They worked, only the sound of a television broadcasting the news reports confirming Carroll's death and the occassional ringing phone breaking the silence, for several hours.

"Okay that should do it." Kate looked up from her computer. "Redundant arrangements for contact finished."

"Do you think this is overkill?" Mike flinched as he drank the last of a very cold cup of coffee.

"Twelve different, interchangeable scenarios with six different contacts in four different countries all with their own multiple systems. Cayman's accounts for the money." Kate shrugged. "Probably. But given that they got in deep enough to know you had clearance to know the information about Mrs Matthews location, I'd say some paranoia is in order."

"You knew?"

"That you were beaten within an inch of your life and practically gutted. Yes I knew. Even on loan to Interpol I still had my connections. And like I said, I wanted to tell you for a while. When I heard you almost died I knew the first thing I had to do when the case was over was come tell you. I just got lucky the Director offered me this assignment. Although he didn't tell me you were going to be the boss until after I said yes." Kate laughed.

A knock interrupted them.

"Mitchell. You haven't gone home yet?" Mike scowled. "Diedre Mitchell, Agent Kate Roberts."

"We met." Kate nodded at the older woman.

"Official report of Carroll's identification." Mitchell held out a folder.

"I see the Bureau still insists on killing trees." Kate laughed.

Mike flipped it open. The file contained several photos of the burned body. Copies of the finger prints lifted from the remains along with copies of Carroll's prints from his original file, same with DNA and dental records.

"May I?" Kate nodded to the file. Mike flipped it over for her to take a look.

"Rather gruesome."

"Couldn't have happened to a nastier guy." Mitchell said, no attempts to hide her disdain.

"I'll drink to that." Mike smirked. "But not tonight. Everything is ready for the debriefing so lets all go home, get some sleep, clean clothes blah blah."

"What the hell?" Kate murmured, her eyes still on the file. "That can't be right."

"What can't be right?"

"These tags. They can't be right."

"You lost me."

"The copies of the Carroll's original identification materials. They don't make sense."

Mike looked up at Mitchell. She shrugged.

"Let me see." Mike pulled the file over for a closer look. "Chain of evidence says the copies are from Joe Carroll's original arrest file. Taken when he was brought into custody in 2003. Digital and visual comparison by two different techs confirm a match."

"That's what doesn't make sense. These can't be Joe Carroll. Or at least not Joe Carroll in 2003."

"Maybe I'm just way too tired. But I don't follow."

"What do you know about how identified materials are registered and searched."

"Not a lot, that was your game."

"It's a kind of hash function." Mitchell injected. The visuals are recorded using a designation system that translates the images into a alphanumeric code. The code entries can be searched like any other data."

"That's right. With DNA the entries are broken down so that you can search by individual locii, typically starting with those that designate gender and racial profile and drilling down."

"That's only useful when you're doing a blind search. You can quickly eliminate huge chunks of the database. We were doing a match analysis against a known sample."

"More a match against the hash recorded in the database for the sample. Along with the photographic images which should allow for a visual confirmation. Provided they're correct."

"You're saying these aren't right. These images don't go with the hash in the record."

"I don't know if they don't. I don't know how to translate the hash into the record. Not in the blink of an eye.

"I'm saying that this set of records can't be from Joe Carroll's original arrest record."

Mike found his stomach turning over. If Kate was right, if the records weren't from the original arrest. The implications were horrifying.

"Kate, are you certain?"

"Positive. All records contain an entry code that designates whether it was hand entered or digitally entered. The whole reason for including photos of the original cards and DNA gels was because someone could make a mistake during the entry work. If something goes to trial it's compared to the original cards and so on to be absolutely certain.

"The code on these records shows it was direct entry, digital analysis. But direct digital scanning of fingerprints didn't start until 2006 and DNA wasn't direct entered until 2008, well after Carroll's arrest.

"I can't say for certain that Joe Carroll is still alive. Perhaps he's dead and they just haven't found the body yet. But this isnt him."

"Shit." Mike yelled. "Mitchell, call the Marshals, tell them we do not have confirmation Carroll is dead." MItchell was out of the room and on the phone before he finished the sentence.

"That's why the other guy."

"What guy?"

"Claire said there was a man at the light house when she woke up. Someone paid to drive a boat up and then attacked. Broke his ankle so he couldn't run. Joe killed the guy in front of her. The tests to verify the body was Carroll's were to be sure it wasn't this guy."

"So Joe finds a guy who is in the DNA database with a close enough appearance match that no one would suspect the results were wrong. Somehow gets the identify tags on the records swapped so this guy's DNA comes up as his. That's some serious computer work."

"More than one of his followers has hacker in them. So it's not a shock."

"Mike. We have a situation."

"What is it?"

"Joey's fine. Marshal's are preparing to move him within ten."

"But . . ."

"There was no answer at Ryan's. The on duty officers broke down the door. They say no one got past them. But Ryan and Claire have both been stabbed. Paramedics are on the way. It doesn't look good."

Mike closed his eyes. An image floated into his mind. Black, with three words "To Be Continued."