Original subtitles

In the criminal justice system,

sexually based offenses

are considered especially heinous.

In New York City, the dedicated detectives

who investigate these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

Hey, are you up?

What are you doing?

I can't sleep.

There's too much honking.

So close the window.

The radiators. It'll get too hot.

Then turn on the sound machine.

It's so noisy.

That's the point.

It's the good noise.

It'll help me sleep.

God. Just be quick.

Shh. - What?

I heard the boogeyman in my room.

I can't sleep.

Neither can Daddy.

Honey, what do we say when we have a bad dream?

I forget.

We say thank you, bad dream.

Thank you, bad dream.

Now I can go back to sleep and have a good dream.

Now I can have a good dream.

OK.

All right? Now let's get you back to bed.

But this wasn't a dream.

The boogeyman is in my room.

OK. Let's go tell him to leave.

See?

There is nobody here

because the boogeyman is not real.

There was a noise.

Like what?

I don't know. Eh, eh, eh.

It was probably just the radiator.

Now let's shut our eyes.

We all need rest.

All right?

I love you.

I love you.

Night, night.

Told you.

- Maybe it's an animal. - Animal?

Shh.

Hello?

What's going on?

Her camera's making a weird noise.

Oh, my God.

What? What is it?

The image comes in best from my daughter's room.

Do you have any other cameras in the apartment?

No.

And you do not recognize this boy?

Not at all.

But the signal is strongest from her desk.

He fell asleep, like, right before you got here,

but, I mean, he was crying.

That--that-- that's a dog cage.

You need to call TARU.

The feed is being intercepted by another camera.

You're right.

It's like when--when your walkie's accidentally

sharing the same channel as a rando and you can hear them.

And you can speak to them.

You can talk to your daughter on this?

Yeah, she'd hear us through the camera.

Has anyone else been in the room?

Just the boy.

Hi, my name is Olivia. Can you hear me?

I'm--a--I'm a police officer and I want to help you.

OK?

Can you tell me your name?

Do you know where you are?

If you can tell me anything,

anything at all about where you are,

about the room that you're in,

I promise you I will find you.

Can you do that for me?

- Hey. - Hey.

We're combing through records

to see if anyone living in the area

matches the child's description.

OK, check child abuse and domestic violence reports

to see if there's any history here.

Will do.

We're also waiting on NCIC, NCMEC,

and New York Missing Persons Clearinghouse

to see if they have a match for an Asian male--

Hold on. Uh, she could be a girl.

I mean, I'm going off the clothes and the hair.

OK, we'll include females age 9 to 11.

Expand that.

Um, 7 to 13.

And I'll check NamUs and the clearinghouses for Jersey,

Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, just in case, you know,

the kid wasn't kidnapped in New York.

TARU's on site with Griffin

seeing if they can get the signal back online.

And then they'll be able to trace it?

It's unclear, but I don't know what we do if they can't.

We gotta find this kid.

This thing's not Wi-Fi, OK?

Operates over RF.

- Radio frequency? - There is my detective.

OK, can you locate where the video's coming from?

Signal analyzer.

OK, come on, you know I don't know what that is.

The 2.4 gigahertz band's got all your consumer products,

your Bluetooth, smart home, Wi-Fi.

So maybe, just maybe,

we lost the signal because of some interference.

OK, and you can figure out

where in the city this is coming from?

Yeah, I get frequency,

and my boy Joe, who's on a rooftop a block away,

he tunes to the same signal.

Using those two measurements,

we can triangulate an approximate location.

So, uh, what if it isn't interference?

You know, what if we-- I don't know.

What if we lost the signal

because a camera was turned off?

It'd be no bueno. Can't trace what isn't there.

If there's nothing doing, there's nothing to be done.

Are you the police?

Yeah, yeah, I am. Lexi, right?

I'm Detective Griffin.

Thank you for letting us use your room.

You know, your, uh, your unicorn kept me company.

She's a kitty corn.

