As Andy put the key in the lock of the passenger door to let Frances into his car, a shout made them both turn. Andy grinned as he saw John making their way towards them.

"So... You finally decided to make a report about that guy who grabbed you?"

Frances blushed and shook her head, making Andy realize that she was the target of the attack John had reported. "No… The sergeant just came and told me that the gallery had been robbed and asked if I could help answer some questions."

"The gallery was robbed?"

Andy nodded, "Yeah, we're trying to get as much information together as we can…"

Frances turned to look at John as she sat down, "Can you check on Mrs van der Zandt? I know on the outside she's a tough old lady, but this will hurt her a lot… She was the one who pushed for the gallery to buy the Matisse…"

John gave her a warm smile, "Sure, no problem," closing the door carefully, he turned to Andy. "Any suspects…?"

"No decent leads, we're waiting for forensic to come back on the frame – it was found dumped nearby and had a few fingerprints on it."

John nodded towards Frances, "Think she can help?"

Andy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know… You know how it works, we interview everyone, get as much information as we can."

"Can I help?"

Andy smiled, "Yeah… Go to Mrs van der Zandt. Until now, none of us knew that she had pushed the gallery to buy the Matisse…" John grinned and agreed, before Andy continued, "anything I need to know about your friend?"

John thought for a moment, "She'll probably answer every question you ask her about her time in New York, but as soon as you start dipping into her life before that, she'll get cagey… She might even refuse to answer…"

"That's not going to look good John… Some people will think that a bit suspicious…"

John agreed, "But I don't know how else you can get information… She might give you more than she gave me, just because you have a case running… She likes Mrs van der Zandt a lot… you might be able to use that…"

Andy nodded, "Ok thanks… Let me know what you find out…"

John grinned his reply and continued on, wondering if Andy would get anything useful out of Frances.

&

Walking into the precinct, Andy paid close attention to how Frances reacted. Most cons either reacted nervously, or with an outward show of confidence – false bravado. She did neither, looking carefully around, taking everything in.

He became even more curious, she was one cool lady add that together with what John had told him, he decided to start the interview very very slowly. The more he could give her a false sense of security, the more he would find out. He knew he would have to be cautious, Frances was no fool.

Frances however was not as comfortable as she looked. The precinct was very different to the police stations back home and she wondered how the NYPD officers could work in such cramped quarters. As they had walked in a chill had run down her spine putting her on her guard and she knew she had to be very careful.

Helping Frances to a chair, Andy called for someone to bring her a coffee which she declined, though he took one himself.

As he helped her to a chair, he asked why she hadn't heard about the robbery. "To be honest sergeant, I tend to keep to myself – only two people at the gallery know my home number and I doubt either of them would have thought about contacting me at the time, add to that, I have asked not to be disturbed when I'm at school…"

"So, what else would you like to know?"

Andy gave her a measured look and grimaced slightly. "Well Ms Mitchell, I can tell that you're not local to Manhattan, so I guess it would be best if we could get some background to your routine – Would that be a problem?"

Frances gave a wry smile and nodded her head slightly, "Sounds ok to me, where would you like me to start?"

"How about your daily schedule?"

&

Three hours later, Frances was feeling exhausted, Andy and another detective had been questioning her slowly and carefully, keeping to her work and habits. They had established that she had few friends and no alibi for the evening before when the gallery had broken into.

Building up a picture of her everyday life had not taken long, but Andy realized that she was very observant and moved on to question her about people who visited the gallery. The answers were readily given, sometimes with a nod, or a smile. Occasionally, Frances paused in her answering – obviously thinking about what to say.

Andy didn't push for anything – there was no need – but he also took it slowly because he knew the Lieutenant was watching behind the mirror.

Excusing himself for a break, he went next door and joined the Lieutenant who had a thoughtful look on his face.

"What do you think?"

"I'm not sure, she's given us a lot of information, but whether it's true or not, we won't know until we start checking it out. I believe her when she talks about her job at the school, but she begins to get careful when you start probing about her personal life."

"So, you want me to start pushing?"

The Lieutenant smiled slightly, "Yeah… but gently… If she's our person – she's very careful, knows how to protect herself. We don't want her calling for an attorney, not just yet."

