Bullpen – FBI Offices Manhattan

Vivien was sitting at her computer screen when Sam, Elena and Martin arrived back from the park.

'How's it going?'

'Well, we think the snatch was planned. It looks as if the 'Nanny' was working with an accomplice who knocked over Gerald Forsyth to create a diversion. They knew that Dr McCardle would go to help and grabbed the girl while she was distracted'

Martin placed two artist's sketches on the white board as he filled Viv in while Sam and Elena both sat down at the conference table.

'And Gerald Forsyth didn't make it?'

'No, he died of a suspected heart attack after he was knocked over'

'Did Dr McCardle see those sketch's?'

'Yes, she didn't recognise either of them'

'So what have you got so far Viv?' Elena asked

'Ok, well Dr Caitlin McCardle, graduated top of her class at NYU and got an internship in the ER Dept but transferred to St Christopher's, San Francisco, in early August 2002.'

'That's not usual is it?' Sam had a frown on her face

'No it's not' continued Vivien 'and she must have been pregnant at the time because she gave birth to Molly on March 3rd 2003. Anyway she remained in San Francisco until May this year when she completed her residency programme. She was approached by NYU with an offer of an Attending's post which she took.'

'Who is Molly's father?'

Martin was starting to fill in the timeline on the white board.

'Well that's an interesting question, Molly's birth certificate does not list a father' Viv paused seeing Sam, Elena and Martin all realise the potential significance of this fact.

'So we possibly have a father being denied access to his child and resorting to kidnapping' Elena sounded thoughtful. 'We need to know who the father is' she looked around the bullpen 'Where's Danny I haven't seen him all morning'.

'He's in court; he has to testify in the Pryor case. Where's Jack? Vivien stood up and approached the conference table

'He took Dr McCardle back to her loft in Greenwich Village…..' Martin couldn't finish before Sam exclaimed

'Greenwich Village? On a Doctor's salary, with a young child? How does she afford that?'

Martin raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged his shoulders.

'Hmm' Vivien sounded thoughtful 'Well, we need to establish who the father is. I'll call Jack and get him to ask Dr McCardle about that. Martin, you check into the Doctor's finances, Sam you get to the hospital and interview her colleagues, see if any of them know why this might have happened and Elena, you need to check out everyone who cared for Molly when Dr McCardle was at work'

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Caitlin and Molly's Apartment – Greenwich Village, New York

The tech guys had finished setting up the trap and trace on Caitlin's phone in case a ransom demand came in. Jack looked around and saw her stood at the window staring sightlessly down into the street below. His phone rang

'Malone'

'Hey Jack, its Viv are you able to talk?'

Jack looked over to Caitlin who hadn't moved

'Caitlin, I'm just going to step into the hallway to take this call'

She looked up, her eyes staring blankly at him before nodding briefly and then turning back to stare out of the window.

Jack stepped into the hall

'OK Viv, what've we got'

'OK, well the apartment is owned outright by Dr McCardle. It was bought in May when she started at NYU as an Attending. Martin has been following the money and it appears that Dr McCardle has trust funds that currently total around $25million.'

Jack whistled softly in surprise

'So we could get a ransom demand then'

'Well it's certainly a possibility, but it is interesting. She appears to have received control of her trust funds at the age of 18 but the only times she has touched them are to pay her college tuition; to buy a house in San Francisco, which she sold when she moved back to New York, and to buy the loft she's in now. There is no evidence that she has ever taken an income from it. When she was working as a resident at NYU she survived on the money she earned and lived in a bed sit.

'Interesting, I wonder why she is so reluctant to use the money. Who set up the trusts?'

'Martin is still working on that, there are a number of dummy corporations including several registered in the Cayman's so there is no guarantee we will be able to find out who set them up.'

'Ok, anything else?'

'Yeh, her social security number was issued when she was 18. We have no record of a Caitlin McCardle prior to that date. It appears to be a legal name change but again, we are still trying to track it back.'

'Ok, anything else?'

'One last thing, there is no record of who Molly's father is and no evidence that she is receiving any child support payments'

'Ok well I'll go and have a conversation with her and see what I can find out'

Jack went back into the apartment; Caitlin was still stood at the window staring out. Jack walked to her side and she looked up at him, her eyes desperate

'Have you heard anything?'

No not yet, but I need to ask you some more questions'

She looked at him blankly for a moment then sat down on the window ledge. Jack sat next to her

'Caitlin, the smallest detail can make the difference between finding Molly and not finding her. We think that she has been taken by someone who knows you so your background is a vital part of us finding Molly; do you understand?'

