Chapter Text
Sometimes, the White Collar division put in months and months of painstaking work into closing a case. Sometimes, the cases practically closed themselves.
So it was that Tuesday.
The White Collar team were investigating Fred Hunt. A respectable businessman, Hunt owned several bookshops around the metropolitan area. But according to insistent tips, in addition to selling romance novels, he also dealt in stolen books on the side.
They had barely started the investigation when fortune smiled upon them. Jones and his team were tailing the guy, getting a handle on his daily schedule. It all seemed rather mundane, at first. Hunt made his way between his shops, checking in on each, going over inventory and spending some time talking to customers. Then he stopped at a cafe, where he met with a woman. A package exchanged hands in return for an envelope. It could have been a legal deal, but Jones went with his gut instinct, risked the entire op, and arrested both of them. Turned out that Hunt had just purchased a stolen book.
And not just any stolen book. It was a first-edition of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, part of an exhibit at the Russian Heritage Museum which had featured a dozen rare books on special loan from the Russian government. Two weeks earlier, the place was hit and the thief (or thieves) got away with almost the entire collection.
It was quite the embarrassment for the NYPD, who had been tasked with guarding the exhibit, and the State Department, who had coordinated the event. The Feds were called in, but for the past two weeks, there had been no trace of the missing books.
But Lady Luck wasn't finished with her surprises. The fence they'd arrested turned out to be one Alexandra Hunter, known associate of Neal Caffrey. Who just happened to be the main suspect in the book heist.
Peter and Jones were sitting in Peter's office, mugs of steaming coffee in their hands. It wasn't yet time for popping open the champagnes, but they could certainly allow themselves to bask.
Jones was giving Peter the breakdown of the operation, when Peter, who had been watching out onto the bullpen, suddenly interrupted. "Ah... there's Ruiz."
Jones turned to look. Indeed, Agent Joe Ruiz, from the Violent Crimes division, was just stepping into the White Collar offices.
Peter wasn't on best terms with Ruiz, to say the least, but Ruiz was now handling the Caffrey case. If they wanted to catch the conman, Peter needed Ruiz's help.
Peter downed the remains of his coffee. "Let's get this show on the road."
"Good luck," Jones offered.
"I hope I won't need it," Peter answered wryly.
He met Ruiz halfway across the bullpen.
"I appreciate the call, Burke." Ruiz sounded sincere enough.
Peter nodded. "Come, I'll show you what we have." He motioned with his hand towards the interrogation rooms. "Hunter apparently has connections in high places. Charges against her usually get mysteriously dropped."
Ruiz snorted. "So she probably thinks she can get away with it this time as well."
"Most probably," Peter agreed. "She's keeping quiet until her lawyer gets here. But we know that Hunter's involved with Caffrey."
"Romantically?"
"I don't think so." The two hadn't seen overly friendly to Peter. "But they're definitely business partners. Hunter's been a suspect in Caffrey's heists before. Until now we've never had enough evidence to put her away."
It sounded familiar enough to Ruiz. "We brought in Caffrey for questioning, you know, for the Russian Heritage Museum heist. But we didn't have enough to pin it on him."
"Until now."
"Until now," Ruiz agreed.
They stopped outside the interrogation room, where they could observe Alex inside. She was wearing tight pants and a light sleeveless shirt, her hands cuffed in front of her. Despite that, she did not look very concerned. Legs stretched out under the table, she gazed with a rather bored expression at the opposite wall, a quiet smirk on her face.
"What I suggest," Peter started laying out his plan, "is that you bring Caffrey in for a follow-up interrogation, make sure he knows why Hunter's here. He won't let her take the fall for a crime he committed."
"Won't let her..." Ruiz repeated, in disbelief. "Caffrey's a sociopath, Burke. He cares only about himself."
"He was willing to risk a lot to save his girlfriend," Peter countered. Last summer Neal had shown up on his doorstep with a tempting deal: he'd help the Feds catch Matthew Keller in return for immunity for Keller's accomplice, Kate Moreau. Against all expectations, he had even delivered.
"He was willing to risk a lot to turn on his former partner." Ruiz shook his head resolutely. "And for all we know, that's all Hunter is. It's too risky, Burke. We've only got one chance on this. Once Caffrey knows we arrested Hunter, we'll lose the element of surprise. He might flee."
"He won't."
"Besides," Ruiz continued, "I have the winning ticket right here." He tapped the thin folder in his hand.
"What is it?"
"Here, I'll show you..."