Oh.

Will you catch him?

Who?

The boogeyman.

Lexi!

We will catch him and put him in jail.

Promise.

OK?

Why did her monitor pick up someone else's feed?

I mean, isn't there something to prevent that?

These monitors frequency hop.

They cycle across the band in unique patterns

so that only the camera and its accompanying monitor

are ever tuned to the same frequency at the same time.

So maybe the signal's jumping.

The camera out there must overlap

with this camera's pattern, at least a portion.

If I get this, uh, cycle here, I--

Joe, go to center frequency 2.437 gigahertz,

span 10 megahertz.

Set resolution bandwidth 100 kilohertz.

Copy that.

Hi. Hey.

Hey, buddy.

Hey, my name is Jake.

I'm a cop, OK?

We just wanna make sure that you're OK.

Yeah?

Can you tell me your name?

Can you tell me your name

before we lose a connection again?

Hey, are you talking?

Who you talking to?

Hey, I hear any sound from in here again,

you'll never see mommy ever.

The Levinthals' apartment is here.

TARU triangulated the signal to here.

OK, so that's a smaller haystack than the whole city.

But it's still a haystack.

Yeah, well, we got a needle detector.

TARU guy gave me this. - That's a portable monitor?

- It's a signal analyzer. - Exactly.

It says how strong the signal is from where you're standing.

But it doesn't give you the direction.

- So hot or cold. - Mm-hmm.

We knock doors up there, eventually we'll get a hit.

That's two whole city blocks.

I mean, how many apartments are there?

I mean, it could be from 400 to almost 1,000.

72nd between Columbus and Amsterdam?

Yeah, up to 74th.

That's--that's right where they, uh,

they--they turned that hotel,

the Azura Hotel, into a-- a homeless shelter.

I mean, they're housing multiple level two

and level three offenders up there.

OK, so you two go.

We have a couple potential matches for missing children,

and you and I will check on the families.

Hey, one other thing.

- Yeah. - I noticed something.

All right, say it.

So I don't--I don't like to talk about this that much.

Work-life, church-state kind of thing.

But, uh... - OK.

My brother, he passed away when I was 15.

Oh, I--I'm sorry.

Yeah, well, he had autism, OK?

And, uh, in moments of distress, he'd--

he'd rub his head like this. - Uh-huh.

He actually got a bald spot from doing it too much.

The boy, I noticed he was doing something like that on his arm.

Yeah.

Yeah, OK. That's something to keep in mind.

Good catch, Griff.

Thanks.

So what are we looking for this thing to do?

If we get close enough, the lines on this will spike.

Are those spikes?

No, I don't think so.

We might not be close enough.

Joshua Powell. Police.

Open up.

Yo, what are you doing?

We need to look inside your apartment.

For what?

You got something suspicious in there?

No.

Yo, this harassment. I served my time.

Besides, my niece is full of BS.

I ain't touch her.

Well, I read the report.

Your niece was ten.

Yeah, kids start lying when they're three.

What's that thing he's got?

Oh, that's a pedophile detector.

Detects up to a month of pedophilia activity.

Mommy,

I thought this was a kid's doctor.

Just pay attention to yourself, all right?

Sergeant Rollins?

Yeah.

Yeah, I came here 'cause I heard

they had the best lollipops.

I know the statistics.

If a child's not found in the first three hours,

they won't be found at all, alive.

And Spencer's been gone for over a year.

Yeah.

So you've got bad news.

Right?

I'm--I'm going to show you a picture

from a video feed that we intercepted,

and I-I have to warn you,

it's--it's a distressing image.

Do you recognize this boy?

Uh--I don't know.

Is that Spencer?

That's what we're trying to figure out.

- Is this recent? - Yeah.

Oh, my God, is he in a cage?

Where is this?

Well, we're trying to determine the location.

- So it could be Spencer. - Do you think it is?

I--I can't tell.

Oh, my God, I don't know.

