"LAW & ORDER"

(X) "CHATTEL"

01/07/2009 (10:00PM - 10:59PM) (Wednesday) : THE MURDER OF MARRIED LAYWERS LEADS DETECTIVES LUPO (Jeremy Sisto) and BERNARD (Anthony Anderson) TO A CHILD SLAVE TRADE RING Divorce Lawyers Fred and Lizzy Bellamy (guest stars Paul DeBoy and Maureen Silliman) are brutally murdered while asleep in their home. The investigation leads to a client, Ann Carter (guest star Mary Beth O'Connor), who is involved in a nasty child custody battle with her husband Bill (guest star Steven Friedman) involving an adopted Haitian daughter, whom the detectives believe was molested and sent back to Haiti as part of a cover-up. Lupo and Bernard's search for the missing child leads them to another couple with an adopted Haitian boy, Eric and Miriam Johnson (guest stars Tom Gilroy and Jessica Hecht). Lieutentant Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) gets social services involved as it appears that the adopted boy, 12-year-old Patrick Johnson (guest star Thuliso Dingwall), has been abused and neglected. As Lupo and Bernard dig deeper, they uncover a trail of abuse, kidnapping and bribery that leads them to multiple suspects with motive to protect the secret. As A.D.A.'s Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) and Connie Rubirosa (Alana de la Garza) attempt to bring the killer to justice, they must also deal with the emotional aspect of the case and work to safeguard the lives of the children. Also stars Sam Waterston