Neal is caught

Peter took Neal for an early lunch. Neal had been up to something last night. He had been gone in that bathroom a long time and Peter was sure he had moved into the master bedroom. Then all the kid had said was that he was sure Dorsett stayed there and they had left and kept it under surveillance.

Neal acted normal. How could the kid be so cool? Sure, Neal had not lied to him and Peter had not asked, but…

They walked back to the office.

"About what happened in the hotel room,"

"Yeah?"

"Let me talk to Elizabeth. It's the least I can do."

So much for the hope of honesty, Peter thought.

"No, the least you can do is nothing, which is exactly what you will do." In prison, in an orange jumpsuit, if you had anything to do with that painting. Damn it, Neal! Peter thought.

"It's my fault," Neal insisted.

"No. I don't need you to lie to my wife." My wife is the least of your problems, pal.

"You gonna do it yourself?"

"No."

"The truth, Peter? Bold choice." Neal sounded impressed. Was the truth so strange to him that he was impressed if someone told the truth?

"Hypothetically," Neal continued "I wouldn't stop complaining, so you let me go into the nightclub and you witnessed the suspect enter after me and had no choice but to follow," Neal fabled.

"It's almost the truth," Peter admitted.

"It's better than alimony."

"Yeah?" Peter remembered what Neal had told him about how he could lie so easily: another angle on truth, so what you say is true enough for you not to be spotted with a lie. Peters phone rang.

"We lost Dorsett," Jones told him at the other end.

"What about the painting and the cash?"

"All gone."

Peter sighed and ended the call. He glanced at Neal.

"Dorsett escaped."

"This is bad," Neal concluded.

"Yeah, this is bad." And he also had a hunch Neal was involved in it somehow.

When they returned to the office Neal left for his desk and Peter to his office. Less then a minute later Jones entered with a file.

"We found something in Dorsett's hotel room."

"Yeah? What?"

"We found the frame," Jones told him. "With this behind the glass."

He opened the file and an origami butterfly was paperclipped to the report.

"This was there instead of the painting?" Peter wanted to be confirmed.

Jones nodded.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Dorsett, he talked about butterflies," Peter remembered.

"Yeah," Jones agreed. "With Caffrey."

Peter took a deep breath.

"Do you think Caffrey took it?" Jones asked and Peter considered. Why would Dorsett leave the frame behind with a butterfly? It was a message. But not to the FBI. Dorsett did not know they had heard their conversation and the butterfly message would only mean anything to Dorsett and Neal. But Dorsett had no reason to believe Neal would come here and find the empty frame. It had been a message to Dorsett.

"Yeah. I think the son-of-a-bitch took it," Peter hissed.

"Shall we arrest him?"

Peter watched Neal at his desk.

"No, not yet. Let's focus on Dorsett and find him."

"Peter…"

"We know where Neal is. Dorsett is dangerous and I want him off the streets. We may need Neal to get him. I'll cuff him, but for now, it can wait." Oh, yes, he would cuff him, no doubt about it.

Neal glanced at Peter and Jones. What had they found? Had they found the butterfly?

Considering his current situation it had been a stupid idea to leave the butterfly. Before the anklet, he had not cared if the FBI or any other part of the law enforcement saw it, too. He had not considered what would happen now when the FBI got into the room and found an empty frame with a message. Peter knew he had been in the room alone long enough to be guilty.

He met Peter's eyes. What would happen if Peter thought he was guilty? Would he come out and cuff him or would he wait?

Jones left the room. Did the agent stare at him? Or was it just a glance because Neal looked at him?

Neal focused on the work in front of him. He could act normal. He could hide that he was nervous.

While he made dinner with his wife he told her about the last days' events.

"You know, this one may be a real problem, El." He placed the pot on the table.

El had finished laying the table and sat down.

"So if you don't find Dorsett, what happens to Neal?"

"He's done. He's back inside."

"Do you actually think he stole it?"

Peter grabbed the wine bottle and the two glasses.

"Yeah." He nodded "Yeah…" He stole it alright.

"You gonna be okay?"

He should be more worried where his career would go after losing that amount of cash.

"Yeah, I'll be-" Fine? No. Damn it! He liked Neal. But Neal stole the painting, not he. He put those emotions away for now. "I'll be fine. Honey, listen. About last night at the hotel."

"You mean, the nightclub?" Elisabeth grinned at him.

"Yeah, well. Neal was complaining about my sandwich, he started fidgeting with the radio, so I..." Peter felt there was no use for excuses. "There was no nightclub."

"I know. You don't think after ten years, I know when you're… stretching the truth?"

"Well, that's a nice way of putting it."

"Next time, just tell me."

She was not upset or angry, did not blame him.

"That's what I told Neal."

"Then stick to it."

"I will."

"I know you're a good man."

Oh god how much he loved this woman. She had such faith in him. She was strong, independent, and trusted him. He wanted to grow old with El. He served her wine.

