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“Come on, Peter, are you sure you don’t have anything else I can work on?” Neal asked. “Mortgage fraud is boring!”
Neal could tell Peter was about to say something along the lines of “stop whining, take the file, go back to your desk, and get to work” when suddenly Peter’s expression changed and a smile Neal wasn’t sure he liked spread across Peter’s face.
“Actually, I do have a number of cold cases, probably at least a dozen, that have been open for years. We were never able to come up with enough evidence to arrest anyone. The closest we ever got to a suspect was pure suspicion at best. Maybe you can take a look at them, tell me if you see anything we missed.”
“Okay,” Neal said hesitantly, suspecting a trap but not really sure what it was.
Peter opened his bottom desk drawer and pulled out a stack of files that, for some reason, he’d chosen to keep at his desk rather than filing them away down in the basement with the rest of the cold cases nobody was actively investigating. Peter held the files out, offering them to Neal. “You find me a bad guy I can send to prison for any of those cases, and I promise, it will be a long time before I assign you another mortgage fraud case.”
Neal took the files Peter was holding out to him, definitely sure he didn’t like the smile on Peter’s face. He glanced down at the label on the top file and read “Solitaire and Sons, 2002.” A look at the first page on the top of the file confirmed that it was a case from 2002 involving the theft of five million dollars in jewels from the Diamond District jewelry store.
He looked at the second file and saw it involved the theft of a Verrocchio in early 2003. The third involved the sale of a forged Mantegna from later in 2003. The fourth involved the 2004 sale of two million dollars in sapphires that turned out to be high-quality fakes.
Neal decided he didn’t need to look at any more. He put the files down on Peter’s desk and said, “You know, these cases are all really old, and that mortgage fraud case is fresh. I think my time would be better served working on that.”
Peter said, “But you know how much I hate having unsolved cases. Are you sure you don’t have any idea who I should arrest for any of them?”
By now Neal realized that, even if Peter had never been able to find any evidence linking any of those crimes to Neal, he’d definitely put Neal at the top of his suspects list.
Neal picked up the stack of files again and looked through the rest of them. He pulled out two files and put them back on Peter's desk, saying, “I might be able to help you look into these cases. The rest of them...” he paused before continuing his thought. “Am I allowed to plead the fifth?”
Peter smiled. A real smile this time, not like his earlier, disturbing smile. “Give those files to Janice, have her send them down to the basement. Now go look at that mortgage fraud case. Maybe, when we’re done, we can take a closer look at these,” he said. Peter picked up the two files Neal had pulled out and put them back in his desk drawer.
Neal quite happily picked up the mortgage fraud file and headed back to his desk. There were definitely things in this world worse than working on a mortgage fraud case!