Josh knew he had no way of shirking the subtle hesitation he had when Smith's name came up in the conversation. He himself had only met Smith a small number of times, but the man had a definate air about him. And, after Smith had come up in the conversation earlier in the day, Josh had done a little bit of enquiring to extend what he already knew about the man, but he'd been, for the most part, blocked.

He realised that he'd been silent longer than intended, which had done nothing to temper Kate's interest in this particular topic. He knew he'd been subtly cornered. He'd have to note that for future reference.

"I'd forgotten how persistant you could be!", said Josh, trying to shake off the air of tension which had suddenly alighted around the conversation.

"Comes in handy sometimes!", she replied, subtly shirking his comment and trying to keep him on track.

"Well, Smith is a bit of an enigma. He's been in the Bureau as long as the Director has. In fact, I think at one stage the two of them were partners. Apparently Smith vanished for a while, dropping out of the loop, but he's recently resurfaced here at the Division. There's just something about the man. Everyone is wary of him. I have the feeling there's bad blood between he and Director Roy, but there's more to it than that. This is all conjecture of course, but word is that he's been involved in some unspecified projects, and backdoor projects for the Bureau. Nothing specific, but there just seems to be this air around the man, and a lot there that can't be explained or that isn't revealed. Even when you check his records, there are areas that even I, as a Director, can't access. But, whatever he is, it's trouble with a capital T. Director Roy was wise to advise you to steer clear of him. Smith has an agenda of his own, and one that none of the rest of us know of. One thing is for sure, there's another side to Smith, but he plays all his cards close to his chest. You've got to be careful when dealing with him, that's for sure!"

Josh's mind drifted for a moment, remembering back to the one encounter with Smith that had cemented his view of the man for life. He'd been working in Forensics at that stage, and Smith had been the investigating agent in charge of the case. It was a bombing case, and a number of samples had been brought in from the site for identification and analysis. In the original batch, he was certain that there had been 15 samples for analysis on delivery, including a section which was almost certainly part of the bomb itself. Anyway, when he'd come to do the analysis, there were only 14 samples. He asked the question, but was assurred by Smith that there had been only 14. Xan and Damien, the Heads of Forensic, had also thought there had been 15, but no matter what queries they made, or searches, they hadn't been able to find the missing piece. The case had been completed, and a person charged and convicted with the crime, but Josh had always had this nagging feeling that missing piece would have held the truth to it all. But, only four people had dealt with the sample, and Smith assured them as investigating officer there had only been 14. It had stayed with him for his entire career, but epitomised his view of Smith, and reflected his scepticism.

"Care to share it?", asked Kate, having noticed his far away look.

"Just thinking about a case where I had contact with Smith. I was working in Forensics at that stage, and Smith was the investigating officer. The case was a bombing case, and we were given a number of samples to examine. When we first received them, I unpacked and catalogued them all. I'm certain there were 15 samples. I followed procedure, having Xan and Damien, the Heads of Forensic cross check them to make sure. The next day when we came to analysing them, there were only 14 samples. I triple checked the entire lab, and there were only 14. Even the paperwork showed 14, but the three of us were certain there had been 15. To this day, it has baffled me."

"Could someone else in the lab have tampered with them?"

"No, only the three of us, and Smith, had access to them. No matter what I see, I would swear on my grave that there were 15 samples. But, we could never find that last sample."

"So, what happened?"

"They pinned someone with the crime, tried and convicted it. Smith got accolades, and the mystery has baffled me ever since. I know Xan and Damien, and they wouldn't have touched the samples. And I certainly didn't. There's only one possibility."

"As long as there were 15 samples to begin with!", goaded Kate gently, smiling as she sipped her wine.

Josh was about to respond to that comment when he noted the teasing glint to her expression.

"True, but I'd be willing to bet that isn't in the equation, not with the three best people in Forensic involved at the time. But, you never know!", he retorted, raising his eyebrow slightly.

They both continued with their meal, their thoughts going in similar directions. Josh wondered what Kate's next question regarding Smith would be. He had no doubt that there would be more. She had't given up this far, and all that he'd told her would merely have flamed her curiosity, rather than quenched it. Kate, almost as if he'd read her mind, was going over all that he'd said, a thousand questions coming to mind. As Josh ate one of the final forkfuls of his spaghetti, the question time he'd anticipated began, but with a question he hadn't anticipated.

"Why would Smith have had my personnel file?"

"Your personnel file?"

"Yes, when he was speaking to me in the Director's office, he was holding a copy of my personnel file. I spotted that much before the Director took the documents away from me."

Josh mulled over the question for a second, wondering whether his concern and suspicion were mirrored across his face. What could Smith be up to, with a copy of her personnel file? Nothing good, he'd bet.

"Could be anything. He could have wanted to highlight a specific ability you have which may link in with whatever he wanted to talk to you about. Maybe it was merely the cover for what he wanted to give you. Maybe there was something in the file he wanted to show you."

"Is there something in there he'd want to show me?", she asked out of right field.

"No, of course not. But it's Smith you're talking about. Who knows what his angle was. Whatever it was, you were probably lucky the Director interceded when he did."

"Has Smith ever approached you?", she asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

"No, I've never been approached by Smith. Maybe it was my cologne or something, but Smith never seemed to have an interest in me. Not that I can blame him for taking an interest in you!"



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