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"Missing Pieces"
SVU, Episode 13.05
Production number: 13005
First aired (US): 19 October 2011
First aired (UK): 8 April 2012
First aired (CAN): 19 October 2011
First aired (AUS): 16 February 2012
  {{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 502 produced in SVU  
{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 502 released in SVU
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Svu1305
Written By
Julie Martin & Warren Leight

Directed By
Peter Leto

As the SVU Detectives race to find a missing baby on Halloween, they begin to doubt the story of the distraught parents.

Summary[]

A young woman visiting from Buffalo claims that her car was stolen outside a Manhattan convenience store with her baby still buckled in the backseat. Benson and Amaro get as much information as they can from the anxious mother and her boyfriend at the police station, while Fin and Rollins track their path from Buffalo for clues. When the parents' stories don't add up, the detectives must uncover what really happened to the missing baby, and the truth surprises everyone.

Plot[]

Fin and Rollins do routine visits on sex offenders for Halloween. They discover some are cooperating by staying inside while detaining some who are disregarding the rules.

On Halloween night, Ali Martell's baby, Nate is missing after her car is stolen with the baby in it. The squad interrogates Ali and her boyfriend, Tim Holland, about what happened. Tim's short temper and Ali's timid behavior begin to make the detectives suspicious.

Ali's car is found abandoned and it is later discovered that a cooler they had contains fecal matter and soy formula in it, which makes the detectives believe that Ali and Tim put Nate in the cooler. Nick tries to get Ali to tell the truth about what really happened to Nate. Ali tells Nick that they stayed at a hotel in Binghamton the night before Nate disappeared.

When Fin and Amanda go to the hotel, they find out that Tim and Ali were arguing and drinking that night. Eventually, Ali draws Nick a map of where she and Tim buried their son. After 39 hours, Nate's body is found buried at Twin Island on Orchard Beach with his blanket and toy next to him.

After the autopsy, Warner tells the detectives that Nate wasn't abused in any way and she is still trying to figure out the cause of death. It is later revealed to be most likely from SIDS (or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Tim and Ali both confess to killing Nate in two different ways, but in the end, Nick tells Ali that Nate died of SIDS. Ali and Tim aren't charged and they are able to see each other again.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Rollins: Trick or Treat.
Clown: Who wants a treat?
Tutuola: NYPD. What the hell you doing Bozo? Didn't your parole officer tell you not to open the door on Halloween?

Cragen: And let's hope we get a lead before every village idiot in a Casey Anthony mask is too drunk to remember his own name.

Amaro: That's my daughter. Everything's a negotiation.
Benson: Gee, I wonder where she gets that from.

Benson: So what's your gut on Tim?
Amaro: Well, we got off to a bad start. I got in his face, his ego's up.
Benson: [referring to Allie] And she saw you as protecting her. You want to do-si-do?
Amaro: That's what I'm thinking.

Tutuola: [to Rollins] Well, I hope you like hot wings. We're on the next plane to Buffalo.

Allie Martell: I can handle Tim. He walks through the door, his mood... it's like waves coming off him. I know right away if it's going to be a bad night.
Amaro: So you can take care of yourself. But what about Nate? Did Tim ever have a bad night with him?

Tim Holland: When are you going to find my son?
Benson: We are doing everything that we can.
Tim Holland: I don't understand why I have to stay here and answer questions.
Benson: Because anything that you remember may help us.
Tim Holland: I wasn't even there!
Benson: I understand that, Tim. I know that you were meeting about the Craigslist rental.
Tim Holland: Did you talk to the guy?
Benson: We did.
Tim Holland: I'm not lying about that.
Benson: I understand how... how stressful this is, and how inful this is, how angry you are...
Tim Holland: Yeah? Do you know why? Because I wasn't there. I wasn't there to protect my boy. Aw, I screwed up. I screwed it up.
Benson: It's okay, Tim, it's okay.
Tim Holland: No, it's not. You don't think so, and she doesn't think so.
Benson: She? Allie? You think Allie's going to blame you because your baby's missing?
Tim Holland: She'll find a way.

