By Lady Lola
Linden misses her flight to Sonoma and spends her free time teaching Jack how to shoot a paintball gun, investigating the case she's supposed to have left behind, and pissing off Holder in doing so. Still, this case would be sunk (like Rosie! Ba dum bum) without her after she learns that Bennet Ahmed's wife, Amber, couldn't have been his accomplice because she has a pregnancy-related condition that prevents her from lifting anything. Amber does give her a lead on a friend named Mohammed who has a key to the Ahmeds' apartment, and Linden and Holder's trip to Ahmed's mosque turns up an anonymous clue about a halal butcher shop affiliated with the mosque. Unfortunately, when they explore the shop, they find themselves in the middle of an FBI anti-terror investigation.
Stan delivers Ahmed home safe but shaken after realizing he can no longer stomach the criminal lifestyle. Stan and Mitch have a wonderful, touching conversation surrounding this revelation, though Mitch is not yet ready to be intimate with her husband. Later, Mitch comes out of her mourning coma as she questions Belko, who turns out to know more about Rosie's unfolding life than he probably should, though we get no firm confirmation as to why or how. Mitch also begins to wonder whether the police are doing enough to solve Rosie's murder and begins her own stakeout at the Ahmed abode.
Richmond's campaign receives another blow when Adams puts out a negative ad against him, and he continues to feel the pressure from his donors and advisers. Richmond also considers visiting his wife's killer as she goes up for parole in the drunk driving accident.
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Previously: Richmond got his ass handed to him at a debate when it came out that he is closely associated with Bennet Ahmed, chief suspect in Rosie Larsen's death. Belko used his shady connections at the high school to learn about Ahmed's possible involvement in the murder, then told Stan at Rosie's funeral -- a completely inappropriate and emotionally charged time if there ever was one. So Stan invited Ahmed to take a ride, but did he take justice into his own hands?
Stan continues driving forward well past Ahmed's exit on the highway. He leads him to a deserted lot and ignores a phone call from Mitch. Meanwhile, Linden pounds on the Ahmeds' door. Amber says Bennet was supposed to call her to pick him up from the wake, but he never did. Back out in the rain, Stan gets out of the car and walks serial-killer-slow around to the passenger's side while Bennet frantically searches for the phone he unwittingly left at the Larsens' home. Stan appears at the passenger's side window with a murderous look in his eyes. Credits.
Stan opens the door, and Bennet desperately mentions his pregnant wife at home, stopping just short of begging for his life. Stan ignores another call from Mitch, who is being questioned by Holder back at the house. Holder wonders about Stan's state of mind while he was interacting with Ahmed. When Mitch and Terry prove inhospitable, Holder tells Mitch he knows about Stan's history with the Polish mafia. Mitch goes from zero to hostile in 0.5 seconds, telling Holder he doesn't know the first thing about Stan before kicking him out of her house. Just then, Tommy comes downstairs and asks if Stan's in trouble. Holder takes advantage of the distraction to move toward Belko. He threatens serious jail time if Belko know where Stan is and something goes down.
Back at the Ahmed abode, Amber is increasingly worried since Bennet's phone keeps going to voicemail. Linden tells her that she might be able to help if Amber sheds some light on Bennet's personal life. Amber says he loves his job and his students, that he's all about changing lives and helping people. She begs, "Please don't let that man hurt my husband."
Elsewhere, Stan tells Bennet that having a daughter is different from having sons, that girls look at you like no other woman in the world and think that you can do no wrong. The loaded piece of advice hangs in the air. Eventually, Bennet decides to play on Stan's emotional side. In addition to saying plainly that he didn't hurt Rosie, he emphasizes that he, too, is going to be a father. Stan walks back to the car and starts it up. He shines the high beams on Bennet and ignores another call from Mitch.
Back at his house, Linden tells Amber she knows she arrived to her sister's house late and upset. Amber admits that she went to the dance and sat outside in her car, feeling bad about herself as she watched the young girls parading around their tight bodies in miniskirts. She groans in pain, so Linden gets her a glass of water. Amber explains that she had a miscarriage the year before, so this pregnancy she's not supposed to be on her feet, lift anything, even buy groceries. Linden lights on this detail since it makes Amber an unlikely suspect for dragging a corpse out of her house. Linden asks who let Rosie into the house. Amber claims Bennet did and that Rosie returned the Qur'an in front of Linden, but Linden knows this isn't the case because she has videotape of Bennet at the dance at the time Rosie arrived at their house. Linden looks at the Qur'an, which came from the Green Lake Mosque on North Simpson Street. She wonders if anyone else has access the Ahmeds' apartment. Amber mentions someone named Mohammed before Bennet arrives home safe but shaken. He tells Linden she almost got him killed tonight and directs her to his lawyer if she has any further questions.
