Transcript (en)

I noticed a thin metal strip on the shoulder of the agent who came to arrest me, and that was how I helped him crack a multinational case worth over $100 million. It's a security fiber for the new Canadian $100 bill. My name is Neil Caffrey. I was supposed to walk out of prison a free man in three months, but I chose to escape instead. That day, I groomed myself carefully, took out the police uniform I had hidden in a toilet tank, and put it on with meticulous precision. My cellmates glanced at me with barely disguised envy. When I walked past a guard, I casually lifted his access card without him noticing, then swiped it at the door and walked out. The new guard on duty didn't recognize faces yet, so he didn't question a thing. And just like that, I strolled right out of the prison gate. In the parking lot, I picked a random car and hot-wired it effortlessly. My escape was officially underway. I drove the stolen car to the airport parking lot, intentionally leaving behind the illusion that I was trying to flee the country by plane. Then I changed into a yellow valet vest I had prepared long ago and waited at the terminal entrance. Before long, a car slowly rolled up. I stepped forward immediately, acting like one of the airport valets. The driver didn't suspect anything and handed me his keys without hesitation. And just like that, I drove away in someone else's car, right under everyone's noses. Meanwhile, FBI agent Peter Burke had a pounding headache. This man, my old rival, had spent five years putting me behind bars. Now he faced a massive problem. A group of thieves had cleaned out a bank vault and changed the safe's combination before leaving. They had brought in the best safe crackers they could find. After countless attempts, they finally figured out the password, 324. But just as they were about to open the vault and collect evidence 1 Wait The evidence went up in flames destroyed completely To make matters worse the thieves had changed the code to 324 which spells FBI on a keypad, a deliberate insult. Burke picked up a thin piece of metal blasted onto his shoulder. He asked every expert and hotshot in the room, but no one could identify it. How many of you went to Harvard? Don't raise your hands. Don't. Just as he was frustrated over the lost evidence, his assistant rushed in with news of my escape. Neil Caffrey escaped. Burke was furious and sped straight to the prison. He stood in my cell looking at the tally marks. I'd carved into the wall, each one counting down to my release date. Then it hit him. I had been desperate to finish my sentence. Why would I break out with only three months left? Something must have happened. He immediately checked the visitation logs. My girlfriend, Kate, visited me every week, except the last one. He pulled up the surveillance footage from the visiting room. There was no audio, so he had to watch our lips carefully. Adios, Neil. It's been real. What he saw made him realize my breakout had everything to do with Kate. He rushed to her place, opened the door, and found me sitting alone on the floor, a bottle of booze in my arms. Should leave you a message in that? The bottle is the message. My eyes hollow. Kate's disappearance had crushed me. I didn't even have the will to run anymore. Burke arrested me easily. As I surrendered, ready to be dragged back to prison, I noticed the metal strip on his shoulder, a material I knew all too well. I immediately proposed a deal, telling him the strip was the security thread used in Canadian $100 bills. If he wanted answers, he'd have to come talk to me in prison. At first, he didn't take me seriously. But soon enough, his assistant confirmed everything I said. Caffrey was right.