"As near as I can tell," Tyrone hesitantly began. "There's a well coordinated nationwide blackmail operation in progress. As of yesterday, we have received almost a hundred cases of alleged blackmail. From Oshkosh, Baton Rouge, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, the works. Small towns to the metros. It's an epidemic and the local and state cops are absolutely buried. They can't handle it, and besides it's way out of their league. So who do they all call? Us. Shit. I need this, right? There's no way we can handle this many cases at once. No way. Washing- ton's going berserk." "Who's behind it?" Scott asked knowing he wouldn't get a real answer. "That's the rub. Don't have a clue. Not a clue. There's no pattern, none at all. We assumed it was organized crime, but our informants say they're baffled. Not the mob, they swear. They knew about it before we did. Figures." Tyrone's voice echoed a professional frustration. "Motives?" "None. We're stuck." "Sounds like we're both on the same hunt." The train slowed to a crawl and then a hesitant stop at Grand Central. Thousands of commuters lunged at the doors to make their escape to the streets of New York above them. Scott won- dered if any of them were part of Duncan's problems. "Scott?" Tyrone queried on the escalator. "Yeah?" "Not a word, ok?" Scott held up his right hand with three fingers. "Scott's honor!" That was good enough for Tyrone. They walked up the stairs and past a newsstand that caught both of their eyes instantly. The National Expose had another sensa- tionalistic headline: FBI POWERLESS IN NATIONAL BLACKMAIL SCHEME They fought for who would pay the 75 cents for the scandal filled tabloid, bought two, and started reading right where they stood. "Jesus," Tyrone said more breathing than actually saying the word. "They're going to make a weekly event of printing every innuendo." "They have the papers, too," muttered Scott. "The whole blasted lot. And they're printing them." Scott put down the paper. "This makes it a brand new ball game . . ." "Just what I need," Tyrone said with disgust. "That's the answer," exclaimed Scott. "The motive. Who's been affected so far?" "That's the mystery. No one seems to have been affected. What's the answer?" Tyrone demanded loud enough to attract attention. "What's the answer?" he whispered up close. "It's you." Scott noted. Tyrone expressed surprise. "What do you mean, me." "I mean, it seems that the FBI has been affected more than anyone else. You said you're overloaded, and that you can't pay atten- tion to other crimes." "You're jumping to conclusions." Tyrone didn't follow Scott's reasoning and cocked his head quizzically.