As tired as he was, Lewis lay on the slab in his cell the entire day, unable to sleep. His left eye was swollen shut, and his head throbbed there. The broken little finger on his left hand hurt more than he would have expected. His wrists were now bleeding where the cuffs rubbed him raw. He'd been worked over pretty well in the privacy of the interview room. This was something other than a police matter, of that he was now certain. Which made it worse. He didn't know what this was, exactly, or how it would end. He didn't think DI Ward knew the extent of what was going on, either. She mostly seemed like a decent cop.
The door to Lewis's cell banged open, jolting him out of his thoughts. A large man in uniform pulled him to his feet and shoved him out of the cell. He was walked through several corridors until, thoroughly disoriented, he ended up in what appeared to be an old holding cell that looked as if it had been unused for some time. Although he had lost track of time, the dark windows they passed as they walked told Lewis it was late. He ached all over. Johnson had hit him on the head and shoulders when he refused to "admit" to raping and killing Jenny Taylor. The big man had yanked the cassette out of the recorder and shoved it into Lewis's mouth, making him gag and chipping one of his teeth. The recorder had only been on while Johnson tried to get Lewis to confess; once the beating resumed, he had shut it off, Lewis had noticed. And he was there now, watching as Lewis was pushed into the cell.
"Welcome to your new home, Lewis." Johnson sneered. "Don't worry, you won't be alone in here. I've brought some company for you." He turned as two PCs brought another man in handcuffs to the cell.
"Things are getting a little crowded in the main custody cells," he explained. "So we have to use this old cell and we need to double up a little. I thought it best to put you two unrepentant killers together. Lewis, this is Johnny Kane, charged with three counts of murder. I've already explained to Mister Kane that his new cellmate is a policeman. He's looking forward to spending some time with you. If he can do me a favor or two, he might find himself facing a reduced charge." Johnson watched with a small smile as the PCs uncuffed Kane and pushed him into the cell. Lewis noticed both officers kept their faces completely blank, as if what was going on had nothing to do with them.
The cell door clanged shut, and Johnson turned to go. "I'll be back in a few hours, gentlemen." He smiled at Lewis, and walked away with the uniformed officers.
Kane looked Lewis over. He was taller than Lewis by a head, and broader, his hands scarred and his arms heavily tattooed.
"So, Cop." He curled his lip. "I hate cops. And you must be a very bad cop for them to keep your bracelets on." He flexed his arms, put his hands together, and cracked his knuckles. "This ought to be interesting."
Hathaway had stayed late at the office, not wanting to go home where he was afraid the ghosts of so many dead children would haunt his dreams. Innocent was working late, too, having left a message for Janis Ward to call and wanting to pass any information on to Hathaway as soon as Ward returned the call.
Not having much else to work on, Hathaway looked up Johnson's old employment record to see if there was any mention of his conflict with Morse. The file came up, and Hathaway clicked on the button to display Johnson's staff photo.
Innocent was just hanging up the phone from her conversation with DI Ward when Hathaway burst into her office without knocking. The expression on her face made him shut his mouth as fast as he had opened it. She was visibly shaken.
"Ma'am, what is it? Was that DI Ward?"
Her voice was tense and quiet. "They've moved him. Janis went to check on him and there was someone else in the cell. The custody sergeant told her they were short on cell space and Johnson had him moved and doubled him up with a man charged with murder. But the custody sergeant couldn't find a record of what cell they were in; the system still showed him in the old one and he couldn't say when it would be updated. He said Lewis looked as if he'd been in a fight, and he was still in handcuffs. Janis now thinks you're right, James. The way Johnson is handling this is all wrong. I told her to talk to their Commander. She needs someone above Johnson to believe this." Her worried expression tightened then. "Was there something you came to tell me?"
Hathaway took a deep breath. "Yeah, absolutely. I looked up Johnson's employment file here and when I saw his photo . . . Ma'am, he's Matthias Jackson. He's the one running this child porn operation."
She stared, mouth agape. "Oh, my God." Her eyes snapped into focus. "Come on. Let's get over to London, now. Get backup to come, too. I'll call Janis on the way." She grabbed her things and rushed from the office, Hathaway right behind.
The late hour meant traffic was fairly light, and the flashing blue light aided their progress. Innocent explained over the phone what they had learned, stressing the urgency of the situation. "Find him, Janis. Get him out of there." She rang off, shaking her head. "She'll meet us if she can; otherwise she said the desk sergeant will be expecting us." She inhaled deeply, and let it out in a rush. "I hope we're not too late."
Kane circled Lewis like he was prey. This hadn't been set up as a fair fight, and Lewis knew it would take everything he had to survive. Kane looked him up and down, smirking.
