Plot summary
After taking vacation from work to be with his wife–and her parents–on her birthday, Peter turns Neal over to Sara in order to retrieve a missing Stradivarius that she believes was stolen by her former fiancé and current boss, Bryan McKenzie (Bailey Chase). Before beginning work on the case, Neal is approached by Agent Kramer (Beau Bridges), who is in New York to look into Neal's upcoming commutation hearing. Searching McKenzie's apartment, Neal discovers a hidden security tape. Meanwhile, Sara convinces him to attend the symphony with her.
With help from June (Diahann Carroll), Neal and Diana Berrigan (Marsha Thomason) are able to go to the symphony as well. While they quickly discover that the second-chair violinist is the woman on the security video, McKenzie realizes that Neal is not exactly who he claims to be. While searching backstage, Neal and Diana find a body; they quickly recognize him as the symphony's instrument expert. Upon questioning the violinist from the security tape, Diana discovers that she had damaged the violin and had given it to the instrument expert for repairs. Sara approaches McKenzie with the information she has, pretending to want to join him. Diana and Neal soon arrive to arrest McKenzie, and Sara tells Neal to “call [her] sometime.”
Meanwhile, Peter suffers through the arrival of his in-laws. Everything goes wrong at Elizabeth's birthday: her parents give her a much-despised doll from her childhood, Peter's gift to Elizabeth does not turn out the way he had planned, and Elizabeth's father continues to disapprove of Peter. Peter eventually calls upon Mozzie (Willie Garson) for assistance, and together they right all of the wrongs.
Agent Kramer returns to the FBI to speak with Diana, who has recently announced her engagement to Christie. Kramer intimidates Diana, learning that she, Peter, and Jones (Sharif Atkins) have been covering up Neal's recent crimes.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Pulling Strings (White Collar). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.