Meeting Room – FBI Offices, New York

Elena watched as Martin escorted Nick Hollander and Jayne Ellsworth into the meeting room and offered them a coffee. Their clothes, their shoes and the absolutely huge, 'fuck off' diamond on Jayne's finger all shouted money to Elena but more than that she felt the air of confidence about them, a confidence that in her opinion you only saw in people who have always had money.

Her eyes turned to look at Martin; she knew his background, who didn't, but he was just Martin, a nice guy, a good agent, someone she knew would always have her back in any situation; she never really gave his background much thought, but seeing him here, with these people she was suddenly aware of it; how comfortable he was in their world, how uncomfortable she was.

Martin was smiling at them, thanking them for agreeing to come in and help them. Elena's attention though was on Jayne; her eyes were red from crying and she clutched Nick Hollander's hand as if she was scared to let go of it.

'Is there any news of Molly?' Elena studied Nick Hollander carefully as he asked about his goddaughter, watching for any of the signs she had been taught to watch for; the ones that would tell her if someone was hiding something, but he seemed to be genuinely upset.

'We have a number of lines of enquiry and we are doing everything we can to find Molly' Martin spoke confidently but Nick Hollander looked unconvinced and Jayne Ellsworth looked scared.

Elena sat forward and spoke for the first time 'Dr Hollander, Ms Ellsworth, I understand you looked after Molly for the day two days ago?'

'Yes we did', Nick Hollander had his arm around his fiancée now as the tears ran faster down her face 'Caitlin had to work and we hadn't seen Molly since they to New York moved so Caitlin let us have her for the day'

'Can you tell us about the day, what you did, where you went, if you saw anyone you thought may have been following you or acting suspiciously around you' Elena knew she was sounding hard but didn't care;

Jayne Ellsworth spoke for the first time 'I was looking after Molly, Nick had a couple of appointments in the morning so I went over to Caitlin's first thing and Molly and I played there until about 11:30. I had arranged that we would meet Nick in the park for a picnic at 12:00; Molly loves going on the bus so we took a bus uptown.'

Elena mentally raised her eyebrows at this; Jayne Ellsworth travelling by a bus ……..who'd have thought?

'Did you see anyone on the bus that matched the descriptions of Rose Henry and the skateboarder' Martin pushed the sketches toward her; his voice was kind and Jayne threw him a grateful look before answering

'No, but to be honest I wasn't looking. We were watching what was going on outside the bus and Molly always has so many questions…….' She trailed off and looked to Nick Hollander for support; he squeezed her hand before he spoke

'I was already at the picnic spot in the park when they got there; I didn't notice anyone following them'

'And where was that?' Elena interrupted

'Nick and Jayne looked at each other for a moment before he looked back at Elena 'It was next to the playground that Molly was taken from today'

A silence fell and Martin and Elena exchanged looks.

Flashback to 30 minutes ago

'So they are on their way in for an interview?' Hearing that note in Jack's voice Martin could picture him at the other end of the phone, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, his face screwed into an expression of frustration at the lack of progress they were making.

'Yeh, Elena and I are going to interview them when they get here'

'Where is everyone else?'

'Sam's at the offices of HB International speaking to Lucas Tremaine' he heard an exclamation from Jack and carried on 'Yeh, I know, but guess what, he's in New York at the moment'

'Is he really? Tell Sam to let me know how that one goes as soon as she can; what about the rest?'

'Well, Viv is still chasing down all of the information we have collected so far, Danny is still in court'

'OK' Jack paused then, 'So what do you think?'

Martin sounded frustrated 'I really don't know, I mean when you mentioned the situation with her family I thought that had to be a possibility but I don't know, I mean why would they?'

'I know, we have to follow it up but I think that Caitlin is right, there is no reason at all for them to suddenly snatch Molly after all these years of no contact'

'I guess the most obvious choice is that the father has arranged to snatch her; have you managed to find out who he is? Sam said you were close but didn't get time to tell me anything more.'

Jack was silent for a few moments before speaking slowly 'Yeh, ordinarily I would agree with you that an absent parent would be the most obvious suspect, and with good reason, but I hope to hell that it isn't the case this time.'

Martin sat up slightly straighter hearing the strange note in Jack's voice 'Do you know who the father is?'

Jack sighed 'Well I'm waiting for DNA proof but yes, I think I know who the father is' he paused again and Martin waited, but Jack didn't speak

'Jack?'

Another pause, then, 'Its Danny'

Martin sat in stunned silence for a moment; Danny? Danny was Molly's father?

'No way, there is no way that Danny would have a child and we wouldn't know about it' Martin spoke with certainty but even as the words left his mouth a doubt was creeping into his mind, how much did he really know about Danny?