OK, well, Dr. Chou, was Spencer autistic?

- No. - OK.

Wait. What does that mean?

Does that mean that this isn't Spencer,

or that it is?

I promise--I promise I will let you know more when I can.

No, no, no. Wait, wait. Please, please, please.

What if I just say that it's him?

- Dr. Chou. - Yes, that is Spencer.

Now, can you tell me?

Please tell me... - Ma'am.

- What happened to Spencer? - I'm so sorry.

I will--I will keep you updated when I know more.

I promise.

Can--

can you just say why he's in a cage?

I don't know.

Graham Roberts. Police. Open up.

- No. - No?

You're a level three sex offender, we're the police.

Open the door.

It's definitely getting stronger, but it's not spiking.

There any kids out there?

Kids?

Yeah, children.

No, we're adult policemen.

Did you look both ways down the hall?

Mr. Roberts, there's no kids out here.

I don't trust me.

I have my urges,

so I stay in my room.

Always.

Can we come in?

I order delivery,

have them leave it at the doorstep.

I think you're the first people I've seen in three weeks.

What's with the binoculars?

Checking the weather.

They can't see me.

And I just watch.

I never talk.

I never leave.

I never touch.

Get anything?

No. Clean.

We're taking these.

Is that him?

I...can't tell.

OK.

God, that's so sad.

It's been so long.

I maybe can't recognize my own son.

OK, well, let's be honest.

This is not a good photo,

and I'm asking a lot of you.

I took six months parental leave when Avery was born,

so I thought maybe that's the right amount of time

to come back to work after Avery went missing.

There's not a right amount of time,

only choices.

And regrets.

And those, too.

My friend's daughter, who's in eighth grade,

she walks Avery home after school every day.

Or used to.

On Wednesdays,

they'd get a chocolate cookie from Levain along the way,

but Avery wouldn't go inside, though,

because it was too loud for him.

But on this day,

she comes out of Levain with a cookie and no Avery.

He's just... gone.

You said that Avery doesn't like loud spaces?

May I ask you, does-- does Avery have autism?

Oh, yes.

He's non-speaking.

So he can't vocalize?

Sorry. I should have said earlier.

I figured you knew.

OK.

So the database said that the reporting officer

said that there were files that were pending upload.

Did they upload the letter I was sent?

What letter?

"Boy is not in danger.

I see your--" spelled Y-E-R--

"name in news.

"I promise not to hurt boy.

"Take good care of boy.

"I feed him 'hullthy' meals.

He doesn't know my cement is hidden in his oatmeal."

- Semen. - Oh, my God.

"I keep him inson."

Innocent?

"I just saw him looking so innocent

by hisself on the stert." S-T-E-R-T.

- Street. - "So I took him."

OK, work up a psych profile on this creep.

I mean, we know that our vic is Avery Li.

We need a picture of who our perp is.

On it.

That doesn't look the same.

Is it a spike?

No, but I think we're getting closer.

Joseph Rice! Open up!

What's up? Oh, hell no.

I-- - No.

On the ground! On the ground!

What--what happened?

Hands behind your head where I can see 'em!

What did I do? OK.

Hello?

Anybody in here?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello? Anybody in here?

Hello?

Is anybody in there?

Dude can't have a hobby?

What are you doing with all that equipment?

Talking to friends.

What, are you going to arrest me for having a ham radio now?

You talking to little kids on there?

No, that's what the internet's for.

So what happened? That thing was spiking.

This antenna here, it's acting like a repeater.

It's accidentally boosting the camera's signal.

So where's the boy?

At the moment, could be anywhere.

TARU thinks they worked out the frequency hopping pattern.

So if we lose the image-- - They could pick it back up.

Or at least they should be able to.

OK, so their new measurements estimate

he could be anywhere in an additional four whole blocks.

It's upwards of 3,000 apartments,

almost 5,000 people. - OK. Not great.

And no registered offenders.

Guys, I, um,

I--I really think we should try talking to the kid again.

