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"Sugar"
SVU, Episode 11.02
Production number:
First aired (US): 30 September 2009
First aired (UK): 23 October 2009
First aired (CAN): 2 October 2009
First aired (AUS): 18 February 2010
  {{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 502 produced in SVU  
{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 502 released in SVU
  {{{nNthReleasedInAll}}}th of 1271 released in all  
Det.Stabler undercover Sugar
Written By
Daniel Truly

Directed By
Peter Leto

Summary[]

A young woman's body is found stuffed inside a suitcase, and police believe that Emily Keefe, the victim, was a train passenger on her way to Tampa when she was murdered. The investigation starts with the geocaching hunt where she was found, and the hunt's director is located. A video of her outtake reveals the timing of the train passing the crime scene determines she was already dead in the suitcase by the time the killer boarded the train. Detectives Benson and Stabler turn to Keefe's financier boyfriend, Owen Cassidy's yacht to investigate. However, Cassidy claims he was on his boat during the time of the murder. After further searching, the detectives discover Keefe belonged to a dating/social media/sugar-daddy website called Tasty Sugar. But when the CEO of the website, Vance Shepard, refuses to provide information on Emily's page (which subsequently disappears from the website), the detectives dig into Vance and discover his and Emily's relationship. At first, Vance's alibi checks out, but later evidence surfaces that implicates him and he confesses. The detectives discover video evidence that someone close to Vance is actually responsible, and he confessed to cover for them. Once the truth is revealed, Vance's daughter feels betrayed and kills him as he apologizes to her in the precinct.

Plot[]

Two young men discover the body of Emily Keefe in the train tunnels while geocaching. The person who left the geocache in the tunnel explains that she didn't see any body when she hid the cache, but she does have video of the suitcase with the body being tossed from the train car, meaning Emily was dead before she was on the tracks.

Keefe's father and step-mother point the detectives toward Emily's boyfriend, Owen Cassidy, who Emily lived with on his boat. When Stabler and Fin visit Cassidy, he tries to escape. Fin reveals that Cassidy ran because he had several kilos of cocaine on his boat - this information convinces Cassidy to start talking. He says Emily stopped living with him after only a week because she got seasick on the boat, but tells the detectives he thinks she met someone new and gives detectives her address.

At Emily's apartment, they find her dog Tank and a lot of expensive items like Tiffany jewelry, despite evidence from her pay stubs that she hasn't worked in a long time. On her computer is a website, Tasty Sugar, with a video of Emily soliciting contacts from people who are "exciting". Stabler and Benson visit the office for Tasty Sugar. The CEO, Vance Shepard, refuses to give over information about Emily's Tasty Sugar page for privacy reasons.

TARU tries to find Emily's page on Tasty Sugar, but it has been removed since the visit to the CEO, which is suspicious. They do find Pamela's page, who is Emily's "BFF" who sometimes goes on double dates with Emily. Stabler goes on a 'date' with Pamela, who reveals from pictures on a double date they did that Emily was in love with Vance Shepard.

When questioned, Shepard claims he loved Emily, but broke up with her in order to find out if she loved him for more than just his money - the breakup happened the day Emily died. Initially, Shepard's alibi checks out, except he never showed up to his daughter's soccer game right after the breakup. He claims he was too upset, but still went to dinner with his secretary after. Shepard's lawyer arrives with videotape proving Emily left Shepard at 3:47 unharmed and was not followed. ADA Paxton is mad they let him go and decides to take it into her own hands and grills the secretary on Shepard's alibi again. She gives the same story, but Paxton shames her for lying for her boss. Later, the secretary comes to the precinct and says she won't lie for Shepard anymore. She says Shepard came to get her for dinner much later than she said before, looking disheveled and claiming he had been hit by a cab. He gave his secretary a shirt with blood on it to get drycleaned, which she gives to the detectives (not cleaned). The detectives arrest Shepard.

The detectives and Paxton get in an argument when she pulls them out of interrogation right as Shepard is confessing after waiving his right to counsel multiple times. At arraignment, Shepard tries to plead guilty but his lawyer says his plea is not guilty by reason of extreme emotional disturbance because his business was failing. As a result, Paxton asks the detectives to find evidence from the Grand Central Station surveillance tapes that Shepard was fine and his defense is invalid. On the tapes, Benson discovers that both Emily AND Shepard were never at Grand Central Station. Instead, the woman they thought was Emily on the tape from Shepard's office is actually Shepard's daughter Chantel, carting Emily's body in the suitcase all along.

Chantel reveals that Emily came to the house, Chantel was furious about Emily and her father's relationship, grabbed Emily and killed her. Shepard came home to find them both, realizing he had been a bad father and God had given him a second chance to show up for his daughter. He told Chantel to wear Emily's clothes and take the train, but Chantel got impatient and pushed the suitcase out the train's window, causing their plan to unravel and Shepard to take the blame for Chantel.

Shepard asks to see Chantel one last time. He hugs her and apologizes for everything. Chantel says she's sorry too, before stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissor's from the desk, causing him to bleed out as Chantel says "you'll never break another promise to me again."