&

As Andy walked back into the room, Frances narrowed her eyes, she sensed that something had changed, the sergeant was still polite, but his gruff manner that had not bothered her earlier, now seemed to be enforced.

"So, Ms Mitchell, we've established pretty much what you do in your life here in New York – in fact we've probably covered everything – even what is not essential to our case. You've given us a lot of information which we will need to look into, so I hope you won't mind if we have to call you back to check something you've told us."

"Does that mean we are finished?" Frances turned for her bag and froze at Andy's answer.

"I'm afraid not, you've been here such a short time Ms Mitchell I just need to ask a few more questions to establish your personal details." He paused before continuing, noticing that Frances looked less than comfortable.

&

Frances was becoming a little upset – and angry, but she fought to keep herself under control. Andy had began quizzing her about the past – what she did before coming to New York, where she studied. Those questions she was quite happy answering, but the more personal ones she began to refuse.

Finally she had had enough. "Sergeant, I realize that details of my hometown may be fascinating to you, but I fail to see what relevance they have to this case. I refuse to answer any further personal questions unless you can give me a reason why they are so important."

Andy began to give a few reasons why such details were relevant, but none could convince Frances to say any more and she became more agitated.

"I'm sorry, sergeant, I am not answering any more questions, I'm tired and I still have work to do at home before school tomorrow. I am happy to return at another time to help you with your inquiries, but now I wish to leave."

Andy bit his lip, wanting to push a little harder, but he had to be careful, she was not some street punk who could be threatened. Frances was educated and smart – and if he pushed too hard, she would saddle up with an attorney and they would throw a lawsuit at him fast if she was innocent.

An idea came to his mind and he paused for a moment. "Ok Ms Mitchell, we'll call it a day, but I may need to get back to you later – would that be ok?"

Frances sighed with relief that the ordeal was over and nodded, "Of course sergeant, though a little warning of how long I would be expected to remain here would be nice."

Andy gave her a curt nod, "Certainly, now if you would just allow us to take your fingerprints before you leave…"

Frances interrupted him, "Fingerprints, what the hell for?"

Andy nearly smiled at her reaction, it was what he had been hoping for. "Just so we can rule you out as a suspect."

Frances stared at him, a little caught out by the request before regaining her composure, "No…"

"Ms Mitchell please… Some prints were found at the scene, and we would like to exclude you…"

"Absolutely not, I'm sorry sergeant, but I'm sure there are other ways you can find your thief without needing my fingerprints." Turning to leave, she found her way blocked by the other detective who apart from a couple of questions, had remained quiet throughout the last part of the interview.

Andy nodded slightly, "It's ok, Ms Mitchell is tired, arrange for a radio car to take her home. It's the least we can do for the help she's given us."

As she left, Andy returned to his desk and picked up the phone, "John… I need a favour…"

&

John smiled to himself, for the last week he had been carefully watching Frances, monitoring her routine and found that it matched what she had told Andy almost to the letter. He had noticed that her favourite place was the park, which she visited every day, either during her lunch break, or when she had a break between classes.

She never went to the park after 4pm and when working at the gallery, only walked home during the daytime. At night she always called a cab which dropped her off directly outside her apartment. He also found out that her apartment looked out over the street – something that the real estate agent had said she had stipulated on her arrival.

Building up the information had not taken that long in his experience; Frances was very much a creature of habit, using the same deli to buy her lunch – and the same grocer for her shopping. During that week, he had seen her talking with colleagues from the school and the gallery but also established that she had no close friends.

Andy had asked for his help as the gallery case had hit a brick wall. No further leads had been found and the prints on the frame had been matched to two people – Mrs van der Zandt and the gallery manager – both of whom had alibi's and clean records. However, there was a third print that had not yet been matched to anyone.

The only suspects were another full time employee – whom Andy was also having watched – and Frances. By helping Andy out with a current case, John could expect some form of payment for his work, though not as much as it would be for a private client. It didn't bother him or Mike, it was not the financial reward they wanted from Andy, but the information he could provide them if they needed it.

Glancing over at the school from his vantage point, his smile deepened as he saw Frances coming out of the door, "Punctual as always Frances."