Last time, he heard your voice.

God knows what he might do if he catches you again.

I know, but we got to do something.

TARU is monitoring him 24/7.

Good for TARU. What are we doing?

This--

We're sitting on our hands here.

We gotta find him.

The camera that broadcasted this,

does it have to be the same make

as the one that accidentally received it?

I'm sorry.

Yeah, same make, same model.

Wait, I looked into it.

It was recalled for this very security fault.

Sucker was only on the market for three months.

Yo.

Get some rest. I'll watch over him.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah.

OK, buddy, all right.

Just breathe, calm.

I am in radio range, all right?

You can't be that far.

Here.

Milkshake.

Drink it.

You don't do much, do you?

Ah.

I'm losing interest.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Here are the sales of the recalled camera for Manhattan.

Also, a list of all the New York City parents

who had it on their baby registry.

None were sold in the area TARU triangulated.

Yeah, so Bruno, I want you to track down all the orders

from Midtown South and any precincts south of 42nd Street.

Rollins, you take the Upper East Side

and obviously Midtown North.

And, Griff, uh, want you to take, obviously,

the Upper West Side through Inwood.

Yeah, what if the perp didn't buy the camera in New York?

Or what if it was stolen?

Well, then--

then we're gonna keep looking.

OK?

Look, you never know what breaks a case.

All right, so Rollins has worked up a criminal profile,

things that we all need to keep in mind.

Yeah, so this is based on probability, history,

and some interpretation, so if you come across someone

who doesn't exactly fit the profile,

but also doesn't pass the smell test--

You just want to use your judgment.

Right. So our suspect is probably white, male,

mid-30s to 50s, possibly dyslexic.

- Education? - Uh, at best, high school.

So we're probably looking at an antisocial personality

who has problems holding down a relationship or a job.

Also, he might be a collector.

Exactly, someone who likes to collect baseball cards

or butterflies, who likes to hoard something,

an object, like even the child, Avery.

It gives them a sense of control or even pride

over an otherwise disordered life.

All right, guys, let's saddle up.

Hey, Griff. - Yeah.

Walk with me for a second.

So I heard that you were helping TARU

monitor the camera feed last night?

I can't sleep, you know,

so I--I figured I'd give someone else a break.

All right, but I need you sharp.

And you were the one that helped us figure out

that Avery was autistic.

Yeah, I'm good.

So keep it that way.

- Yeah. - OK.

OK, yeah. Hey, hey, hey.

It's just, uh, when I-- when I look at the kid,

Avery, I just-- I keep seeing my brother.

You know, he was also non-speaking,

and, um,

people would meet him, you know, and they would--

they would ignore him or they'd--

they'd treat him like he was stupid 'cause he didn't talk.

I'm telling you, Cap, he was so smart.

He could read anybody.

He could read people better

than any detective you have ever met.

You just--you--you had to know how to talk to him.

And how would you?

We had our own pidgin sign language.

It was just ours.

If Scott really trusted you,

he'd follow any direction you give him.

How did he die?

It was a car accident.

Driver fell asleep at the wheel.

Didn't have to do with anything.

Um...

So Griff--

so I had a case like this once.

And, uh,

911 put through a call from a little girl,

and she had no idea

where she was.

- Did you find her? - We did.

And that little girl went on to become a cop.

- What? Wow. No way. - Yeah.

So a story is happy or sad

based on when you stop telling it.

She died in the line of duty, that girl.

Oh, my God.

Jeez. I'm sorry.

This story can still change.

We just need to keep going.

Come on.

Cap, I think I can get through to Avery.

I know I can. - I don't doubt it.

But I can't take that risk.

This little boy's life is on the line.

I--I just don't think we have much time

before this guy does something worse than he's already done.

Neither do I, so go. Go and knock on doors.

Anybody home? Mr. Lykos?

I was sleeping. What is it?

Yeah, I'm Sergeant Rollins, NYPD.