Linden leaves the Ahmeds' and calls Holder to tell that Amber couldn't have been Bennet's accomplice and them they need to check out the mosque. "We?" he asks, reminding her that she needs to catch a flight. Linden races to the airport only to find that she and Jack have just missed their flight. The airline rep tells her there will be plenty of flights the day. She advises her to arrive at the gate at least 20 minutes before boarding. They walk out and Jack says, "You owe me $50 million!"
Larsen home. Mitch lies in bed with Stan as she tells him she thought he was going to kill Ahmed. He remembers when they first got together, how Mitch refused to have children with him unless he changed. So when she got pregnant with Rosie, he straightened up so they could get married. "Funny thing," he says, "once Rosie came along, I didn't even have to try." He lets out heartbreaking half-laugh and says he can't be that man again. No matter what he could have done to Ahmed tonight, it wouldn't save Rosie. Mitch sighs, "Oh, Stan." She leans in to kiss him. They wrap themselves up in each other with increasing passion. They're interrupted when Denny comes in saying he had a bad dream. They welcome him into the bed between them, and Stan promises to take Denny to the park tomorrow to fly kites. They clasp hands over his little body as they all try to seek relief in sleep.
Richmond HQ. It's damage control time as Jamie tells Richmond he walked right into Adams' trap. Richmond says he had no choice, and Gwen suggests they keep moving forward. Jamie thinks Richmond should distance himself from Ahmed, but Richmond takes issue with this tack. He says he's seen too many good people railroaded by a racist justice system. What's more, Ahmed hasn't been charged with anything yet, and he doesn't want to join the torch-waving mob. He promises to publicly demand Ahmed's resignation if he is arrested in the murder, but Jamie doesn't think that's enough. Gwen and Jamie suggests Richmond speak with the school superintendent about demanding Ahmed take a leave of absence. Richmond refuses, saying it's wrong and he won't have any part in it. Jamie thinks it's also wrong that Richmond might lose this election because of Ahmed and lose his chance to do good for so many more people than Ahmed could ever affect. He leaves, angry, and Gwen stays behind. She pledges allegiance to him and his flagpole as they start to get down and dirty. Alas, they're interrupted when an attack ad from Adams airs on the TV behind them. It accuses Richmond of supporting a presumed murderer and charges Richmond to admit he's wrong. It ends with the tag line: "Darren Richmond -- Wrong for Seattle." Talk about a $50,000 cock block.
The morning, Day Seven officially begins. The Larsen boys are watching a newscast about Rosie's ongoing investigation as Mitch's parents arrive and quickly shut off the TV. Mitch's mother proves she's not the nurturing type as she manages to insult Mitch's mothering skills and Terry's lifestyle within the span of one sentence. She brings up "that black teacher, the Muslim" as a means of disparaging the private schools. And that, my friends, was a taste of Mitch's mother.
Richmond HQ. Jamie arrives as Gwen is bombarded by media phone calls wanting a response to the Adams smear campaign. Jamie tells her he's been dealing with his own troubles in the form of big fish donor Tom Drexler. Gwen tells Jamie to assure Drexler that they're planning their own ad in response and tells Jamie it's his responsibility to figure out how and with what funds to so. He shoots back that it's on her since she was "so gung ho about taking the moral high ground." They exchange barbs over who's a better politician and who has the best vision for the campaign. At the end, it's a draw.
Over in his office, Richmond looks pensively at a letter from the Bainbridge Corrections Facility for Women.
Meanwhile, Reggie brings Linden a cup of coffee. Linden says Rick is refusing to return her calls, but Reggie is more concerned with how the investigation is affecting Jack. Linden insists she is resolved to quit the force, move to Sonoma, and be a steady presence in Jack and Rick's lives -- she just has to wrap up this case first. Reggie says her words are echoing what happened on the last case when she nearly lost custody of Jack. Just then, Jack pops out of the boat to ask what they're talking about. Reggie brushes him off, telling him to go inside while they finish up their conversation. Practically thumbing her nose, Linden asks Jack when his friend's party is. He says it's going on right now, so Linden jumps at the chance to take him to the party and cut off her conversation with Reggie.
