Olivia and Elliot headed straight for the hospital. They had officers looking for the other women in the photo they had found in his apartment. If they were right, the killer would target them, one by one.
When they got there, the nurse had gotten a white board and marker for Nathan.
"It's hard for him to talk right now."
"Nathan, I'm Detective Stabler. This is my partner Detective Benson. Do you remember what happened this morning?"
He wrote on the board. "Parts of it."
"Do you remember who attacked you?"
He did, but he didn't know why. "It was Adam Kessler."
Like in Abe Kessler?
They had a photo sent over from DMV. Nathan confirmed it. "He works for me. I thought we were friends."
They got a warrant for his arrest and another one to search his apartment.
Benson made the call. "I want officers waiting at the fire escape, and the alley in case he tries to run for it."
They got to the apartment he had listed on his drivers' license.
They showed the super the search warrant and got a key to his apartment in case he didn't open the door.
"I could come up and open it for you," the man offered.
Stabler shook his head. "It's too dangerous. He's already killed two people."
The super turned green, and then he locked himself in his office.
Olivia knocked on the apartment door. Stabler had his gun drawn behind her.
When no one answered, Olivia took the key and turned it into the lock. As she moved back, Elliot kicked open the door, and they flooded the apartment. It was left in disarray. Junk everywhere, dirty clothes and papers scattered all over the room.
"Looks like he moved out in a hurry."
Elliot called the Captain. "He made a run for it."
They had already contacted the authorities at Penn Station, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in case he tried to flee. He had no car registered in his name.
Cragen sent some more officers to start a grid search, allowing Olivia and Elliot to stay at Adam's apartment and look for more clues.
Olivia found a laptop, but it was password protected. They could either take it back to TARU or they could try and guess.
"What do you think his password is? Elliot questioned.
Olivia tried "Melody."
WRONG!
"Callie"
WRONG!
"What are you doing?"
"It must be one of the girls."
Olivia only had five guesses and she used two of them.
As it turns out, third time's a charm. It was "Quinn."
It wasn't Bruno who blabbed first; rather it was Lars.
Lupo told him, "Bruno already sold you up the river."
"No, he wouldn't do that."
His lawyer told him to be quiet.
"Are you sure your lawyer is on your side? He's also representing Bruno and your boss hired him, didn't' he? How do you know you won't be left holding the bag?"
"Ignore him."
"Bruno told us that you two were supposed to abduct Tim and Sarah and then take them back to PA, so that Sarah would marry James Novak Jr. The arrangement was to make your boss, and of course the two of you, a lot of money."
"A lot of money. They were only paying us 10k."
Before his lawyer could get his client under control, the detectives continued. "You could take your chances at trial, or you could take the first deal. It's your only shot of doing less than a dime in Rikers."
"I must insist you be quiet."
"Who do you think he represents, you or the man who paid him?"
"You have no right to interfere with …"
"Shut up!" Lars yelled. "I can decide for myself."
When they played Lars' confession for Bruno, the muscle man lost it.
"You let him roll on me!"
"I tried to stop him."
Bruno started choking his own lawyer, forcing the detectives to wrestle him to the ground.
"You're fired!" Bruno snapped.
The lawyer took off.
"Would you like new counsel?"
"Fat chance they'll do any good."
"The DA is willing to consider a deal, if you can give us the man who hired you."
"I can do better than that… I can give you everyone, including my fucking lawyer."
Women from all walks of life came out in defense of Alex Cabot. They were eager to share their stories about misogyny in school or in the work place.
"We want people to recognize that we are just as smart and capable as men."
"Equal pay for equal work."
Scientists started talking about how they had been encouraged to pursue the liberal arts instead.
Women in college told to start looking for their husbands now, "we can take care of ourselves."
All of this was going on during the Adams-Smith trial.
Kessler offered an expert psychiatrist to testify on behalf of his client.
"Can you please share with us your credentials?"
"I received a Bachelors Degree in Biochemistry from Davidson College. I received my MD from Harvard University and then I did my residency as Tufts Medical Center and then I did a fellowship, also at Tufts Medical Center."
"And have you any experience with patients suffering battered person's syndrome?"
"Objection, relevance."
"This is our defense."
"His experience with battered person's syndrome is irrelevant if the defendant was never diagnosed with it."
"I'll allow the inquiry pending relevance is established."
"Yes, I have examined 7 patients who have suffered battered person's syndrome."
"And how do you diagnose this syndrome?"
"There are several characteristics that one looks for when making a diagnosis: the person is in fear for his or her life, the fear lasts for more than four weeks, performance at work or other routine activities suffers, suffers from unhealthy body image and somatic issues, has issues with sexual intimacy, and the person is manipulated through threats of violence and or sexual assault."
"And did you evaluate Jessica Adams-Smith?"