"Was she cute?"

"No…" Peter was taken aback. "Now, that depends on your definition, because I…" He laughed. "I gotta plead the Fifth on this one."

"Yeah, okay."

Neal watched his view over Manhattan from his roof-top terrace. Peter was in trouble with the money gone. And the painting, though the painting was a lesser problem. It had not belonged to the FBI in the first place. Peter had lost the FBI's money. Why did it trouble him so much? The other agents had been careless and appeared suspicious and got Dorsett on edge. It was not Peter's fault. He would go free.

But what about him? Did Peter suspect he stole the painting? He was under constant surveillance. No need to take him right away. Maybe it was him stealing the painting that would cause Peter trouble, not the money by themselves. Neal had never thought about how vulnerable Peter was with him on the tail. He was a convict and what he did during working hours was Peter's responsibility.

That made Neal aware of his responsibility. And this responsibility he had taken on by his own choice when he cut the deal. It was more than gambling with prison time now. He had put Peter's career in danger.

Neal pulled out one of the smaller drawers from the gigantic, antique bureau he had in his room. He knocked out the bottom of it. It was just about the same size of the painting. He would set things right.

His phone rang. It was a hidden number. Not a good sign.

"Who is this?" he answered the call.

"I could ask you the same thing. You seem to have many names, George."

"Dorsett." This was not good. "How did you get this number?"

"You bought my girlfriend a drink with your credit card. I'm impressed with your resourcefulness. Now you will see mine. I want the painting. If it is not returned, Joshua will pay a visit to your beautiful friend at the gallery."

"You leave her out of this."

"Brigitte was out of bounds, yet you involved her. You set the rules, now you must play by them."

"I need two days," Neal tried.

"That's all you have." Dorsett hung up. Two days could work. He called Mozzie and told him it was an emergency. His friend would not be happy about this.

"You stole the painting?!" Mozzie yelled in disbelief.

"I was going to give it back to Julianna," Neal defended himself.

"You're like a child. No sense of consequence." Moz was right there and Neal knew it.

"Okay. Will you look at the inscription?" He showed it to his friend. "Channing Curator said he authenticated the painting before it was stolen. He saw that it belonged to Julianna and chose to ignore it."

"And you're Robin Hood? And did I forget to mention the part where you stole the painting?!" Just as he, Moz feared Neal would go back to prison.

"I didn't think Dorsett would get away." Neal had left the butterfly for Dorsett to find. And he had. But so had the FBI, probably.

"This is because you don't like the guy from the Channing. You did this for spite."

"I've done things for less." Mozzie was right again. He had done it because the curator had pissed him off. And now it had cost him. "I can't let him go after Taryn."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"Tell Peter."

"No, no, no. He put you back in prison."

"Moz, I can't let anything happen to Taryn. You said it yourself, I acted on an impulse and for spite. Look, I hope I can talk to Peter." He saw Mozzie's skeptical look. "What else do you want me to do? Run?"

"It's an option."

"No. Peter will catch me and I'll be back in prison for life. If he arrests me for the art theft it'll just add a few years." His friend did not seem convinced. "It's my life, okay? Kate is still out there."

Elisabeth came up the stairs and told him Neal waited for him in the living room, said it was urgent.

"What impression did you get?" he asked his wife.

"Nervous, I would say. Still smiling and charming, but, you know, tense."

Peter walked down the stairs. Neal sat by the dining-room table. Yes, he did seem nervous. Well, whatever his problem was it was nothing compared to what would happen tomorrow. Damn kid! This was working so well, he was thinking as he sat down. Why did you have to screw it up?

"This better be good." Peter glared at Neal.

The kid took a deep breath.

"I took the painting," Neal confessed and for once he did not smile.

"Damn it, Neal." Peter had been pretty sure the kid had taken it but now he had a confession of an actual crime. He had to act. There was no way out now.

"I wasn't gonna—" Neal begun but Peter did not want to hear and held up a finger. "I did it for—" Neal tried again but Peter was still not retentive for any excuses. "We can use it to catch Dorsett," Neal said and caught Peter's attention. "He doesn't know I work for you."

He considered. It could work.

"We'll set it up tomorrow. Now get the hell out of my house."

"Okay," Neal agreed and walked towards the door. "Good night, Elizabeth."

"Night, Neal," she replied. He heard the door open and close. So Neal had decided to confess to a crime. Why? He opened the file and pulled the butterfly lose. Dorsett knew 'George' had stolen the painting.

He felt El's arms around him.

"Well, he told you the truth about the painting."

Peter nodded and held the origami butterfly that bothered him so.

"Because they threatened Taryn," he realized. Neal may not fancy Taryn but he would never let anyone to get hurt. He was even prepared to go back to prison to keep her safe if his theory was right.

"It's a start."

"Yeah. It's a start." No, he would not arrest Neal for this. He had done the right thing. The damn kid had shown Peter there was hope after all.