Law & Order: Los Angeles Episode 1.14 Runyon Canyon

Pretty college co-ed Beth Garrett sits in class listening to her professor. She gets a text that says, "We R on!!!" and smiles. Later, clad only in a sweatshirt and underwear, Beth bursts out of a room into a graffiti-covered living room. Her escape is halted when she steps on broken glass and falls to the floor. A man grabs Beth's foot, tells her it's nothing, then drags her back to the other room. Beth screams she doesn't want to "do it" anymore. The next morning, TJ and Morales make their way across Runyon Canyon dog park to Beth's body, discovered without any ID. Nishizawa reports Beth was strangled, and there's evidence of two different sets of hands. There's also bruising that suggests rape and hot wax burns. Morales spies a sorority tattoo from Kappa Kappa Rho on Beth's ankle.

TJ and Morales interview Beth's sorority sister Fiona, who claims Beth didn't have a boyfriend and studied all the time because she was pre-med. Fiona last saw Beth around eight the previous night on the way to the library. Finding a sexy thong with the tags still attached in Beth's dresser drawer, TJ doubts she was as innocent as Fiona described. Gonzales, TJ and Morales talk to Beth's parents, who claim she was an angel. Morales finds their story consistent, except for the thong, which TJ thinks could've been a gift from a sorority sister. The coroner's report points to possible rape, but no semen was found. The glass in Beth's foot had crack residue on it, but the tox screen shows she had a couple of drinks and nothing more. The text she got the afternoon she was killed was from Sylvie Lester.

TJ and Morales talk to Sylvie, who claims her text was about studying at the library. Beth and Sylvie were both pre-med at University of Los Angeles (UAL) and Beth was a real brainiac. Morales spies some of Sylvie's anatomical sketches of a shoulder and a foot. Sylvie says drawing helps her remember the different muscles, etc. Sylvie and Beth worked at the library until about 11, then Beth went to the pool for a swim. Morales and TJ head to the pool to talk to Teddy, who works in the office. He wasn't working last night, but confirms that students need to swipe their IDs to access the pool and Beth didn't swipe last night. The last time she used the pool was Tuesday at 7:28 a.m. and before that, Monday at 10:14 a.m. Morales sees that Jesse Beckman entered the pool one minute after Beth on both days.

Morales and TJ talk to Jesse, who claims he didn't know Beth Garrett. Morales isn't buying it, since Jesse swam at the same time as Beth five times in the last week. But Jesse insists he wasn't stalking Beth; he has a girlfriend. TJ sees an anatomical sketch of a hand by Jesse's desk and guesses his girlfriend is Sylvie. When Morales asks if Jesse was cheating on Sylvie with Beth, he finally comes clean. He thought Sylvie was acting weird, so he went to the pool to talk to Beth about her. When TJ asks where he was last night, Jesse shows them a ticket stub from a basketball game.

TJ and Morales ask Roger Darden, a student who has the season ticket for the seat next to Jesse, if Jesse was at the game. Because the game was a blowout, the crowd emptied out at halftime and Roger moved down near the visitors' bench, as did Jesse. TJ remarks that Roger must've been close enough to hear the Arizona coach's tirade. After agreeing, Roger goes for another cup of coffee, explaining he's on leave from college because of his chronic fatigue syndrome. TJ knows Roger's lying because the Arizona coach got booted from the game before halftime. Morales thinks Roger's covering for Jesse, but TJ reminds him that two sets of handprints were found on Beth's neck.

Morales talks to the season ticket holder who sits on the other side of Jesse. She claims Jesse and Roger are buddies, and they left together just before halftime. Meanwhile, TJ finds Roger in the system, since he's bonded by a security company. He worked the graveyard shift as a guard at an empty house in Runyon Canyon on Tuesday night. Explaining that no one lives there, another security guard lets the detectives into the mansion. The owner hired the security company three months ago because transients were using it as "party central." Walking through the living room, Morales finds a broken crack pipe that may have Beth's blood on it. TJ calls Morales into the other room, where he's found a mattress surrounded by condoms, candles and plastic baggies.

TJ tells Gonzales that SID found Beth's blood in the den and on the floor of the mansion near a broken crack pipe. SID also identified blood samples from 23 different people, semen from 19, and prints from many others. Jesse's prints aren't in the database, but they did get Roger's on a baggie found near the mattress along with traces of the drug salvia. TJ describes salvia as giving all the thrills of an acid trip in five minutes. Morales and TJ question Roger with his UAL Legal Clinic lawyer, Brad Harris. Roger admits smoking salvia in the "Haunted Mansion," which is legal. Roger denies Jesse brought Beth to the house. Roger left to get a sandwich, so if someone broke into the mansion, he missed it. TJ thanks Roger for admitting to DUI - because he was DUI four years ago, they can now impound and search his vehicle.

