Hello again! I know this chapter was supposed to be up last weekend, but since the next two chapters (18 & 19) are connected to it, I decided to wait until I had them all written and could post them without having to wait a long week between them. So, good news? CH18 will be up on Monday (or Tuesday, depending on my work schedule) and CH19 next weekend (Friday night or Saturday morning, as per usual). Yay!

Anyway, as for the story, a lot of things are happening at the same time, so bear with me, okay? All your questions, doubts, and theories will be answered at some point, I promise.

Btw, there are two new characters making their debut in this chapter, one from the show and one from the books, so I hope you like their arcs ;) **spoiler alert** One of them is going to be a real headache, you'll see.

Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to leave reviews, follow or favorite the story ;)

See you all on Monday (or Tuesday)!

Chapter 17

Alec was in his office, rummaging in his drawers trying to find some Advil or Tylenol to ease the pain in his head. It was barely ten o'clock and he already had a throbbing headache. It wasn't strange, though, he had had a rather difficult week with a lot of work and almost no free time.

A few days ago, fake-Magnus had attacked again, this time targeting the New York City Public Library, where he had taken part of the private collection of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich that had been purchased to the Soviet government in 1931. It had been a pretty significant score, the value of that collection surpassed thirty million dollars, but that wasn't what had Alec breaking his head trying to solve the case. No, it was the fact that this time the criminal had killed eight innocent people during the attack—the highest number of murders recorded so far in the last five cases connected to him.

"I don't know about you, but I feel that this case is only getting more complicated with each passing day." Jace stated, taking a seat on one of the chairs in Alec's office.

"You don't say." Alec said with a sigh as he swallowed two pills with a gulp of water.

All morning he had been looking at the pictures of the eight victims that hung on a blackboard in his office—all innocent men who had been killed in cold blood while doing their job—wondering how many more people would have to die before they could finally catch this man and the mastermind behind this massacre.

"Would you like us to reevaluate the case to see if we missed something?" Jace suggested. He knew Alec too well to know that he wouldn't rest until he had made at least some progress with this case.

"Yes, please."

"Okay, then let's start from the beginning...according to the police report and what our forensic team concluded," Jace said, reviewing the report in his hand, "and taking into account the time when the security system went off, it's safe to say that the criminal entered the building around 9:45 or 10:00 p.m., then he-"

"I'm not sure that information is completely accurate." Alec interrupted. He had been analyzing with Magnus all the reports and security footage they had obtained from the scene, and that was something they had both agreed upon—that statement didn't match with the evidence they had. "I think he was already inside the building when the attack took place, he was just hiding somewhere, waiting for the right moment to come out."

"You think?"

"Yes, there is no evidence to indicate otherwise, the street cameras were working all day, there's no footage of him entering the building. In fact, there's no footage of anyone entering the Library after 5:17 p.m."

"He could have used one of the blind spots on the cameras, like the one right next to the park."

"He could have, but why bother when he could wait inside all along. It wouldn't be the first time, he did it when he stole the Hope diamond. Besides, we know getting in isn't the problem, thousands of people visit the Library every day. He could have entered pretending to be a curious tourist and found a place to hide. Criminals are very, very patient." Alec said confidently. After all, now he had a lot of experience in understanding how criminals thought.

"Okay, let's assume you're right and the criminal was inside the building all along, that still leaves us with the same time frame. He came out of hiding sometime around 9:45 or 10:00 p.m., and headed to the security room where he killed a guard and disabled the security system." Jace said.

"Then he went to the stacks and killed four more guards." Alec continued.

"He took the books-"

"Which he already knew where they were since it took him just a few minutes to steal them." Alec interrupted, adding that piece of information as he considered it important.

"True, and then he went up to the ground floor and killed another guard, finally heading to the 42nd street entrance where he killed the last two guards before leaving the building at 10:43 p.m. and disappearing through the 5 Avenue subway station." Jace concluded.

"So the entire heist took him less than 45 minutes." Alec said, standing up and looking at the board again, trying to put all the pieces together. Their theory of how things had happened made sense, it followed the time frame the police and the forensic team had reported, and matched with the time of death of the guards. "A very long time if we consider the location of the heists, but very short if we take into account that he was carrying almost a hundred books on his way out."

"I know," Jace agreed, "how did he do that?"

