Peter returned to work, his head buzzing with nervous energy. He still had six hours before he could get back to letter, but if Mozzie was right, there was more than a code to crack. The photos that the police had taken in Neal's apartment were on file and he examined them closely, trying to beat back the memory of actually being there.

In the end he found nothing and he sat back, rubbing his forehead in frustration. No prints, no fibers, no footprints or objects out of place. Just the letters and that damned bird. Maybe it was something to help decode the letter?

He called Diana in and asked her to lead the investigation in the new case. She had nodded, no pity in her expression, but dammit if he couldn't feel it in the way she closed the door quietly as she left. He couldn't have the FBI in on this, if Mozzie was right and there was someone on the inside interfering, then the mess could cost him his job.

He printed the photographs and medical report. Surely no one would think that was strange, he had worked with Caffrey for years, of course he would start a file on him. It was exactly the kind of morbid obsession he could have fallen into.

Maybe you are.

He took his coat and the still warm documents and left headquarters.

The morgue where Caffrey had undergone the tests wasn't far and it was heavily connected with the bureau. He was let in with near to no questions. And he was met in the coroner's office by a young man.

"Charles McCullem." He said, extending a hand.

Peter checked the ID badge McCullem wore. "It doesn't say that on the door." He observed dryly.

"Oh," he looked a bit flustered, "Yes, that would be Peter Lewis. You said you requested the doctor who did Neal Caffrey's autopsy?"

"Yes. I just have a few questions."

"Well you would be looking for Dr. Lewis, but he passed away last week and I'm afraid the samples he kept were... ah..." he looked nervously down at the desk, "compromised."

"Compromised how?" Peter asked carefully.

"They were being kept in the lab after all the paperwork came back from the tests they went through. We usually send them out to a facility in Michigan for storage, but the original biopsy samples were exposed to ammonia. It wasn't just the Caffrey samples. Dr. Lewis was retiring next week and he was just relabeling his cases for his replacement."

"How did ammonia get into the evidence?"

"The electricity to to that wing was cut for construction, the generators were supposed to kick in, but we use ammonia refrigeration for some of the counter chemicals. The heat managed to make a dent in the- it's all here." He pushed a folder over to Peter.

Peter stared at it for a moment, trying to will his frustration down to a manageable level. "So you have nothing?" He asked slowly.

"It wasn't just this case, we lost a lot of evidence. To be honest, Agent Burke, it's been absolute hell around here." He looked on the verge of tears.

"Alright. Fine, but you still have the x-rays, scans, and photographs, right?"

"Our backups were corrupted by-"

Peter held up a hand, "I'm going to stop you there. I'm sure that's in the report as well. Do you in fact have anything at all?"

Cowed, Dr. McCullem passed a single chart over. "We have Dr. Lewis's final report. It's a detailed compilation and analysis of all findings. We also have the audio file he saved, we can send it to your office."

"I'll take it now, before someone's dog eats it." Peter glanced over the report. The words were gibberish, he would need a dictionary and search engine to dig any meaning out of it. "But take a look at these photos. Do you see anything unusual?"

He dug the photos out of the folder and spread them out on the desk, facing the young doctor. McCullem picked up a close up of Neal's hand. "That's strange."

"What?" Peter sat forward eagerly, trying to see what the doctor was looking at.

"Doctor Lewis marked this as a clean cut suicide. But look here," he pointed to a faint line on the index finger. To Peter it looked like a pressure line. "That's a micro abrasion on his left knuckle."

"Good." Peter tugged the photograph out of the man's hand. And the realized he still had no idea what was happening, "What does that mean?"

"It means someone helped him pull the trigger."

"What are we selling him?" Neal asked, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair. Campbell was leaning against the wall, watching him with a slight smile on his face. There was a man waiting in the bar, looking nervous and excited.

He was a mark ready for the picking if Neal had ever seen one.

"We're selling him a job," Campbell said swaying back to his feet and digging his hands into his pockets. When he was hunched like that, Neal could almost see the man he used to be. After living with him for nearly a month now, he could see the little inconsistencies, the lines where the facial features didn't exactly match the pull of the muscle groups around them.

It was disconcerting.

"A job? What job?" Neal asked. He had been with Campbell for all this time and the man still hadn't told him the 'master plan'.

"Your job. His name is Leonard Crims. Small town college professor. He's got a hungry wife, five kids, enough debt to rival his arrogance, and most importantly: he's got an art degree."

They were nearing the bar now and Neal put on his best smile, setting his hat back on his head. "So what job are we selling him?"

"Forgery. He's rubbish, but you know," he grinned widely, and there again was the delay as the skin bunched strangely at his jaw. "beauty is the eye of the beholder and all that. This is the fall guy."

"This is starting to sound like a familiar story."

"Oh Caffrey, you didn't have any of that and you are still the best and fastest forger I have ever seen. Paris was a mistake, I never should have let you go."

Neal shook his head, they were nearly at the bar now, "So what am I forging?"

"The shadows of a conspiracy. I want you to forge an age of the world's lies and all the fuses to set them off."

Neal's note to Peter should be in the next chapter, so stay tuned!

Okay, to be honest, I may have gone a bit overboard on explanation in this chapter, but you guys are intimidating. BTW if any of you want, I can post a link to a website that has all the letters and the crane so you can try and figure the codes/clues out yourself. But I have no idea whether any of you would be interested. If you are, leave a review with a request or send me an email.