She frowned at him, impatience showing in her eyes

'Just ask me what you need to know'

'OK, well firstly there are your trust funds; there's a lot of money and we can't see where it has come from. Can you help me with that?'

'Most of its guilt money, some of it is from my mother's family'

Jack looked at her blankly

'My father is a total bastard. My mother died when I was a baby and he re-married when I was 4. My step mother is a society princess, you know, Daddy's little darling, get's whatever she wants whenever she want's it.'

'OK, so how did you end up with trust funds totalling $25million?'

'My step mother didn't want me around so I was sent away to school. Holidays were usually spent with my mother's parents with just enough time spent with my father and step mother so as not to raise too many eyebrows' there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. She continued;

'My grandfather died when I was 15 and my grandmother died when I was 17 which meant that I had to spend more time with my father. The Christmas I turned 18 my step mother and I had a huge fight after she accused me of borrowing some shoes or something equally pathetic. During the fight she hit me and knocked me down a flight of stairs. I was knocked unconscious; she panicked and called my father who called a doctor friend of his. He came over and checked me out and told them I needed to go to hospital for a proper check but they refused because they were worried that the press would get hold of it and damage my step mothers reputation'; her tone was openly contemptuous now

'Two days after the fall I was driving into town when I passed out at the wheel. The car crashed off the road into a ditch; I was taken to hospital where they diagnosed a fractured skull. It was obvious that the fractured skull had happened prior to the crash and so they called the police because they thought I must have been assaulted. ' She paused and looked at Jack.

Jack shook his head in disbelief 'So…what happened next?'

'Well to cut a very long story short my father begged me not to tell the police what had really happened. He wanted me to tell them that I had fallen down the stairs because I had been drinking and that I hadn't told anyone because I was worried I would get into trouble as I was underage' her mouth tightened in distaste at the memory.

'I refused. My stepmother's father came to see me. He said he would pay me to 'go away' as he so charmingly put it. The conditions were that I would change my name and have no further contact with my father's family. I told him to take a running jump but he told me that he would set me up on a drugs charge if I didn't take the offer'

She paused again, raised her head and looked at Jack. 'I knew he would do it so I agreed to change my name and to 'go away' but I told him I didn't want the money. Being the sort of man he is he wouldn't believe I wouldn't want the money so he set up the funds anyway. I haven't seen them since.'

'And you've hardly used the money?'

Actually I've never used it. When I was 18 I also received the money my grandparents and my mother left me. They aren't in the same league as my step mother's family but most people would think it was a significant amount; it's certainly more than enough for my needs.'

'I used it to pay my college tuition, my grandfather always wanted me to be a doctor and he always said that he had put some money aside to pay for it, but once I could earn enough to take care of myself I decided I wouldn't use the money unless I needed to. When Molly was born I knew I needed somewhere safe for us to live and at that point she was more important than my stupid pride so I used some of the money.

She paused again 'Does that give you what you need to know'

Jack looked at her thoughtfully 'What was your name before you changed it'

'Catherine Tremaine'

Jack stared at her, 'As in Lucas Tremaine?'

'Yes, he's my father'

He understood now. Lucas Tremaine was married to the former Melissa Heatherbridge, daughter of Roland Heatherbridge a multi billionaire industrialist. Jack knew that the FBI suspected links to organised crime but as Mr Heatherbridge employed an excellent legal team and had a significant number of congressmen and senators beholden to him for campaign funds nothing had ever been proven.

'Your father is one of his lawyers'

'My father signed a pact with the devil without so much as a backwards glance' she sounded contemptuous.

'We have to consider that they were involved in Molly's kidnap'

'I understand that you have to consider that they may have taken Molly but I really can't think of a single reason why they would. There has been no contact since that Christmas and I can't see why they would suddenly snatch my daughter' she sounded certain.

Jack thought she was probably right. The snatch looked like it had been planned but not so well that it spoke of the money and resources Roland Heatherbridge would have been able to bring to the party. He changed the subject;

'OK,' he paused for a moment 'Caitlin, we checked Molly's birth records…….'

'And you want to know who her father is'

'Yes'

She turned away and stared out of the window; the silence lengthened

'Look, ninety percent of child kidnappings are by a parent so one of the theories we have to consider is that her father snatched her so it would help enormously if we knew who he was' Jack spoke firmly

She shook her head and he could see tears in her eyes 'I promise you, Molly's father has nothing to do with this.'

Jack opened his mouth to speak but before he could his cell phone rang……