- In order to cement his trust with the Pink Panthers, Neal must align with a dangerous enemy from his past and obtain an extremely valuable artifact. Peter finds it difficult to keep their secret from Neal and Mozzie.
- Open with Elizabeth back at home. The couple isn't yet telling anybody about the baby. Neal drops by and learns that Elizabeth is back in town.
At the office Neal tells Peter he wants any deal involving his freedom coming in exchange for bringing down the Pink Panthers to come in writing. Mozzie wrote up a contract for the FBI to sign.
Neal has his first meeting with the Panthers. He finds himself staring at Matthew Keller, who precedes raves to the others about Neal's exploits. Woodford arrives and gives Neal his first assignment: He's to take a 19th century Swedish stamp which is being auctioned off by a woman named Bianca Esteverena. He has 48 hours to get the stamp to Woodford or he's out.
Peter meets with a higher up in the FBI named David Pillar. He tells Pillar he wants to keep his team small, then asks for the Attorney General's signature that Neal will get his freedom if the Panthers are taken down.
Neal tells Peter about Keller being involved with the Panthers. Peter wants to shut it down, but Neal argues that Keller must need something from him or else he would have ratted him out to the rest of the Panthers. Neal thinks they get Keller and the Panthers together. Peter reluctantly agrees.
Keller shows up unannounced at Neal's place. In response to how he's out of prison Keller tells him "I've got a benefactor." Neal tells Keller he no longer has the FBI's confidence and is working with the Panthers so he can secure a score that will allow him to break free. Keller wants them to be partners and Neal shakes his hand.
Neal updates Peter on the conversation with Keller.
The team has a briefing on the stamp. It's called the "Treskilling Yellow," printed in 1855 in the wrong color. There are only two in existence and it's worth several million. Bianca is an established auctioneer within the black market. The FBI has no information as to how these auctions are handled, but they know she's vetting five clients that day. One of them, Nathaniel Dietrick, is so secretive there are no pictures of him or his family anywhere. The plan is for the FBI to delay Dietrick so Neal can impersonate him.
Mozzie gets suspicious when he notices Elizabeth isn't drinking her wine. He guesses correctly and she admits it.
The meeting with Bianca starts off poorly because Dietrick was supposed to be with his father. Peter shows up a few minutes later posing as Dietrick's father to save the day. Peter is able to gain Bianca's trust by talking about the stresses of fatherhood. He secures an invite to the auction, but they won't get a text as to its location until an hour before it begins.
Mozzie tells Neal he thinks there's something going on with Keller.
The auction is held at a private residence. When they arrive Neal thinks the place seems almost too easy for him to make the grab and exit with the stamp. But he notices it's being held in an incredibly secure case, complete with motion sensors and drop-from-the-ceiling cage back-up. The auction begins and Neal makes a huge bid on the first item, then starts an argument with another bidder. Peter starts a fight and intentionally trips the alarms. Neal manages to steal the stamp case and plants it (empty) on Bianca while hiding it in his collar. This allows them to leave without issue.
Back at the FBI Jones tells Neal that Russian records indicate that Keller is still incarcerated in Moscow. Peter tells Neal the Swedish government isn't playing ball with the stamp and won't let them use it in their investigation. Peter wants to pull the plug.
Neal works on a forgery of the stamp. He and Mozzie discuss who would have the motivation to pull off getting Keller out.
At the meeting with the Panthers, Keller is used to verify the stamp. He looks at it through a magnifying glass and sees that Neal has printed the word "Interpol" on it in tiny letters. Keller tells Woodford the stamp is legit. Woodford tells Neal they expected him to fail, they were just using the stamp job to evaluate Bianca's security measures.
After the meeting Neal tells Keller he'd noticed him scratching his wrist in a likely microchip location. They both have the same deal in place, and Keller now knows that Neal is still working with Peter. They each have something on one another.
Neal and Peter discuss Keller and then Peter shows him his signed contract. It's ironclad. Peter then tells Neal about Elizabeth being pregnant.
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