It was eight o'clock in the morning when Teresa Lisbon received an envelope marked "Catch me if you can". The words neatly printed in blue on a perfectly crisp white envelope stared at her from an evidence bag in the large meeting room.

Kimball Cho had been waiting for her, standing at the end of the long table. Dennis Abbott sat at the other end along with a woman Lisbon had never seen before.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly. We received seven of these this morning," Cho told her. "This one is yours." He held up the bag.

Lisbon came to a stop, feeling no need to greet them, "What does it say?"

Patrick Jane came into the room just behind her, as though he had been with her when she received the call and followed her into work. It was a relatively usual occurrence and had now become a well-known but unspoken fact that the two of them seemed to be sharing the same bed on a regular basis.

"It only contained a needle, which has already been analysed." Before Lisbon could ask any further questions, Cho continued, "Nothing toxic on the needle but they were able to pick up a partial print belonging to Douglas Hatcher."

She recognised the name after only a few moments, "The white collar criminal? Didn't we put him away in 2001?"

The woman with Abbott spoke for the first time, standing to walk over and address Lisbon. Her accent suggested she'd grown up in Wisconsin or somewhere inland north of the US. "You did, but he was released in 2006 and then incarcerated again in 2009." She looked to be in her forties, a brunette with pale skin and features darker than Lisbon. As she approached, Lisbon could see she was at least a few inches taller than her without heels. She wore an FBI badge on her dark brown suit collar. The woman extended her hand "Julie Swain, white collar crime. I was another recipient."

Teresa Lisbon took her hand. "So you knew Hatcher."

"Yes, I know Hatcher. Along with a few other gentleman he became acquainted with behind bars, Eric Brandt and Mason Lake." Julie acknowledged Jane and he nodded back, watching the exchange quietly.

Teresa shook her head, "I know neither of those people."

Agent Swain leaned against the desk, "Hatcher actually worked with our unit for a while in around 2010 in exchange for parole and reduction of sentencing."

Lisbon didn't look terribly impressed, "Another deal, huh?"

Abbott nodded, "Yes – this one didn't work out so well."

Swain continued, "Hatcher disappeared about three years ago. This is the first sign of him."

"What do you think it means?"

"I think he's bored; he wants a challenge. But also I think he wants something. Something that he can only get from us."

"Like what?"

"I have no idea."

Jane spoke from behind them, "Why a needle?"

Swain shook her head, "I don't know that either."

He asked her another question: "What kind of crimes was this Mr Hatcher involved in?"

"All kinds – fraud, bribery, embezzlement, even identity fraud. It was that last one we nailed him for."

"Was there a needle in each envelope?"

"Yes, there was."

"Can we see it?"

Cho responded to Jane's question, "It's still with the Lab. But I can find you a picture; hold on a moment." He brought up his iPad to show them, "Here."

Jane commented, "That's not a needle. It looks like a tool one would use to pick locks."

Lisbon nodded, "Hatcher's smart. He wouldn't have left a fingerprint if he didn't want to, He is giving us a clue. Maybe he wants us to unlock something."

On the same page, Jane agreed, "Probably unlock something that he can't unlock himself." He turned to Swain and Abbott, "Do we have anything, maybe kept in a safe or in evidence, that he might find valuable or that he was previously after?"

Swain crossed her arms, "I don't know, but it's something to look into."

Abbott rose from his seat, "While I'm here, I'm working with Agent Swain as liaison but Agent Cho is in charge."

Swain spoke to Lisbon, "We're contacting some old acquaintances of Hatcher's to see who we can bring in and what we can find."

Cho spoke, "Do you think you could look into what he might be after?"

"On it." She turned to leave.

"Hold on a moment, Agent Lisbon," Agent Swain reached out her hand as though she was going to take Teresa's arm. Teresa turned and Jane, who was almost out the door, waited too. "You should know that Douglas Hatcher is a very different person to the one you dealt with sixteen years ago."

Teresa nodded, "How do you mean?"

"He was never a good person, but now he's gotten himself involved in organised crime. He is really very dangerous. I just thought you should know that."

Lisbon did not look particularly impressed. Agent Swain was not fully cognisant of why this was until Patrick Jane spoke from the doorway. "Uh, Lisbon? Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Wordlessly, Lisbon followed Jane into an empty interview room, shaking her head as she closed the door, "I know what you're going to say."

"I have a really bad feeling about this. Please. Can you maybe sit this out? Stay at the office?"

"We have had this conversation – so many times, Jane. I just can't."

"No, you won't. It's choice you're making, Lisbon."

"There's hardly a choice. The guy called me out, personally. You know what you're asking me to do? You're asking me to run and hide. What kind of choice is that? And are you telling me I have to choose between you and the job? Is that what you're saying?"

He shook his head while looking at his shoes, "No. No, of course not. You know that."

"Listen to me," her voice became softer, gentle, "We will take every precaution, we will make a plan and stick to it..." He was nodding his head but not looking at her. She could see he was just pushing down his feelings and letting her be but she pressed on, "I promise you, I will be fine."

He studied his shoes. She closed the gap between them so she was barely half a foot from him, "Hey, look at me."

He glanced up at her briefly but then he turned and left her alone. "I'm going to make some tea," He told her on the way out. She sighed.