Daniels comes back out to the open-plan work area to find it empty, and asks Prez, "Where'd they go?" "Who?" asks Prez, not covering himself with intellectual glory in this episode. Daniels shakes his head and makes to leave, but Prez calls him back to tell him that they need a couple of filing cabinets for all the paperwork they generate. Daniels allows himself a tiny smile at Prez's industry, and then Polk appears behind him and says, "I'm going to--" He points vaguely. Daniels stares intensely, and Polk manages, "Good luck with the case." He stumbles off. Daniels looks back and Prez, who looks relieved that Polk's stench of Tanqueray and failure won't be hanging over the office anymore.

Outside, Bunk has met up with Lester, Kima, and McNulty, the last of whom is cursing Rawls out for "fucking up the case to get" him. Bunk corrects him that Rawls is "fucking it up for three paper clearances on prior cases": "It ain't personal." Kima reviews the scanty evidence in the cases and spits, "How can he charge that?" Lester says that Rawls will charge anything he wants to get the clearances: "If the jury doesn't indict, he drops the case, keeps his stats." McNulty starts talking tough about giving Rawls a piece of his mind over this. Bunk tells him not to, but McNulty won't be deterred, saying that he's trying to build something and Rawls is just being petty. He asks whether Bunk tried appealing to Jay, but Bunk says that Jay can't help. McNulty says that if the charges go through and they arrest D'Angelo, Avon will know that the cops are on to his whole operation and change things up. "And what he don't change up, he'll clean up," says Kima. "Somebody needs to tell Rawls that!" But since the time three seconds ago when McNulty was getting ready to go in there and tell Rawls some shit, he's been made to see reason, and says that Rawls won't care: "He wants me home, and and he wants the stats. That's all." Kima says that they should take it to Daniels, then. Lester makes a gesture like he agrees, and when McNulty says that he doesn't think that will do much good either, Kima says, "It's his case, he'll fight for it!" "Daniels won't do shit," says McNulty. Kima firmly replies, "He plays stiff every now and then, but he's a good man!" McNulty can't believe what he's hearing: "Daniels has been trying to put the brakes on this for weeks now! This'll be his new excuse to close shop!" Bunk tries to defuse the detail in-fighting by saying that they have to make their move soon. He says his goodbyes and takes off. McNulty glares. "We tell Daniels," Kima insists. McNulty: "Fuck Daniels and his fucking ass-kissing up-the-chain-of-command ambition." Lester asks what other choice they have. Kima, now spitting mad: "We go to Daniels. If he fights, he fights. If he gives it up to Rawls, then fuck it, we were never going to do the case anyway." An argument worthy of Marla! McNulty sets his jaw, knowing Kima's right but not wanting to admit he's wrong. "All right, come on," he finally says, stomping off with the Detailettes behind him.