Mac paced back and forth in his office, staring down at a folder. He looked edgy, and glanced hastily up as Stella walked into the room. "What's up?" he asked immediately.

"There was trace on AJ's badge. Cocaine. The black band on her shield was covered in it."

Mac paused. "Only the band?"

Stella nodded. "Yes, and I asked AJ's sister, Jen, if she had seen a band like that before, and she said that her sister's was still in their apartment. The band wasn't hers, Mac."

"So, what, a message?"

"I'm thinking guilt." Stella waved a hand as Mac started to speak, and continued. "Hear me out. The bands are used as a sort of remembrance for a fallen officer, right? So covering the badge would sort of be like honoring her death."

"Yeah, but Stella, AJ was killed by one shot to the head, no defensive wounds, no signs of struggle. Who kills someone, premeditated, in cold blood, and then feels bad about it?"

Stella shrugged. "I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is that the mixture used to make the coke is the same mixture used previously in Cobra, but it's not from the same batch."

"Which means that it's almost definitely someone from Cobra, right?"

"Yes, but I can't see Lewis holding on to that black band. I think another cop is in on this, Mac."

- - -

Hawkes jogged to catch up with Stella, who was quickly walking through the lab. "I have a list of officers involved in the Cobra case from Lieutenant Russell, Detective Blaine's superior. Two officers on that list were named in an investigation into the department as possible Cobra members."

"Tell me you have names."

Hawkes, smiling, nodded. "Shall we talk to our possible suspects?"

- - -

Officer Josh Brewster was the silent type. His green eyes stared away from Stella, and as he ran a hand through his dark hair, he shifted slightly in his seat. "What is this about?"

"Detective AJ Blaine."

"Blaine? Could've been a good cop, if she would've just grown up. Sometimes I swore she was panicking over nothing."

"AJ was a good kid," Detective Emily Gage said to Hawkes, her brown eyes staring forwards and her black hair immaculate. "She already was a good cop. She had a few problems with Josh, though."

"Officer Brewster?"

"Yeah. She swore she was being followed by someone. Every time she'd mention it, Josh would insist that she was just being a jumpy kid. I don't think Josh liked that AJ's honorary title was a higher rank than his. Technically, AJ wasn't a cop. You have to be at least eighteen to go to the Academy. AJ's title was more honorary. The police department internally saw her as one of them, but externally she was just a kid helping out in a drug investigation."

"The kid didn't have enemies that she had to worry about, no matter what her "gut" said," Brewster said dismissively.

"Obviously not," Stella replied coldly. "I can't think of any friends that would shoot me in the head."

"Look, Detective Bonasera, if anything I'd bet that kid got too far into Cobra. She probably double-dealed on them."

"Are you accusing AJ of being an actual member of Cobra?"

"All I'm saying, Detective, is that I'd bet that AJ Blaine is not as clean as you think she is."

- - -

Stella sat down with Jennifer Blaine in an interview room. "Jen, I want to ask you a few questions about your sister."

Jen gave an absentminded nod. She glanced outside the window and saw a blond-haired boy no older than twelve standing miserably in the corner. A brown-haired man and a blonde-haired woman were sitting on seats next to him, both looking stunned.

"My brother and parents," Jen said quietly. She gave a mirthless laugh. "Gabriel hasn't been good since he heard the news. I don't think he fully accepts it yet." She looked at Stella, her blue eyes watery. "How can you expect an eleven-year-old to accept that his sister isn't coming back?"

Stella gave the girl a supportive smile. "Jen… is there any way that AJ was involved in Cobra?"

The young woman seemed to immediately get the implication. "My sister didn't run drugs for profit, Detective. She was home on time, always, unless she had something important to do for the NYPD. AJ wasn't the type of kid to fall into the hole that the rest of the unit did."