A child gets laughed at during a spelling bee but ends up winning. He asks a girl why she let him win. She says she never heard him speak before. She read his story and wanted to help him.

We go through this man's life. He gets married, becomes a brilliant writer, wins an award (that he says he forgot about), and develops dementia.

In 2023, he is living with a caregiver and not very nice to her. He then awakens in the middle of the night and says he heard something. His wife says it's nothing. He asks if she is cheating on him. She tells him he will always be her King of the Moon.

Later, the cops are there and his wife is dead on the floor. He says he made love to her and killed her.

Fin thinks Velasco made up the story about killing someone. Benson says but the homicide he mentions is a real case. Fin tells Benson to let him to take care of this investigation.

Meanwhile, Benson is called in on Pence's case. Pence has recorded a video saying he has dementia and might get worse, so he's saying now that he raped and smothered his wife.  Carisi doesn't believe it. He says he's a hopeless romantic and that Pence and his wife were in love for 40 years and had a fairytale romance. He wants Benson to talk to Pence.

Velasco is annoyed that Churlish recorded him. Anyway, he says he made the whole thing up. Churlish has a dime bag that she says Velasco gave the banger. Fin asks him about that. He says that he gave him powdered sugar.

Next they play the recording.  There is a flashback.

Velasco is given a drug test.

Benson goes to see Pence. His lawyer says he has dementia. Pence says it's obvious he smothered his wife and that they were supposed to die together. However he didn't kill himself so he didn't go through with his end of the bargain. He is obsessed with Rollins' chipmunk.

Benson and Carisi realize they need to get evidence that Pence is innocent.

Velasco is angry and won't talk to Churlish. Fin wants to know how he knows about the double murder.  He says he was there.

Carisi says the apartment is like a shrine to the Humphries' love story. His CPAP machine proves that he was asleep while the murder was going on.

Pence is upset. They were supposed to die together. If it wasn't him, who did this? His wife didn't see his face when she died. He starts freaking out and breaks a vase and slits his wrist. He wants to be with Winnie.

The cops talk to Pence's caregiver who wants to go home  He says he doesn't want to be alone. Caregiver says he won't remember.

Now Pence has forgotten that his wife is dead and flirts with Benson. He says he has to call his wife. He thinks Carisi is with Benson and says Benson looks like Jayne Mansfield (ha!)

Benson and Carisi decide to look at security footage.

Velasco thinks he might want a lawyer. He says he was just a kid and is not middle class from Ann Arbor like Churlish. Fin stops them from arguing. Velasco says when he was fifteen, a gang member offered him a job as "security." He was sent to a camp and was sent to Fort Worth. But he couldn't do the killing he was supposed to do. His friend did it and he ran away.

The TARU guy is bored with the security footage. The last entry is a food delivery guy that TARU never interviewed because they had a confession. The guy was inside for 30 minutes.

Benson tries to get Pence to look at the footage. He doesn't want to at first and is exhausted but says he knows the man. He recalls that the man came a month ago and is his wife's nephew. He says the man has cold eyes.

Fin tries to get Velasco to turn on his friend.

Carisi needs Pence to ID. Pence freaks out and the lawyer says it's been five minutes. Eventually he IDs the wrong man. Benson thinks he knew that. Carisi says he has a few cards left to play.

Benson finds Pence on a bench and asks why he lied. He says this disease sucks all the memories out of your head and there's no cure. He'd rather die in prison. His nephew would remember why he is there and that is worse than prison.

KEvin is interrogated. He says he ddn't mean to kill Winnie. He stole the key from her purse and intended to steal money. She woke up and wouldn't stop screaming so he put a pillow over her face and she died. He says he didn't rape her. Benson tries to get him to confess. He breaks down and says he did it before she was dead and he used a condom.

Benson tells Fin that she closed the case but now Pence is in an empty apartment by himself. Fin is impressed with Churlish and thinks Velasco needs a second chance.

Benson goes to see Velasco. She says his drug test was positive for powdered sugar. She feels bad for him. She says he takes the shape of everything he is asked to do. She says he needs to stop performing. She says he owes a debt and he has to find that friend and bring him to justice. Velasco says people change.

Benson reads the King of the Moon the Pence. We see a flashback of the young boy looking at the moon and some CGI of the story.

We see the adult Winnie and Pence in the spelling bee scene. Benson finishes the story and he thinks she is Winnie.