She drops Jack at the paint ball range for his party and apologizes for all the changing plans he's had to endure. Like a typical teenager, he's too distracted by a nemesis to notice what she's saying, and he hops out of the car nonchalantly without much chat. She looks at the kids and smiles, then looks at the parents and sees in them a vision of what she hopes to achieve in Sonoma. But for now she's still in Seattle. She looks at the Qur'an she took from the Ahmeds' house and calls Holder. She avoids any chances of telling him that she's still in the city as he tells her their boss has nixed their warrant to search the Ahmeds'. While he's getting his cocky patter on, Linden notices Jack's rival picking on him. Holder inevitably takes the conversation to his usual faux flirty place, she drops the phone and gets out of the car, leaving him hanging. She takes Jack aside and shows him how to aim and fire a gun. She sends him back to the field and is smug when he scores a direct hit on one of his opponents.
Linden heads to the SPD to talk to her boss about the warrant being tossed. In addition to the witness being undependable, he's unhappy that Ahmed's involvement in the case leaked. He asked what else Linden has to make it worth his while to reinstate the warrant. She tells him about Amber's placenta previa, which prevents Bennet's wife from lifting things, and that she has a lead on a friend of Bennet's named Mohammed. She thinks maybe Mohammed let in Rosie on Friday night and that he might be willing to flip on Ahmed if they find him and put him under enough pressure. As she walks out, she mentions that Stan used to be in cahoots with the local Polish mafia and says it's worth following up on, if only to rule that angle out. At that moment, Holder walks in, shocked to find Linden. He tells her he doesn't care what her commitment issues are because now she's messing with his career. She tells him she's got a lead, and he can either come with her or not.
Across town, Richmond listens to some bigoted radio commenter spewing vitriol against him on the radio as he heads to his mother-in-law's house. Marion asks if Richmond's planning to go to the parole hearing. Richmond says he's not sure. Marion tells him holding on to his hate won't bring Lily back and that it might be time to forgive his wife's killer. Richmond says that a drunk driver isn't worthy of forgiveness. Marion tells him she's been watching his campaign and has seen Richmond floundering as if he didn't deserve to win. She asks, "Are you sure it's just that woman you can't forgive?"
Larsen home. The phone rings, and Mitch tells her mother not to answer it. Her mother answers anyway. It's the media, asking about Ahmed. Mitch firmly hangs up the phone and assures her mother that Stan says the police need room to do their job. Her mother retorts, "Hmmmm? Stan says..."
Elsewhere, Stan takes the boys to the park. They ask him to tell them once and for all what really happened to Rosie -- "no more Heaven stuff." He tells them a bad man took her and killed her. They wonder if the same is going to happen to them. He promises it won't.
Back at the house, Mitch reads Belko the riot act for not telling her what he knew about Ahmed. She says if Belko's holding out on her, she'll throw him out on his ass. Belko tells her about his friend at the school and about The Cage. He says he offered to "do something about it" for Stan and offers her the same courtesy. Mitch walks away silently.
Out on the beat, Linden calls Jack and arranges to pick him up later, then pops another piece of gum in her mouth. Holder wonders if her "old man" made her quit smoking. She tautly says, "His name's Rick, and no, he didn't." As the testy conversation progresses, Holder insinuates that Rick is gay and Linden basically tells him he's a prick who needs to shut the eff up. They drive silently to the mosque, where they must take off their shoes off before talking to one of the mosque officials. He tells them Ahmed was new to the mosque and refuses to help them find Mohammed. He bids them good day, and they go to put on their shoes. As Holder makes a jibe about how the official was wearing a dress, Linden finds a note in her shoe with the address 106R Renton Ave. South. She runs outside but can't find the anonymous informant. They take the note, put on their shoes, and go to check out the lead.
Night falls as Richmond arrives back to his office. He's not alone because all the other city council members are filing in for an emergency meeting that Adams has called to freeze funds for the Seattle All-Stars. He's calling in all his favors to torpedo Richmond. Jamie thinks the only way that Richmond can save the program is to ask for Ahmed's resignation. Richmond heads in and calls the session to order. He starts with a preface that, while some people deserve punishment, the kids in the Seattle All-Stars do not deserve to be punished. He begs them to look into their hearts and not succumb to ugly politics.