Neal Caffrey's Daughter

Flip the Coin [2]

"That was a genuine surprise on Mitchell's face," Neal noted as Peter reentered the office "when we told him his prints were on the gold,"

"I noticed that," Peter agreed. "But that doesn't get him off the hook."

"There's something else,"

"What?"

"Before I say anything, what's the statute of limitations..."

"Just tell me," Peter argued.

"You can't melt down precious metals like gold without getting splash blisters on your arms no matter how careful you are,"

"Well, Mitchell may be burn-free, but that doesn't make him innocent,"

"Maybe we should check out this, uh, Aime's guy," Neal suggested while discreetly texting the same thing to Lizzy.

"Already did. He was working for the State Department overseeing the reconstruction of Mosul a few months back,"

"Where is he now?" Neal wondered as he looked over the file.

"Working for a private security contractor right here in New York,"

"Sounds like he's done well for himself,"

"Yeah. I'm going to go see how well,"

"All right,"

***

"Where's Peter?" Neal asked as he came into the conference room. "I thought he called this meeting,"

"He's been poring over this stuff with the Evidence Recovery Team since he saw blisters on Aimes's bodyguard," Jones explained.

"Said something about a breakthrough," Diana reasoned.

"Wow." Neal mused as he looked over the evidence, only for Diana to take it away. "I'm looking for clues,"

"You're looking for your next jail sentence,"

Neal shrugged; he was indeed looking for a gift for Lizzy. "Didn't you just join this unit?"

"Yeah, and I didn't even have to go to prison first,"

"So," Jones said, "if you were gonna frame somebody, how would you do it?"

Neal moved to silence his phone as he felt it go off in his pocket. "I've never framed anybody. Only been framed,"

"Yeah?" Diana asked, "What for?"

"Counterfeiting stock certificates and about a dozen other confidence schemes, frauds, and forgeries," Neal glanced up when Peter entered. "Hear you had a breakthrough,"

"I got something." Peter admitted, "Notice the prints,"

"Very clean," Jones noted.

"Maybe a little too clean?"

"They're all Mitchell's?" Neal asked.

"Yup. Notice anything else?"

Neal moved the bowl around "They're all left-handed,"

"Uh-huh,"

"That's improbable,"

"It's impossible," Peter laughed.

"What does it mean?" Diana asked.

"I don't know,"

***

"What, you think the prints were planted?" Neal questioned as they sat outside of the house he was staying at.

"Well, it wouldn't be hard, would it?" Peter teased.