When Charlie finally returned to the conference room, after a quick stop in the men's room to splash cold water on his face, he apologized. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but I really had to take that call."

"How's Larry doing?" Amita asked as she slid his laptop back to him.

Charlie grinned. "He's doing great. Believe it or not, he had a hard time coming up with the words to describe it all."

"Larry? At a loss for words?" Ben said, chuckling. "I find that hard to believe."

"So, what'd I miss?" Charlie said.

"Not much," David said. "Amita started inputting the new information into your program. Ben and Maggie have been going over the list of artworks in the area. I feel like we're just treading water here, waiting for them to act again. And I don't want to be in that position."

Charlie nodded. "I don't blame you." He picked up a folder and started browsing through it. "We'll get them. Listen, is it okay if I take this with me?"

"You need to leave now? Or can you wait for the rest of the information?"

"I can wait," Charlie said. "I told Don I might not be back today. He was good with that. My Dad even understood, believe it or not."

"I'll go see how they're coming with the rest of the interviews," Liz said, standing. As she walked past Charlie, she rested a hand briefly on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, smiling. "You okay, Liz?"

"Yeah, I'm great," she muttered as she squeezed his shoulder and left the room.

Maggie shook her head. "It's a rough day for everyone."

"David," Charlie looked up from the folder he was holding, "have you guys had any luck with the crowd you have in custody? The skydivers, the little boy, the pregnant couple, the old guy?"

"Not at all. They're all lawyered up. Why? You got something in mind?"

"Maybe. Though the lawyers might make it a little more difficult."

Colby stood and reached for the coffee carafe. "Hey, Charlie, how about that tit for tat thing Don did with that death row guy? All we need is for one of the eight to fall for it."

"We could try that. We'll need to find out what's important to each of the prisoners – what we can offer or withhold."

Amita picked up a styrofoam cup from the package in the middle of the table and held it up for Colby to fill. "Thanks. But, Charlie, what about trying reciprocal altruism? Someone like that old man might have enough of a sense of decency to respond well to that."

"'Reciprocal altruism?" Colby asked. "Giving good back and forth? How's that going to help?"

"You're close," Charlie said. "Reciprocal altruism can work because humans tend to respond positively when someone does something nice for them. Say, for example, Amita is angry at me. If I bring her flowers, she'll be more likely to respond positively when I apologize for being an idiot."

Colby grinned. "You have a lot of experience in that area, professor?"

"You'll have to ask Amita. Anyway, the weakness in this method is that there's a high probability the target will cheat. That he or she will accept the altruistic action without reciprocating. In the long run, organisms handle that by kicking the cheaters out. For example, vampire bats who gather a lot of blood will often share with bats who don't gather as much. The assumption.."

"Assuming bats are capable of assuming," David chuckled.

"The assumption is that the bats who have collected more than they need today might some day be in a position where they'll need help from the other bats. If they've shared their largesse with the others, it's more likely the others will share with them. Bats who take advantage of the system, who take too often without giving, are banned from the group."

"So it works in the long run, but what about the short run? What do our targets gain by cooperating if we do some random act of kindness for them?" Colby asked.

"That's why I suggested the old man," Amita explained. "Older people are more likely to feel an obligation to react positively to acts of kindness."

"And kids, too," Maggie added. "Kids have a well-developed sense of fair play, don't they? You hear them complaining if something's not fair."

"That's right," Charlie said. Turning to David, he said, "Where are the transcripts of the interviews with the kid and the old man? Maybe we can find something we can use."

David dug through a folder and handed Charlie a sheaf of papers. "Anything else?" he asked the group.

"Have you talked with the Agincourt brothers?" Ben asked. "Since neither of them has been arrested, aren't you allowed to question them without giving them access to a lawyer?"

"We are," David said, "but if we approach them the wrong way, they're going to shut down on us. We've got to find the right way to handle this. We really need a profiler to help us figure out what to do with them."

"Well," Maggie said, "do all teams have profilers? I'm sorry, but I'm not really familiar with the way the FBI works. You all seem pretty well versed in the workings of human nature. Between your training and your experience, I'm guessing you can work this out."

"Besides," Ben said, "you do have four teachers here. If anyone understands the criminal mind, it's a teacher."

David laughed and visibly relaxed. "Okay, so I guess we'll pool our resources. Charlie, you were working on the information we have on the Agincourts, right?"