"No idea. The forensic team tried to recreate the escape scene with some bags full of books and the conclusion was that this man is stronger than average men."

"Very useful information." Jace said sarcastically. "Do we know what's so special about these books?"

"Nothing." Alec said. He had asked Magnus that same question the night before after dinner, when they had started to discuss the case. "The entire collection was one of the largest acquisitions of Russian books and photographic materials at the time, and was considered an almost impossible purchase since the Soviet government had a policy of selling its cultural collections abroad solely for gold, but the books he took are not a big deal. Yes, they are worth more than thirty million dollars altogether, but it's not a collection that someone would be interested in purchasing, the books he took have no historical or cultural value, they are just important because they were part of the Grand Duke's collection."

"So he just stole them for the sake of stealing them?" Jace asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't…" Alec agreed, "but-" he started to say, but stopped abruptly. Hearing his own words out loud and his brother's conclusion had given him an idea, so he quickly grabbed all the other blackboards they had about the previous cases and placed them side by side to compare them.

So far there had been five cases, the bank, the boutique, the museum, the private collector, and the library. In all of them there had been murders, five, three, four, one and eight respectively—twenty-one murders in four months give or take. But so far nothing seemed to be connected, each case seemed to be isolated from the other. "The scores are not connected," Alec murmured more to himself, "nor are the killings." He added.

"Maybe he wasn't planning on killing anyone, maybe these people were there in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jace suggested.

"No, the guards had to be there in most cases." Alec said. "This man is smart and so is the one behind the curtain, they had to know they would be there. The private collector might have been a coincidence, though, as far as the investigation goes, he was supposed to be out of the country the day he was robbed and murdered, so his death may have been a miscalculation, but either way, I don't think the answer lies in the murders." He added. "I think the answer is in the scores."

"Go on…" Jace encouraged him.

"Look at all the cases together and tell me what do you see in them."

Jace looked, but it was clear he wasn't following Alec's idea. It was so obvious to Alec now that he wondered why he hadn't seen it before. "These attacks aren't about money or how many innocent people a single person can kill," Alec continued, "they are about the prestige that committing them would bring the perpetrator, their purpose is to prove something."

"What?"

"That something that was considered impossible is possible. Think about it...the bank? He targeted a bank in Midtown Manhattan, those banks are considered the safest in the entire city. The Hope diamond? I don't think I need to elaborate on that one. The Queens museum? He took the most valuable sculpture of the six replicas in existence. He's not playing around, Jace, he has a pattern. Valentine, with some help from his henchmen, is showing us that he can do the impossible."

"But using another criminal's name?" Jace wondered. "That doesn't fit with his profile."

"I know, but that's exactly what he needs us to believe, he needs us to think it's not him. He's creating an illusion," Alec concluded, "he's taking advantage of his status as a dead man to make us go after Magnus and distract us."

"For what purpose? What good would that bring him? It's not like we don't know he's still alive."

"I don't know, but the only thing I can think of is that if he doesn't mind not attaching his name to all these impressive scores, then what he's planning is ten times worse."

"What do you think it is?"

"I have no clue, but we have to find out before it's too late. I have the feeling that his next score will be even more violent."

"Okay, then I'll call the team so we can start investigating following this line." Jace said, standing up and quickly heading for the door.

"No, wait!" Alec stopped him.

"What?"

"You can't tell anyone but Izzy about this yet."

"Why?"

Alec hadn't told his siblings what he had learned about Valentine for fear of putting them in danger. He had half the people in the office on his list of suspects and although he had already ruled out some names, he still wasn't sure who he could trust and who he couldn't. "Be-be-because you know people always take this kind of information with a grain of salt, they don't believe it until they have solid proof, so let's wait until we have more evidence to support this theory." Alec said.

"I think you word is more than enough to support anything, but if that's what you want..." Jace said with a shrug.

"Thanks."

"Then, now what?"

"Now we focus on finding something that can lead us to them."

"Okay." Jace agreed, and together they began to review all the cases, sharing facts and theories, looking for something, anything, that could help them get to this man and Valentine.

"You know what's not adding up?" Alec said, after studying the cases for half an hour.

"What?"

