Caffrey Conversation: A Piece of the Action

In my first Red Diamonds story, Dances with Dinosaurs, I revisited Adrian Tulane. His introduction to Caffrey Conversation was in Penna's story Caffrey Aloha where Neal used a variant of the Anastasia con to keep Tulane from carrying out a theft. The master thief was left believing that Neal was only pretending to be a Caffrey. Since that story, Tulane has been languishing on a shelf, hoping for a callback. Will he make more than a cameo appearance or is the jewel thief merely a red herring? The crystal ball remains murky. Meanwhile, in the Red Diamonds' second story, A Piece of the Action, I pick up another dangling thread—the Dentist of Detroit.

Caution for spoilers to the canon episode "Dentist of Detroit"

"Dentist of Detroit" is one of White Collar's most popular episodes. In it, we learn about Mozzie's childhood and how he dreamed up the dentist as a child to run a numbers racket. The con devised by Neal and Peter to save Mozzie borrows liberally from the one featured in the movie The Sting.

I'd referenced the Dentist in The Shark of SoHo. Neal and Peter had heard of him. The mobster is reputed to be responsible for a long list of crimes, including extortion and murder. When Neal mentioned the Dentist to Mozzie, he quickly changed the subject. For years, I've thought about picking up that dangling thread, but finding a suitable Caffrey Conversation twist has been a challenge.

I knew I didn't want to revisit The Sting. Henry was a bit miffed at that because he'd already channeled Henry Gondorff for his Halloween costume in my Arkham Files story Slimed. I placated him with another role that he likes just as much. But what about the rest of the Caffrey crew? In the canon episode, Neal, Mozzie, and Peter were the main participants, with the women not having much to do. In A Piece of the Action, all of the characters were eager to participate, and I did my best to please them. As for Mozzie, he breaks new ground in a role that to my knowledge no one else has ever attempted.

• A Piece of the Action on Archive of Our Own
• A Piece of the Action on FanFiction
• A Piece of the Action on Wattpad

Related post:

• The Red Diamonds