NYU Hospital Crèche

Elena gritted her teeth; she understood that it was upsetting, she was the mother of a young daughter herself for gods sake, if anyone understood that a child being snatched was upsetting it was another parent but she was struggling to remain calm.

Mrs Mackin grabbed yet another tissue as she continued to cry and ramble at the same time, 'I just can't believe this, we are always so careful, she's just the most adorable child, oh what are we going to do'

'MRS MACKIN'

Mrs Mackin stared at Elena, an offended look in her eye

Elena gritted her teeth and plastered a smile on her face 'I do understand how upsetting this must be, particularly for someone as, er, sensitive as you clearly are, but I need your help if we are going to find Molly.'

Mrs Mackin inclined her head stiffly, still upset at the tone of voice Elena had been forced to employ.

'Now, you say that this woman, Rose Henry, has worked for you for the last 4 weeks?'

Mrs Mackin nodded briefly, she still looked offended but Elena reckoned if that stopped the rambling she could live with it.

'In what capacity was she employed?'

'We have one of our nursery assistants on maternity leave at the moment, Frances Livingston, she has just had the most adorable little boy, Jake, 9lbs, and her only a little thing,' she saw the look in Elena's eye and stopped.

'Well, anyway, we recruited a temporary replacement, Nicole Evans. She has worked out so well, I'm going to see if we can offer her a permanent role, the children just love her, it was so unfortunate what happened'

She stopped and looked expectantly at Elena. Elena mentally counted to 10 before asking 'So what did happen Mrs Mackin?'

'Oh yes, of course, well she and her husband were in a car accident and she broke her leg. She was told that she will be in plaster for weeks so we had to get a temporary replacement for her.

Mrs Mackin sounded almost indignant; Elena thought she would be lucky if she hadn't ground her teeth down to stubs by the time she had extracted the information she needed.

'I see, and so Rose Henry is her replacement?'

'Yes dear that's right'

'OK, what background checks did you do on her?'

Mrs Mackin looked offended 'The same checks I do on all my staff. She had the required photo ID's and the police check came back clean so we employed her.

'And how was she as an employee?'

'She was on time, she was polite and she was very good with the children'

'Do you group the children according to their age?'

'Yes we do'

'And did Rose Henry work with Molly's group?'

'No she worked with the older children'

'Did she have any contact with Molly?'

'Oh yes, the groups mingle a lot, Molly knew Rose, in fact I noticed that she and Rose got on very well'

'Was there anything strange about Rose?'

'Well, she knew when I employed her that the job was for 6 weeks but on Saturday she called me and told me she wouldn't be able to come in this week as there was a family emergency. I asked her what sort of emergency and she was quite rude.' She sounded indignant

Elena gritted her teeth again and counted to 10, no she decided better make it 20; 'I see, yes that must have been very annoying but I think maybe my question was a little unclear, what I meant was did you notice anything strange about her behaviour at work?'

Mrs Mackin looked perplexed 'I don't follow you dear'

Elena plastered another smile across her face 'Well, was she overly interested in any of the children, did she try and find out details about their parents, that sort of thing'

Mrs Mackin drew herself up and with a haughty look on her face, 'No of course not, I wouldn't employ anyone that would behave in such a manner'

Elena stared in disbelief 'No of course you wouldn't, you just employ kidnappers'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

NYU Paediatrics Department

Sam paced up and down the hall outside the paediatrics operating theatre suite waiting to speak to Lisa Randall. She glanced along the corridor and saw Elena heading in her direction,

'Hey, how are you getting on?'

Elena rolled her eyes 'The woman who run's the crèche is a ..a…a …MORON'

Elena grinned at her weakly as Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise; 'Hmm, she's clearly got under your skin, but apart from the fact that she is a 'moron' did you learn anything?'

'Well 'Rose Henry' has worked in the crèche for the last four weeks, however get this, Viv has checked the records, Rose Henry died aged 3 years old in 1974.'

