Peter had reached his nadir; he said nothing, just shook his head slowly. It seemed like one minute he was sitting with Dr. Mansfield and the nurse and the next, they were gone but Elizabeth and Hughes were there. Exactly when the change over occurred, Peter had no idea. Hughes handed him a coffee and sat down with a long sigh. "I really thought Caffrey would outlast us all. This is not how it was supposed to end. I had his appointment all lined up for next month, even had his badge ready. I'm sorry Peter, Elizabeth. We let him down … badly"
Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic look and nodded. "I want this all to be wrong, some Neal scam that we've all fallen for. I wouldn't care if he'd duped us again, I would rather that than this. He didn't ever deserve this." She looked down at her husband and sat on the arm of his chair, taking his hand in hers. "I know we had nothing to do with what happened with that dreadful cop, but somehow I do feel responsible. Oh, Peter, I just can't stand it!" She broke down into loud sobs, tears flooding her flushed cheeks. Peter pulled her into his lap and hugged her. "I know, Honey, I feel the same way."
Hughes got up to give them some private space and went over to meet Diana and Jones, who had just arrived at the ICU. They both looked distraught and it was clear that they had been crying on the way over. Hughes ushered them over to the other side of the waiting are and sat them down while he gave them the news. They both received it stoically, having seen Peter and Elizabeth when they walked in, they knew already that the last hope they had had of seeing their friend alive had gone.
After a few minutes Hughes walked up to the nursing station with a resigned expression as he got out his badge and credentials. He knew it would be too much for Peter to be the one to identify Neal's body after all that had happened. "I am the head of the White Collar Crimes Unit. Mr. Caffrey was under my jurisdiction. I ought to be the one to make the formal identification. Is his body here or have you taken him down to the morgue?" Although Hughes had deliberately kept his voice low, Peter looked up as soon as he heard him start speaking with the nurse. Again he noticed the nurse's slightly confused expression as she addressed Hughes. "Mr. Caffrey's sister was with him when he passed away and she made the identification. She signed the transfer documentation for the morgue. Let me just check the computer here." She started tapping at the keyboard while everyone slowly got up and approached the desk. She looked up at them nervously as all five were now staring at her with puzzled expressions. "His sister, Sally V. Caffrey, requested the body be transferred to the Haversham Funeral Home in Queens. According to our records, it has already been collected. That's very unusual; it doesn't normally happen so quickly. She must have gotten the arrangements in place as soon as he was brought in. I'm sorry Mr. Hughes, but your friend is gone."
The nurse looked on incredulously at the scene before her; tears were still flowing, but this time accompanied by laughter. "Sally V. Caffrey?" Peter snorted, through gulps of laughter, "Would that be Sally "the Vulture" Caffrey, by any chance?" Another wave of laugher spread through the room. "Let's take this outside people!" Hughes ordered, trying to sound angry but failing miserably as he smiled and ushered everyone into the hall. "Peter, you go and find him now and bring him to me so I can kill him with my own hands!" he ordered. "Not if I get to him first!" Elizabeth snapped.
It was then that Peter remembered the man he had knocked into on arriving at the ICU, the short man, the short man with the baseball cap over his eyes and his head bent low! What had he said to Peter? As he slipped his hand into his jacket pocket, the words came back to Peter, "My bad, Suit!" He took his hand out of his pocket and held out the origami swan for everyone to see. With an expression of pure exasperation, Peter growled, much to everyone's amusement "The bastard stole my wallet!"
TBC
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