Dexter turns up to Deb's place for a little impromptu forensic examination and quickly discovers a blonde hair; he's not sure if he brought it in himself, but he's not getting any less suspicious...

...and then he's at an auto-body shop checking out Deb's totaled car, which is such a mess that Dexter has to go in through the passenger door. He checks around and comes up with a bottle of mostly-drunk water, which DVO declares he's going to have tested. "Hannah didn't poison Debra. All I want for Christmas is for that to be true." Would you settle for a reindeer sweater?

Okay, this is a nice scene, but it doesn't bear too much description: Batista comes in to her office and invites LaGuerta to a little noche buena at the restaurant, but LaGuerta, with a brittle smile, begs off, claiming holiday aversion. Noticing he's not going away, LaGuerta wonders what's really up, so Batista steps further into the office and tells her how he likes the simple life of the restaurant and while I don't know why he's talking about this yet again -- no one seems to have begrudged him this decision -- LaGuerta is a person with whom it actually makes sense for him to have this conversation. LaGuerta gives him an approving smile at what sounds like his final retirement announcement and admits after being prompted that she does sometimes think about what's next for her. She doesn't let on that today of all days might be a candidate for such thinking, but as we'll see, she'd be lying if she did. She also tells him she wishes she'd made some different choices, but when Batista asks if she wishes it had worked out between them, she's like, "Uh, no," which is hilarious on many levels. He tells her he's going to put his papers in on the first and she smiles with some emotion: "Happy New Year." I still say he's dead by the season finale.