Benson: [as she shows Tim photographs of the cooler] Do you recognize this? Is that your cooler, Tim?
Tim Holland: Those coolers, they all look alike.
Benson: Yeah, some of them do.
Tim Holland: Yeah, so how do you know that one's even ours?
Benson: Because this one has your fingerprints on it.
Tim Holland: Well, then, there you go. Yeah, yeah.
Benson: The lab found something else inside. Found fecal matter, and traces of soy formula, just like Nate drinks. Do you want to explain that to me?
Tim Holland: I don't know. Uh, Nate's a handful. Maybe Allie was busy, she put a diaper in there.
Benson: No mother puts dirty diapers in a cooler. So you have two choices, Tim. The good outcome would be that we find out that this is an accident, and that the baby fell and hit his head.
Tim Holland: No.
Benson: And the bad outcome would be that you lost your temper, and maybe shook Nate.
Tim Holland: That's not what happened.
Benson: Then tell me what did happen. Because I know that that baby wasn't taken from...
Tim Holland: [yells] Don't you attack me! [Olivia glares at him; he begins to cry] I'm sorry.
Benson: That doesn't matter. How did Nate end up in the cooler?
[Tim doesn't answer]

Benson: Tim's overloaded, shut down. Amaro getting anywhere?
Cragen: They haven't left Buffalo yet.

Amaro: All right, so what happened? Tim got drunk? He lost his temper with you? With Nate?
Allie Martell: No. He doesn't mean the things he does!
Amaro: You tried to stop him, but you couldn't help Nate. Now you can! You're Nate's mom, all right? You can help him now.
Allie Martell: How? I just want to go back and make it not happen.

Dr. Warner: [about Nate] The way he was buried, he was loved.

Amaro: So, whatever happened, they either did it together, or she's covering for him.
Benson: Allie and Tim aren't going anywhere. Why don't you, uh, go home and hug your daughter.
Amaro: Uh, she's taking a nap, so...
Benson: You know, Amaro, SVU...
Amaro: Yeah, I know.
Benson: I'm the last person to be giving parental advice.
Amaro: No, right now, this kid, he needs us.

Allie Martell: I did it. I must have rolled over on him or something. I killed him. I killed my baby.
Amaro: No. Allie... Allie ,the M.E. says that Nate died of SIDS.
Allie Martell: What?
Amaro: Yeah. Sometimes, babies Th... they just die.
Allie Martell: Are you sure?
Amaro: Yeah.
Allie Martell: The three of us lying in bed together, Tim snoring... it wasn't perfect, but it was good, you know? I was happy. And then... why? Why us? When you woke me up before, I was dreaming that Nate was dead. Then I woke up. I thought it was just a nightmare. Nate was asleep. Everything was fine. And then I remembered.

Background information and notes[]

  • The baby, Nate Holland-Martell, is said to be named after Buffalo Sabres hockey player Nathan Gerbe, who Rollins states "leads the Sabres in penalty minutes". Gerbe was on the Sabres at the time, but "has never been close to the team-lead in penalty minutes".[1]
  • In an interesting inversion of the "ripped from the headlines" format used by the Law & Order franchise, the disappearance of Sky Metalwala, a case extremely similar to the one depicted in the episode, happened two weeks after this episode's airing. There have been allegations that the prime suspect in the case, Metalwala's mother Julia Biryukova, directly copied the episode's plot while orchestrating her son's disappearance; the episode had indeed aired the night before, and Biryukova's husband claimed Law & Order was his wife's favorite show. As of January 2022, Sky Metalwala is still missing.
  • This is the final appearance of Calvin Arliss.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Special Victims Unit
3 Hours Missing

The Stuffed Monkey
132 Avenue C
4 Hours Missing

Home of
Moira Martell
642 Hopkins Street
Buffalo, New York
17 Hours Missing

4 5 6

Tompkins Square Park
24 Hours Missing

Binghamton Motor Lodge
857 Front Street
Binghamton, New York
33 Hours Missing

Twin Island
Orchard Beach
Bronx, New York
39 Hours Missing

Footnotes[]

Previous episode:
"Double Strands"
"Missing Pieces"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 13
Next episode:
"True Believers"
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