57
Shortly after they returned to the office from lunch Penny looked up from her desk to see a couple of unexpected visitors.
"Is Dr. Cooper in?"
"Just a minute. Let me check."
Penny nervously got up from her desk and went back to Sheldon's office, knocked on the door and went in.
"Yes, Penny."
"Sheldon, those guys from the FBI are back and they want to see you."
"Well, I have done nothing to be overly concerned about. Please bring them back."
"Are you sure?"
"Penny, I suspect not speaking with them will be far more troublesome than speaking with them."
"Okay."
Penny went back out and motioned for the two agents to follow her. She led them back to Sheldon's office.
"Would you like some water or something?"
"We're fine, thank you."
"Penny, please close the door behind you. Hello, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"
"First, Dr. Cooper, we'd like to thank you."
"For what?"
"Dr. Cooper, you're a pretty smart guy. We think you know exactly what."
"Please enlighten me."
"Dr. Cooper, we've done a pretty thorough investigation, two investigations in fact. We just spent three days with Joyce Kim. We know."
"What do you know?"
"We know that as soon as Joyce Kim left North Korea you began an anonymous email communication with her, encouraging her to come forward and reveal what she knew about North Korean Intelligence, specifically their activities in the academic and research communities. You led her to believe that she could trade this knowledge for a possible publishing deal or employment."
"Can you prove that?"
"If we wanted to take the time we could. Suffice it to say that we believe you performed a service. The knowledge we've gathered from Ms. Kim in just three days has been invaluable. We will be taking very good care of her. We can guarantee that. And through our investigation we have been able to deal with the Dr. Hofstadter problem, perhaps not as well as we would have preferred, but it is quite unlikely he will ever enjoy the kind of access that he once did. Your country is grateful."
"May I ask a question?"
"Certainly."
"With Dr. Hofstadter's history with explosives, do you think it wise that he be permitted to fly?"
"What are you getting at, Dr. Cooper?"
"Dr. Hofstadter has been harassing my assistant, his former fiancé. He is scheduled to depart for Princeton, New Jersey on Sunday. However, each day he remains he makes it more and more difficult for her. This morning he attempted to rent her apartment out from under her assuming that she would have no choice but to move east with him, something she very definitely does not wish to do. I suspect he will next attempt to undermine her employment here and elsewhere. If he were forced to depart earlier, that might circumvent any further schemes he could have."
"We can't make him leave, Dr. Cooper."
"If he had to take another slower but to my mind superior form of transportation, he would be forced to depart sooner."
"Are you suggest we put him on the 'No-Fly List' so he has to take the train?"
"I believe that would be your suggestion."
"We could possibly arrange that. However, we would appreciate a bit of quid pro quo."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Setting aside the Kim/Hofstadter situation which you may or may not have brought back to our attention, you certainly did bring the Faisal/Fowler situation to us. If you hadn't mentioned it during our interview we would not have started asking questions, which we did. We were able to quickly discover a network of financial support for terrorists and terror supporters and sympathizers. We have been able to shut down most of it in a very short period of time."
"Congratulations, but I was merely providing Dr. Fowler's financing as an example of foreign funding of domestic research. I had no idea there was anything unsavory going on."
"Be that as it may, Dr. Cooper, we believe that Dr. Fowler may be in danger and we have recommended that she and her mother take advantage of the Witness Protection Program."
"I suspect Dr. Fowler reacted negatively."
"She did. She maintains that it would interfere with her research, which is currently unsponsored and unfunded, and hinder her eventual engagement and marriage to you."
"I have no intention of ever asking for Dr. Fowler's hand in marriage."
"She has told us that the only way she will enter Witness Protection is if you accompany her."
"I will not."
"We thought that would be your reaction. Therein lies the favor we would ask of you. We need you to help us convince Dr. Fowler that she must enter the program and accept the possibility that she will never see you again."
"I have been trying to convince her that we have no future as a couple since my return to Pasadena. She seems quite unwilling to accept that reality. Just this morning she attempted to rent my assistant's apartment so that she would be in closer proximity to me. I was able to nip that plan in the bud."
"We are asking you to try one more time. The longer she remains as she is the more danger she and any who are near to her will be in. Faisal's associates are quite angry that their funds have been cut off and since Dr. Fowler was the funnel through which that funding came…"
"I understand. Could you not simply arrest her?"
"We could. We prefer not to. There might be publicity generated that would hamper our future anti-terrorism efforts."
"I see. Well, I suppose that I'm willing to make the attempt. Though recent experience tells me that Amy Farrah Fowler only hears what she wants to hear."
"Would you be able to do that now? We've been keeping an eye on her and know that she is currently at her mother's home."
"Fine, but I prefer that you accompany me so that answers to any questions are readily available."
"We can do that."
"Alright. Let's go."
Sheldon got up from his desk and walked out of the office with the FBI agents following.
"Penny, I'm going with these for a short time. Nothing to be concerned about. What are your plans for this evening?"
"Well, Alex, Nora and I were just going to hang out in the apartment. We were thinking of inviting Missy over. I don't think Missy's gone out for anything except work or grocery shopping since she got here. Are you going to be home in time to babysit?"
"That's very nice of you. Come to think of it Missy has been home with the baby most of the time. An evening out with friends would likely do her some good. I expect that I will be home in time to take care of the baby this evening. I trust you will not be endeavoring to corrupt Missy in any way."
"Sheldon, none of us are drinking these days. What could we possibly do?"
"A certain sketchbook and Nora's penchant for stirring up trouble comes to mind."
"Trust me, Sheldon, we will not corrupt your sister. Besides, chances are she could teach us a few things."
"Alright, but it sounds as though I should have a few words with Missy."
Next: A visit with the Fowlers.