A/N: This chapter's kind of short, but a few things are going to be explained in the next one, so there you have it.

CSU was just leaving the next morning when the Feds came around. Elliot and Olivia had showed up only about an hour before, and so it was the four of them that Dean, Dana and their companions found themselves facing down in the entryway of the apartment.

"We don't have to do this the hard way," Dean said, without looking in Olivia's direction. "You know why we're here."

"And you know why we're here," Olivia replied, evenly. "You're only wasting your time here."

Dean ignored this, and instead turned to face John. "Do you need to see the warrant?"

"I don't suppose it really matters, so long as you've actually got one," John said dryly, "And even if you didn't, there probably wouldn't be any stopping you."

"We go where the evidence leads, and right now, it's leading us to you," said Dana, picking up where her partner had left off. "Don't suppose you want to tell us why your crime scene unit was here."

"No, actually, we don't," John replied. "It's nothing to do with you. You've got your warrant, and you know what you're here for, so take what you will and leave."

Silence met this, when neither of the two federal agents still standing in front of the four of them said anything more. Their companions had already walked past, into the apartment, where they had obviously found what they'd come for. After a moment, they, too, went to join them.

"They're grasping at straws," Elliot said, once he was sure they were out of earshot. "What do they think they're going to find?"

"The same thing Fin and I found when we looked last night," said John. "It's going to make things point even further towards me."

"You didn't delete anything, did you?" Olivia asked, but he shook his head.

"No, I didn't," he replied. "And even if I had, it wouldn't exactly be hard for them to find out what that something was. Everything's still there, but it's not going to look good."

"So what are you going to do?" Elliot asked. "They go through that computer and they find whatever it is that's there...You could end up in federal lockup."

"I know. That's why CSU was here," John told him. "I know I didn't put that crap on there, and I know Rowan didn't, either, which leaves the possibility that someone's been in here that shouldn't have been."

"Maybe you should move into another apartment," Olivia remarked, shaking her head. "This is the second time this has happened to you."

"Well, at least there weren't any cameras for CSU to find this time," John said dryly. "That might have been a bit much."

"When do they think they'll have some kind of results?" Elliot asked.

"No idea. They said they'd try to get it done as soon as possible, but I heard over the news this morning that Major Case just picked something up, so there's no telling," said John.

Elliot bit back a laugh. "Major Case is working with us now," he said, "As of last night. That's probably what was on the news."

"So that puts us at what, eleven, not counting the Feds?" said Fin, and when Elliot nodded, he went on. "You talked to the commissioner?"

"It was his idea. Technically, this whole thing should have been Major Case's to deal with, but it stayed with us."

There was no reason for Elliot to say why this was; the others already knew. It was, however, a relief to know that there would be another unit backing them up. Footsteps sounded, catching their attention; moments later, the Feds walked past them, and were gone, the sound of the door closing echoing behind them.

"That didn't take very long," Olivia remarked, frowning slightly. "They really did only come for one thing."

"And they got what they came for. Our problem now is finding out who's been through here," said John. "In the meantime, what did you and Elliot find when you went to the Bronx?"

"Kari Applegate was there, at the six-four," said Elliot. "She was talking to one of her friends in the Homicide unit out there, and she hasn't been seen since."

"When did that happen?" Fin asked.

"About two days ago. She wouldn't tell Kelly Martin where she'd been or where she was going, but she kept going on about a cold case from Baltimore that she'd stumbled across," Olivia replied. "Something about a fire that killed one girl and left another in the hospital for two weeks."

"Any idea when this fire took place?" John asked. Olivia pulled a notepad out of her coat pocket and flipped it open.

"1976," she said. "The girl who died was identified as Phoebe Mitchell. She'd been missing from her home in Annandale, Virginia for six months."

"Who was the second girl?"

"No one knows. All she could tell the cops who found her when she woke up in the hospital was that her name was Katherine. She didn't remember anything else." Olivia trailed off for a moment, and then went on. "Why?"

"Because I know that case," John replied. "That fire happened in the district where I was walking a beat. My partner and I were the ones who found her, in a back alley a few blocks away from where the fire had been set."

"Did they ever find the guy who did it?" Elliot asked.

"No. The two murder police who picked that case up might have been able to get somewhere if the fire hadn't destroyed the entire building. There wasn't anything to be found." John paused for a second, and then, "You don't think that case has anything to do with this one?"

"It might," said Olivia. "Detective Martin told us that she seemed to think Kari was convinced that there was a connection."

"If she thought there was a connection, then why would she run?" Fin asked. "That doesn't make any sense. She could have gone to someone and said something."

"But the question is whether or not anyone would have believed her," said John. "I followed that case as far as it went. Leads were popping up every so often until I went into Homicide and then just like that, nothing. The trail went completely cold."

"Do you know what happened to Katherine, then?" Olivia asked. John nodded.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "She was adopted by the doctor who treated her, and his wife. I think their last name was McCormack."

