But when she repeats herself, like that, he takes another look at her face: Dazed, not bottled up. The opposite of her terse, intense, dignified self. She's not exhausted or broken or taking a moment, she's just zoned. The sadness on his face is terrible. This show, man. How insulted he is, that they did this to her. They took her, and made her this. And she still managed to give him the clue.

She whispers, faintly. "Please don't leave me."

Holder: "What did they do to you?"

But he already knows. And when he says he's going to get her out of there, immediately, he's not just promising. It's a vow. All the samurai honor shit isn't just to give himself a personality: It's real. They don't have a courtly love, exactly, but what he's doing is the highest act of chivalry: I don't know what's going to happen, or how, but I know that he will have her out of there by the end of the episode, and it's a relief. It's a vow.

LUMBERYARD

Joseph Nowak takes off immediately when Holder finds him, but Holder's not interested anymore. He chases him down, and holds a gun to his head.

HQ

Lt. Carlson: "Why is there a meth addict in my car?!"
Holder: "I have information for you. Nowak was at the waterfront to -- get this -- bury some Indian bones off the reservation. Something about his arrest led to a meeting on the tenth floor between Ames, the Mayor and Chief Nicole. Which Rosie saw, and died."
Carlson, making Weird Leap #1: "Seems like you're saying the Mayor sabotaged his own public works project, the cornerstone of his campaign..."
Holder: "Yeah, and Ames did the same with the biggest job of his career. I guess they all knew there was a bigger payday down the road."
Carlson: "Are you saying I'm a patsy to this whole conspiracy? I'm one of the bad guys?"
Holder, with Weird Leap #2: "Not necessarily. Give me Sarah Linden's psychiatrist's name, and we can solve the whole thing. This Cold Case Which Is Not One."

I'm not sure how any of that tracks, even after listening to the conversation a few times to see what I missed, but whatever. I like both these boys and I am not comfortable with Sarah Linden being in the nuthouse, so just get there.