The Allison Taylor arraignment on April 8 went reasonably well, all things considered. Allison pled not guilty to all the charges, including the count of negligent homicide that he had added at the last minute. It might have been petty to keep the counts of credit card fraud and second-degree theft, but he didn't overly care.

He had requested remand and Devere was clearly irritated by that and ended up getting the judge on their side. Allison ended up getting bail, which Rafael wasn't really surprised about, the judge setting the amount at $1 million.

He'd still been making his way out of the courtroom when Carisi approached Rafael, telling him that there was a problem.

He ended up hopping into Carisi's car, the Taylor arraignment being Rafael's last hearing that morning, the pair of them driving down to the Medical Examiner's Office to speak with Melinda Warner.

"Mackenzie Taylor's death wasn't a homicide," the chief medical examiner said, wasting no time at getting to the point of their visit.

"She was just dug out of a shallow grave," Rafael said incredulously. "She didn't fall in there playing hopscotch."

"Well, whoever put her in there didn't kill her," the woman said. "This baby wasn't dropped, shaken, drowned, or smothered. Nothing on the tox screen." She sighed. "It wasn't murder or an accident."

"No signs of abuse or neglect?" Rafael questioned, more than a little stunned.

"Nothing," the medical examiner assured him. "No bruises or abrasions. She wasn't malnourished either."

"So, how did she die?" Rafael inquired.

"We know this baby wasn't breastfed," the medical examiner pointed out. "Is the mother a smoker?"

"Yeah. She's your typical young party girl," Rafael replied. "Why?"

"Risk factor for SIDS- sudden infant death syndrome." Rafael heaved a sigh when he heard the M.E say that, several things about the case suddenly starting to make sense. "It'll take a while to confirm, but right now, that's what my gut's telling me."

He nodded his head, licking his lips. "Okay. Okay."

Carisi eyed him. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, knowing full well how unsettled he was feeling was showing on his face as clear as day. "I don't know."

Leaving the office, he tried to wrack his brain for the best way to handle the situation. Once back at his office, he just kept pacing, until he eventually pulled out a bottle of scotch and poured himself a glass.

He downed the tumbler quickly, pouring himself a second as he tried to figure out what to do. The young woman clearly needed help, for a myriad of reasons, but was certainly not a murderer. Just young and stupid.

It also wasn't hard to put himself back in the hospital room with Maggie Householder. He downed the second glass and pulled out his phone, calling Allison's defence attorney to set up a meeting.

He muddled through lunch, had several meetings regarding other cases, and, somehow, managed to make a small dent in his stack of paperwork.

He wasn't able to get a meeting with Devere and Allison Taylor until that evening, so the later drive out to Rikers Island made for a really long day. He was tired, plain and simple. Still, this meeting was crucial and Rafael didn't want to delay it. He was going to have to pull a sleight of hand, but if it worked, Allison might just get the help she needed and would likely refuse otherwise.

"I'm not sure why we're here," opposing counsel said.

"You're not?" he deadpanned. "Your client either caused the death of her child or she failed to contact emergency services. Either way, she's in trouble."

"Not if you give her Queen For A Day," Counsellor Devere said.

"Sold," he said with a smirk. "We'll throw in a tiara, as long as she tells us everything, right now, no holding back. She does that and I'll drop the homicide charges entirely."

"What's the catch, Barba?" Devere questioned, knowing she was being maneuvered in a little chess game of his. It wasn't the first time.

"Allison does 300 hours of community service for the theft and fraud," he said. "With the additional stipulation of weekly therapy, and she enrolls in an alcohol treatment program." He shot Allison a pointed look. "You've lied multiple times. Last chance."

Counsellor Devere finally seemed to catch on, although she didn't fully understand. She didn't yet have the same information that he did. "We'll take it."

"The truth... I don't know what happened," Allison said softly. "Thursday night, I had finally passed out, but she woke me up. Again. Kenz was fussy and just wouldn't settle. She wouldn't stop crying. And I... I just couldn't take it anymore. It was all night long." She let out a shaky breath, her emotions starting to come through somewhat. "So, I spanked her. Then, she quieted right down. I put her to bed again, on her back, the way you're supposed to, and immediately went back to sleep, and the next morning, when I woke up, she was just... She was cold. She wasn't breathing."

"What happened next?" Rafael asked softly.

"I tried to breathe into her mouth, but she wouldn't wake up," the young woman forced out. "She was dead. And I... I just panicked and I buried her. If my mom had've found out..."

"You were only thinking of yourself, Allison," Rafael said with a sigh. "You were afraid you would be blamed."

"No. I killed her," Allison forced out. "Oh, my God. I must have hit her so hard, I killed my baby." A small sob escaped.

Rafael sighed. "No, you didn't."

"I don't understand," Allison muttered.

"Mackenzie died from SIDS," Rafael said softly. "It's also commonly called Crib Death."

The young woman blinked. "What?"

He eyed the defence attorney as he stood up to take his leave. "I'll expect your client to be at her first therapy session tomorrow morning."

As he walked out the door he could still make out Allison speaking with Devere, clearly figuring out what had just happened. "He tricked me?"

Somehow the drive to the 1-6 felt much longer than the earlier drive out of Manhattan to Rikers Island had. He was more than glad to finally get out of his car when he was outside of the precinct at last.

Once inside, he immediately filled the squad in. "For heaven's sake, Rafa!" Olivia said, shaking her head slightly. Her eyes were sparkling with fond amusement. "You really never do things halfway."

"She could've walked," he said, "but I wanted to give her the chance to grow up. I just hope the girl actually uses it."

"She will be paying for this for the rest of her life," Rollins stated, "but you did the right thing. She needed help not more punishment."

"I concur," Carisi chimed in.

Fin gave both blonds a pointed look. "After what she put the city through..."

"I know, Fin," Rollins said, "but being young and scared isn't a crime."

Fin shrugged rather noncommittally before he spoke. "Look, I'm glad she at least got community service, is all I'm sayin'."

"Well," Olivia said, glancing at them all, "it's been a long day and several of us have two kids and a sitter on the meter. Go home and I'll see you guys in the morning."

Tamin smiled. "Okay."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Fin quipped, already going to grab his keys, Carisi immediately starting to do the same.

Rafael shook his head and surreptitiously squeezed his wife's hand. "You have no idea how good TV in bed sounds right now."

She chuckled softly. "Oh, I have some idea."

"Have a good night guys," Carisi said, taking Rollins' hand to walk her out to the car they'd come to work in.

There was a chorus of "Night!" and "Good night!" as everyone grabbed their things and got ready to head out the door.

They were all feeling a little worn out by the case and couldn't wait to go home to their own beds and put the mess behind them as much as possible.

It had been a long couple of days. Way too long.