NYU ER Department/ Freddie's Diner

Sam waited patiently whilst the ER's chief nurse, Helen Atkins finished suturing the cut on the hand of her patient and finished the paperwork that allowed them to be discharged. When she had finished she smiled tiredly at Sam.

'Look, that's me finished now and I really need a coffee. Do you mind if we head over to Freddie's across the road while we talk?'

Sam smiled 'I could do with a coffee too'

Freddie's was a typical diner and clearly drew a lot of trade from the hospital. As Sam walked in she could see the TV over the bar was showing a picture of Molly

'The FBI and police are still searching for a three year old girl snatched from Central Park this morning.

Molly McCardle was snatched by this woman who posed as her Nanny. Her Mother, Dr Caitlin McCardle is an Attending at the NYU ER and is due to make a statement later today.

The FBI has issued this number for the public to call if they have any information.'

Everyone in the diner was silent watching the news report. Sam saw the big man stood behind the counter wipe a tear from his eye. Helen spoke softly

'Most of the people that come in here work in the hospital. Freddie', she indicated the man Sam had noticed 'has run this place for 20 years and knows everyone but he has his favourites and Caitlin is one of them. He knew her when she was a resident and he was over the moon when she came back. She brings Molly in here sometimes at weekends and Freddie dotes on her.'

Sam and Helen approached the counter. Freddie came around and hugged Helen 'I can't believe this. How is Caitlin, she must be going out of her mind'

Helen hugged him back and then indicated Sam, 'Freddie, this is Special Agent Spade. She wants to ask us some questions about Caitlin and Molly'

Freddie turned to Sam 'Of course, anything I can do. Why don't we grab a seat at the back and I'll get some coffee for us to drink while we talk.'

He led them to a booth at the back of the diner. Sam opened her notebook

'How long have you both known Dr McCardle?'

Helen looked thoughtful 'Well I've known Caitlin since her first ER rotation as a medical student so that would have be, what, 5, no 6 years ago now.' She looked at Freddie

'I remember her the first time she came into the diner, such a beautiful girl. She sat on that stool', Freddie indicated the stool at the end of the counter 'and we talked about Chicago.' He looked at Sam 'that's were I grew up and Caitlin knows it well.'

'Would you say you and Dr McCardle were close?' Sam looked at Helen

'We got on well then and we get on well now. If our breaks coincide then we always grab a coffee together. If you are asking if I know the in's and out's of her life then no I don't but I don't think anyone does. She's not the type to open up much about anything outside the hospital.'

Sam looked thoughtful 'Is there anyone else you would say she was particularly close to?'

'Well she and Lucy Randall went to med school together. I think she and Caitlin are close'

'Where would I find Lucy?'

'She's a paediatrician at NYU. She's in today and her shift wont finish for another 3 hours so you should be able to find her in the hospital.'

'Ok thanks, that's really helpful' Sam paused, 'look this may sound very nosy and intrusive but I need you to tell me anything you know about any boyfriends Dr McCardle may have had'

Sam saw the look that passed between Helen and Freddie 'Guy's I know it's not fun to talk about this stuff but we think Molly was taken by someone who had a grudge against Dr McCardle and we have to consider that it might be because of someone she dated'

Freddie indicated to Helen 'Tell her'

'Well, I don't know about any boyfriend's before she started her rotation at NYU but I doubt they were important, she certainly never mentioned any. She started dating Nick Hollander towards the end of her stint as a med student. He was a third year surgical resident then. They dated for around 3 months or so but Caitlin ended it because he was too possessive' Helen again looked at Freddie

'Yes, I remember that she was dating him. I never got the impression that it was serious for her' Freddie sounded thoughtful.

'Was there any bad blood between them after they split?'

'Well Nick wasn't happy but I suspect that was his ego being bruised; I think it was usually him who did the dumping, but they stayed friendly enough and he started dating a nurse in the ICU a couple of months after they split'

Sam smile at Helen 'Thanks, that's very helpful. How long was it before Dr McCardle started dating again?'

Freddie and Helen looked at each other again and Helen laughed 'I can tell you almost exactly'

Flashback: 10:05pm Thursday 7th February 2002

'God its cold' Helen shivered as she and Caitlin ran across the street to Freddie's

They pushed open the door and entered the diner.

