Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode 11.12 Shadow

The Gillettes, a wealthy older couple, are found brutally murdered in their bedroom. When Benson and Stabler get to the scene it looks like the husband murdered his wife with an axe and then committed suicide. The daughter, Anne, barges in to find out what happened to her parents.

At the precinct Cragen tells the detectives that the Gillettes were involved in a double homicide, and not a suicide. The gunshot wound to the father's head is inconsistent with a suicide, and that means there's a perpetrator on the loose. On top of this, the Gillettes were a wealthy family that gave generously to the Police Athletic League, were major campaign donors to the mayor and the D.A., and had the police commissioner on speed dial. Cragen orders the detectives to go back to the crime scene and see what other evidence they can find.

Back at the crime scene, Benson and Stabler see that there was a break-in through a window, but the alarm didn't go off because the system wasn't on last night. When Benson and Stabler later talk to Anne Gillette, they tell her that her parents' deaths were a double homicide. Anne, relieved that her father didn't commit the crime, can't think of anyone who would have wanted to kill her parents, everyone loved her parents -- it must have been a burglar. However, due to the violent nature of the crime, Stabler tells Anne that the murders were personal. Anne realizes the murderer must be after her too, and tells the detectives about a man that has been following her around the city.

Benson and Stabler go down to the art gallery where Anne bought and sold art. The owner, Dalton, says Anne spends lots of money at the gallery and is quite a good customer. Dalton says no one was following Anne the day she came in, and there aren't any cameras in this particular art gallery. However, at a jewelry store it's a different story; the owner of the jewelry store, Martin, says Anne likes to buy "ice" and that he did see someone following her. The owner gives the detectives the footage of his security tapes to identify Anne's stalker.

Benson and Stabler show Anne the picture of her "stalker" and she knows he must have killed her parents. Stabler tells Anne that if they use her as bait, they can catch the suspect. Benson and Stabler go undercover and hang out with Anne all day, but there is no sign of the stalker. At the last stop, All Soul's Church, Benson spots the murder suspect, who is carrying a gun. Benson safely takes Anne away while Stabler searches the man, Ashok Ramsey, who is actually a detective who has been following Anne Gillette. Apparently, Anne is the killer.

Ramsey tells Stabler and Cragen that he is with Special Frauds, but according to Ramsey's C.O. in Special Frauds, there is no open investigation of Anne. However, this particular case is off the books by order of the chief of detectives; it's a "shadow op." Originally Ramsey was after Anne for embezzlement. Anne's trust fund ran out and she stole $3.5 million from the Prestwick Foundation. Ramsey believes Anne killed her parents because she is desperate for money. The Gillette estate is worth over $200 million and she is the sole heir to that fortune. Looks like the detectives have a modern-day Lizzie Borden on their hands.

At the Special Frauds Unit, Ramsey informs Benson and Stabler all about Anne Gillette. Turns out the little rich girl had run-ins with the law before, from not paying her taxes for five years, to being sued six different times when she worked as an interior decorator. The only reason the Prestwick Foundation gave Anne a seat on the board was because her father gave them $10 million. Ramsey warns the detectives that although Anne was kicked out of three different prep schools, she's incredibly smart and doesn't play by the rules.

Ramsey shows the detectives how Anne scammed the Prestwick Foundation: She wrote checks to "deserving organizations" but none of those organizations exist. Bank accounts were opened for each, with forged documents, and the cash was withdrawn as soon as the checks were cleared. Mr. Prestwick didn't notice until they went to visit a Chinatown ballet and ended up in a pet store. The foundation was embarrassed and wanted to keep everything under wraps so as to avoid future problems with future donations. Anne did have an accomplice, a white man, but no one has been able to identify him. Ramsey has been tailing her and tracking her spending, and she was almost out of money. His assumption is that she went to her parents for more money, they said "no," and she killed them.

Unfortunately, Chief of Detectives Muldrew and Mr. Nigel Prestwick order the investigation of the Prestwick foundation to be closed. According to Prestwick, the money has been replaced, and Ramsey knows that Anne Gillette had to be the one who covered the foundation's losses to stop any further investigation. However, a crime has still been committed, and although Special Frauds has ceased the investigation into Anne's embezzlement, Benson and Stabler's case is still open. Ramsey decides to team up with the SVU to catch the killer.

Benson and Stabler decide to pretend that Ramsey is still Anne's stalker at the SVU precinct. Anne is happy to see that Ramsey has been caught, but Benson tells her that they are having trouble tying Ramsey to the murder case. Benson asks Anne if her parents might have said something to anyone about being followed, and Anne believes that possibly a friend, Nathaniel Harding, might know something, but she wants to talk to him first before the detectives question him. Ramsey and Stabler deduce that Nathaniel is probably Anne's accomplice.