You're Mr. Lykos?

- Yeah. - Do you have any children?

- No. - OK.

We have records of a George Lykos

purchasing a baby monitor at this address.

George is my cousin. I'm Costa.

He do something bad again?

Does he have a history of criminal behavior?

Is he a criminal if he gets away with it?

Oh. Where is George now?

The Bronx.

Do you have an address or phone number?

You gonna get him in trouble?

Listen, I know a visit from the police can be scary.

I know you're a relative, you want to protect him,

but listen, don't worry.

He hasn't done anything wrong, he's not in any trouble.

That's a pity.

George is the worst person I ever met.

Mm.

And that's saying something.

407 East 161st...

Street.

Um...

You know, I have zero cell service.

Do you mind if I use your phone to call this in?

Sure.

That's why I have a hard line.

Mm.

Lot of newspapers.

Yeah, I collect them.

Can't throw away history, can you?

No, you can't.

Thanks.

Benson.

Yeah, I am at the address

that we had on file for George Lykos--

uh, 15 East 46th Street, apartment 8AB.

OK. Go on.

It turns out it's his cousin's place, Costa Lykos.

C-O-S-T-A, Costa?

Mm-hmm. He says the address that he has for George

is 407 East 161st Stert--

Street.

So Costa's the guy.

That's right.

Costa says he's a really bad man.

Is there any sign that the boy is there?

Uh, I don't know. It's, uh, hard to say.

OK.

So Rollins,

the address that you're at

is outside the area that TARU triangulated.

Yeah, right.

And if you arrest him and he refuses to talk,

we may never find Avery.

Yeah, so you want me to go look for George

up in the Bronx?

No, I want you to keep Costa occupied,

and I'm gonna radio Bruno and Griffin

and get them into place to track his movements.

Hopefully he can lead us to Avery.

- Yeah, sure can. - Hey, Rollins.

Stay safe.

Will do.

So my captain just wants to see

if we can get a little more background info on your cousin.

Mm. OK.

Uh, shall we sit?

Sure.

Would you mind if I got a glass of water?

Parched.

Uh-huh.

Respond to 15 East 46th Street immediately.

I'm texting you a photo now.

The suspect is Costa Lykos.

White, 43, 6'5",

290, balding with a beard.

This is surveillance.

Keep your distance. We do not want to tip him off.

- Yeah. - Advise on all movements.

Copy.

You got it, Cap.

So I was living in Jersey

and the Port Authority fired me

and Mama got cancer.

I'm sorry to hear that.

She lives out of her bed.

So came here to help out.

Stayed with cousin George till he left.

Why'd he leave?

Planted his cement in his girl.

Dummy. Now they're having twins.

He took the monitor with him?

What monitor?

The baby camera?

The one that he purchased at this address?

Oh, yeah.

Must have.

Mr. Lykos, I have to admit something.

I haven't been completely truthful.

How's that?

Your cousin George,

he's our chief suspect.

He's probably going to go down.

Well, that's good.

You could help me, though.

And maybe we could take a look around,

see if he left his DNA or fingerprints on something?

Maybe his old bedroom.

Down there.

You want to look?

You lead the way.

Sorry about the darkness.

Need new light bulbs.

His, uh, room's the one at the end.

Hey.

Mr. Lykos.

Open the door!

Mr. Lykos?

Hey, hey.

He's fleeing! Suspect is fleeing!

15 East 46th Street.

He's wearing a navy blue hoodie, brown pants.

You got him, Bruno?

I see him.

He's heading down 46th towards Madison.

Go, go, go, go!

10-80, all units, please respond.

Pursuit of suspect into Grand Central.

Attention, Grand Central passengers.

Now boarding on track 28 on the upper level.

- Jeez. - Get down there.

Get down there.

23. Track 2-3.

Stop! Hey!

No! Hey!

We radioed MTA PD. Grand Central is on lockdown.

They're searching the tunnels.

