Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

A Single Life

Aired Sep 27, 1999 · 9:00 PM ET · 43 min

When the body of Gretchen Quinn is found wearing only a red slip after having gone through an upper-story window, Benson and Stabler soon find out that 'Gretchen Quinn' has never existed. While trying to piece together her life, the detectives are led to Gretchen's psychiatrist and a well-known television newscaster, both of whom were sleeping with her, and through an overdue library book finally trace Gretchen back to a young woman who changed her name and identity after graduating high school to get away from her sexually abusive father. Cragen and Benson find it easy to identify with the young woman, as they both have ghosts of their own from which they must escape. Detectives manage to contact the victim's sister, who experienced the same trauma growing up.