Sam stared, 'So it's an alias'

'Yes, we checked out the address she gave, it's empty. We checked with the landlord; he said she rented the apartment a month ago on a short term basis and paid up front in cash but that she's never lived there. Her cell phone was a prepaid one which she bought for cash. There are no credit cards and no bank account and she never cashed any of her pay checks'

'This sounds as if it has been planned for a long time'

'Yes, Jack has spoken to Dr McCardle and she claims that she never saw Rose when she dropped Molly off or picked her up, Not only that but she has never heard of a Rose Henry.'

'Any ransom demand?

'No there's been no contact', Elena shook her head in frustration before continuing 'Jack said you were trying to interview one of Dr McCardle's friends at the hospital'

'Yes, I'm just waiting for her to finish up in surgery'

'You want a hand?'

'Sure'

The two women sat on some seats waiting for Dr Randall. They saw a blonde woman leave the operating theatre and look around. She spotted Sam and Elena and headed in their direction

'Agent Spade?' she looked first at Sam and then at Elena

'Yes, and this is Agent Delgardo' Sam indicated Elena, 'you must be Dr Randall?'

'Yes I am. They told me what happened to Molly and that you wanted to speak to me' tears sprang into her eyes and she dashed them away impatiently. 'How is Caitlin holding up?'

'Dr McCardle is holding up as well as can be expected. She'll be making a televised appeal this afternoon.' Sam put a hand onto Dr Randall's arm in silent comfort

Elena indicated an empty waiting room 'Why don't we go in there to talk Dr Randall?'

'Sure, and my name is Lisa' she turned and led the way into the room.

When they had sat down Sam spoke

'Lisa, I have spoken to a number of people who know Caitlin and everyone says the same things; that she is an excellent doctor, that she loves her daughter, that she isn't dating anyone at the moment, that they can't think of anyone who would want to take Molly and that they don't really know anything about her outside of work'

Sam looked at Lisa 'I am hoping you can tell me more about her as a person outside of her work here'

Lisa regarded the two agents thoughtfully 'I do understand but Caitlin is a very private person and she doesn't let many people get that close to her.'

'Lisa, if we are going to find Molly we need to know as much as possible about Caitlin because we believe that this is the key to understanding who took her daughter' Elena sounded frustrated

Lisa sat forward and dropped her head into her hands for a moment then sat back up 'Ok, what do you want to know?'

'We know she dated Nick Hollander. Can you tell us anything about that relationship?'

'Well as part of our training we have to do a surgical rotation. Nick was one of the residents then and they take responsibility for the med students. Everyone teased Caitlin because it was obvious that he fancied her, I think a few of the other female students were jealous really I mean he's good looking, a rising star and comes from this incredibly rich, 'high society' family in San Francisco'

'Anyway, after the surgical rotation was over Nick asked Caitlin out but she turned him down. I was dating one of his colleagues so I arranged to meet Caitlin for a girls' night out one night and we 'accidentally' bumped into my boyfriend and Nick. At the end of the evening he asked her out again and she said yes; they dated for about three months.'

'Why did they break up?'

Lisa smiled wryly at Sam

'Well, Mr 'I'm so cool' fell hard for Caitlin. She liked him but it was just some fun for her, a break from the study books. He got clingy and started checking up on her every move so she ended it.'

Elena raised an eyebrow 'Did he cause any trouble?'

'Well we had a couple of late night visits with him begging her to take him back but she wouldn't and within a week he was off out with his buddies drinking too much and chatting up anything in a skirt. I know he had a fling with Rachel Henderson, I think she was probably the rebound and then he started dating Sonia Darwin an ICU nurse. I think they dated for nearly a year until he went back to San Francisco after his father died. He's engaged now, gets married next month.'

'When did you speak to him last?'

'He's in New York with Jayne, his fiancée, for a short break; we all had dinner at Caitlin's apartment last night' she paused and saw the looks on the two agents faces

Look, he helped Caitlin a lot in San Francisco and I saw him whenever I was there; the four of us have become good friends and Nick and I are Molly's godparents.'

'How would you say his relationship is with Caitlin since she moved back to New York?' Elena lent forward looking intently at Lisa.