NYPD is patrolling every station,

but so far, nothing.

If he gets away, you know where he's going.

Well, he's not here,

but, hey, look what I found--it's dead.

He's going to dump the kid,

and we are going to watch on a monitor!

- Yo. - He's right.

Do you really think you can get the kid to talk?

I gotta try.

Hey, give me the mic.

OK, um--

All right, hey, buddy. Hey, it's me Jake.

Um...

I know the last time we talked, you got in trouble.

I don't want that to happen again, all right?

But this is--this is really, really important, OK?

I know--I know that you don't communicate with words.

OK, well, my brother was the same.

He didn't talk very much,

but we used to play this game together, this really fun game.

Yeah? Where, uh, where if I said--

if I said something true, he would touch his nose.

And if I said something not true,

he would touch his forehead.

OK? Can we try to play that?

Is your name Avery?

Avery Li?

I know that you've been through a lot, buddy.

Way, way too much in this life. Yeah?

Even before all this.

And people are mean, aren't they?

They are.

They treat you like you're nothing.

Yeah, like you're--

like you're a piece of furniture,

like you're not even a person, yeah?

That's how they treated my brother, too.

But buddy, that is why

I am positive that just like him,

you--you--you are nice

and you are smart and you are creative

and you are a good kid.

And guess what?

I'm looking at you right now.

You know that? I can see you right now.

And can I tell you something?

I have a wish that one day,

we can just meet in person and I can say hi.

Yeah? Yeah, that's it.

So I'm going to ask you again, OK?

Please, please tell me.

If your name is Avery Li,

just touch your nose.

Yes.

OK, Avery.

Avery, do you know the address of where you are?

Uh--

Do you know the--the--the street number or the name?

OK, do you-- do you know the floor number

or anything identifiable?

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Uh, Bruno, Bruno, what's your 20?

I'm here, Cap, 75th and Amsterdam.

I want you to criss-cross the blocks that TARU triangulated,

sirens on.

On it.

Hey, Avery. Hey, buddy.

Hey, so you might hear a police siren.

I'm--I'm really sorry if it's loud.

I know you don't like loud noises, all right?

That's just my partner.

Now if you hear this siren,

I just want you to put your finger to the tip of your nose.

OK?

Bruno?

Crossing 74th. I'm on 73rd now.

Avery, you hear anything?

Avery? Any--any--any police siren?

Look, look!

Good job, buddy. Good job, Avery.

Bruno, where are you at?

I'm on 70th between Broadway and Columbus.

Rollins, what do you got?

Hey, Costa Lykos mentioned his mother,

so I looked up her address.

It's 1480 West 70th Street, number 4B.

Bruno, 1480 West 70th, apartment 4B, now.

Great, thanks.

Come on.

Police!

- Come on, come on. - Come on, come on.

Hey, Avery. Hey, buddy.

I'm a police officer, OK?

I'm here to get you out.

Oh, man.

Oh.

Come with me. Come on.

That's it, yeah.

All good here. No sign of our perp.

All right.

How's he doing?

He's, you know, a little malnourished,

a little dehydrated,

but his injuries are minor.

And I'm sure he wants to meet you.

Uh, they found Costa's body on the tracks.

Yeah, I heard. Crushed by the midnight local.

That's unfortunate for any night commuters.

Hey.

How do you deal with all this?

- All what? - The darkness.

You just reunited a little boy with his mother.

Where's the darkness in that?

You know what I mean.

We keep telling our stories

no matter how dark they are.

You keep telling your story.

'Cause I know

that good always comes from people hearing them.

That and a whole lot of therapy.

Mm.

Hey, I'm--

I'm sorry that I questioned you, boss.

Tynan's right, you-- you are the best.

Oh, Griff, you're a detective.

You are supposed to question everything.

Everything and everyone.

A good leader welcomes questions.

A bad one--

a bad one demands loyalty,

and you have to remember that.

'Cause...

because some day,

you may need to choose

who you want to follow.