Chapter 15

Diana sat in her office at the Interpol BCN, in the middle of the Direction centrale de la Police judiciaire in the 8th district. She received Neal's drawing of the young woman a while ago and tried to identify her. Keller's file was in the central archives in Lyon, but for the most part, it had been scanned and was available on the intranet. A couple of clicks should allow her to find information if Neal's intuition was right.

Diana could not help but be horrified while reading Keller's record. He was so different from Neal. If the con man never hurts anyone, his former associate did not hesitate to kill whoever stood in his way: cops, accomplices or innocent bystanders. Neal used that inclination towards violence to make his disappearing act look real.

Keller had a lot of known or alleged associates. The trouble was that most of them were either dead or in jail. And the list contained very few women. Yet the answer had to be there somewhere. Captain Lescaut gave no explanation, only the drawing of a girl's face that Diana recognized as Neal's work, and Keller's name. The young agent had no idea how they conclude that the man Peter shot two years before had anything to do with their case. She could not get her mind off that question, so she took her phone and called her former boss.

"Hello Peter. I was wondering why we are only searching in Keller's past? What does he have to do with our investigation?"

Peter hesitated. He was afraid that Mozzie's sudden appearance would make the French police doubt their good faith, but he also trusted Diana.

"It's complicated." He sighed. "It turns out that Neal thought about those heists long before we first arrested him."

"With Keller?" Diana wondered.

"No. With Mozzie. But Neal admitted that he shared the plans with Keller when they were both with the Panthers."

"But… If Keller is dead and if Mozzie knows about Neal's plan, why don't we search in that direction?"

Silence on the line was enough of an answer.

"You talked to him. It's him that Neal followed in the Louvre. Mozzie thought that Neal committed those thefts and started looking for him. Am I right?"

"You are. It's Mozzie who saw the girl in the portrait. We chose not to tell everything to the cops…"

"…Because then you should have introduced Mozzie and that would have made things even more complicated. I understand. I looked into Keller's former accomplices, but it did not lead anywhere. It looks like he never worked with women."

Peter pondered for a while. He thought about the only two women with whom Neal had ever worked. Kate and Alex. Two women with whom he got involved.

"Did you check his private life? Maybe he had a girlfriend?"

Peter did not wait long for an answer.

"Bingo! When he was in jail in Russia, he had a prison pen pal. An American girl named Ashley Snell. She was 22 at the time, which could match Neal's drawing."

"Could match?"

"There are no pictures in the file, and the letters she sent Keller were never scanned. They are in the file in Lyon. I'm going to need some time to get them."

"Good job, Diana. I'll check with Jones and see if the FBI has anything on Ashley Snell."

WC*WC*WC

Peter chose to send an email to Jones because of the jet lag. In a couple of sentences, he explained the situation, avoiding any mention of Mozzie's name. He knew that the new boss of the New York White collar division could read between the lines. Even if it was very late on the other side of the ocean, the answer was fast. As soon as he opened the picture Jones sent, Peter knew that they were on the right track. Neal's drawing was true to the image. He called his friend who joined him in the living room.

"Ashley Snell, born on August 14th 1992. She started writing to Keller in 2012, when he was in a Russian cell. Apparently, she heard about his past exploits and was very impressed. When he made a deal with Interpol to help catch the Pink Panthers, Keller asked her to come and meet him in New York. He kept seeing her behind everyone's back until the end of the operation."

"And you know all that how?"

"The FBI did not link them at the time. Jones searched the database using the name Diana found. He found out that this young woman arrived in New York pretty much at the same time as Keller. And her parents reported her missing a couple of days after his death. They knew she was in New York. They started worrying when she stopped calling. They never heard from her again. Jones kept looking. A woman who matches her description was recorded on CCTV on a couple of thefts all over the East coast, but she was never caught."

"It proves that she has the abilities to commit the thefts we're investigating, not that she took part in them." Neal thought out loud. "That does not tell us why she would want to pin those crimes on me, or how she could possibly know that I'm alive."

"There are still a lot of open questions, you're right. The only way to find answers…"

"…is to catch her red-handed." Neal finished the sentence.

Both men shared a silent look. They knew they had to share their discovery with the French police, and to find a way to bust the young woman.

WC*WC*WC

Captain Lescaut's office was filled with intent cops. They religiously listened to Neal's explanations. Peter, who had a hard time following the conversation in French, stayed back, letting his partner to present the situation. The con man's demonstration was complete. He just left out a couple of details, like Mozzie's existence or the fact that the heists were their own idea in the first place. Julie was the one to break the silence.

"Do you have any proof that the young woman was part of the thefts, other than her presence at the Louvre the other day?"

Neal was about to give a negative answer when someone knocked, making everyone turn to face the door. Diana entered the room and replied.

"I do. The Lyon office faxed me Ashley's letters to Keller. They are coded, but quite easy to understand for anyone who decoded the ones you sent Kate."

The cops all looked at Neal, who shrugged.

"It's a long story." He said. "So what?"

"Ashley does not mention the thefts we are investigating. It looks like Keller had not thought about it yet."

"Or rather, I had not given him the plan yet." Neal thought to himself.

"Anyway. The letters clearly mention their intention to commit heists together once he'd get out of jail." Diana kept on. "We can reasonably believe that the young woman decided to go on without him. Especially since the FBI told us that she already committed crimes on American soil, even if she was never arrested."

"She had a good teacher." Neal observed. "It's not surprising that no one ever got hold on her."

"And how do you plan on remedying this, Mister Caffrey?" The Captain asked.

A smile played on the thief's lips. He had an idea on that question, but he was not sure the French police would be thrilled.

"We can wait for her to strike at the Louvre." He finally said. "Or, we can make her come to me instead."

The policemen shared a very puzzled look.