Law & Order: SVU season 26 episode 21 recap — Olivia stunned by latest investigation

In Law & Order: SVU season 26 episode 21, “Aperture,” SVU is called to the scene of a crime where the victim, a high school senior, won't cooperate. However, as Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) and her team work the case, they pull back layers to a convoluted investigation.

Once the squad gets the cooperation of the victim and her family, the shocking motive behind the assault slowly becomes clear. Olivia herself couldn’t have predicted where this investigation would have taken her, especially when she finally identifies the perp.

Here’s what happened in Law & Order: SVU season 26 episode 21.

An open house goes wrong

Jeremy (Jason Pintar) and Avery Smith (Jenny Ashman) tour an apartment open house. When Jeremy looks through a telescope by the living room window he spots a teenage girl (Ava Jean) in a tee and underwear being held at gunpoint. Jeremy immediately calls for help.

Velasco (Octavio Pisano) and Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly) arrive at the scene, and Jeremy shares what he saw, noting it appeared as if the young woman was sexually assaulted. Fin (Ice-T) and Olivia search the crime scene in the apartment and notice imprints in the carpet that may have belonged to a camera tripod. The duo suspects the attack may have been recorded.

Back in the squad room, the detectives look at elevator footage of the girl, the suspect and another guy (Tristan Spohn), who appears to try and protect her. Carisi (Peter Scanavino) suspects the crime was premeditated.

Who was in the elevator?

The owner of the apartment shows up at the precinct, not pleased the police caused at least $50,000 worth of damage combing the scene. Velasco and Curry shift the conversation and ask who he sublet his apartment to. His documents show Virginia Hefferman as the renter. The officers learn that Virginia’s credit card was stolen and was last used by her at a Houston gas station.

After running the elevator footage through facial recognition software, Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) learns the victim’s name is Josie, a senior on her way to Stanford’s pre-law program in the fall. Josie’s father is Gordon DeWinn (Christian Campbell), a wealthy businessman. The other guy in the elevator footage with Josie, not the perp, is Josie’s step-brother, Atlas, also a senior in high school. Atlas’ mom is a top lawyer from Goldman Sachs.

Because Josie is 18, Curry and Silva speak with her directly instead of speaking with her parents. Although initially hesitant, Josie admits to being sexually assaulted, but claims the suspect threatened to hurt her family if she went to the cops. Josie becomes adamant she doesn’t want the detectives’ help and walks away. Curry and Silva find it interesting she didn’t mention being filmed or the fact her brother was in the elevator.

Hearing about Josie’s reluctance to report the crime, Olivia and Carisi meet with Gordon and Natalie DeWinn and show them the images from the elevator. he parents are shocked to learn their kids had a gun pointed at them yesterday, and neither one said a word about it. Olivia convinces them to come to the station with Atlas, who is 17, to talk.

Fin and Velasco speak with Atlas, who shares the suspect approached him and Josie, flashed his gun and pushed Josie inside the apartment building. Atlas followed, not wanting Josie alone with him. Once the three were in the apartment, he put Atlas in the bathroom and said if Atlas came out, he would kill Josie. He could hear Josie crying. When it was over, they went to school like nothing happened.

Curry asks Gordon if he has any enemies. As the CEO of a publicly traded insurance company making cuts, he has a lot. Natalie, meanwhile, tells Olivia she met Gordon while they worked together and were married to other people. They divorced their spouses and got married when their kids were toddlers. Natalie notes her ex-husband, Derek (Robert Beitzel), could be upset she is about to cut off his alimony, but she doesn’t think he did this.

As Olivia and Natalie continue to talk, Natalie gets a text with a video from a number she doesn’t recognize. Olivia instructs her to press play. It’s of the gunman forcing Josie and Atlas to kiss and have sex.

Olivia learns the truth

Fin, Silva, Curry and Velasco go to the DeWinn home to speak with Josie and Atlas again. Josie claims the guy pointed a gun at them, made them kiss and forced them to have sex. Silva says she and Atlas were raped, and promises justice.

Velasco and Fin speak with Atlas, who he’s worried Josie is mad at him. He’s mad with himself, though the detectives explain it's not his fault. Before SVU leaves the DeWinn family home, the DeWinins receive a ransom demand for $5 million.

Having just arrived in town from his residence in the Bahamas, Fin and Velasco speak with Derek in an interrogation room and inform him of what happened to Josie and Atlas. The detectives then grill him about a previous arrest in the Bahamas. He was arrested for having hundreds of photos of an underage Josie in a bikini.

Derek claims Atlas always spends summers with him in the Bahamas, and one year, Atlas asked if he could bring Josie. Natalie and Gordon were fine with it. At the end of the vacation, Atlas dropped his phone and it stopped working. Atlas bought himself a new phone, and after he went home, Derek went to an electronics store to get Atlas’s phone working, and those images were found on it.

Curry and Siliva talk to Josie, who's unaware that Derek had been arrested for taking photos of her in a bikini. Josie is also in disbelief that Derek claimed the photos were taken by Atlas.

Back in the squad room, they view camera footage of a gas station where Virginia Hefferman is using her credit card at a register, and the suspected perp is working as the cashier. He steals information from the card. Josie then calls Silvia, panicked that her brother is going to beat up his father after she informed Atlas of her recent conversation with SVU. Fin and Velasco arrive at Derek’s hotel in time to stop Atlas from beating his father and arrest him.

Back at the DeWinn home, Olivia speaks with Josie. She remembers Atlas dropping his phone in the Bahamas. Olivia then asks Gordon and Natalie to search Atlas’ room for something to incriminate his father. Olivia finds dozens of candid pics of Josie hidden under Atlas’ bed.

At the precinct, Olivia and Fin speak with Atlas and Natalie. He claims to have beaten up his dad for what he did to Josie. Olivia responds by noting they have their suspect in custody and shows Atlas the suspect being taken through the squad room. Fin notes that the guy claims to know Atlas.

The perp from Houston explains he met Atlas in a video game chat room years ago. When Atlas learned his sister was going away for college, Atlas came up with the idea to rape his sister and film it. The guy was paid $2,000 by Atlas for his help, but after googling the DeWinns, he demanded a ransom for millions.

Back with Olivia, Fin, Natalie and Atlas, Atlas winds up snapping. He states he didn’t want Josie to leave. He loves her and doesn’t want anyone else to be with her. He becomes worried he’ll never get to hear Josie’s voice again. The expression on Olivia’s face is one of disgust.

New episodes of Law and Order: SVU air on Thursdays on NBC and become available the next day on Peacock.