"I did."
"And what did you find?"
"I found that she suffered from battered person's syndrome."
"Can you elaborate?"
He explained his interview with her and the symptoms she had relayed to him. "Given her demeanor, I found that she was still suffering from the effects."
"Do you think this affected her ability to safely leave the home without violence?"
"Victims of battered persons syndrome are afraid to leave. They often reach out to family members or social services getting no response. They think that …"
"Objection. He cannot testify to what others think."
"Do you have any more questions for the doctor?"
"Not at this time."
"Your witness ADA Cabot."
"Dr. Plimpton, how many of your patients with battered person syndrome killed someone?"
"Objection."
"I'm just trying to get a better understanding of his expertise."
"Tread lightly Cabot. The witness may answer."
"Four of them."
"And how many of those patients sought your help before they killed?"
"None of them."
"So your patients come to you when they want to get out of murder charges?"
"Objection."
"I'll rephrase. A substantial part of your career is being an expert witness in criminal prosecutions."
"That's' a fair statement."
"Have you ever testified for the prosecution?"
"Not in a case involving battered person syndrome."
"How much do you typically charge a defendant to testify?"
"It depends on what the patient can afford."
"How much did you charge your most recent client before this defendant?"
"$10,000."
"And how much did you charge this defendant?"
"$20,000."
"And what did you do to earn this $20,000?"
"I reviewed the trial evidence, interviewed the defendant extensively, met with her counsel, and researched the defendant's personal history."
"And when doing this research, did you by any chance review her medical records?"
"I did."
"And did you find anything unusual in those records?"
"I don't understand the question."
"Did the defendant's medical records show the abuse that she now alleges she suffered at the hands of her husband?"
"She had some injuries, but she had told her doctor at the time that they were accidents."
"How many of these accidents did she have over the last two years?"
"Two that I saw."
"Is that normal in your line of work?"
"Is what normal?"
"Only having two possible incidents of domestic abuse over the span of two years. I was under the impression that those suffering from battered person syndrome were repeatedly and systematically abused."
"They are."
"Then why does her medical record not show this alleged abuse?"
"Perhaps she did not seek medical attention."
"Did your other patients have more extensive medical records?"
"Some of them did."
"How many incidents would you say was the most you had seen in a case?"
"With one victim, she had been to the ER six times in a year and a half's time."
"And this defendant only went to the doctor twice."
"Yes."
"Did you speak to the defendant's colleagues or employer?"
"I did not."
"So you wouldn't know if her work performance actually suffered in the time leading up to the murder?"
"She told me that she had trouble focusing at work and her boss had written her up."
"But you didn't confirm that this was true."
"Why would I?"
"In case she was making up a story to tell you, so you would testify favorably."
"I did not cross-examine my patient."
"You did not double check any of the symptoms she told you that she had experienced."
"I did not."
"So for all you know, she never suffered any of these symptoms at all."
"I believe she is credible."
"Do you or does the $20,000 in your pocket tell you she's credible?"
"Objection!"
"Withdrawn. Dr. Plimpton have you written any books on battered person syndrome?"
"Two."
"Are they publicly available?"
"Of course."
"So any woman could buy your book, kill her husband, and then report to the expert psychiatrist possibly you that she was suffering from the symptoms you described in your book?"
"Objection."
"He said the defendant was credible. I want to explore if he's actually considered the possibility of a lying client. Perhaps he's an overly trusting man."
"I suppose that is possible," he admitted.
"When did you first examine the defendant?"
"Approximately three months ago."
"Long after she was arrested."
"Yes."
"Did you visit her in her cell?"
"I did."
"Did she have any books in her cell?"
"She may have."
"Could one of them have been yours?"
"Objection."
"No further questions."
Alex played with the doctor like she was a cat, and he was a fat ball of yarn. She was setting the stage for her rebuttal case where she would show that the defendant never had been written up at work among other lies she supposedly told this doctor. Alex wouldn't be surprised if Kessler made this whole story up.
Abe Kessler was an irritated man.
"DAMN YOU CABOT!" she made his witness look like shit today. He had to hope that his client's testimony tomorrow would salvage the case.
He got to his apartment and was surprised to see his brother inside.
"What are you doing here?"
"I need help man. I fucked up."
"What did you do?"
He started babbling about how it was an accident. How he didn't mean to hurt them. He only wanted to know what they saw in Nathan; he just wanted Callie to love him.
What the fuck?
The entire situation was bizarre.
Before he could get a handle on anything, he heard pounding on the door.
"NYPD open up!"
"SHIT!" Adam shrieked and armed himself with a kitchen knife.
"Put that down you bozo!"
Abe answered the door just to get shoved out of the way. "You better have a warrant!"
"Suspect is armed!"
"You'll never take me alive."
He charged with his knife.