Heading into the Law & Order finale, we knew that the NBC drama is about to lose another major character. Earlier this season, the show lost a lawyer, with Sam Waterston leaving, and Tony Goldwyn‘s Baxter coming in to replace Jack McCoy as DA (there’s now an election coming up). Now, the cops will be saying goodbye to their lieutenant, with Camryn Manheim exiting. But how was Kate Dixon written out? Well, she wasn’t. Instead, the focus was very much on the case and Baxter. It looks like the Season 24 premiere will have to reveal what happened to Dixon, much like this season’s did with Cosgrove, following Jeffrey Donovan‘s exit over hiatus.

The case involved the murder of a sports star—but video reveals that Baxter was the intended target. He refuses to suspend his campaign, and with all his past cases, there’s a lot to go through for potential enemies, and their first potential lead from there doesn’t pan out. Rather, the murder weapon is found, and it was previously used in a robbery. Eddie, who used it is out on bail, awaiting trial, and when Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) and Riley (Reid Scott) catch him, he insists he had nothing to do with what happened but asks for his lawyer.

He does eventually talk, pointing them in the direction of “Mad Dog,” whose real name is Hector, and he’s part of a gang whose leader Baxter put away in his last case with the U.S. Attorney’s Office before being appointed DA. The detectives then track Hector down at a rally Baxter is holding (and refuses to stop upon hearing a suspect is present). Shaw sees Hector get on a bench and reach into his pocket and calls out, and their suspect runs. Shaw and Riley take chase, and Hector throws the gun in the river, but they get him. He asks for a lawyer.

To Baxter’s surprise, before the trial begins, his daughter Carrie comes to him and reveals she’d seen Hector outside their house, a week before the shooting. It felt odd, she admits. He asked who lived there, and she didn’t tell him anything but just went inside.

As for the trial, Hector’s girlfriend connects him to the bullets, and the hope is that Eddie can connect him to the gun—but then Price (Hugh Dancy) and Sam (Odelya Halevi) find him dead in his apartment, SNITCH written on the wall. Then, when the judge agrees with Hector’s lawyer and doesn’t allow any mention of the defendant’s gang affiliation or retaliation as a motive and they have no eyewitnesses, Baxter goes to his daughter.

Her testimony can prove motive and that he was the intended target, that he was looking for him a week before the attempt on his life. She does want to help, but she’s worried about the cross-examination. He is, too, he admits. Carrie says it would be really bad, especially for him. But Baxter argues that if they let a cold-blooded killer walk and could’ve done something to prevent it, they would never forgive themselves, regardless of the consequences. Baxter’s wife is very much against it, arguing they can pretend Carrie didn’t see anything, but he says treating her like any other witness is the right thing to do. She walks away.

On the stand, during cross, it’s revealed that Carrie’s sophomore year of college, she was driving after drinking and struck a man, who lost the use of his left arm. Baxter called in favors to have the charges reduced and her record expunged. But, on the redirect, Price points out she still came into court, knowing what would happen. And after, when reporters press him, he argues that as DA, he has an obligation to enforce the law with compassion and integrity and as a father, an obligation to help and support his daughter—and he won’t apologize for trying to protect her future. Hector is found guilty, and Baxter continues his campaign—but without his wife by his side at an event at the end.

How do you think Law & Order will explain Dixon’s absence when Season 24 begins? Let us know your theories in the comments section, below.