"I was. Let me call up what I've gotten so far." He opened a program and a chart appeared on one of the screens. "Fred Agincourt is an elementary school teacher. Ellen Davis, who was involved in the first theft, and was killed shortly afterwards, worked in an after school program he runs. Don was going to check on Fred, but I don't know how far he got. According to Ellen Davis' husband, Fred had trouble controlling the kids in the program. He is enthusiastic about his subject matter, but not good with discipline."

"How long has he been teaching?" Maggie asked. "A teacher who can't control the kids doesn't last long unless he knows somebody important."

"Good point," Charlie said. "According to the school records, he has tenure, and has been teaching in the same school for twelve years. By the way, Francis, his twin brother, has been teaching high school in the same system for fifteen years."

"Okay," David said, "that's something we have to follow up on. Is Fred really as incompetent as Ed Davis thinks he is? If so, how has he kept his job this long?"

Liz returned, carrying a folder. "Sorry it took so long. I had to wait for them to finish up. And," she glanced down at her hands, "I called to see how Don was doing." She met Charlie's startled glance, "Your dad says he's doing fine. He's awake and coherent."

Charlie laughed, "And probably demanding to know when he can get the hell out of there."

"Almost exactly word for word," Liz said with a grin. She looked up at the screen, "Sorry for the interruption. What'd I miss?"

Colby offered Liz a cup of coffee, which she took gratefully. "Charlie was just filling us in on the brains behind this theft ring. Fred, there, may have gotten tenure even though he can't keep his kids under control."

"It wouldn't be the first time an incompetent got tenure," Liz said. "Of course, I'm not talking about anybody here."

Charlie shook his head, "You'd better not be, Agent Warner, or we're going to take our bag of magic tricks and go home. Now," he continued, "Don had said he was going to look into the Agincourts. Did he delegate that to any of you?" The three agents shook their heads. "Okay, I'll ask him about it when I see him tonight. We need to know about this after school program. If Fred is involved with recruiting the kids for this ring, he may be doing it through this program."

"Okay," David said, "Is that it for Fred?"

"It is. We know even less about Francis. He's a high school teacher. Daniel Weimar, who most likely took a couple of shots at me, was one of his students."

"And speaking of your students," Colby said, "wasn't another one of them related to Ellen Davis?"

"Right, Greg Spencer is her cousin. But back to Francis, he also bought one hundred tickets for kids in wheelchairs to attend the opening of the art show at the Hammer. It would make sense to explore his motivation for doing that."

David stood, "Okay, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us. Charlie, why don't you go talk to Don? It sounds like we need to fill in some gaps, and he might just be able to do that for us."

Ben glanced at his watch. "David, if you're done with us for now, I believe Maggie and I are going to head home."

"I think we're set. And thank you so much for your help with this case," David stood and shook hands with Ben.

Maggie gave David a quick hug. "You take care of yourself, David. And call us if there's anything we can do to help."

She turned to Charlie and pulled him into a hug. "Charlie, tell Don we said hi. If he's still in the hospital tomorrow, we'll stop by after class and visit him, okay? And you'd better get some rest, young man. You look dead on your feet."

Charlie laughed. "Great. Dad's not here to mother hen me so you have to take over for him."

"Hey," Maggie said, "It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. We'll see you tomorrow."

"We'll walk out with you," Charlie said. "Where'd you park?"

Charlie was surprised to see it was dark as they left the FBI office. He glanced at his watch. Amazing. It was after nine o'clock. By the time they made it to the hospital, it would be after ten. He tried to remember the visiting hours, but couldn't.

As he opened the door of his Prius for Amita, he said, "I think we're going to have to pretend to be FBI agents to get in to see Don at this hour."

"How? We don't have badges."

"True, but I think we can pull it off. I have my FBI ID."

"All that does it get you into Don's office."

"True, but a friend told me years ago to just project an air of authority, and you can get in just about anywhere. If you walk into a hospital carrying a clipboard and looking like you belong there, you can get into just about any room. Of course, that was pre-9/11, but I think we can do it."

"I don't have a clipboard." Amita glanced into the back seat. "You don't happen to have one, do you?"

"No, but I've seen more and more doctors walking around with laptops. And we do have laptops."