'They have a good relationship. Caitlin moving back to New York hasn't affected her friendship with Nick and Jayne, I mean they miss her and Molly but…. ' she shrugged her shoulders

'You say he helped her a lot in San Francisco, did they start dating again?' Sam asked

'No, nothing like that. Their relationship is strictly platonic but Nick was a really good friend to her when she was having Molly and since as well. He and Jayne adore Molly; Jayne helped Caitlin with Molly a lot; when she had to work a night shift Jayne would stay over to baby sit Molly.

Sam and Elena exchanged glances before Elena asked 'And why are they in New York?'

Lisa looked uncomfortable 'That's really their business and it's not right for me to be talking about it, she paused before adding angrily, 'and I don't see what it has to do with Molly'

'This is a federal investigation Dr Randall and what is relevant and what isn't is down to us to determine, now please tell us why they are in New York' Elena sounded annoyed

Lisa sat for a moment staring angrily at Elena. When she spoke she left the two agents no doubt how she felt about answering the question; 'Jayne started having problems with her periods last year. She has undergone a number of tests and the upshot is that it is highly unlikely that she will be able to have a child. She and Nick came to New York because Professor Richard Denham practices here and he is a specialist in this area and they wanted to see if there is anything he can do.'

Elena and Sam exchanged glances once again before Sam asked; 'OK, do you know where they are staying in New York; we are going to want to talk to them'

'They are staying with relatives of Jayne's on the Upper East Side. I don't know the address but I can give you Nick's cell phone number', she scribbled it down onto a piece of paper and handed it to Elena.

Sam looked at Elena who stood up, 'I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Dr Hollander' she nodded at Sam and left the room.

Sam turned back to Lisa 'I need you to tell me about Caitlin's relationship with Danny'

Lisa looked at her suspiciously 'Why, he works with you, or at least he used to, I would have thought you know as much as I do' her voice was flat and angry sounding.

Sam looked at her for a moment and sighed 'Lisa, I found out the 'Danny' that Caitlin was dating is the same Danny that I work with about 10 minutes before we sat down with you. The one thing I can tell you about Danny is that he keeps his private life private. I've never met any of the women he has been out with and he's never spoken about them except in very abstract terms. I understand that you are suspicious but I need you to tell me about their relationship'

'Surely he would be a better person to ask or Caitlin?' Lisa still sounded unsure

'And we will talk to both of them but for now I need you to talk to me about this,' Sam looked at Lisa still seeing the anger on her face, she continued 'look Lisa, every minute counts when you are looking for a child Molly's age….' Sam sounded almost desperate in her effort to get Lisa to open up

For a moment Lisa stared at her then she nodded slightly

Flashback to 15th February 2002

Lisa looked over the top of her coffee cup, her mouth hanging open in amazement 'How am just hearing this now? You meet the most drop dead gorgeous guy over a week ago and this is the first time we're talking about it?'

Caitlin was laughing so hard she had to put her coffee down in case it spilt, Lisa looked so offended

'Come on, I want to hear EVERYTHING'

'Oh dream on, headlines is all you get'

Lisa looked intently at her friend 'You're sleeping with him'

Caitlin didn't say anything but the smile on her face was enough proof for Lisa

'You are, I can tell'

Caitlin ignored her instead she asked 'How do you know he's 'drop dead gorgeous'? To my certain knowledge you've never laid eyes on him?'

'Duh…Helen told me. So come on then how many times have you seen him?'

Caitlin sat back, a grin on her face 'Ok, but headlines only' she warned

'OK, OK, get a move on!'

'Well, as I am sure that Helen told you, we met in Freddie's after I went in for something to eat after my shift finished on Thursday last week. He bought me dinner and we sat up and talked until it was time for my early shift to start. I met him for lunch after my shift had finished and he invited me to go dancing the next night…which we did….which was wonderful.'

Caitlin stopped and Lisa sat forward eagerly 'And?'

'And what?' Caitlin sounded innocent

'And AFTER the dancing, what, you're going to tell me he walked you home kissed you on the cheek and left?'

Caitlin laughed softly 'No, after the dancing we took a CAB home, he kissed me until I didn't know which way was up and he left on Monday morning…..

'Seriously? Monday morning? Please tell me you spent all of Sunday in bed? Please tell me you weren't playing chequers?'