'Hi Rachel, you about to go on shift?'

Rachel Henderson turned and pulled a face at Helen and Caitlin 'Yes and I' m late…please tell me it's quiet in there tonight.'

Caitlin was laughing 'Well I will if you want me to but you'll know me for a liar the moment you walk through the doors'

The three women laughed. Freddie arrived over with a percolator full of freshly brewed coffee.

'Coffee ladies?'

'Yes please, and I need mine to go. Are the two of you drinking in or out?' Rachel asked

'I need to get home, Mike promised he would wait and eat with me tonight so I'd better not keep him waiting'

Caitlin smiled at Helen 'I take it that things are going well with Mike then?'

'Mmmm, yes they are!'

Caitlin grinned 'Well Freddie I'll have mine here please'

Freddie beamed at Caitlin and made up two coffees' to go and one in a mug. As he poured the coffee the door opened and a tall, dark haired man walked in.

'Danny' Rachel sounded surprised.

The man turned towards the women at the counter. His face was impassive as he looked at Rachel, then he smiled although Caitlin got the impression that he was less than pleased to see her

'Hello Rachel'

A slightly awkward silence fell before Rachel blurted out 'So what are you doing here?'

'I was in the neighbourhood, haven't eaten all day, saw this place and remembered you telling me how good it was'

Freddie beamed at him 'Well, what can I get you?'

Danny looked at Rachel in her coat 'Are you just coming or just going' Caitlin got the distinct feeling that he was hoping she was going.

Rachel looked at the clock behind the counter and gasped 'Hell, look at the time, I've got to go' she turned back to Danny, a strange look in her eye 'It was nice to see you again, maybe see you around some time' with that she waved to Caitlin, Helen and Freddie and headed out of the diner.

Danny smiled at the two women stood at the counter 'Well, I'm starving, what would you recommend?'

Helen grinned at him 'I'd love to help you choose but I am well and truly in the dog house if I don't get home on time tonight but Caitlin was planning to stay and eat here tonight so I am sure she will be only too willing to help you.'

Helen saw the slight widening of Caitlin's eyes as she realised what Helen was up to. Helen bent close and hissed in her ear 'He's totally hot, there's no ring, he wouldn't be eating here if he had a woman at home to cook for him so go for it girl'

'What?'

Caitlin couldn't believe what she was hearing

Helen leaned forward again 'You need to get laid and I reckon he could be just what the Doctor ordered' and with that she beamed at Danny and Freddie and headed out of the diner.

Caitlin could hardly bring herself to look at Danny. She dragged her eyes up and saw he was struggling not to laugh

'How much of that did you hear?'

'Well, I'm flattered that she thinks I'm hot, she's right, I'm not married and I'm not dating anyone at the moment' Danny was struggling to keep a straight face as he saw the growing horror in her eyes and decided that some diplomacy was called for 'but I didn't catch what she said after that'

Danny watched in amusement as she flushed and put her head into her hands; 'Well I suppose we have to be thankful for small mercies'.

Caitlin picked her head up and saw that he had been unable to stop a smile spreading across his face; she decided that Helen was right, he really was gorgeous; she found herself smiling back.

'Are you eating here tonight?' Danny tried to sound casual, unconcerned, as if he was always asking drop dead beautiful women to eat with him.

Their eyes met and Caitlin felt as if all the breath had been sucked from her body. She somehow managed to speak; 'I was planning to'

'Would you mind if I joined you?'

He watched as her mouth curved into a smile; 'I'd like that'

End of flashback

'And that was the start of it' Helen and Freddie were both grinning

'The start of it?'

Freddie had a broad grin in his face 'Agent Spade they sat there from just after 10pm until around quarter to six the next morning and didn't stop talking. Then he left and Caitlin headed over to the hospital to start her next shift.'

Helen grinned 'I was on shift with her that morning and she was tired obviously, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. I know she got a call from him later that morning and when her shift finished at 2pm she said she was going to meet him for lunch.'

'You said his name was Danny, do you know his surname?'

