After the body of Vicky Riggs is found, Benson and Stabler delve into her private life and finally learn that in addition to being a respected lawyer, she was also a stripper. A surveillance photo leads them to Linus McKellen, her boss' husband, who was also having an affair with her. There isn't enough evidence to prove he murdered Vicky, but when Vicky's co-worker at the club, Josie Post, is also found murdered, DNA proves that McKellen's semen was found in her body, despite his disabled wife Tessa's conviction that he would never murder anyone. Suspicion turns on Tessa herself once the detectives interview the only man who seems capable of having committed the murders.

Stabler and Tutuola pair up to investigate when two teens go missing while their school is on a field trip to a local museum. Their investigation soon turns up evidence that the disappearance was staged to help Janey, who suffers from Turner's Syndrome, be with her older boyfriend, a man with a prediliction for young girls, and to help the boy, Connor, make good on a gambling debt. Stabler experiences a rift with his daughter, Kathleen, who is upset over the way that he has handled her relationship with a young man named Kevin.

The investigation of a famous dead astronaut found in Battery Park has hit a dead end, causing Stabler to ask for assistance from his old mentor, Dick Finley, a former colleague of the victim and an astronaut himself.