"The damn glitter again."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not strange that these trails," he pointed to the pictures of the trails found in the library, "don't match with Magnus's, but what it's strange is that until now this criminal had been very careful to leave traces of glitter all over the place. Look at the other cases." He added, pointing to the pictures of the glitter trails of the previous cases. "He left glitter everywhere, in the hallways, in the vaults, offices and even where he murdered the guards, see?"

"Your point?" Jace asked.

"My point is that he's being careless, in the last case, he only left glitter in two places...here and here," Alec pointed out the location of the stacks and the security room in the blueprints that they had on the desk, "but he murdered guards here and here as well." He pointed out two more places.

"Maybe he wasn't expecting so many guards and he ran out of glitter." Jace suggested.

"I don't think so...but maybe he was expecting a free path, you know?"

"You mean someone was helping him from within?"

"I wouldn't rule it out...it could be, right? People do a lot of crazy stuff for money. Has Izzy finished with the interrogations to the rest of the guards and the staff?"

"She was working on that, you want me to go see how she's doing? I-"

"Speaking of the devil," Alec said, when his sister poked her head through the door. "I was sending Jace to get you, are you done with the interrogations?"

"Kind of, there's only one guard left to interrogate, I was about to do it, but then Hodge asked me to come and get you," Izzy said, "there's going to be a last-minute meeting or something."

"A last-minute meeting?" Alec questioned with a scowl. He'd been having meetings with Hodge and his father all week, he didn't know what else they could discuss about the case. Alec had already said what he had to say and if he was honest, it hadn't been a pleasant experience. Like the last couple of times, Alec had unwittingly become Magnus's alibi, so he had had to control every fiber of his being to not explode and say why he was so damn sure that Magnus couldn't be the person who had killed all those innocent people.

"Yes, he said he'd be waiting for us in the conference room." Izzy informed them.

"Now?" Jace asked.

"Yes, now, so come on, let's go see what he wants...the sooner we finish with this, the sooner we can all go back to work." She said.

Alec sighed resignedly. His head was still killing him, but he figured that having another meeting couldn't make it much worse. "Fine, let's go."

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus was at home, trying, but failing, to calm his nerves a bit. He had been putting cash in bags all morning and getting everything ready to put in motion the second stage of his plan to freedom. Everything was going well, but even so, he was very, very nervous. He had been waiting for this moment for so long that now that it had finally arrived, he didn't know what to do with himself.

In the past couple of days, he and Ragnor had finished printing the Spanish Victory bonds and used an intermediary that Raphael had hired to redeem them, getting, in one fell swoop, hundreds of millions of dollars. They had split the profits equally between them and paid Raphael his more than deserved share, but even when they had generated more money than they could count, Magnus hadn't seen a single penny of it—every last dollar of his part was going to serve him to pay that debt that had been tormenting him since he could remember.

Magnus grabbed one of his many disposable phones, sent a quick text message indicating a time and place, and threw it out the window, watching it crash and shatter in pieces against the sidewalk. It was done.

"Deep breaths, Magnus, deep breaths." He reminded himself.

His cat walked beside him and rubbed against his leg, demanding attention. Magnus picked him up and started petting him. "After today, Chairman, we're finally going to be free." He shared his excitement with his furry son. "I know I promised that when this day came, we'd both take a long trip around the world, but, well, there's someone new in our lives, so that's not going to happen any time soon, you don't mind, do you?" He asked.

The cat kept purring, so Magnus took that as a sign that the little animal was okay with the new change of plans. "Thank you for being so understanding." He said, putting the cat down and walking to the coffee table to continue what he had been doing before his cat decided he wanted attention.

"Such a waste." Magnus whispered, looking at the original bond and the rest of the forgeries they hadn't redeemed. He would have loved to frame the original and perhaps one of the forgeries to put them on some wall at his home and always remember the incredible work he had done, but even getting rid of all this was part of his plan, so he quickly put them inside the last bag he had there and after securing everything with strips, he called his best friend to coordinate with him.

"It's in motion, my friend. Now I just need you to do what I asked you to do." Magnus said as soon as Ragnor answered the phone.

"Are you sure about this?" Ragnor asked hesitantly. Magnus could hear the worry in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure about this, trust me, okay?"

"Okay, fine...just-just be careful, okay? And-"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I promise. See you later, my friend." Magnus said, hanging up the phone and grabbing the bags he'd stacked by the door.

