Elizabeth reacted so swiftly that Neal had no chance to deflect her oncoming palm. Slap! Neal raised his hand to rub his now stinging left cheek.

"Get out of my house," she ground out each syllable as she rose from her chair, her knuckles turning white as they grasped the edge of the table.

"El," Neal began, his earnest gaze projecting total honesty, "You have to listen to me. Something is going on with Peter and the evidence points to a romantic interlude. Please sit back down and at least hear me out".

Realizing Neal wouldn't budge until she listened to his ridiculous 'theory', she grudgingly sat back down, crossing her arms defensively. Neal scooted his chair closer to the table, using his body language to project an aura of total sincerity and believability. This was one time that he would need to use his tricks-of-the-trade honestly.

"Where are the flowers?"

"What flowers?" El asked, suspicion coloring her tone. Neal's opening gambit had caught her off guard.

"Exactly!" Neal exclaimed, "I overheard Peter ordering a bouquet of flowers this morning."

"Maybe he's bringing them home to me later," El replied, adopting a nonchalant attitude.

"He wanted the card to say 'I've missed you'. You yourself admitted you haven't been out of town in over a month. So ergo, the flowers are not for you."

Elizabeth glared at him, "I trust Peter. I think it's high time you do the same."

"Then why isn't he here?" Neal questioned harshly, "We both know what a workaholic he is. Never taking a day off, never leaving early. Except for today. He took a rare afternoon off, but he didn't come home to be with his wife. In fact, he didn't even tell you he was taking off."

His tone gentled, almost if he was feeling a tiny amount of guilt for the kernel of doubt that he was injecting into the Burke's marriage, "How often is he gone Elizabeth? How many late nights when you don't know where he is? He can't use chasing me as his excuse anymore."

"You asked me these very same questions not long ago," El replied, "You were wrong then and you are wrong now."

Ignoring her, Neal continued to produce his evidence, "Peter dropped me off at June's after lunch today. When I got out and reached for my keys I realized they had fallen out in his car. I flagged him down before he pulled away. When he rolled down his window to hand them to me I glanced at the GPS. He had entered his next destination as 'Linden'."

At Elizabeth's perplexed look, he continued breaking her heart, "As in Linden Motor Inn over on Conduit Boulevard." Sarcasm dripped from his next words," Your guess is as good as mine as to what Peter might be doing there."

"Stop this Neal," she pleaded, "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for all this."

Neal hardened his heart to her emotions, "I'm not finished Elizabeth." He pulled a page from a desk calendar out of his jacket pocket, "This is my piece-de-resistance. I got this off of Peter's desk before we left today. According to this, Peter has a 3:00 rendezvous with 'Nadine'."

At Neal's mention of the name, Elizabeth's whole demeanor changed. She jumped up from her chair with an alarmed expression. "What day is it?" she demanded.

"Monday the 1st," Neal replied, mystified at her dramatic transformation.

"Oh Peter," she exclaimed softly, every syllable laced with heartache. She turned to a now thoroughly confused Neal Caffrey, a devastated expression etched on her face.