Checking the schedule she had given Andy, he knew she had no further classes that day and would probably head home as she wasn't scheduled for work at the gallery. However he was surprised when she took a different direction to the one he expected. Intrigued, he began to follow.

&

Sanders grinned, he had managed to collect a lot of information from the clerk at Scotland Yard and had slowly begun to sift through the information. He was surprised to find out that there were not many women of around Sarah's age on the files at the Yard and slowly began to sort them out.

More than half were actually hidden around London and he started sending out people to check on them, Phillip Michaels would expect clear information, not just a list of names. Very few of the files had pictures which he ignored anyway, pictures could be misleading. Habits and routines gave a far better picture of person's character which was difficult to break.

Sarah was quite a spontaneous person, which Phillip had loved about her, but he had found out to his cost that she also had a very high social conscience. It was great while he was able to use it to maintain a caring public profile, but when Sarah had found out about the business and the people he had hurt, she had turned on him instantly.

Reaching a halfway point in the files that he had been reading carefully, he paused for a break. He hadn't spotted anything that gave a clue to Sarah's whereabouts yet, but knew it was only a matter of time.

John followed Frances carefully from the opposite side of the road, curious as to where she was going. Pausing when she stopped to cross to the next block, he saw her turn down a familiar road and was a little startled when he realized she was heading to the church. She had not mentioned anything to Andy about being catholic – or that she went to the church as part of her routine.

He watched as she was met at the door by the priest – an old friend – and the two of them walked inside. Father Downey had a concerned expression on his face and glanced around quickly before he closed the door, almost spotting John, who froze on the spot.

John became thoughtful, a hundred questions going through his mind at the same time. Why would Frances keep details about her faith from Andy – or if she wasn't catholic, why would she come here? Father Downey had initially greeted her with a smile, indicating that he knew Frances well. John wondered if he would be able to nudge him for information, but knew that he might not get anything of value, still, it was something to consider.

Smiling to himself he had an idea, and quickly walked home to grab his gear, the boys were all meeting tonight for a game and John was going to make it this time, though he hadn't for the last couple of weeks. He also hadn't been to confession for about a month either…

&

Frances finally began to relax, Andy's interview had shaken her up a little, not because the sergeant had been in any way nasty, but holding to her story over such a period of time had taken a lot out of her and it had played on her mind. Father Downey had taken her through the interview again from start to finish, helping her to establish that she had kept to her story and that she was most likely in the clear.

"Frances, you know you could just call in the Bureau and ask them to close the sergeant down, then you'll be left alone."

Frances sighed, "I know, but I'm afraid to do that, it means more people will find out who I really am. Sooner or later someone will say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and break my cover wide open. I can't risk that. The less people that know I'm in New York, the better."

The priest nodded, "A valid point, now how are you settling in – apart from this theft at the gallery causing problems…"

Frances smiled, "Pretty good, The school is great and although some of the kids are a little unruly, I seem to get on with most of them."

"Social life…?" her face fell and Father Downey sighed, "Frances, you know you have to build up some friends, you can use them as a screen to hide behind and help you make your cover stronger."

She shook her head and spoke softly, "No… I don't want to risk other people getting seriously hurt because of me, you know what happened before. People on the block have the idea that something has happened to me – but what is all speculation, it's better that way."

"Why…?"

"You know that I have to keep moving, Phillip will never give up looking for me and I can't afford to stay in one place too long – that is why I only have a one year contract at the school and why I keep to myself. There would be too many questions if I made friends… They would want to know why I was leaving and keep digging."

"This way, I can invent a simple story and people will just accept it, making it easy for me to disappear."

Father Downey conceded that she had a point, but still pressed her to make a few friends. "Staying in your home when you are not working will make people curious Frances… I'm not saying that you should be friends with everyone you meet, but at least find a few… If you need help, at the moment you have no-one to turn to…"

"I have you…"

The priest smiled, "You do… but I have my limits as you know. You need to open your range slightly, find people who can help you if you need it."

Frances sighed, he was right, but what could she do…? Smiling at her friend she excused herself, promising that she would think about his advice.

Putting on his robe, Father Downey led the way to the door, "I'll see you to the door, then head over to take confession." Taking her hand and giving it a squeeze he smiled, "If you need anything…"

Frances grinned back, "You're an easy person to find."