Helen and Freddie looked at each other for a moment

'I don't think I ever found out his surname' Helen sounded thoughtful 'did you?' she turned to Freddie

Freddie shook his head 'No, and I only saw him a couple of times after that. I would ask Caitlin how it was going and she would just laugh and say it was going great' he paused then smiling broadly he continued 'but you could tell it was going great she just had a glow about her'

Helen nodded 'She was really, really happy but she didn't talk about it much. If I asked she would just say everything was great, I certainly never saw him at the ER.'

'So you said you were certain that you knew when the relationship started?'

'Yes, well Valentines Day was exactly one week after the night they met in the diner and Caitlin got a dozen red roses sent to her in the ER. I remember Rachel was on shift that night and was asking who they were from. I told her that I thought they were from Danny and she looked a little funny'. Helen looked at Sam and shrugged

'Well I'm nosy, I admit it so I asked her how she knew him. She said they had dated him the previous year for a while but that they had split up. She looked a little pissed but then she just smiled and said she hoped Caitlin would have better luck than she had.'

'So does Rachel still work at the hospital?'

'Yes, she's my deputy in the ER. She's on holiday at the moment'

'When did her holiday start?'

'Yesterday, she's away for a week but I have no idea where she's going. It was only arranged last week but she said she had some urgent personal business to take care of so I agreed. I couldn't really say no after she had just worked almost an entire month of night shifts.''

'And you have no idea what the personal business is?'

Helen hesitated. When she spoke she sounded reluctant 'Look, this is pure speculation and I could be way off base but she's dating one of the surgical Attendings, Ethan Robinson, and it's possible they are experiencing some problems. That might be the personal business that she was referring to'

'Is he on holiday too?'

'No he's on shift at the moment.'

'Ok, well it's probably nothing to do with Molly's disappearance but thanks anyway. Now what happened between Dr McCardle and 'Danny'?'

Freddie sighed 'Well they dated for a few months. They even went away for a week together then all of a sudden she came in here one day and you could tell something was wrong. I asked if she was OK but she wouldn't talk about it. Two weeks later and she comes in, she's in tears and tells me she's transferring to San Francisco. I asked her why and she just said she couldn't stay.'

Sam looked at Helen 'Did she say anything to you?'

'No not really. You could tell she was upset and she looked dreadful, kept having to go to the bathroom and throwing up but when you think about when Molly was born I guess that was the morning sickness. She told me she was leaving as she finished her last shift. When I asked why she just shook her head and said she needed a fresh start.'

'Do you think 'Danny' is Molly's father?'

'Well given the dates I can't see how it can be anyone else'

'Did you ask her when she came back this year?'

Freddie and Helen looked at each other again before Helen spoke

'I asked her if Danny was Molly's father', she paused, 'Caitlin just said that as far as she was concerned Molly didn't have a father' Helen looked at Freddie and he continued

'She made it very clear that she wasn't prepared to talk about it and we respected that'

Sam looked thoughtful 'OK just a couple more questions. I know you said that you don't know Danny's surname but do you have any idea about what he did for a living?'

'I don't remember her saying what he did but I do remember her saying that they spent more time at her place than his because her bed sit was closer to where they both worked where as he lived in the Bronx….I think' Helen sounded uncertain.

'He worked for the Government but I'm not sure what he did exactly' Freddie sounded certain

'How do you know?'

'Because I joked with her not long after they had met. Told her that I assumed he was a dealer on Wall Street to afford the red roses on Valentine's Day and she just laughed and said no he was a Government employee and that he had all but bankrupted himself sending them to her. I told her that he must think she was special and I remember she blushed and said she hoped so'

Sam sat back looking at Freddie and Helen 'Thank you both, before I go can you just look at these sketches and tell me if you recognise either of these people'

Sam pushed the sketches across the table toward them.

Helen shook her head 'No sorry'

Freddie stared at the sketch of the 'nanny' 'No…' he sounded uncertain, Sam looked at him

'You don't sound certain'

Freddie frowned 'She reminds me of someone but I don't know who'

Sam looked at him 'Could she have in here recently, I mean it is possible that she has been following Caitlin. Or she works at the hospital?'

Freddie stared at the sketch and looked at Sam, frustration showing in his eyes 'I don't know' he dropped his head into his hands.

Helen put her arm around him, Sam reached over and touched his arm 'Freddie' he looked up and she could see tears in his eyes 'don't worry but if you remember, call me'