Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Marlo’s crew searches for Omar, who survived the jump with a broken leg and hides in the building where Chris and Snoop attacked him. Omar takes Fat-Face Rick’s gun, wounds a Stanfield soldier and burns a cash pickup. Marlo raises the bounty and the co-op’s wholesale price; Slim declines a territory offer, leaving Cheese to take it. The Sun’s serial-killer coverage earns national attention. Templeton spends a night under the expressway and interviews Terry, a homeless veteran. Gus likes the article but remains wary of Templeton’s other reporting, and McNulty realizes the reporter has invented details about the killer.
Bunk returns to the vacant murders and finds Randy in the group home, where the boy refuses to help and asks why police always lie. A visit to Michael’s mother gives Bunk a clue about Chris and Snoop, while a folder of grand-jury papers points to a courthouse leak. Carcetti uses the supposed killer to promise protection for the homeless. Freamon tells Sydnor about the tap, and they follow Marlo’s messages. With police arriving immediately whenever another homeless person is found dead, McNulty cannot stage another body. He pays Larry to pose for a victim photo, drives the homeless man to a Richmond shelter, leaves him with a stolen identity.