'OK, we weren't playing chequers'

The look of frustration on Lisa's face had Caitlin laughing again; 'OK, yes we spent all of Sunday in bed and beyond that you get NOTHING'

Lisa beamed at Caitlin 'Helen said she thought you must be getting some action at last, she said you've been in a much better mood' she saw the look on Caitlin's face and laughed 'of come on, it's about bloody time. Have you seen him since?'

'Only every night….except last night of course since I was on duty'

Lisa sat back and looked at the soft smile on Caitlin's face 'This is serious isn't it?'

'Oh come on, we're one week in, no-one can know that quickly….'

Lisa shot her a stern look and Caitlin stopped talking, a more serious expression on her face

'I'm terrified that I'm going to tempt fate but this does feel….different, sort of special…' she stopped and then shot Lisa a stern look of her own

'This goes no further OK?'

'Cross my heart'

End of flashback

Lisa smiled at Sam; 'She had never spoken about anyone like that before. She was really, really happy with him and they were good together.'

Sam looked surprised 'Did you meet him?'

'Yes, about 3 or so months after they started dating my boyfriend and I got given 4 tickets to the opening of a new club. I asked Caitlin if she and Danny wanted to go with us. If I'm honest I was expecting her to say no but she came in the next day and said that she had asked Danny and he had said yes. That's when she told me what he did, kind of warning me that his job sometimes got in the way of nights out.' Lisa bit her lip slightly in concentration

'Anyway, he didn't have to work and the four of us went out and we had a really great night. My boyfriend at the time, Jake, was a huge Met's fan so he and Danny hit it off…..it was just a really good night.'

Lisa looked up at Sam; 'You could tell that he loved her, well, that they loved each other. They were in their own world, and when they danced together….' Lisa shook her head slightly and grinned 'well, when they danced together they were so damn hot it left me wanting to push Jake to the ground and do him right there'

Sam grinned 'That hot huh?'

Lisa smiled 'We saw them again about three weeks later. They were planning a week away, everything was great. When they got back from their break I asked Caitlin how it had been and she said it had been the best week of her life, I mean she was glowing. A couple of days later she told me Danny had asked her to think about getting a place together……….and then everything went wrong'

Sam stayed silent giving Lisa time to collect her thoughts. Lisa grimaced as she spoke

'I got a call from Caitlin late one night. She was in a terrible state; she told me that Danny had accused her of having an affair with Nick; that they had had a huge row and she had thrown him out. I went round and stayed with her' Lisa looked at Sam 'she was in a bad way. The next morning she spent an hour throwing up.'

'Morning sickness?'

'Yeh but we hadn't realised that yet. She didn't call him the next day, she figured that he would realise that it was crazy and he would call her but he didn't. The next day when she spent most of the day throwing up she discovered she was pregnant. She called him at least twice and asked him to call her but all she got was a message saying he had nothing to say to her and that as far as he was concerned it was over.'

Lisa looked at the amazement on Sam's face and smiled sadly 'I know, I didn't figure him for such a jerk either'

Sam pulled herself together 'What happened then?'

'She decided to go and see him and try and make him listen but in case he wasn't there or he wouldn't listen she wrote him a letter. She told me he wasn't in so she pushed the letter under the door. She was in a bad way over the next couple of days waiting for him to call. When it had been a week she knew he wasn't going to.'

Sam saw anger suffuse Lisa's face

'It was like someone turned a light off, she was so sad, and there was nothing I could do. When Nick offered her a chance to move she didn't even stop to pack, so I packed everything up for her and shipped it.'

The two women sat in silence until Sam spoke; 'And you said you stayed in contact with her?'

Lisa looked up, the anger had left her face and she just looked sad. 'Yes, you know, mainly phone calls and emails but we saw each other a couple of times a year when I went to San Francisco' she paused and bit her lip again before continuing, 'she was so sad. She tried to hide it, pretend everything was OK but she wasn't. You know she hasn't dated once since they split up. She say's it's because of Molly but I don't think she has really got past Danny. Molly saved her; she loves that little girl so much…'

Lisa broke down sobbing and Sam put her arms around her to comfort her 'You have to find Molly, if anything happens to her I think it will kill her'