FBI

The FBI is presented through a brief but consequential exchange about the search for Leimert Fusco. Its headquarters provides the point of contact, and Special Agent Mary Donovan asks Alex Delaware to cooperate in finding him; the conversation leaves both Alex’s willingness and the search’s outcome unresolved.

Institutional Presence

Two weeks before Christmas, Alex called FBI headquarters at the Federal Building and asked to speak with Special Agent Mary Donovan. Although he expected the request to go nowhere, he was transferred to her immediately. The scene gives the FBI a concrete institutional presence—headquarters, an agent, and a direct channel of contact—without describing its wider organization or procedures.

The Search for Leimert Fusco

Alex’s stated reason for calling was to ask whether the FBI had made progress with Leimert Fusco. He framed his concern in terms of collegiality and respect for the person Fusco had once been, then asked whether there had been any sign of him. Donovan’s pause precedes her clarification that she had taken the call expecting Alex might be willing to cooperate and help the FBI find Fusco. Her question turns the conversation from an inquiry about the search into a request for assistance.

Cooperation and Unresolved Outcome

When Alex asks what kind of help she means, Donovan identifies cooperation in locating Fusco. Alex answers by echoing her earlier comparison to a clinic, making the exchange hinge on the difference between concern for Fusco and participation in the FBI’s effort to find him. The passage does not establish that Alex agrees to assist, that the FBI locates Fusco, or what happens to the search afterward. The FBI’s role here remains focused: it is an investigating body seeking cooperation from someone who has a personal and professional connection to the missing agent.