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Stabler: Who found the body?
Ed: [raises hand] Yes sir.
Rusty: Uh he did not!
Ed: Shut up Rusty!
Rusty: No, I was here first!
Ed: Well I opened the suitcase!
Benson: Girls... girls... you're both pretty.

Stabler: [to a murder suspect] Do you hear gurgling? That's the sound of you drowning right now.

Vance Shepard: [when he sees Elliot and Olivia] Oh, I don't like the look of this.
Stabler: Police make you nervous?
Shepard: No, ties. AVU is strictly a no-tie zone, my friend.

Anu Nayyar: Ever heard of the Wayback Machine?
Benson: Only the one that Sherman and Mr. Peabody used.

Benson: Chantel, we need the truth. Was your father at your soccer game or not?
Chantel Shepard: Well, no, but that's only because he's got so many important things to do.
Joyce Shepard: The only important thing he has to do is be a prick. He gets her hopes up...
Chantel Shepard: Mom...
Joyce Shepard: And then he shatters them. And I get to pick up the pieces.
Chantel Shepard: Yeah, 'cause you're never a bitch!
[storms off]

Paxton: [to the detectives about Vance Shepard] So you just let him walk out.
Stabler: We have nothing to hold him on.
Paxton: Other than murdering Emily Keefe.
Benson: Shepard was alibied all day long. Meetings, dinner, then home.
Tutuola: The same home his mistress strolled out of in living color.
Paxton: Yeah, so bust his ass on prostitution. Do I have to handhold you people?
Stabler: No, but here's a news flash. Vice handles prostitution, not Special Victims.
Paxton: Don't pass the buck, Stabler.
Tutuola: Who says their arrangement was prostitution anyway?
Paxton: Oh, come on. It's the world's oldest profession. I think we've settled on the definition. She got what's in his wallet. He got what's between her legs.
Stabler: Yeah, unless he got something more. You know, since the '70s, courts have ruled that as long as the woman gets paid for something in addition to sex, shopping advice, companionship, not prostitution.
Paxton: Okay, I get it. So if it's a back alley hand job for five bucks, she's a hooker. Right? But if it's five G's a month and all the shoes she can buy, then she's some kind of, what, entrepreneur?
Benson: Times have changed, Sonya or have you not been on Craigslist lately? There are some women who believe that just...
Paxton: I can't believe that you're arguing this, Olivia.
Benson: Why? Because all women have to have the same opinion on everything?

Paxton: [to Lisette about Vance Shepard's alibi] And just for the record, you would never lie for him, right?
Lysette Dale: No.
Paxton: Even after he bought you that very impressive rack?
Lysette Dale: Excuse me?
Paxton: Well, come on. A pair that nice has got to make a girl feel pretty grateful, right?
Lysette Dale: That's none of your business.
Paxton: Sit down. Hon, everything's my business. Your boss, your boobs, your belligerent little attitude. You need to start telling me the truth or I'll throw you in lockup where that cute little body of yours will get you all the attention you can handle.

Stabler: [to Paxton after she interrupts the interrogation of Vance Shepard] What is your problem? First, you tell us to nail him, now you want us to back off.
Paxton: My problem is I want to win this case, Stabler. The right way.
Stabler: And us rubes don't know how to do that.
Paxton: Would I be here if you did?
Stabler: You are such a sanctimonious bitch, you know that?
Cragen: Detective Stabler, that's enough.
Stabler: I'm not finished. School's in session and you've got a lot to learn, hon.
Paxton: Oh, hon, if I'm going to learn anything, I promise you, it won't be from an adolescent A-hole like you.

Chantel Shepard: [after confessing to murdering Emily Keefe] He took the blame, said he killed her. That proves my daddy loves me, right?
Benson: Chantel, this isn't the way a father is supposed to prove his love.
Chantel Shepard: How do you know? Maybe your father never loved you.
Benson: You know what? He didn't, but I still know that this is wrong.
Chantel Shepard: No. What he's doing is right.

Chantel Shepard: [after stabbing her father in the neck with a pair of scissors] You'll never break another promise to me.


Background information and notes[]

  • Warner is said to be busy working on someone who jumped off the Chrysler Building, hence why she doesn't appear in this episode.
  • When Detectives Benson and Stabler were trying to locate "The Master Baiter," all of the IP addresses shown are incorrectly formed. Normally, IP addresses are separated by three periods, with each number containing up to three digits: XXX.YYY.ZZZ.AAA, for example. The IP addresses shown in this episode are separated by two periods, with each number containing four digits: XXXX.YYYY.ZZZZ. This was likely intentionally done to avoid using a legitimate IP address.
  • Actress Abigail Savage later played Sister Nina Kelly in season 17 episodes "Manhattan Transfer" and "Unholiest Alliance".

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

The Garb Barn
2702 Veteran's Road West
Staten Island, New York
Thursday, July 9

Keefe Residence
2709 Walgrove Avenue
Stamford, Connecticut
Thursday, July 9

Apartment of
Emily Keefe
371 West 30th Street
Thursday, July 9

4 5 6

Vertex
92 Horatio Street
Thursday, July 9

Ad-Vance United
17 Stone Street
Monday, July 13

Arraignment Court
Part 74
Wednesday, July 15

Previous episode:
"Unstable"
"Sugar"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 11
Next episode:
"Solitary"
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