Just a Girl in the World (Season 20, Episode 2)
Premise: The murder of a crime scene investigator seems linked to a livery driver’s attack on a young music writer, until Lupo’s affair with that witness and a faked lab result turn the case around.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 20, Episode 2
- Detectives
- Det. Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto), Det. Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache), ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana de la Garza), DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston)
- Guest stars
- Camille Chen as Emma Kim, Peter Scanavino as Jim Anderson, Ramses Jimenez as Nestor Maldonado, Michael Crane as Colin Burke, Chris Mulkey as Judge Robert Maxen
- Ripped from the headlines
- The story draws on Kari Ferrell, the con artist nicknamed the “hipster grifter,” who was reported to have used faked medical conditions to win sympathy and money from men.
- Director
- M.T. Adler
- Writers
- Richard Sweren & Christopher Ambrose
Summary
The Investigation
“Just a Girl in the World” begins with crime scene investigator Daisy Chao found dead in her apartment a month before her wedding. Her fiancé, graphic artist Jim Anderson, says he spent the weekend alone at his parents’ place in the Adirondacks. Her wallet is missing, and a $200 Victoria’s Secret gift card from Jim has bought a size-two red nightie. Her colleague Colin Burke says she suspected Jim of cheating, and Jim admits withdrawing $1,800 from her savings. Meanwhile, Dr. Valerie Knight tells Van Buren she has stage two cervical cancer caused by HPV.
Emma Kim, who reviews bands for a music magazine, reports that a livery driver with a Tweety Bird decal grabbed her outside her building and threatened her with a knife. Chao also took a livery cab home, and the detectives find Nestor Maldonado, who dropped her off that night; Burke reports finding her blood in his car. Kim, who says she has chronic kidney disease, picks Maldonado from a lineup while gripping Lupo’s hand, and Lupo begins sleeping with her. A judge later throws out the identification.
Lupo spots a red nightie in Kim’s bathroom. Jim, an illustrator for the same magazine, admits giving Kim money from Chao’s account for medicine and says Kim promised to get police off his back. Lupo admits to Van Buren that he has been in Kim’s apartment, Kim is arrested for obstruction, and the nightie’s tag matches the gift-card purchase. Burke then admits he passed off a sample from the murder scene as blood from the cab. DNA from a wipe in Chao’s trash ties Kim to Jim sexually and shows she lacks the kidney disease gene, and a man she met near Harvard Square says she took him for $17,000 under the name Emily Quan, after Chao had called him. Maldonado is released and Kim is charged with murder.
The Trial
Cutter leaves Lupo off the witness list, but Judge Robert Maxen applies Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts and lets the defense confront the detective who found the evidence. Lupo admits the affair and denies planting the price tag. Kim testifies that Lupo coerced her into sex by threatening to expose her lie about the driver.
Cutter confronts her with her earlier sworn praise of Lupo and with men in other cities she told of heart, liver or blood ailments. Kim then accuses Maxen of promising help in return for a weekend on his sailboat. Cutter declines a mistrial, and when she claims the judge coerced her in chambers, he shows how many jail and court officers would have had to be complicit, until she unravels, pleading for help.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury finds Emma Kim guilty of second-degree murder, the only charge.
Why it stands out
- Van Buren learns she has stage two cervical cancer, which her doctor says stems from an HPV infection she may have carried for years.
- Lupo’s affair with a key witness puts him on the stand, where he concedes under oath that it was a mistake.
- Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts drives two twists: it pushes a lab investigator to admit faking evidence and forces Lupo to testify.