Morales and TJ talk to Gilbert in the police garage; they didn't find any trace of Beth in Roger's car. TJ smells tobacco and mint in a cup from the basketball arena, which could be Jesse's chewing tobacco. It's enough to get a warrant to search Jesse's dorm room. Later, TJ and Morales confront Jesse with evidence. Candles found in his room match the ones in the mansion and the wax on Beth's body. It's only a matter of time before they match his prints to those in the mansion and in Roger's car. Jesse admits he was tripping with Roger in the mansion a week before Beth was killed, and he left the candles there. Gonzales brings in Dell Gregory, another ULA Legal Clinic lawyer, who declares the interview is over. Morales tells Jesse that the first one to speak up gets the deal.

TJ learns that Sylvie got the UAL lawyers for Roger and Jesse. When Morales holds Sylvie's hand sketch up to the photo of Beth's body, comparing it to the marks on her neck, Gonzales suggests having Nishizawa weigh in. Nishizawa confirms that the hand in the sketch matches some of the marks on Beth's neck, but not the ones that killed her. The bruises on Sylvie's neck were from erotic asphyxia, and indicate pressure was applied repeatedly over time. Nishizawa can't say if the hand in the sketch made the other strangulation marks. Later, Sylvie admits giving Jesse the sketch. When TJ shows her the matching marks on Beth's body, Sylvie shows no emotion, insisting Beth was alive when she last saw her. Nevertheless, the cops know she was at the mansion on the night of Beth's death, and it's time to explain.

Sylvie finally starts talking. Beth wanted to try salvia, so they went to the mansion with Jesse and Roger. Beth wanted to try the choking thing, but she didn't trust Roger, so she asked Sylvie to do it while she was having sex with him. Sylvie got mad when Jesse started kissing Beth, and Beth freaked out and ran outside to hide. Sylvie had to leave to get up early for class the next morning, so the guys said they'd keep looking for her. TJ and Morales arrest and handcuff Sylvie, leading her past other students who take photos and videos.

Dekker and Morales read Sylvie's statement to Jesse and his attorney. Jesse insists it was all Sylvie's idea; she told him and Roger what to do. Rubirosa and TJ talk to Roger and his lawyer. Roger calls Sylvie the "Queen Bee Mistress of Darkness," confirming she told the guys what to do. Roger insists it was Sylvie's choking that freaked out Beth, who ran away and never came back. Jesse thinks Sylvie may have put Beth in her car. Sylvie threatened to "destroy" Jesse if he told anyone. Afterwards, the DAs and detectives discuss the case. When Dekker wonders how he'll get a jury to believe Sylvie is a sadist, Rubirosa points out their case should be based on facts, not perception.

Sylvie's parents, Hal and Sheila, meet with Gonzales and Rubirosa. Hal's angry and Sheila doesn't understand what happened to her seemingly perfect child. When Rubirosa asks if Sylvie mentioned any friends on campus, Sheila suggests Melanie Patterson, a high school classmate. Melanie tells Rubirosa that Sylvie changed when they got to college. Sylvie tried to kiss her and Melanie turned her down. Melanie thinks this hurt Sylvie, because during a pledge ritual for their sorority that involved hitting each other, Sylvie hit Melanie so hard she almost passed out, and Melanie hasn't talked to her since. Sylvie used to come over and play with her dog. Rubirosa wonders if Melanie ever takes the dog to the dog park where Beth's body was found. Melanie confirms that she and Sylvie went there all the time.

At the preliminary hearing, Dekker presents evidence of Sylvie's familiarity with the dog park, her history of sadistic behavior, her instigation of the sex and drug party on the night of Beth's murder, and the fact that when Beth ran away, Sylvie pursued her in the dark, then reappeared alone a half hour later and quickly got in her car and left. Sylvie's lawyer, Franklin Citron, argues that Sylvie looks like a Girl Scout and the people's case relies on two compromised witnesses. Judge Barber finds probable cause to proceed to trial. Later, in Gonzales' office, Sheila looks at a picture of Gonzales' little boy and cries. She tells a sweet story about Sylvie when she was a little girl, insisting the girl Dekker described in court was not her daughter. After Sheila leaves, Gonzales reaches for her murder book.

