Chapter 9
Sam and Dean donned the uniforms that they had 'borrowed' and entered the museum with the rest of the cleaning and restoration staff. They made themselves busy, pretending to clean the display cases as other members of the crew began to pack the desired item into its storage container. The Winchesters opted not to be part of the group who stored the artifacts. That position required each person to sign a form stating that they had been responsible for the storage of the artifacts and that they had verified the inventory of the exhibit. The signatures were checked against the names of the people working for the company, so the Winchesters would have been easily found out.
Sam slipped the amulet out as Dean kept watch. The inventory had already been taken and signed off on. All that needed to be done was to get the crates to the secure courier van to take them to the offsite storage location. The cleaning staff had no idea where the facility was, or even the name. It was another piece of security for the items. Sam slipped the item into his jacket pocket. Then he and Dean left by the back door, just in case the item was tagged, in such a way, to set off the metal detectors located at the main entrances. The rest of the crew had not paid much attention to the two, so they did not miss them when they were gone. After a quick release ceremony to rid the former owner of lingering unpleasantness, they handed the amulet over to the next person in line, Neal, thus modifying the plan slightly. Sam and Dean felt that Neal would be able to go ahead and place the amulet where it would be found by someone else easily enough. Thereby, not getting the NCIS agent involved in the actual act.
"What happened to the plan, guys?" Tony asked the Winchesters.
"…plausible deniability." Dean replied.
"I helped with the planning." Tony said.
"You hear criminals talk about committing crimes." Neal said. "That's like saying you heard a chef planning a menu."
"You don't know any such crime was actually committed." Sam said. "You didn't see it."
"You don't know anything was taken." Neal added. "And you didn't see it returned."
"Therefore," Dean concluded. "…you have plausible deniability."
"First of all, Dean Winchester, you should never use the word 'therefore,' it doesn't suit you." Tony retorted. "And second of all, there is a fine line…."
"You didn't cross it." Neal said, shaking his head.
"I feel like I did." Tony stated. "I knew of a crime that…."
"You knew of 'talk' of a crime." Sam stated. "That's it."
The fact was Neal was having trouble returning the amulet. It was actually still in Neal's possession, in a hiding place that Peter knew nothing about. Neal had just discovered it himself. And he used it now because it was not 'technically' in his apartment. That way if Peter needed to search, the conman would come up clean.
"I'm…there's a problem." Neal admitted when he and Tony had a private moment in the office. "I can't unload this thing on the guy I wanted to. He's not been in the city for three weeks. He's off visiting family in Arizona or Texas, or something. I can't get access to any other case or case file. That's the only one we're working on that we could even pin this crime on. All the evidence for the other cases we worked on recently was returned to the warehouse." Neal shook his head. "Every agent down there knows me. They won't let me in the place by myself. You can't get in there, not without a White Collar agent with you. And you know we can't involve anybody else in this."
Tony shook his head and sighed in frustration. "Sam and Dean…what do they…?"
Neal shook his head. "They officially left this morning." He winked. "They wanted me to tell you goodbye. But they said it would be easier if they were already long gone when this thing was 'discovered' stolen."
Tony nodded. He understood. "That's good. That takes suspicion off you, too. It'll help."
Neal agreed. "But, that still leaves a problem. You are going to have to help me with this. I can't…I just need to match a crook up to the crime. I need somebody who was actually in the city when the Winchesters took this thing." Neal paused. "I need access to the White Collar files to find a likely candidate."
"There's no way you keep things that current." Tony said a little astounded.
"You'd be surprised at the FBI's resources, Tony." Neal stated. "You really would."
Tony looked around to make sure none of the other agents were close enough to hear them. "You need me to snoop around in the files for a name." Tony concluded.
The conman nodded. He looked around also to double check.
"And what if I get caught?" Tony said. "What about my so called 'plausible deniability?'"
"That went out the window when we altered Plan A, trashed Plan B, and jumped right into Plan C." Neal explained.
"Aren't we still 'technically' on Plan B?"
Neal shook his head again. "My stooge was out of town. And all the others I thought about setting up wouldn't be stupid enough to go for something so public, something that's been in the papers so much."
Tony shook his head he was getting a headache. He eyed Neal. "And you think this is fun, this scheming and planning?" He paused. "Sam and Dean, are they still in the mansion? We need their…expertise."
Neal nodded. "It's about outsmarting everybody. It's about…finding just the right plan that will let you get away with it all."
"Yeah, well, stop it already." Tony said.
Neal grinned. "The Winchesters are still here. I just told Peter that they weren't so that they won't be blamed."
"Can't you just make some inquiries; listen to what's going on, on the street." Tony asked.
"Moz could make some inquiries." Neal offered.
"The little bald-headed dude, really?" Tony asked. "He's…."
"He can do it and not draw attention to us." Neal said knowing what Tony was thinking.
Tony shook his head. This was getting too complicated. "Adding another person, Neal…I don't know."
"We can go back to the idea of you searching the White Collar files." Neal offered.
Tony looked at Neal for a second. He then went to the fridge and helped himself to a beer. He popped the top and took a long swig. "It's sounding better all the time."
TBC
This next chapter will probably be the last. And, actually, it may take me awhile to write it. I am just not sure yet, how I want to end this story. Thank you all, so much, for reviewing and alerting. I hope you enjoyed the journey thus far. JL
