The Mysteries of Laura

- You! Get off of my street! - Out of the way, you moron!

Oh, come on, seriously?

This is 20 AB, 19-10, requesting a tow at...

Call 911!

What the...

What's with the hair?

Got into a fight with my hairdryer.

Uh-huh. Tony date night?

That too.

Something the matter with your neck?

Would you stop examining me already?

I just slept funny or something.

Yeah, time for me to break out my famous massage hands.

Oh, your famous massage hands that landed you in divorce court?

You don't ever forget anything, do you?

Oh! Oh, that reminds me. I got you a present.

Thanks.

I read online that if you write things down, you remember them better.

Well, I remember you hawking me without having to write it down.

What do we got, Reynaldo?

Just laying eyes on her, give me 30 seconds.

You might wanna talk to your witness.

You can't take my car! I had the guy call 911!

- Hey buddy, time out. - Are you our witness?

Yes, yes. I'm trying to explain that to him.

Unhook the car, she's with us.

Once it's hooked up, can't unhook it.

Is that the same rule as once a stubborn ass, always a stubborn ass?

Thank you, I need my car for my work

and I have to be mobile. And so I really...

Just take a breath, tell us what you saw.

All right. I turned down the street and I saw a man running into his car.

White, dressed regular, he's about your height.

- What kind of car? - White van.

- A minivan? - No, no, van, van.

Like the vans you see at the airport.

And then he sped out and I look

and I see this woman lying there on the curb.

So I pulled over, you know, and thank god the street sweeper came.

- Strained muscle? - Yeah, I must have done something.

Here, I do massage.

Oh, no that's okay, that's okay. Oh, wow!

Oh, my God! Wow, that's really good! What...

You know, tell you what. Just give me your card.

And we'll continue this when I'm not working a case.

Hold on, I have it in my car.

I've got the information and the perfect place to write it down.

You should call me. I can give you 50% off for getting my car down.

Deal. And for a hot stone, I can also make parking tickets go away.

Not really.

I need EMT's now! Now! As in, just now!

What's up, Reynaldo? I heard this was a homicide.

Yeah, it is for the mother. This baby is still alive.

Quickly, guys, we got a live one counting on us.

- You, radio the hospital. Infant in distress, in route. - Yes, sir!

All right, we need to start compressing. We can get fluids to this baby stat.

Look, man, I've never done this.

I have. Just listen to what I say.

Do what I tell you, you'll be fine.

Obviously the baby is a priority,

but we need to maintain evidence from the mother. DNA, fingerprints.

You know I'll do what I can. But you said it, the baby is a priority.

Fast as you can, guys. We need to hurry.

Laura's sticking with Reynaldo and the victim to maintain chain of custody,

with whatever physical evidence they find on the body.

Smart. This one's a first for me.

It must have been quite the commotion out there this morning.

Yeah, it's a understatement of the week.

And we have no idea who this woman is?

Techs confirmed that her prints are not in the system.

We're waiting on the DNA,

and patrols checking the gutters in the area for her bag,

in case it dropped out of the van.

Well, let's hope so.

It'd certainly be nice to know who she is.

I have an idea what she is.

The area where your vic was dumped in is effectually known as "Hooker's Row".

Well, that's interesting. Let's go with that for a moment.

So, our victim is a hooker, she gets pregnant, tries to hide it from her pimp.

Exactly, it happens all the time.

Pimp finds out, smacks her around for not being careful.

- Working girl can't earn while pregnant. - No, she can't.

So what I think happened is,

he tries to teach one of his girls a lesson and then it gets out of hand.

- Way out of hand. - Now that's the understatement of the week.

- Let me go over and see what's up. - Do it. Jake, go with him.

All due respect, Cap, you too, Jake,

but I think my partner is a little better equipped for this one.

I'm good with that, just go.

Good news, the baby made it. A boy.

Well, hopefully Laura can get a real lead out of Reynaldo.

The baby in the NICU?

Yeah, it's got a bit of a fight ahead of him, but he's in good hands.

- What about mom here? - COD is head trauma.

Asphalt residue indicates she likely hit her head on the pavement.

Possibly when she was dragged or pushed out of the van.

And we know TOD is within half an hour of my reaching the body.

Oh, of course. The baby couldn't stay alive if it was longer than that.

Yeah, and he is very lucky he made it at all.

- Why is that? - The victim and the baby had incompatible RH factors.