TJ reads an email detailing a list of Cesar Vargas sightings - the guy who murdered Winters. He responds with a message asking for photos, just as a troubled Gonzales points out they only have scanty evidence Beth was in Sylvie's car - a few hairs. Further, there's no evidence Sylvie was at the dumpsite. It's time to take another look. Nishizawa points out that the strangulation marks occurred during a struggle; there are too many to match them up to a pair of hands. She also found five black-and-white dog hairs, three in Beth's throat and two in her lungs. Nishizawa thinks Beth breathed them in while being strangled. If she was strangled outside, she would have inhaled other materials, like pollen and dirt. Morales and TJ realize that Beth was killed in another car, and the killer has a black-and-white dog.

The detectives present the dog hair evidence to the DAs. Gonzales thinks Beth got a ride from an unknown suspect, who killed her in his car, which is when she inhaled the dog hairs. Dekker calls the evidence "vapor"; they're going to trial. Nevertheless, Gonzales tells Morales and TJ to check the dog park. After meeting with Beth's parents, Rubirosa remarks that three good cops think they're jumping the gun, but Dekker insists the facts point to Sylvie. TJ and Morales canvass the dog park, looking for the owner of a black-and-white terrier. No luck. Later, a woman named Linda offers a tip: there's a man with two Scotties, one black and one white, who uses them to hit on women, though she hasn't seen him since Beth's body was found. Linda doesn't have his name or much of a description, but claims the guy was on some kind of reality/dating show.

Morales asks Dekker not to put him on the stand at trial, since he's not convinced of Sylvie's guilt. He and Dekker both have daughters and thus expectations about how a "good girl" should behave. Besides, Sylvie's lawyer is smarter than he lets on, and Morales isn't sure he won't perjure himself. Nevertheless Dekker puts Morales on the stand. During cross, Citron accuses Morales of judging the boys based on his own morality. Jesse and Roger were acting like horny college boys, while Sylvie's sexual exploration was immoral. Morales insists he based his decision on years of professional experience. Citron mentions the lack of evidence that Beth was in Sylvie's car. Is Morales satisfied he's investigated every lead? Morales admits he doesn't consider a case closed until there's been a confession or a finding of guilt. Only a jury can close a case.

TJ discovers that the guy with the Scotties, Trevor Cannon, is on probation for assault. The detectives visit Trevor at his Burbank home, where two Scotties yap inside, and ask to take hair samples off the dogs. Trevor says his dogs wouldn't like that. When Morales reaches toward Trevor's shirt after a dog hair, Trevor grabs his wrist. TJ thanks Trevor for violating his probation and takes him into custody. Meanwhile, Sylvie takes the stand and describes her sexual experimentation with Jesse. The boys were acting awkward on the night of Beth's death, so she had to tell them what to do, what Beth wanted. Sylvie says Beth was having sex with Roger, then ran out and wasn't into it anymore. That's when she ran away and disappeared.

Rubirosa gets a text, then leans over to tell Dekker the cops have a suspect. When Sylvie claims she would never hurt Beth, Dekker reminds that she did burn and choke her. Sylvie didn't take Beth to the hospital for her cut foot either, either. Apparently, Sylvie's compassion didn't extend to "playthings." Back at RHD, Morales and TJ question Trevor, who claims he was home alone on the night of Beth's murder. Morales asks Trevor about his arrest for assault after his appearance on the reality show. Was being on TV humiliating? Trevor claims it was worth the paycheck, but when TJ shows him part of the episode, Trevor gets angry. It seems Trevor doesn't like people laughing at him.

When Dekker asks Sylvie to explain her lies, she admits to being afraid of what people would think of her. So why didn't Sylvie catch up with Beth, who was half-dressed and limping? Dekker accuses her of strangling Beth, but Sylvie continues to deny it. Later, Gonzales, Dekker and Rubirosa observe Morales and TJ interrogating Trevor. Rubirosa wonders if they should call Judge Barber. Dekker says no, explaining jeopardy has attached, and the case goes to jury tomorrow. If they pull it now and they're wrong, they can't retry Sylvie. Without a confession, it's full steam ahead. As TJ and Morales try to wear Trevor down, Rubirosa gets a call. Sylvie's ready to take a plea.

When Morales remarks that Trevor gets a lot of calls from his mother, Trevor insists they can call her to confirm he was at her place on the night in question. Dekker tells Rubirosa to have Citron meet them in 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Morales points out that the road from Trevor's mother's home passes right by Runyon Canyon, which is the same road Beth would've walked to get back to campus. Morales describes a scenario in which Trevor, frustrated by his demanding mother, picked Beth up and killed her when she resisted his advances. Trevor finally confesses. The next day in court, Judge Barber announces the State has dropped all charges against Sylvie. Dekker sees Beth's parents looking at him accusingly. He lingers a moment in the courtroom, uncertain whether justice has been done.