Jack sighed 'I know and I agree but we need to speak to Danny to clear this up and he's still in court but I would stake my life that he doesn't have anything to do with Molly's disappearance'

'Of course he wouldn't' Martin sounded furious 'Are you saying that Dr McCardle thinks he did?'

'No, in fact she is adamant that he isn't involved'

Martin took a deep breath trying to calm himself down, with an effort he pulled his mind back to the question of who had taken Molly

'So if it's not her family and it's not…not Danny who is it?'

Martin heard Jack half sigh, half groan 'My gut is that this is aimed at Caitlin. I know we checked at the hospital and that there were no red flags from her recent cases but who knows what sets some people off? Whoever it is must have been watching Caitlin and Molly for some time to know the playground they always go to because the distraction and the snatch were too well planned to be impromptu'

'So do you think they knew Caitlin's schedule or that they were following and saw their chance?'

'I hope it was because they knew her schedule because if that's the case the number of suspects becomes a lot shorter' Jack sounded grim

'How come?' Martin couldn't see how this was the case

'Because Caitlin was due to work a shift today but on Friday night she agreed to swap shifts with a colleague who wasn't able to get back from his holiday in time to do his first shift. She did his shift two days ago and he did hers today. I spoke to Helen Atkins and she said only a handful of people knew about the change…….

Martin ran his hand through his hair as he tried to take all of this in; 'Elena thinks that we need to consider if Nick Hollander and Jayne Ellsworth are involved. Lisa Randall said that Jayne's just found out she can't have children and that she has always spent a lot of time with Molly, having her overnight when Dr McCardle was working, that sort of thing and that finding out she can't have children and losing Molly may have pushed her over the edge'

'And what do you think?'

'I don't know, I mean they have the money to organise something like this but why stay around after, surely if you were going to use someone else to grab her you'd do it when you were nowhere near New York so that no suspicion would fall on you?'

'Yeh, I'm inclined to agree, but they may have seen something, or have seen someone follow them so it's worth pursuing...OK well, got to go, we are heading over to you now for the press conference and I want a meeting of all of us beforehand so we can see where we are and decide where best to concentrate our efforts……………'

End of flashback

Martin lent forward slightly 'You were at the playground two days ago?'

'Yes, it's Molly's favourite spot, she loves the sandpit so……..' Jayne's voice trailed away as she looked at the expression on Martin's face

'Did you see anyone, anyone at all that might have been watching you?' his voice sounded urgent now

Nick Hollander shook his head and looked at Jayne, she looked at Martin, a pleading look in her eyes 'No, honestly I didn't and I'm so careful with her, I didn't let her out of my sight, not for a minute'

Elena believed her but she wanted to see their reaction when she asked about...'Ms Ellsworth, can you tell us why you are in New York this week?'

Jayne Ellsworth went rigid and looked at Nick Hollander with desperate eyes. Elena saw a look of comprehension on his face rapidly replaced with anger

'Oh I get it, you think that we snatched Molly because Jayne can't have a child' his words were almost brutal

Elena saw the look of shock on Jayne's face as she frantically looked between Nick Hollander, Martin and finally at her; 'No, you couldn't think we would……..we love Molly….we love Caitlin….why would you think that?'

Martin cut across Elena before she could speak 'I'm sorry but we have to consider all possibilities and I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but if needs be would you consent to a polygraph test?'

Elena saw the anger again in Nick Hollander's eyes and the effort he made to control it but he didn't hesitate 'Yes, yes we would both take Polygraph tests'

Looking at them, Elena was sure that they were telling the truth. It didn't bring her any pleasure, it just meant that one more possible explanation was disproved and the trouble was, they were running out of suspects which meant that they were running out of ways to find Molly...

'What about Molly's father?' Nick Hollander still sounded angry

Martin and Elena glanced at each other again 'What about him?' Elena didn't make any attempt to hide the fact that she was getting angry too

'What, because he is an FBI agent he's not under suspicion but we are?' he sounded furious now.

'No; we will speak to Danny but he's been in court since 9am this morning so unless he arranged for someone to snatch her his alibi is pretty rock solid don't you think?' even Martin was starting to lose his cool.

'So what, you could imagine that Jayne and I could recruit someone to kidnap Molly but not her father?' Nick Hollander was on his feet, his face twisted in frustrated rage.