"Time to go." He said, taking a deep breath and stepping out of his home.

He couldn't walk around the city carrying bags with cash and evidence that would put him behind bars in the blink of an eye, so he quickly hailed a taxi and in less than twenty minutes he was at the meeting place.

He was a little early, he had set the meeting at noon and it was barely past eleven o'clock in the morning, but as soon as he got out of the car, he noticed that the place, although closed, wasn't locked, so that only meant that the person he was expecting was already waiting for him inside.

Magnus glanced at the building and took another deep breath. Meeting with this man had always made him feel extremely anxious and he hated that—he hated that with all his soul. But this would be the last time, so that thought gave him the courage to open the door and step inside.

The place was exactly as he had left it the last time he had been there to leave it ready for this day and make sure there was no evidence of someone else's presence there, so he walked sure of himself and made his way straight to the last floor.

"I'm here." He said, announcing his presence. The place seemed to be empty, but he was certain he wasn't alone.

"Curious place you chose for us to meet," A tall figure said, emerging from the shadows, wearing a huge smile, "should I take this a sign of your resentment, or are you just being sentimental?" He asked, but Magnus didn't answer.

"It's good to see you again," the man continued, "how have you been?"

"Like if you've ever cared." Magnus said, trying not to show any emotion in his voice. "Here's your money." He added, throwing the bags with cash to the floor right at the man's feet.

"How much is in here?" The man asked, opening one of the bags with the help of a hunting knife and taking out the money to count it.

"More than I owe you, that's for sure." Magnus said, with a hint of irony in his voice. "But I brought you these too, just in case." He added, handing him the last bag containing the original bond and the rest of the forgeries.

"What's this?" He asked.

"A bonus," Magnus said, "I printed more bonds than originally planned, so now they are yours. You can redeem them whenever you want."

The man smiled broadly and opened the bag with enthusiasm, pulling out the bonds with the care that only someone who knew what he was doing would use. "You've always been very, very talented." He said, admiring the perfectly crafted forgeries. "I'm proud of you, I can't deny that there was a time when I thought you'd never make it, but you've proved me wrong, you actually made it. You made the perfect score—no witnesses, no motive, no evidence."

Magnus just rolled his eyes to avoid answering. Yeah, he had made it, the so-called perfect score, but that didn't matter anymore, especially after what he had in mind for today. "Where's the document I signed for you?" He asked.

"On the desk." The man said absentmindedly, he was still lost examining the bonds.

Magnus walked to the desk and grabbed the envelope, opening it to verify that it contained that document he had signed all those years ago. He had been so naive and stupid, in his desperation he had trusted this man and the latter had done nothing but betray him and-

"Is this the original?" The man asked, interrupting Magnus's train of thought. He had just taken out a plastic case where Magnus had put the original bond for safekeeping.

"Yes, I thought you'd like to have it as some sort of trophy."

"You know me so well...so, so well." The man said, smiling approvingly.

"Yeah, whatever, my debt to you has now been paid. Please don't ever call me or look for me again, I'm done with you." Magnus said, putting the contract safely inside the pocket of his coat and walking toward the door.

"You can't ask me that, we both know you can't get rid of me that easily."

"I paid you!" Magnus exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks and trying not to lose his temper. "I have the contract now, you have nothing against me that can force me to do anything. I'm free!"

"For now." The man said simply, but Magnus knew him well enough to know that every word that came out of his mouth had all the potential to be a threat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Magnus asked, but the man didn't answer and just busied himself counting the money and making sure it was authentic. Magnus sighed—things had always been the same with this man. He wondered why he had even bothered to ask. "Anyway, I must go, I have important things to do...good riddance." He added, resuming his walking and heading for the door.

"I'll see you soon."

"I don't think so." Magnus said, trying not to be intimidated and just rushing down the stairs to try to escape the building as fast as he physically could. There was a feeling of freedom mixed with relief and some sort of disbelief growing inside his chest and it was very overwhelming.

He stepped out of the building, took a deep breath and smiled not quite believing that everything had gone according to plan. There was no doubt that today was his lucky day, but he wasn't going to take any risks, so he grabbed the chain and padlock he had brought with him from inside his coat and closed the front door, locking the man with whom he had just met inside.

"Goodbye." He whispered, looking one last time at the door and walking away from the street without looking back.

