Detective John Clark Jr., Andy Sipowicz (who just was promoted Sergeant) and a military investigator examine the murder of military recruiter Sergeant Lester Bakewell, whose affair with a female colleague caused her divorce from a retired veteran Colonel; however, the prime suspect is student Paul Corbelli, whose brother was killed in service in Iraq. A woman reports her homeless Basque uncle missing abnormally since four days; he's found dead and Detectives Baldwin Jones and Greg Medavoy investigate.

Bale offers to recommend Sipowicz for the squad commander position; Ortiz and Murphy investigate the death of an Arab woman; and detectives search for the man who shot Bale.