Unbeknownst to Marlo and Stringer, their meeting has been observed by Kima Greggs and Jimmy McNulty, although they initially assume that Marlo is working for the Barksdale organization like many other crews in the West side. Greggs and McNulty pay a visit to the Homicide division to learn more about Marlo and find that Vernon Holley had investigated Marlo for a murder. Holley had built a case against Marlo using a key witness who was murdered before the case went to trial. Holley believes Marlo killed the witness and describes Marlo as "the spawn of the devil". When a failed Barksdale assault on a Stanfield corner results in the deaths of two Barksdale soldiers, the Major Crimes Unit realizes that Marlo's crew is independent of the Barksdale organization, and that the two gangs are at war.