"You're not really a killer, are you, mate? But I am. In fact, I know you didn't kill Jenny Taylor because I did it. I raped her, too. You were probably too much of a gentleman to show her your cock, weren't you? She was a right scrubber and she deserved it. Wanted it too, I'd say, given how she squealed when I stuck it in her."
Lewis's lack of response seemed to anger him. He kept circling, and Lewis kept moving with him, trying to keep his distance and waiting for his chance to make a move. But suddenly he bumped up against the wall to his left. He hadn't seen it there because of his swollen eye. Kane saw his hesitation and struck hard, ramming Lewis in the ribs. Lewis gasped as he felt the bones crack. Then Kane spun Lewis, and slammed his forehead into the wall in a shower of sparks. Lewis knew he had to do something soon or it would be over.
Kane spun him around again so Lewis was facing him. The big man took a wide stance for balance and leverage, raised his fist, and pinned Lewis to the wall with his other hand. Blood was running from the cut on Lewis's forehead, nearly blinding his one functional eye. Still, he could see well enough for his purposes. Now.
Lewis slammed his right foot upward, squarely connecting with Kane's genitals. Kane turned ashen grey and pitched forward. Barely able to see, Lewis brought his cuffed wrists down on the back of Kane's head, deliberately aiming to strike with the steel that bound him. There was another crack of bone and Kane collapsed on the floor.
Lewis staggered and sank down to his knees. Then the concrete floor tilted up to meet his head and everything went black.
Hathaway and Innocent dashed into the station where the desk sergeant pointed them in the direction of the custody suite. Janis Ward saw them approach and hurried to meet them halfway down the corridor.
"I can't find him, Jean. He's not in any of the regular cells."
Hathaway cut in. "Regular cells? Do you have some that aren't 'regular'?"
"Well, there are a couple in the old wing but we don't use them any more. The plumbing doesn't work."
"Take us there now."
Innocent was caught off guard by Hathaway's taking command of the situation from the two more senior officers, but she said nothing. He was undisputedly a man on a mission.
Ward sprinted down a narrow hallway with the two Oxfordshire detectives and their backup PCs right behind her. Bursting through a doorway, she came to a sudden stop, her forward progress blocked by Johnson standing with his fists on his hips, feet planted firmly. He was angry.
"Far enough, Inspector. Just turn around and go back through that door. This doesn't concern you."
Hathaway, however, had not stopped sprinting. He slammed into Johnson, knocking him to the ground. He continued down the corridor and in short order reached the cells. He grabbed the door of one in which he could see two men on the floor, smears of blood on the floor and walls.
"Where's the key for this?" The fury in his shout was plain.
Ward snatched a ring of keys from Johnson's hand where he sprawled, the PCs holding him down.
"Inspector? Come back with that. That's an order, Ward!"
It was one she ignored. She thrust a key into the cell's lock and Hathaway pulled the door open. He rushed forward to Lewis while Ward ran to check Kane.
"Sir? Inspector Lewis?" He rolled the older man onto his back. Lewis's face was covered in blood. Hathaway pulled the little bottle of smelling salts out of his pocket and waved it under Lewis's nose.
Lewis flinched and tried to open his eyes. "Hathaway? Is that you? I can't see . . ."
"Yeah, it's me. The governor's here, too." James turned to shout over his shoulder. "Ambulance! Get an ambulance." Then he looked over at Ward. She was shaking her head.
"This one's gone."
Hathaway swallowed and refocused. He spoke quietly to Ward.
"Is there a key for these cuffs? I think it's time they came off."
She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. She handed over a small key. Hathaway clicked the cuffs open and carefully removed them from Lewis's torn wrists. He pulled an evidence bag out of his pocket and bagged the cuffs. Ward was watching curiously.
"Part of our case against your guv. GBH at least. Maybe attempted murder." He turned back to Lewis.
"Sir? You still with us? The ambulance is on its way, okay? It's over now."
Lewis stirred. "James? Don't go."
"No, Sir. The Chief Super is taking care of arresting Johnson. Everything will be okay."
"I didn't do it, Hathaway. I didn't kill her. It was Kane." Lewis tried to sit up, visibly agitated. "Johnson locked him in with me. I think he meant for Kane to kill me." He canted over, and Hathaway just caught him before his head hit the concrete.
"Sir, it's alright, try to stay calm. You can tell me about it after you've had some rest, alright?"
"Me head's spinning, Hathaway. Stay here, promise? I don't trust these people." He kept his hands pinned together, as if they were still cuffed.
"I promise, Sir. I'll be right here."
And although Lewis soon slid back into unconsciousness, Hathaway didn't move until the emergency med techs insisted they needed the space to work.