Neal was awoken to a loud knock on the door. Stumbling out of bed Neal answered the door to a very happy Mozzie and a slightly aggravated Peter, in only his boxers. Peter walked in first simply saying, "Get dressed, we'll be on the deck waiting," before heading to the deck with Mozzie in tow.
It didn't take long for Neal to explain what he had figured out the night before, and for Mozzie, Peter, and himself to come to the conclusion that they needed to bate her and Keller to discover who the puppeteer to this whole operation was. This plan would have to come together rather quickly and consist of a way for Neal to get in on their side to get the scoop and sift it to Peter in time to stop their master plan, put the puppeteer behind bars, and save Tish before she became a wanted criminal.
"This won't be easy, since Keller knows I'm working for you," Neal said in a calm tone.
"And I for sure can't go under or else I'll ruin the whole operation," Peter responded.
"Unless… what if we took off Neal's brace and put a state wide search for him, making people think he ran. All Neal has to do is get Keller to believe that Neal is in fact back in the con artist business and we are in." Mozzie explained, feeling proud of his plan.
"But what would make me run? Adlier took everything that would give me a motive to run." Neal pointing out a flaw in Mozzie's well thought out plan.
"Yes, it would definitely have to be reasonable, and believable to people who knew Neal and how he operates," Peter concluded.
"That's simple, Tish!" Mozzie said full of confidence.
"Tish?" Both Peter and Neal spoke in unison with a confused look on their faces.
"Yes… Tish. You said yourself that you were intrigued by how much Tish understood you and how alike you both were, plus you've been looking for her ever sense. Say you run to find her and make a deal with Keller in the processes that if you help him get past the feds that he'll let Tish go. You get the information, set up Keller, and lead us to the puppeteer and save the girl. Booyah! Case solved!" Mozzie said slamming his fist in the air in a victory salute.
"That my friend might work, what do you think Neal? If you play it off as though you've replaced the whole in your heart that Kate created with the help of Adlier, with Tish and the bond you have recently created with her. Just convince Keller and I believe the rest will just fall in place." Peter concluded again.
They chatted for a bit more before Mozzie left to scout out god knows what, while Peter and Neal headed back to the office to start working on Neal's escape plan and how to make Neal's running believable to all the cons in New York including and majorly Keller. This definitely going to be a difficult plan, but if all went well they would have Tish home safe and this case wrapped up in time for his trip to morocco with Elizabeth in two weeks.