'That's not what we are saying' Martin was on his feet too; the door opened and Viv put her head into the room

'Martin, Elena, you're needed in the office'

Martin took a deep breath in an effort to calm down. When he felt he was in control again he turned to Nick and Jayne 'Do you mind waiting here? I can arrange some drinks for you'

'We're fine thank you but we would like to see Caitlin when we can please, she should have her friends with her'

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Office of Lucas Tremaine

Sam sat down in the chair that Lucas Tremaine indicated and tried not to stare. She knew him of course, who didn't; Roland Heatherbridge was high profile and didn't believe in doing anything that he couldn't employ someone else to do and that included speaking to the press; Lucas Tremaine was a regular face on the news commenting on a latest business venture or providing analysis of the latest political situation.

He was in his mid 50's, with a smooth well cared appearance. Too smooth, too well cared for Sam thought. She tried in vain to see some feature that showed that he was Caitlin's father but she couldn't……...

He smiled at Sam but she noticed the smile didn't reach his eyes; she guessed he wasn't going to piss off an FBI Agent until he knew what this was about; 'Thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice Mr Tremaine'

He inclined his head graciously and waited for her to speak

'Have you seen the news today?' she decided to be blunt, she doubted he would be talking to her for long once he knew what it was about

'He raised one eyebrow in surprise 'No Ms Spade, I haven't'

'I would have thought that a man in your position would need to always know what is happening in the news Mr Tremaine'

His eyes harden although the smile stayed in place 'I have people who do that for me Ms Spade; they of course keep me updated with the information that I need to know'

'I see, so have any of them told you that your granddaughter was kidnapped from Central Park this morning?' She watched to see if she got a reaction but although the smile had now gone, he remained impassive, staring at her.

'Mr Tremaine?'

His expression was icy 'I don't have a granddaughter Ms Spade'

Sam stared at him and then reached into her bag and produced a picture of Caitlin 'Is this your daughter?'

He didn't look down and Sam could feel herself getting angry; 'Please look at the picture Mr Tremaine, is this your daughter'

He looked down and then looked back up at her 'As far as I am concerned Catherine died when she was 18; therefore, as she is dead I cannot be a grandfather'

Sam had heard a lot that had shocked or surprised her since becoming an FBI Agent but this was right up there with the best of them; she felt a surge of anger as she glared at him

'If that's all Ms Spade I am a very busy man'

'No it isn't Mr Tremaine. Did you arrange for your granddaughter to be kidnapped?'

He stared at her for what felt like forever; Sam stared back, looking him squarely in the eyes, determined not to let the bastard see how uncomfortable he had made her'

'Hmm, it seems as if time has dimmed Catherine's memory but the agreement was that no contact of any description was to exist between us.' Sam felt a shiver run down her spine, despite the almost lazily casual tone to his voice she suddenly felt chilled to the bone

'Your daughter' Sam noticed he didn't miss the emphasis she placed on this word, 'doesn't know that I am here. She is of the opinion that you have nothing to do with the kidnapping, however we would be remiss in our duties if we did not speak to everyone connected with Caitlin and Molly'

He stared impassively at her, his eyes boring into her; 'But I'm not connected to these…'people' Ms Spade as I have just explained to you'

Sam couldn't restrain a slight shiver; she didn't think she had ever met anyone so cold. She stood up 'Well thank you for your time Mr Tremaine, we may want to speak to you again about this'

The expression in his eyes changed to one of malicious enjoyment, she realised he was actually getting a kick out of this 'If you want to speak to me again Ms Spade I suggest you get a warrant' he sounded confident that she wouldn't be able to get one.

She stared at him for a moment then quickly walked to the door but turned as she reached it; he was watching her a cold, calculating look in his eyes 'For future reference its Agent Spade not Ms and if we need to interview you again we will let you know and we will expect you to make yourself available, your wife too if we deem it necessary' and with a false smile Sam quickly walked out of the office

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FBI Offices – New York

Jack left Caitlin sitting in his office trying to compose herself ahead of the press conference and walked through to the office were the team had assembled.

'Right, we need to establish where we are in this case. It's 4:30pm and Molly has been missing for just under five hours now and we are getting nowhere' the frustration he was feeling showed in Jack's voice.

'As I know you know, Danny and Dr McCardle were in a relationship between February and August 2002' he paused, then holding up a piece of paper; 'I have just had the DNA results back and they confirm that Danny is Molly's father'

For a moment no one spoke

'Are we sure he knew?' Martin sounded almost angry

'Dr McCardle claims she wrote him two letters, the first was pushed under his door before she left for San Francisco, the second was sent by registered mail from San Francisco the day after Molly was born. Lisa Randall was there when she wrote both of them and saw what she wrote so we know they exist. She didn't see the first letter delivered so we have no independent proof that it was pushed under Danny's door but having spoken to Dr McCardle I believe she did deliver it. Lisa Randal took the second one to the post office. The post office has confirmed that the letter was delivered and signed for. We are waiting for a copy of the signature of the recipient'

Martin took a deep breath 'OK, but this isn't the Danny I know'

Jack nodded in agreement 'I know, it doesn't tally but until Danny finishes in court we can't ask him. I've arranged for us to be called as soon as he finishes and then one of us will need to let him know what has happened'

There was a heavy silence as everyone stared blankly at Jack then Martin spoke 'I'll do it'

'You sure?'

