amanda looks over my shoulder "she's willing to talk to us." I look over to Murphy who nods to me and Amanda telliing us to go. We quickly leave the courthouse and drive to Simon's ex wife's place.
Once we are let inside, the older women holds onto her arms in disbelief "I don't know how you found me. I changed my name, got off the Internet. I don't think Simon even knows where I moved after I remarried." She tells us.
I say back to her, trying to tell her we understand "sounds like you needed a clean break."
"When we met, I found Simon magnetic. But he has a darkness inside of him." She tells us.
"You knew about these fantasies?" Amanda asks.
"Not the extent of them, not at first, but then I started to notice how he would shut the laptop whenever I came into the room. One time, he left it open." She goes on.
"And what did you see, Ms. Walker?" I ask, urging her to go on.
"He was messaging with these other people, talking about Bobby and me, about things he'd let them do to us." She explains to us about that night. "Our child was six. He said it was just a game, but he knew, he knew he had to go. I told Bobby, "daddy has a sickness. He can't be around other people. I made a deal with Simon. As long as he promised to never see Bobby again or be around other children, I would keep quiet." She hesitates for a moment, a thought coming into her mind. "This room of his It's across from a grade school?" She asks at the end, fear showing through her eyes.
"It is." I assure her.
She shakes her head "would you be willing to testify?" Amanda asks her.
She shakes her head some more but soon changes the direction and moves it up and down "yes, I will."
Amanda takes out her phone and calls Olivia to tell her Ms. Walker would testify if needed to. She responds back shortly after and Amanda show me the responds "she wants you to come to the court tomorrow. Would you be able to do that?" I ask her.
"Tomorrow?" She asks, eyeing us both.
I nod to confirm "your son too?" I ask her, knowing we would need him there too to effect.
She exhales, a tear rolling down her face but nods to agree they will both comes back with us to the city. We sit in the living room as she talks to her son about everything we talked to her about and what is going to happen next. She asks questions and she tries her best to answer them and when they are all ready to go we leave to head back to the city. The next morning, as court is already in progress we slowly walk into the court room during Simon's testimony. Simon is clearly shaken by his presence, and the boy and his mother sit in a back row, as the man they used to call husband and dad begins to weep about his fear of hurting his family, how he would never do such a thing. Closing arguements begin shortly after Simon leaves the stand. Barba goes first "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Wilkes. Mr. Wilkes went beyond just thought. He watched streaming videos of boys being tortured. He built a dissection chamber, fully functioning, with electric saws, and a drain in the floor for blood. His own hidden art photos provide graphic evidence of exactly what he intended to do in that chamber. Simon Wilkes left his only son and never saw him again because he was that afraid of his own fantasies. And if the defendant was that convinced that he would eventually act, that he would torture his own son, torture him or even kill him, shouldn't we be?"
Simon's lawyer goes next "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Barba has brought a case with no evidence, no victim, no crime. What he has is a defendant he doesn't like An artist. Has Mr. Wilkes pushed boundaries? Yes. But has he ever harmed anyone? No. The pictures you saw were photoshopped. The idea of procuring a boy came from the undercover officer. The scene of the "crime" contained Mr.
Wilkes' DNA only. I'd like you to ask yourselves, have you ever had thoughts you knew you would never act on? I know I have. I'm sure the D.A. has. Cheating on your spouse? Killing your boss, maybe an in-law? Think about it. Better yet, don't think about it. Don't. Otherwise you'll be where Mr. Wilkes is now."
"That was a good argument." I lean in and whisper to Olivia.
She whispers back "So was his."
The jury is back with a verdict of not guilty on both counts just after three hours of deliberation. We go out to dinner afterwards, reeling from everything that happened. Barba drinks his second drink "jury deliberated less than three hours."
"I wouldn't take it personally." Amanda tries to lighten the mood., "you put up a good fight."
The tension in the room thickens and I turn with the others next to me to see Simon with his wife and lawyer walk in and be seated.. Murphy says it first "let it go, Nick."
Olivia adds on "we gave it our best shot."
"Right, and that's it, right? We just wait for Simon to do something?" Nick argues, taking a large gulp from his glass. "He's not gonna stop."
"You can't let it get in your head, detective." Murphy tells him sternly. Nick finished his glass and leaves the table without another word.\
The next day, as I sit at my desk filling out paperwork Murphy and Benson begin to rush out of the building. "What's goin' on?" Finns asks them, standing to follow them.
"It's Nick, he's been arrested." Olivia quickly explains throwing on her jacket.
"What?" Finn and I ask together.
"He put Simon Wilkes in the hospital." Murphy says, hitting the down button on the elevator.
"Hold up, I'll get my jacket." Finn says moving to go back to get his things.
Olivia stops him "No, stay here with Madison. We'll keep you updated as we go." She finishes just as the elevator arrives.
"You got it boss." He replies to her and the two of them leave. My mouth hangs open as it closes and he turns around, putting an arm around my back "come on, it's all good." He tries to reassure me.
A few hours go by before the two of them return with Amanda. Finn and I know he was arraigned in court before but no one called us to tell us what happened. We all go into Murphy's office. The D.A. won't budge. It's not his first time." Declan says, the last one in.
"$500,000? He's not a flight risk, and he's not dangerous." Olivia argues him.
"$500,000?" I repeat her words "that's high." I back up Olivia.
"He acted like dirty Harry. He beat a man bloody." Declan reminds us both.
Amanda spits back "yeah, a man who threatened to string up little boys and slit their throats."
"Wilkes was found not guilty. He's not even on the registry." He argues back.
"But we all know what he is." I try to remind him how gross Simon is.
Finn says "Amaro got cut. He was just defending himself."
"You were there?" Declan asks sarcastically.
"Well, we should go out and talk to witnesses - that support that story." Amanda speaks up.
Declan quickly shoots it down. "You'll do no such thing. Do not even think about investigating on your own. Is that clear?" He asks for affirmation.
"Yes, sir." She says back to him.
Olivia is about to say something but Declan speaks before she could "we go about our business as usual." He sits at his desk, moving papers around "Where are we on that tourist?"
"I caught that call." Finn talks "Hans Erhard, German. Robbed, beaten, and sodomized in his hotel room last night."
"You get his statement?" Declan asks.
"He's recovering from surgery. The perp raped him with a gun." He tells him.
Declan gives an order "go to the hospital, see what he remembers."
Rollins, Finn and I leave the room and make our way to Bellevue Hospital.
