Inside the Wardens' office, Pope listens to the local news as he tidies up for the night. The coverage of the commotion outside the walls begins and he stops to watch.
"Damn!" He exclaims to himself. He rushes over to the phone and calls the guards at the gates.
"The girl claiming to be Burrows wife."
The guard on the other end interrupts him.
"Don't worry sir, we sent that crank away."
"You idiots she is with that damn reporter, Samantha Wilhem right now. And she has a Wedding licence with Burrows name on it. Find her and get her in here. NOW!"
Ella sees the guard coming long before he reaches her. She slumps her shoulders and makes sure she appears distraught, burying her face in her hands again. The guard approaches.
"Mrs Burrows. If you could come with me please."
Ella looks up through fresh tears and replies "Its Beaumont-Burrows."
"My apologies, ma'am. This way please."
Ella allows the guard to guide her by the arm though the gates, under the big blue stone archway, that leads into the prison.
Ella tucks the reporter's card deep into her jeans pocket, knowing it will be useful. The guard leads Ella into a building, full of desks and small administrative looking rooms, down the hall towards a waiting room and a secretary's desk.
"Please wait here." The guard motions for Ella to sit, knocks on a door at the far end of the room and disappears through it. She wanders close to the couch but does not sit. Instead she hovers close, slowly pacing with her hand to her mouth, chewing at the nail on her index finger. She hates people who chew their nails but she knows there are cameras in the room.
An older man, with slightly greying hair, appears in the door as the guard exits the room and heads down the hall they have just come through.
"Please Mrs Beaumont-Burrows come in. I am the Warden of Fox River." Ella follows the warden into the room as he continues. "Please forgive my guards for turning you away before. There is a lot of confusion with the protesters and as you can understand we cannot afford to let just anyone onto the premises."
"It's okay."
Please have a seat." The warden gestures towards a chair as he sits behind a big mahogany desk.
"Please, I just want to see my husband."
"Yes of course. As you can appreciate, this is an unusual situation. I will try to organise for you to see him as soon as possible, but…" The warden hesitates. "It's a delicate situation…"
"I understand. You would like to see proof, right?"
"Yes, I'm sorry but protocol…"
Ella interrupts by producing the crumpled Wedding licence.
"It's okay. I understand your position. I don't want to cause you any problems." Ella gives the warden a weak, sad half smile. The warden smiles in kind, picks up the licence, places his glasses on with the other hand and studies the paper thoroughly. Ella takes the opportunity to case the room, noting the other door to her right, the books on the shelf behind to warden and the items on his desk. She catches the wardens' gaze as he looks up from the page.
"If I could ask you to wait outside, Mrs Beaumont-Burrows. I'll see what I can do for you."
"Thank you. But please, call me Ella."
She replies as the warden begins to lead her out of his office.
"Ella I will have to make some phone calls. So it may take some time."
"I've got all the time in the world. It's Lincoln that doesn't."
"I will do my best to organise for you to see him straight away."
"Thank-you, you have no idea what this means to me. To both of us."
The warden disappears back into his office and closes the door. Ella knows the appearance of an unknown wife of a death-row inmate only hours before his execution is big news and it would be bad publicity if she wasn't permitted to see him. Her side of the plan was progressing flawlessly. She could only hope that Michael had the chance to update Lincoln on their side of plan.
The warden reappears in the doorway half an hour later.
"Ella, I have arranged for you to see your husband in one of the conjugal rooms, to allow you some privacy. The guards will of course be outside the door, but it's the best I can do."
"It's more than enough. Thank-you."
Ella flashes a sweet smile at the warden as he leads her into his office and out the second door into another corridor.
They arrive outside the conjugal room, where one of two guards lets the warden know Burrows is waiting inside. The warden opens the door and Ella follows him inside. Ella knows this is the moment. Either Lincoln knows of the plan and will play along, or she will have to bluff her way through.
From the moment her eyes meet Lincolns', she can see he doesn't know anything about the plan. She rushes past the warden, throws her arms around Lincolns' neck and kisses him passionately. Ella can see the look of surprise on Lincolns face and hopes the guards and the warden aren't looking too closely. Ella breaks away from the kiss and quickly hugs Lincoln. This gives her chance to whisper into his ear. She knows she has to be quiet and concise in what she tells him and hope he hears enough to know to play along.
"Michael sent me. I'm Ella, your wife. Play along. Get them to leave the room. Ask about our baby."
She releases him, and ignoring the guards and the warden behind her, starts to sob.
"Oh Link; I've missed you so much. I didn't know what happened to you."
Ella hugs Lincoln again and repeats "Ask about our baby, now."
"I've missed you too. I'm so happy you're here." He releases the hug, looks down at her perfectly flat belly and sells it. "The baby?"
Immediately Ella starts to cry. She bets that this display of overwhelming grief will make the guards and warden so uncomfortable they'll leave the room. She throws her arms around Link and buries her face in his chest as wracking sobs shake her whole body. She feels him nodding to the men behind her and through her sobs hears the door close. She pulls away drying her eyes. Ella gives Lincoln a barely perceivable smile, and sits on the bed.
"Nice job. Now down to business I guess."
She pats the spot next to her signalling Link to sit.
"Okay we haven't got much time, so I'll give you the cliff-notes and if there's time I'll fill in the gaps. Plus we will have to find a way to talk to Michael and let him know how the plan has changed."