On top of which, the mother had a severe placental tear.

Once the blood types mixed, it was only a matter of time.

When I was pregnant, that was like the first test I took.

If they don't match, you get that shot.

Rhogam. Apparently, our victim never received that injection

or perhaps, was never even tested.

What's all that?

Oh, this is my initial examination.

Reveals this placental tear happened in two stages.

Minor at first, then subsequent trauma caused it to become much larger.

Okay, so she fought her killer, lost.

Hit her head on the pavement.

Witness showed up and the killer rabbited.

It's plausible, found touch DNA on the clothes.

We are running them through codices right now.

What's with the tattoo?

Well, it's freshly inked. Not more than a few weeks.

Could be some sort of gang affiliation, I'll run it through division.

I don't know what's worse. A gang hit on a pregnant woman

or a dead prostitute that no one is looking for.

Uh-uh! No way! We know who you are.

- It's okay, I just need to... - I don't care what you need.

You high-end whores come on hard times.

You end up right back down here, working the corner.

Take your little ass right back up to 5th Avenue.

I...

Thank you, I think. Actually, I'm not here for work.

I'm here for information about my friend.

They found her on this block.

Murdered.

I think it happened this morning, she was pregnant.

- Baby made it, she didn't. - Don't know her.

But if you're saying someone tried to beat the baby out of a whore,

wouldn't be the first time I hear about that.

We're just trying to get her baby back to its family. If there's anything you know.

I don't know her.

How about you guys, have you seen this girl?

- Anything? - Uh-uh.

Nothing?

Hey, hey, hey, hey, you got a question, you ask me.

- And you are? - Vlady.

Damn, you're fine, girl. How about you come work for me?

Really? You too? (CHUCKLES)

Pass. (CHUCKLES)

You know, you strike me as the kind of guy who likes to beat his women.

- Maybe you beat this one. - Get that out of my face.

Don't even think about it, stupid! NYPD.

The big ones are always so slow.

Consider yourself lucky my partner broke this up.

I would not have been so gentle.

Man, I've been here for hours. Ever hear of 6th amendment? Speedy trial, all that?

Wow, you're a real Renaissance, man.

A pimp, a murderer and a lawyer.

I told you, I do not know her. How am I going to kill a person I do not know?

You didn't even look.

Oh, hell no.

I don't mess with her kind, especially her kind.

Her kind? That better mean pregnant.

When I say her kind, I do not mean pregnant. I mean Benin City product.

- Benin City? - Yes, that Benin City mark. She Nigerian import.

I tried to turn one out a while back.

But big ass dudes with bigger ass guns show up.

- They took her back. - Okay, I need names.

I don't know. When big dudes come at me with big guns,

they do not stop to introduce themselves and I do not ask.

- All right, so these big ass pimps... - Ah, no, no, not pimps.

No one try importing a working girl like this.

Huh?

Too difficult to get into the country.

So, these scary Nigerian guys, what do they do?

Smuggle. You need it, they bring it. You pay, you have it.

Hey, that's my Christmas list, but feel free to just write all over it.

Call customs, tell them to check pregnant women from Benin City, Nigeria,

arriving in the last week, make it two.

How many of those can there be?

Exactly. I'm swinging it by records.

Text me the registered addresses off of the landing cards.

And then tell Jake to meet me at the car.

Okay, so we're just not saying please anymore?

So, the victim wasn't a hooker.

Our boy Vlady ID'd the tattoo on her neck as a mark

for some sort of Nigerian syndicate.

It doesn't mean she wasn't prostituted.

No, but it makes it more unlikely.

Nigerian syndicate is no joke.

It's far easier for them to smuggle goods than girls.

I'm going to call my contacts at organized crime

and see what they have coming out of Nigeria.

On the scumbag spectrum, these scumbags are my least favorite.

They recruit the poorest and most desperate women

and get them to do things that they themselves don't have the guts to do.

This tracks a woman forced into a life of servitude

wouldn't have access to a doctor,

let alone, have a Rhogam shot, which per Reynaldo, she didn't.

Speaking of didn't, DNA didn't come up with a familiar match for the mother or the baby.

Until we ID the victim, then we're just running around in circles.

Circle no more. According to customs, there were only five recent arrivals

from Benin city, Nigeria.

Three men, two women, one of whom was 65.

So I'm guessing she's not with child.