Fed (Law & Order)

As election day rapidly approaches, Detectives Lupo and Bernard discover the disfigured remains of a man with the word "FED" written across his bare chest. Missing a crucial piece of evidence, the detectives decide to retrace the steps of the victim, who is a campaign volunteer. After the victim's perplexing past emerges and the list of suspects multiplies, the detectives find themselves dealing with more than just dirty politics.

Former detective Rey Curtis, having recently lost his wife Deborah, has come back to Long Island with his three daughters to bury her beside her parents. Lt. Van Buren receives a call from Curtis inviting her to the funeral. Ill with cancer herself, she was able to make it to the funeral despite her busy schedule. Curtis, who heard about Van Buren's illness from the police grapevine, commented gravely about her cancer as "just rotten luck all around". He described Deborah's lost battle with multiple sclerosis, how she faced death bravely but was overwhelmed by it in the end. Curtis also tells Van Buren that Deborah died at home in his arms and revealed that he had called his old partner, Lennie Briscoe, just before he died, and Lennie had still been his old wise-cracking self. By the end of the episode, Lt. Van Buren is doubtful of her own survival.