Astor and Cody move into Deb's apartment with Dexter and Harrison, but he struggles with being a single father. Meanwhile, he sets his sights on a new kill, and Quinn grows even more suspicious.
Astor and Cody join Dexter and Harrison in Deb's tiny one-bedroom apartment until he and the kids find a condo because he doesn't want them to go back to the house in which Rita was murdered. Astor is not pleased and shows it at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, Dexter meets with the FBI and, luckily for him, they say they know he didn't do it because he was at the raid at Arthur Mitchell's house during the time Rita was murdered. They just want to know why Trinity would target her, and their only lead is a man named Kyle Butler. Uh-oh.
Dexter rents a moving truck to get some of his and the kids' stuff from the house, but he takes notice of a bloodstain in the back cabin. He heads to the house with truck, and while Dexter is packing some things up, Elliot stops in with the mail. He obviously the last person Dexter wants to see — especially since he's going on and on about the sacrifices he had to make when becoming a single dad.
As the kids are sleeping, Dexter can't get the bloodstain in the moving truck out of his mind, so he grabs his forensic kit — and Harrison — and goes to check it out. As Dexter is gathering samples, Harrison looks on as his dad tells "the story" of the blood. How...um...sweet? Harry appears and condemns the behavior, saying his kids should be No. 1, but Dexter says he's doing it for them. "I have to take care of my needs too, otherwise I'd be spinning out of control," he tells Harry.
At breakfast, things seem to be going well with Dexter and the kids, but Astor accidentally sets a plate for her mother and it sends her off the deep end.
Dexter looks up the name of the person who last rented the truck and learns it was a road kill sanitation worker named Boyd. Dexter arranges for the two to meet by killing a raccoon (not cool, Dex) and reporting that it needs to be picked up. Boyd comes, but is pretty quick to pick up that someone killed the raccoon and put it there. "He's CSI-ing me," Dexter says to himself. Ha.
While Dexter's searching the Internet for resources on helping children cope with grief, Dexter can't get his mind off Boyd and finds a prison record in his files. That's enough probable cause for Dexter to head over to his house and do some snooping for some concrete evidence that this guy is no good.
Dexter sneaks into Boyd's home, which is surrounded by trashcans filled with animal carcasses, and takes a look around. Much to Dexter's dismay, Boyd is quite possibly the most boring, bland human being in existence (and he's in serious need of an interior designer). Boyd comes home early and Dexter scurries to hide, but the attic has a massive bolt lock on it. While trying to avoid being caught, Dexter manages to snag a lock of female hair tagged with a number before sneaking out the back door.
Quinn, who has taken a keen interest in Rita's murder and Trinity, finds out the FBI's only lead is a man named Kyle Butler. Everyone seems to remember the murder victim they stumbled across not too long ago named Kyle Butler, but they can't seem to figure out if and what the connection may be.
Trinity's family gives the FBI three very different descriptions of what Kyle Butler (Dexter) looks like, so their lead is fairly worthless. Quinn asks for a copy of the sketches and studies them later that night. He lays the three photos on top of one another to match up the chin, nose, and forehead of each. And what does he get? Why, it's a spitting image of Dexter! Looks like we have another Doakes on our hands. And we all remember how that turned out.
Dexter gets a call from a very frantic Deb who says the kids aren't where she is supposed to pick them up. Dexter seems to know right away where they are — the one place Astor has been begging (well, more like demanding) to go: their house.
Just as predicted, Dexter arrives at the house to find Astor and Cody in the bathroom, staring silently at the bathtub. Astor tells Dexter how upset she is that Dexter came into their life and made them think everything was going to be great, only to have this happen. She tells Dexter she wants to live with her grandparents in Atlanta, and Dexter obliges.
The grandparents come to pick Astor and Cody up, and even though Cody is crying, Astor seems to care less about Dexter and gives him a half-hearted hug goodbye. Dexter later tells Deb that Cody wanted to stay with Dexter, but Dexter had to explain to him how important it is that he stays with his big sister because they need each other — much like Dexter and Deb.
Down and out, Dexter follows a trail to find Boyd's dumping ground in hopes that having the purpose of tracking his target will make him feel better. Unfortunately, it's not, and he doesn't know what will snap him out of his funk. But in the process, he discovers dozens of trash can in a swamp filled with girls soaking in formaldehyde. We flash over to Boyd to see him taking a lock of a woman's hair, numbering it, putting it in a scrapbook with others, and then dropping the body in the can of formaldehyde just before shocking it.
Thanks to TVGuide.com!