Nope, can't find any excuses for this one. School? SATs? Canon!Squee?

Former Lieutenant Keith Garin still had an arrogant atmosphere around him, despite the orange prison outfit. He gave a bored smile as Danny and Flack walked into the interview room. "To what do I owe the pleasure, detectives?"

"AJ Blaine is dead," Danny answered harshly, looking annoyed to be in the man's presence.

"Oh, good. I didn't know I was getting an invitation to a party."

"You son of a bitch. A kid is dead, and that amuses you?" Flack stared at Garin, barely-held contempt flashing in his eyes.

"Of course it amuses me. She's the reason I'm here, is she not? Or, should I say, was."

"She was a cop."

"She was a fraud, Detective Flack. She had a gun and a badge, but neither meant anything. She was just a kid in too far over her head, and she was going to pay the price whether by my hand or another's."

"You think it's funny? You led that kid into this. Lieutenant Russell told us that you came up with the idea to let her help. You baited her. Why?"

"Detective Messer, the only reason you hate me is because I kidnapped your girlfriend."

Danny shifted, looking furious. "You think you're smart, but you're not. You got caught. You got caught by a sixteen-year-old girl."

"What's the matter, Keith? Annoyed by the truth? The big bad snake got himself locked up while at least two of his guys are still out walking around." Flack put his hands on the table, leaning towards Garin with his voice softening. "I bet it pissed you off that AJ got you and Michael Lewis got away."

"Changing tactics, are we? Trying to get me to slip by saying that I knew something about Blaine's… misfortune?" Garin leaned back in his chair. "To answer your question, Detective Messer, I brought Blaine in before I myself was a part of Cobra. As for yours, Detective Flack… what does Michael Lewis have to do with anything?"

"He's dead. He was killed by the same gun that killed Detective Blaine, and that sort of makes me believe that Cobra had something to do with it," Danny answered.

"Well, I assure you I did not. See the handcuffs?"

"Not you! Your gang!" Flack snarled.

"Touchy, aren't you? Do you really think I was alone in that operation? There are plenty of other people."

"Yeah, we got that. The "Fox", right?"

Garin's smile vanished instantly as he looked at Danny. "How do you know that name?"

"Because it was written in your underling's arm." Danny tossed a picture of the carving on Lewis's arm onto the table.

Garin picked up the picture, staring at it. He started to laugh. "If the Fox has revealed himself… you're in for a rude awakening, detectives. He doesn't usually play nice."

"Who is he?" Flack asked.

"The Fox is not a singular person. It is a group of members of Cobra that are particularly good at cleaning up when things get out of hand. I don't know their names. They are above me."

"In your own gang?" Danny asked incredulously.

"Cobra is not my gang, Detective. I was merely the face of it. It is much, much bigger than me." Garin's brazen smile returned. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be returned to my cell."

"If I find out that you had anything to do with this, Garin, you won't have that smile on the next time we meet," Flack muttered as he motioned for the guard.

- - -

Stella ducked under the crime scene tape surrounding the body of Josef David. The prison guards were keeping a group of inmates back. One of the guards, whose nametag identified him as Officer Wilson, walked up to Stella.

"Josef David. There was a disturbance in the corner on the other side of the room. The guards went to calm it down, and by the time they got back over here, David was on the floor with a slashed throat. No one saw who did it, or at least no one wants to say."

"Well, this is certainly suspicious."

"Why is that, Detective? These people get into fights all of the time. It's only naturally that one of them was going to get killed."

"David was part of a gang run by Keith Garin. We were questioning Garin earlier today about the death of one of his members, as well as the death of the person that got him caught."

"Do you think these cases are connected?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

- - -

Stella sat down in a chair in Mac's office.

"Let me get this straight. Two confirmed Cobra members are dead within twenty-four hours."

Stella sighed. "Yes. It has me thinking about what Garin said about the Fox."

"Cleaning things up when they get out of hand."

"Yeah."

"Why six months after Garin was arrested, though?"

Stella shrugged as Sid walked into office. He had finished David's autopsy. "Josef David's death was pretty straightforward. One slash through the neck cut his carotid artery. Nothing very interesting, though. There was one relatively interesting thing on his left shoulder." He showed them a picture of a blue tattoo. "It's the Chinese symbol that means "fox". I don't know if it's signi-"

"Fox?" Mac interrupted.

"Yes," Sid responded, looking confused.

Stella took the photo, staring at it. She looked as though she had just realized something. Hawkes walked into the room, noticing the look. "What's up?"

Stella shook her head slightly. "This symbol… I think Detective Gage had a ring with this symbol on it."

Hawkes blinked. "Officer Brewster had the same thing."

"Weren't they cleared from suspicion?" Stella asked.

Mac nodded. "Lieutenant Russell cleared them almost as soon as they were named as possible suspects."

"We should ask him why he did," Stella murmured.

"Danny!" Mac yelled to the CSI, who was walking past. He turned into the office.

"What's up, Mac?"

"Call Flack, tell him to get Lieutenant Russell in here."

Danny was silent for a minute. "Flack and Angell just went with Russell. He said that he found an abandoned building that Cobra was using, and he wanted them to be a part of the raid."

Stella, Mac, and Hawkes exchanged looks. Mac got to his feet. "Did you get an address?"

"No," Danny replied, confused. "They just went with him. What's going on?"

Stella looked at Mac. "Flack and Angell."

Mac nodded. "They must be next on the list."

"What list?" Danny was starting to get that something was wrong, but still looked puzzled.

Mac put his jacket on. "The list of loose ends."