'Yeh, not a problem but let me have everything you've got so far so I can fill him in on what's happening, I mean, I don't want to miss an opportunity to piss him off so much he takes a swing at me' Martin sounded pretty pissed himself.

Jack shot him a half annoyed half empathetic look.

'OK, Viv, what have you got?'

'Well I've been running down work colleagues. There is only one I haven't been able to contact and that's Rachel Henderson. Apparently she and Danny dated briefly in 2001 and Danny met Dr McCardle indirectly through her. She is on holiday this week but I have the local PD checking at her apartment to see if anyone knows where she is.'

She continued; 'I've also been trying to establish who our skateboarder is. The television appeal has thrown up some names that we are running down but none look particularly promising.'

'Thanks Viv, Elena?'

'Well we know that the woman, 'Rose Henry', who snatched Molly from the park was employed in the hospital crèche under a false name. We have no bank account or credit cards. Her phone was prepaid and the only calls she made on it were to the crèche and the only calls she received were from people who worked at the crèche. She paid for the apartment in cash and didn't cash any of her pay checks so we don't have a money trail to follow. We assume that she was wearing a disguise so at the moment we are at a dead end with her.

'Martin and I have interviewed the ex boyfriend, Nick Hollander and his fiancée. We were considering them as potential suspects but neither Martin nor I believe that they are connected with this. As we finished up I asked him about his relationship with Rachel Henderson. He characterised it as a fling and he said that he wished it hadn't happened because he knew he wasn't over his break up with Caitlin at that point.'

Sam leant forward 'Did he say how Rachel took the break up?'

'I did ask and he said that she had seemed very understanding when he had explained about not being over Caitlin. But then he told me about a conversation he had with Ethan Robinson. As we know Dr Robinson is dating Rachel at the moment; well apparently Ethan has the hots for Caitlin and he had decided to finish things with Rachel. When he saw Dr Hollander two days ago he told him that he 'jumped the gun a bit' and had asked Caitlin out before he had ended things with Rachel'

Elena looked at Jack 'Ethan Robinson told Nick Hollander that he thinks that Rachel overheard him asking Caitlin out because Rachel started acting strangely but when he asked her if she was OK she said that she had some stuff going on and that she needed to sort it out and that she would call him when it was sorted.'

'When did this happen?'

'Last Friday'

Sam leaned forward 'That ties in with what Helen Atkins told me about Rachel suddenly asking for a week off' she paused then continued;

'You know, her name has come up a lot in connection with Caitlin, I mean she had a fling with Caitlin's ex boyfriend, Caitlin dated her ex boyfriend and now her current boyfriend may have asked Caitlin out'.

'So, what, she's pissed because all the men she dates prefer Caitlin to her and so to get her revenge she recruit's 'Rose Henry' to snatch Molly?'

Sam sighed, 'I know it's pretty lame but we don't have much else' she knew she was grasping at straws and from the looks on everyone's faces they thought she was as well but at this point they were all willing to go with anything.

Jack looked thoughtful 'Ok well Vivien, have a more detailed look at Rachel Henderson and see what you can find out. He looked at Sam 'How did it go with Lucas Tremaine?'

Sam scowled 'I almost want it to be him so we can nail his ass to the wall, the man is a complete bastard, cold, unfeeling...; he was almost getting a kick out of the whole thing'

Jack raised his eyebrows at Sam's outburst and she grinned weakly at him 'Hmm, well I get the distinct impression that his daughter would agree with your character assessment, but the question is do you think he had anything to do with it?'

Sam frowned slightly but shook her head; 'I honestly think he hasn't given his daughter a thought in years and I'm not convinced he even knew that Molly exists.'

Jack groaned 'This is a nightmare, we haven't even been contacted by the kidnappers and if it is personal then you would expect them to be in touch, if for no other reason than to gloat. This isn't making any sense and now we have to go and do a press conference'

He stood for a minute looking at them then seemed to make a decision; 'Right, I need the three of you to go back over everything and see if we have missed anything,' he paused,

'Martin go and find Danny, tell him everything that has happened and find out his version of events. When you bring him back here don't bring him into the office; take him upstairs to Van Doren's office, I don't want Caitlin seeing him, or him seeing her until we understand what the hell happened four years ago'

Martin stood up and left the bull pen without a word.

Jack scowled; 'Right, I'm going to speak to the press.'