Stabler and Ramsey find Nate before Anne can get ahold of him. Ramsey tells Nate that Anne is going to call and ask him to lie for her. Moments later, the phone rings: it's Anne. Stabler tells Nate that he's going to jail unless he answers the phone and does what the detectives want. Nate talks to Anne. She tells Nate what to say to the detectives and describes Ramsey as the killer. After the call, Nate spills the beans about the embezzlement charges and says how he thought Anne loved him. However, Cragen doesn't think they have enough evidence to convict Anne of her parents' murders. Cragen orders the detectives to charge Anne with witness tampering and then to make it big news, so she can't hide.

Benson, Stabler and Ramsey meet Anne at her parents' funeral, and Anne is shocked to learn that Ramsey is a cop. When Anne is arrested for witness tampering, she realizes that Benson set her up. Back at the precinct, Dr. Huang tells Benson to make Anne feel comfortable because she is a sociopath. Muldrew storms the precinct and tells Cragen that the detectives went too far. Cragen says that there is a double homicide, but Muldrew says Anne wasn't arrested for murder, and they can't prove it. Dr. Huang tells Muldrew that Anne is dangerous and should not be on the street. Muldrew tells Cragen to get Anne on murder charges or they are going to have "a lot of shoveling to do."

In the interrogation room, all three detectives, Stabler, Benson, and Ramsey, talk to Anne. However, Anne doesn't want to talk to Benson or Stabler, and requests to speak with Ramsey. Once they're alone, Anne reveals that she knew Ramsey's mother and she and Ramsey have more in common than he thinks. They both come from rich families, but Ramsey doesn't think they are anything alike; he doesn't want his parents dead. Anne doesn't fall for Ramsey's trap though and says that although she was frustrated with her parents, she did not kill them. Anne really gets to Ramsey when she talks about how she knows how seductive his mother can be.

Ramsey tells Stabler there's no use in booking Anne because she'll just waltz out on bail. Ramsey thinks their best bet is to get Nigel Prestwick to move forward on the embezzlement charges. He thinks they can get Nigel to crack because he's a milquetoast, but then Ramsey says something that catches Benson's ear. At the Prestwick Foundation, Benson gets down to the nitty gritty with Prestwick and tells him to get on his knees and lick her boot, which he does right in time for Ramsey to bust in and takes an incriminating picture. After a little more coercing, Prestwick decides to go through with the embezzlement charges to protect his reputation.

Ramsey and Benson meet with Camilla Velez, a prosecutor from the U.S Attorney's office -- they ask her to take on Anne's case. Velez says she doesn't want to go after Anne because her parents have donated millions of dollars to politicians. Once the detectives are able to link Anne to her parents' murder, Velez can fold homicide into the case; something many federal prosecutors never get to do. This entices Velez into taking the case. Meanwhile at the SVU precinct, Stabler tells Anne that she is being arraigned on felony bank fraud charges and has to go down to Riker's. Anne almost threatens Stabler, telling him he has no idea what she is capable of.

Stabler tells Cragen that Anne threatened his family and he thinks taking them away somewhere safe is a good idea. Later, Cragen tells Benson something big has come up with her and Ramsey. Anne has put a hit out on the both of them. Benson and Ramsey are taken in and protected. Ramsey and Benson are worth one hundred grand. Ramsey tells Benson that they haven't seen the "real" Anne Gillette quite yet. Ramsey says he is sick of seeing his perpetrators get sub time because they are white collar criminals. The detectives are determined to bring down Anne for her crimes.

Cragen tells Benson, Stabler, and Ramsey that they are all off the case because it's too dangerous. Ramsey said they were supposed to transport her from Riker's to the federal prison, but Cragen says no. Benson decides to take things in her own hands, she has a job today and she's not going to let Anne Gillette scare her off. Stabler is a little upset that Benson went behind his back to work with Ramsey, but Benson tells Stabler to handle Cragen instead.

Ramsey and Benson pick up Anne at Riker's to take her to the federal prison (even though Cragen ordered them off the case). En route to the prison, a white van comes barreling down the intersection and two masked gunmen jump out and start shooting at Ramsey and Benson. In a wild hail of gunfire, Ramsey and Benson are seemingly hit, and fall to the ground. The masked assailants take Anne in the van with them, as she looks behind her, smiling.

The masked assailant, Fin, takes Anne to a hotel to collect the rest of his money. Anne obviously doesn't know that Fin is a cop and invites him to travel with her. Anne makes a phone call and Stabler, Ramsey, and Benson listen in. Anne also confesses to Fin that she killed her mother because she wanted to cut Anne out of the will. Anne had no choice, she had to get rid of her mother and her father was just collateral damage. Anne is shocked when Benson, Ramsey and Stabler come into the hotel room and Fin arrests her. Anne claims that she will kill them all. Finally, the real Anne Gillette is revealed to the detectives.