"True. And I think we can project an air of authority. We are, after all, professors.""

"Right! We just have to walk in like we're walking into a lecture hall full of freshmen." Charlie pulled out of the parking lot. "And we were sent by the lead Special Agent in charge of the investigation. That's gotta count for something."

Charlie and Amita walked past the front desk with a smile and a nod at the guard seated there. The guard said, "Excuse me."

Charlie turned. "Yes?"

"Would you please sign in?"

Charlie signed in first, filling in his name, the room number he was visiting, and his reason as "FBI debriefing."

Amita suppressed a smile as she signed her name, and put ditto marks in the remaining columns.

Once they were safely in the elevator, she burst into laughter. "'FBI debriefing?' Charlie!"

He shrugged. "What? That's what we're here for. Now we've got one more hurdle – the nurse's station on Don's floor, but that shouldn't be a problem."

Charlie hadn't counted on Nurse Mary Ryan. Nurse Ryan was very careful to protect her charges from intruders. These two young people appeared to know where they were going. They walked past the nurse's station, smiling confidently at her, not even slowing down. "Just a moment!" She called. When they stopped, she said, "Visiting hours are over."

Charlie led the way back to the nurse's station. "I'm aware of that. Special Agent David Sinclair of the FBI has asked us to debrief Special Agent Don Eppes, in room..."

"I'm fully aware of which room Agent Eppes is in. May I see your identification?"

Charlie handed her his FBI visitor's pass. She read it, and glanced up to compare the face before her to the photograph on the pass. "Eppes, hmm? Any relation?"

"Don's my brother," Charlie bit his lip. "I know it's late, but we just got back from the FBI office. Agent Sinclair really did ask us to see if Don was up to answering any questions."

Nurse Ryan smiled at Charlie as she handed back his pass. "Your brother is doing very well. I was just talking with him a few minutes ago. He's not due for his morphine for a while yet, so you're catching him at a good time."

"Thank you," Charlie said as he and Amita continued to Don's room.

Amita took his arm and leaned close to whisper, "Nice job of projecting an air of authority."

Charlie chuckled, "Oh, well. We made it, didn't we?"

"Yeah. Unless there's another guard at Don's room."

But the only guard at Don's room was Alan. He looked up and smiled, "Charlie! Amita! Look who's awake!"

"Don," Charlie said. "You're looking good. How are you feeling?"

"Hey, Buddy," Don said, his voice a little on the shaky side. "I'm feeling better. You look like crap, though."

"Gee, thanks," Charlie said, reaching to take Don's hand. "Seriously, you really feeling better?"

"Yeah. Hey, Amita."

"Hi, Don."

"You don't look like crap. Just Charlie. You never look like crap."

Amita blushed and glanced at Alan, "I hope that's the morphine speaking."

Alan looked at her over his reading glasses. "Possibly, but he is right, you know. You never look like crap. Charlie, on the other hand, has made looking like crap a fashion statement."

"Oh, it's wonderful to be loved," Charlie said, rolling his eyes. "Say, Don, you feel up to discussing the case?"

"Charlie!" Alan warned. "Your brother is hurt."

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry, Don. That wasn't fair..."

"No! It's okay, Buddy. I'd love to discuss the case. No offense, Dad, but I'm bored."

Charlie gave Alan an apologetic glance, then sat on the edge of Don's bed. "We've got a lot of loose ends right now, and we were hoping you'd be able to tie some of them up. The other day, you said you were going to check into the Agincourt brothers. Did you get a chance to do that?"

Don's brow furrowed as he thought for a moment. "Yeah, I started on it. I requested their background information. That's probably in my in basket. And I called their schools to make an appointment to discuss Fred's after school program. I was supposed to meet with the principal tomorrow. Are you going to be seeing David any time soon?"

Charlie nodded. "I'll probably go back there tonight."

"Tonight?" Alan said. "That's crazy, Charlie! It's late."

"I know, but if the background information is in Don's in basket, I can start going through it." He turned back to Don. "Why don't you give me the information on that appointment. David can send someone else."

Don grinned, "Why? You don't think I'll be out of here in time?"

Charlie snorted. "Not if Nurse Ryan out there has anything to do with it. She's apparently appointed herself your protector. She tried to stop us from coming to see you."

"And you got through anyway? I obviously didn't pay her enough," Don said, chuckling.