It was over—now there was just one thing left to do so that he could completely be free, so he pulled out his phone and called the only person he knew would put an end to all this once and for all.

o-o-o-o-o

Alec, Izzy, and Jace entered the conference room a couple of minutes later and looked at each other in confusion—the place was packed from corner to corner. Meetings, even last-minute ones, never required the presence of every active agent in the Bureau, but apparently this one was a bit different because the whole office was assembled there; from the newbies to the special agents from D.C. who had been working with them—every last agent with an active badge was there.

"Alec, please, have a seat." Hodge said, pointing to the head of the table opposite to where he and Alec's father were.

"What's this meeting about?" Alec asked as he sat down with Jace and Izzy, occupying the chairs beside him.

"You'll find out in a moment." Hodge said.

"We were in the middle of something." Alec complained.

"Me too." Izzy chimed in.

"Don't worry," Hodge said, as a way to reassure them, "this won't take long, I just need to make a quick announcement. Please, all of you who can, sit down in the remaining chairs, if there's no room, distribute evenly around the table so everyone can hear what I have to say." He added, waiting a couple of minutes before continuing. "Thank you. Now, I know that many of you are wondering what are we doing here, and, well, I'm afraid I have some not very good news to share with you. Given recent developments in Magnus Bane and Valentine Morgenstern's case, the Criminal Investigative Division has decided to intervene and send an agent from the National Security branch to review our work and assess whether the case remains under our jurisdiction or not."

"What!?" Alec exclaimed, at the same time as a general clamor filled the room.

"What you heard, Agent Lightwood." A woman said, entering the room with an air of authority that left everyone speechless. "Hello everyone, my name is Lydia Branwell, special agent from the CID, National Security branch in D.C."

"You're here to take over the case!?" Jace asked incredulously.

"Not yet, Agent. I'm here to review your work and analyze the case."

"But why?" Izzy asked, offended.

"Why?" Lydia said, almost smiling at Izzy's audacity to ask such question. "Because it seems that this office is incapable of stopping Valentine and his gang of criminals. How many agents are currently working on the case? If what Agent Starkweather has informed me is correct, there are twenty-five special agents from this office and twelve from D.C. working together with the sole purpose of resolving this case…and how close are any of you to catching Valentine?" She asked, but nobody dared to answer. Alec couldn't deny that she was intimidating. "Just what I thought, so if you, Agent Isabelle Lightwood, are still questioning why I'm here, then I suggest that you review the progress you've all made in four months and tell me if twenty-one murders is a number of casualties the white-collar division is used to having."

"You have no-" Izzy started to say, but Hodge cut her off immediately.

"I understand that this decision took us all by surprise," he said, trying to reassure all the agents—the entire office seemed concerned, "but let's try to be good teammates and make Agent Branwell feel comfortable among us for the time she stays here. I ask you all to give her full access to all the information we have about Valentine Morgenstern and Magnus Bane. Her final evaluation of the case will be key in determining whether the Bureau will allow us to keep this case or not."

"Also," Lydia added, "from now on, and until I send the report back to CID, any progress on the case will have to be reported to me first. I know things work differently in the white-collar division, but for as long as I'm here, we'll do things my way, understood?" She asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Now go back to your work stations and make sure to make copies of all the files you have about these criminals. You're dismissed."

The agents around the room nodded frantically and walked away, but Alec, Jace, and Izzy just looked at each other and stood there, waiting for the room to empty so they could have a word with their captain.

"You can't let CID to come here and do whatever they want." Alec complained, as soon as they were alone with their boss.

"I don't have control over that, Alec, this last case raised some red flags and Criminal Division is concerned. We're part of the non-violent crimes section of the Bureau, we shouldn't be going after a mass murderer, that's not our job and you all know that."

"Is she going to stay long?" Jace asked.

"I don't know, maybe a few days...she needs to see that we have enough grounds to keep this case here, we have full support of the Marshalls, so we just need to show her that despite the unusual number of casualties, this is still a case that's under our jurisdiction."

"You think we have enough?" Izzy asked worriedly.

"Yes, so far the crimes have been committed by Bane-"

"Allegedly." Alec interrupted.

