January 3 11:46

When he returned to Waverly's office, Solo informed Miss Rogers that he was once again available. "Yes, sir. Mr. Williams is waiting to talk to you and Agent Mitchell has asked that you contact him."

"Thank you, Lisa. I'll talk with Mr. Mitchell first. Please have Agent Williams come up in twenty minutes."

"Yes, Sir."

Napoleon picked up the receiver to Waverly' s private secured line and put a call into the safe house in Englewood, New Jersey.

"Peter, what is your report?"

"All is quiet, Napoleon. There hasn't been any suspicious activity. Mr. Waverly is alert and would like to speak with you."

"That's good news, Peter. Put him on, please." Napoleon could hear the receiver being passed to the Old Man.

"Hello, Mr. Solo! It's good to hear your voice."

"And yours as well, sir!" Considering what he had been through the Old Man's voice sounded only a little weak with fatigue.

"Agent Mitchell has informed me as to the events that brought me here, however he says that you have given orders that I am to remain here. What the devil is going on? Report Mr. Solo!"

The temporary chief of UNCLE Northwest spent the next ten minutes summarizing to his superior the information he had, his worries regarding the mole's next move, and his hope to trip the man up.

"Very well, Mr. Solo, we'll play this out your way, however I'm not happy about it. Mr. Kuryakin should be at UNCLE medical and I would rather be in my office!

"Understood sir. I want to get both of you back here as soon as possible. I'll keep you informed."

"Be careful, young man. If these people are hell bent on disposing of Mr. Kuryakin and me, then you are in as much danger."

"Yes, Sir.

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Napoleon flipped a switch on the communications board.

"Miss Rogers, have Mr. Williams come in."

The pneumatic doors whispered open and a troubled Bill Williams entered.

"What is it, Bill?

"Mr. Solo, I don't know how to say this..."

"Just come out and tell me, Bill."

"Ah, Dr. Phillips is dead."

Solo sat in stunned silence for a second before responding. "Shit, how the hell did that happen, Bill? Your boys were supposed to be watching him?"

"The agent assigned to observe him left his station just long enough to intercept Phillip's breakfast tray being delivered from the commissary and bring it to him. He heard a loud thump, unlocked the door and found Phillips bleeding from his head and his neck was broken! Apparently, he had climbed up onto the table and pitched himself forward to the floor landing on his head."

"No one else had access to his cell?"

"No sir."

Napoleon released a deep sigh. "All right, Bill. I want him autopsied to rule out foul play. Then ask the morgue to hold the body until they receive word from me."

"Yes, Sir." Agent Williams left the offfice.

Damn! The doctor could have been a witness, albeit a hostile one, to help clear Illya of any wrong doing.

Agent Finkmeyer stood his watch at the safe house. He resented this particular assignment as much as he resented having a Soviet agent at the New York headquarters. Illya Kuryakin had been a thorn in his side ever since the pipsqueak was assigned to UNCLE Northwest. After all, he had been with the agency for 8 years before the Russian had arrived and now his status was junior to that of Kuryakin. "It just isn't right!" he muttered. His sour grapes was motivation enough to pick up the phone and make another long distance call to someone he felt should know what is going on in New York.

January 3 13:00

With assurances from agent Williams that Illya Kuryakin's files had been doctored before being sent over to the Russian embassy, Napoleon Solo isolated himself in the inner office and made an effort to catch up on the daily routine of running UNCLE. There were other pressing problems throughout the world which required his attention.

After assigning agents to deal with some of the more immediate difficulties, Napoleon Solo sat at Mr. Waverly's desk and began the daunting task of working his way through the mountain of paperwork threatening to topple over and spill its contents over the floor.

Nearly eight hours later, Solo had managed to reduce the pile of folders by over half. It had been a long couple of days and he desparately needed some sleep. He made a quick call to Agent Mitchell to check on Mr. Waverly, and another one to Nurse Elma to check on Illya. She reported that she had been keeping him heavily sedated as per his orders and that Illya was sleeping.

Solo pushed his chair from the desk, turned out the lights, and made his way to the leather couch in the alcove hoping to take a much needed rest to recharge his energy level.

Unfortunately, sleep eluded him as he worried about his partner. Physically, his friend was still not out of the woods yet, and he was now in danger of being terminated for a crime he didn't commit, all because Napoleon was playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with his plan for catching the mastermind of Waverly's kidnapping. Maybe he should just make his accusation when all of the chiefs arrive and be done with it. But, he wasn't sure who else, if any, was involved in the plot and he needed to make sure he could build a case satisfactorily enough to bring all of the culprits to justice.

January 4 06:00

The acting Section 1 Chief shifted his position on the couch, checked his watch and decided that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. Fernando Yrigollen, Section 1 Chief for South America, would soon arrive and Napoleon needed to prepare for the chief to take over the investigation. With a quick shower and shave as well as a fresh suit, Napoleon was ready when he received the message that Sr. Yrigollen was at the agents' entrance to headquarters and on his way up to Waverly's office. Napoleon took one more look in the mirror, shot his cuffs and walked over to the entrance of the office to greet Sr. Yrigollen.

The pneumatic doors opened to reveal a small statured man surrounded by Bill Williams and three other New York Headquarters Section 3 agents.

"Sr. Yrigollen, welcome to UNCLE Northwest Headqua..."

"Agents, arrest this man!" The South American Section chief's brown eyes snapped with anger as he gave the order. "Agent Napoleon Solo, you are hereby relieved of all duties and will stand trial for treason, deceiving your superiors, and abuse of the powers available to you in the past two weeks."