"Is it possible for anyone you know in Baltimore to track her down and see if she's still there?" Elliot asked. A startled look had crossed his face, but it had disappeared as quickly as it had come, fast enough that out of the other three. John was really the only one to notice.

"I'll see if I can find any of them," he said. "If they can find anything, it might give us something more solid to work from."

The sound of the phone ringing in the Homicide squad room wasn't exactly new. The fact that her office was now two floors up and no longer at the back of the squad room, however, was new, and even though Kay Howard didn't technically have to answer the phone, she did.

"Howard, Homicide," she said, by way of greeting, not really paying attention to what she was saying as one of the detectives walked by with something for her to sign. A few seconds passed in silence, and she frowned. "Hello?"

"I'm still here. I'm just marveling at the fact that you've picked up the phone," came the reply. Kay rolled her eyes.

"It's nice to hear from you too, John," she said, dryly. "What trouble have you managed to get yourself into now?"

"Federal trouble, if this unit of mine can't find some way to get me out of it," said John, and Kay heard the sound of faint laughter in the background. She frowned again and sat on the edge of the desk the phone was resting on.

"What'd you do?" she asked, a worried note showing through in her voice. "What the hell is going on up there?"

"It's a long story," John replied. "But I need to ask you a favor, that is, if you're up for the task."

"Says the man who had to wait twelve years to take the sergeant's exam after missing it the first time around," said Kay. "You know I'll do anything, but some things are gonna cost you extra."

"I was hoping you'd say that. I need you to ask Kellerman if he knows anything about an old apartment building fire from 1976."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight," said Kay, reaching for a spare notepad and pen. "You want me to ask him if he knows about a case from thirty-two years ago? He'd have been what, ten?"

"I don't know, ask him," said John. "I know he wouldn't have been one of the investigators that Arson sent along, but this is one of those cases in which leads kept coming in for years after the fact."

"Got any more details for me?" Kay asked. "I can't just ask him about an apartment building fire; d'you know how many of those there are a year?"

"This one involved two girls," said John. "One of them was named Phoebe Mitchell, she'd been missing from Annandale, Virginia for six months. The other girl only gave the first name Katherine, and she was adopted by the doctor who treated her; that last name is McCormack."

"You know who the primary was on our side of things?" Kay asked.

"No idea. If the archives still have the file, you might be able to find out for both sides. It's got something to do with a case that we're trying to run up here."

"Well, the archives should still have the fire. I'll go and pull it before I ask Kellerman anything. What else do you need?"

"I need to know if it's possible for anyone down there to find out where Katherine McCormack is today."

Kay shifted in her position on the desk, the pen in her hand falling to the ground as her grip on it loosened. "What were you saying about the Feds?" she asked. "Munch, if you're in some kind of trouble, I hardly think chasing after cold cases is the way to go about getting out of it."

"It might be the only way to get out of it," John replied. "Right now, it's all we've got up here in New York, so the sooner we get an answer, the better."

"Don't do anything stupid, you hear? The last thing you need is to give the Feds an excuse to arrest you."

"I don't plan on giving them the chance." Ignoring the startled looks that crossed the faces of his New York colleagues, John turned away from them, and went on. "Just ask Kellerman what he knows, and call me when you get an answer, will you?"

"Yeah, I'll call you. Just hold the Feds off until we can find something, if you think you can manage."

"That depends on what they think they have. I'll keep you posted." And with that, John flipped his cell phone closed, and turned back to face the others.

"They'll help us," he said. "They're going to pull the old file and see if they can't get anywhere with it, and they'll let us know if anything comes up."

"Do they think anything will?" Fin asked, but John shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "The case is thirty-two years old now, and there's no telling what might have happened to the file. If they can't find it, well..."

"Then you're screwed," said Olivia. "If they can't find it, there's no way for us to prove anything."

"Why would these people bother trying to set you up?" Elliot asked. "It doesn't make any sense, unless..."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Olivia frowned. "Unless what?" she said.

"When you and Fin talked to Rob Lautner, he told you that Maureen said to him that some of Kathy's family from Baltimore had come to visit, right?" said Elliot, turning to look in John's direction.

"Yeah, that's what he told us, why?" John asked in reply.

"Because Kathy doesn't have any family in Baltimore," said Elliot, getting to his feet from where he'd sat down at the kitchen table earlier on. "She's an only child, her father died four years ago, and her mother lives on the opposite end of Queens from us."

"Both of her parents were only children?" John asked, and Elliot nodded.

"And so were their parents. There's no one left besides her mother, and my side of the family, and everyone on my side is here in New York."

"So it's definitely someone that knows her, then," said Olivia. "An old friend, maybe?"

"I'd hardly call them a friend if they're doing something like this now," said John. "Do you know anything else about Kathy's life before she came to New York?"

"Not much. She keeps contact with a few friends from down there; I can get those names," Elliot replied, already reaching for his coat. "They're in her address book at home."

"I'll come with you," said Olivia, getting to her feet, too, and following after him. "We'll meet you back at the precinct."