"Okay, allegedly committed by Bane, so as far as the Bureau is concerned this is still a white-collar criminal we're talking about, we just need to prove her that. It's not going to be easy, Agent Branwell isn't exactly very...open-minded, but I'm confident that we'll manage to convince her and win her approval, and if we do, then we'll have nothing to worry about. She's a pretty big deal back in D.C., if she says the case is ours, then it will be ours no matter what."

"Well, I don't care who she is, or if she's some very important agent in D.C., I'm not going to let anyone take this case away from me." Alec said, sure of himself. Not in vain, he had spent months working on this and in recent weeks, wasting precious alone-time with Magnus just to go over every damn case and try to find Valentine. "I don't care if I have to go and ask the case to the director of the Bureau himself."

"Relax, Alec, we won't let that happen, I'll try my best to keep the case here," Hodge said, "but please, don't give Agent Branwell any problems, okay?"

"If she doesn't get in my way, we won't have any problem." Alec said, a little annoyed. His headache had finally subsided, but he wasn't in a very good mood after the meeting.

"Alec…"

"Don't, Hodge, just don't." Alec said. "This is my city, this is my case and as I've told you enough times already, I'm going to solve it." He said with determination, walking out of the conference room and slamming the door behind him.

Alec entered his office and sank into his chair, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Just the idea of having someone trying to take the case away from him made him furious. Valentine had turned his life upside down and he was determined to make him pay for it. If there was an agent who would catch him and put him behind bars, that was going to be him—no one else.

"No one." He whispered and jumped a bit scared when Jace knocked on his door.

"May I come in?" His brother asked.

Alec nodded.

"A bit shocking the news about the CID agent, don't you think?"

"A bit?" Alec said ironically.

Jace laughed and Alec laughed with him, he was glad they were on the same page about the new agent.

Alec understood why the CID had decided to intervene, but having someone new, especially after what he now knew about this institution, wasn't something he liked. He couldn't just trust her, she seemed responsible and very committed to her work, and Alec liked that, but if there was something he had learned since all this chaos had started was that he couldn't trust anyone.

"I was going to suggest that we go out for lunch, but-" Jace was saying when the phone Alec used to communicate with Magnus rang.

Alec frowned. Since they had started with this, Magnus had never called him without texting him first and asking him if he was free to talk, the criminal was well aware of the risks Alec was taking and never put him in any kind of uncomfortable situation. "I-I-I'm sorry, I have to take this call." He told his brother, grabbing the phone and walking to the side of his office to have some sort of privacy.

"Hi." He said, trying not to sound too worried. He didn't want the criminal to notice how much he cared already. "Are you hmmm, alright?"

"Alexander, hi. Yes, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Hmmm, because you never call without texting me first, I thought you needed something."

"Well, you're right, I do need something...I need some of your hmmm, services."

"What?" Alec asked, surprised. He couldn't believe Magnus had called him just to ask that, this man knew no limits. "Did you really just call to ask me that? You do realize I could get into serious trouble if they find out I'm-"

"What?" Magnus asked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Alec frowned. "What are you talking about?" He asked equally confused, apparently they weren't talking about the same thing.

"What am I…? Oh!" Magnus exclaimed in understanding. "You thought I was asking for your sexual services, didn't you? Well, darling, you know I'm always in need of those, but that's not why I'm calling you. I'm actually calling you because I need your hmmm...federal agent services."

"Oh." Alec said, blushing like a tomato. They were definitely not talking about the same thing. "Wh-wha-what for?"

"Do you remember the address I gave you with the postcards?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, you should go there right now...there's something waiting for you there."

"You left me a surprise there?" Alec asked in a very low voice. After all, his brother was still there and he didn't want him to realize that even though all his life Alec had said he hated surprises, now he was learning to appreciate them.

"Is there someone there with you?" Magnus asked amused.

"Yes?"

"And you still answered the call? We're getting a bit bold, aren't we, Alexander?"

"Shut up! I thought it was an emergency."

"Awww, you're killing me, darling, you really are, but we'll talk about that sweetness of yours later, right now I really need you to go to the address I told you about."

"Why?"

"You'll know why when you get there." Magnus said. "Take your team with you, okay? You can tell them about the postcards and use them as a ticket to get a warrant to open the building."

"What's in there?" Alec asked worriedly. He was getting used to Magnus's cryptic-ness, but this whole thing was very different from what he had done so far. "You're scaring me."

"Just trust me, okay?"

"But-"

"Please?"

"Okay, fine."

"Thank you...and hurry up, okay? My surprise could get ruined if you don't move fast."

"Okay…"

"Oh, and did you get the tip about the fraud with the Spanish bonds?"

"How do you know that?" Alec asked in surprise. Not so long ago, in fact, just before entering the conference room for the last-minute meeting, Raj had informed him that they had received a tip to warn them of a fraud committed with a Spanish War bond that used to be in the National Archives. Alec still didn't know all the details, since he hadn't had time to review the report, but he doubted that the case was already out in the news for Magnus to know about it.

"That doesn't matter, but if I were you I'd bring an expert in forgeries, just in case. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"No, Ma-" Alec bit his tongue to keep himself from saying the criminal's name. "No, wait!"

"Bye, Alexander." The criminal said, ending the call.

Alec looked at the phone and frowned deeply confused. He didn't know what to do, that call had been all kinds of strange, but he trusted Magnus, so he knew he had to come up with something quickly to justify going over the postcards again and do what Magnus had asked him to do. The criminal very rarely asked for a favor, so this had to be important.

"Everything alright?" Jace asked, when Alec took his seat again.

"Yes, yes...I hmmm, yeah." He said, not really knowing what else to say. "You were saying something about lunch?"

"Yes, I wanted us to go out for something, but with Lydia here I think that won't be possible, will it?"

"I believe it won't...we have to make copies of all the files." Alec said, suddenly realizing how he was going to bring up Magnus's postcards again.

"Really?"

"Yes, you heard Hodge, we have to give her full access to all the files regarding Magnus and Valentine."

"It's going to take us forever."

"Then we better start."

Alec and Jace started to take out all the files and make copies of them. Alec deliberately focused on Magnus's files to be able to review the postcards and reveal the hidden message on them when the opportunity presented itself. He was a bad liar and even a worse actor, but he had to at least try it.

"Oh my God!" Alec exclaimed, when he was photocopying the postcards. He knew that he sounded exaggerated and false, that was why he had his back to Jace, so that his brother couldn't see through him and discover the lie.

"What?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed again, pretending to ignore Jace.

"What?"

"It's so clear." Alec said, putting all the postcards on his desk and writing down the code. "He left a message."

"Who?" Jace asked confused.

"Magnus...look." Alec said, showing Jace what he 'had just found.'

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Jace exclaimed, rereading the message and looking at the postcards. "He asked you out on a date!? Is he nuts? Never mind, you were right all along, Alec! The key to this puzzle was in the freaking postcards!"

Alec just smiled. He didn't dare to say much, he feared that his voice might betray him.

"We need to go there right away!"

"Of course."

"I'll go get a warrant!" Jace said, rushing out of the office. "This is huge, Alec! Huge!"

"I know…" Alec said, as Jace walked out excited, "I know."

When the door closed behind his brother, Alec exhaled and covered his face with his hands. Since he'd hung up with Magnus, there was a sense of anxiety growing inside him. He didn't know what he was going to find there or what to expect from all this, but he was worried.

"Is it true?" Izzy asked, knocking on the door and entering Alec's office. "I just ran into Jace and he told me about the postcards."

Alec nodded.

"Do you think he's there?" Izzy asked excitedly.

'No,' Alec thought, but shrugged. "I don't know, but it's worth making sure, don't you think?"

"Yes, I can't bel-" Izzy was saying when Lydia also entered the office, taking full advantage of the fact that the door was open.

"Your partner is requesting a warrant to open a building in Midtown East, why wasn't I informed about this beforehand?"

"Because it's a very last minute lead in the case?" Alec said, he really didn't want to argue with anyone right now. He was anxious enough about the surprise Magnus could have left for him in that building to add a discussion with Lydia to the mix.

"As I recently informed you, Agent Lightwood, any further development on the case has to be reported directly to me."

"You just said it yourself, new development, this is just a lead, if we find anything useful for the case you will be informed immediately."

"Is this the way things are going to be between us?" Lydia questioned.

"No, I'm sorry, I-I'm not used to having to inform someone about what I do or don't, you'll have all the information on this lead as soon as we're back."

"Okay, fine...I'll be expecting a full report, Agent...and next time? Inform me first of any leads." She said, walking out of the office.

"She's going to be a headache, isn't she?" Izzy questioned.

"It seems." Alec said with a sigh just as Jace entered the office announcing them that he had gotten the warrant and they were ready to go.

So without wasting any more time, Alec and his team rushed to the address, and after carefully setting up a security perimeter to keep any curious New Yorker away from there, they approached the building.

"Open the doors." Alec ordered his team. Just like that time when he had come on his own, the building was locked with a padlock and a chain, so he waited until his team forced the entrance to step in.

The place looked exactly as he remembered it, dusty and abandoned, there was nothing there but heaps of garbage littering the floor.

"There's no power, sir." One of the agents said, though Alec already knew that.

"Use flashlights, and check each and every room." He ordered them.

Slowly, the agents began to check all the rooms, indicating Alec that the place was clear. Alec was desperate to find something, he knew that Magnus would have never made him come all the way here if there wasn't something or someone important hiding in here. They just had to find it.

"This floor is clear too." Jace informed him.

Alec was aware that there was only one floor left to check, so he cocked his gun and held it firmly in front of him, climbing up the stairs that led to the top floor.

And there, standing in the middle of a pile of bags with cash, was a tall man. He was wearing a long black cloak and a top hat. His hair was a bit gray, so Alec assumed he wasn't very young, but there was no way to be completely sure, the man had his back to the door and there was not enough light. "Turn around slowly." Alec ordered him, pointing his gun at the man's head, while the other agents quickly filled the room and started to examine the evidence.

"These are the bonds reported today, boss." Raj informed him. "According to the tip we received, someone stole and forged the Spanish Victory bond that was in the National Archives, and using that replica, printed more bonds to commit a fraud. We haven't fully investigated the case, but we know that a few days ago the government redeemed more than a thousand bonds, so there must be more than a billion dollars in cash here, boss."

Alec quickly looked at the bonds and the money. It wasn't surprising at all that they were there, Magnus had warned him about them.

"I said, turn around!" Alec ordered the now alleged criminal again.

The man sighed and turned around, making everyone in the room to gasp in surprise. They knew who this man was, there was a most-wanted poster of his face everywhere.

"Asmodeus Brown…" Alec whispered in surprise. He didn't know what he was going to find when he first agreed to come to this building, but he certainly never expected it to be this man. Asmodeus Brown was one of the most wanted criminals in the world, the Interpol had even put a price on his head. He didn't know why Magnus had given him this man on a silver platter, but regardless of that, this was a great achievement for Alec's career.

"I'm glad you know my name." The man said with a smile.

"Shut up." Alec said. "Put your hands in the air where I can see them."

The man obeyed and Alec approached him, putting the criminal's hands on his back and handcuffing him. "Asmodeus Brown, you are under arrest for the possession of stolen and forged property. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, then one will be appointed for you by the court. Do you understand?"

The criminal just limited himself to nod, but looked at Alec with a mocking smile on his face that sent shivers all over his body. "Take him to the station." Alec ordered one of the agents, who quickly escorted Asmodeus out of the building.

Alec sighed and looked around. The rest of his team was already examining the place and collecting the evidence, Izzy was looking for prints, Jace was putting a knife in one of the evidence bags, and the expert on forgeries that he had brought with him was sampling and examining the bonds.

"Are they really the bonds reported today?" Alec asked.

"They are," The agent confirmed, "and this is quality work, sir. I've never seen something quite like it before." He added, handing Alec a pair of gloves and two of the bonds. "This is the original bond, printed, I'm guessing, seventy or eighty years ago, and this is the forgery, which, if I'm not mistaken, was printed no less than two weeks ago."

Alec took both and proceeded to examine them. The agent was right, this was quality work, there was no easy way of determining which one was the fake and which one was the original, but unlike him, Alec had seen this kind of quality work before.

'Magnus…' He thought.

He knew the criminal had done them, he had no way to prove it, of course, but he knew he had some sort of involvement in this.

"Good job, Agent Johnson. Do what you have to do here and take everything back to the office." Alec said, handing the agent the bonds back. "I have to head back to the office to make sure this criminal pays for what he's done, but I want a full report on these bonds. Oh, and Agent? See if they have any signature on them, specifically Bane's signature, okay? But don't share your results with anyone but me, understood?"

"Yes, sir."