Two days later, Innocent and Hathaway walked down the hospital corridor in lock step with a pair of weary expressions on their faces. They had both been working in concert to cross the t's and dot the i's so that Lawrie would not be able to evade justice this time. Eventually though, Innocent knew that it was time to unshackle Hathaway from his desk and drag him away from the station. The two now stopped in front of Lewis' room in hospital.

Innocent patted her over-sized handbag and they exchanged a knowing glance. She asked, "what are we going to do about Hobson? She won't like this." Hathaway chuckled; Hobson had micromanaged every aspect of Robbie's care from the moment the ambulance had arrived at the cemetery. At one point, Lewis' doctors had asked Hathaway to restrain her.

"Leave her to me," Hathaway said. The pair entered the room to find Hobson reading cross-word clues to Lewis from the paper. Lewis looked tired, yet happy for visitors to rescue him from the word puzzle. The cross-word was more for Hobson's benefit than Lewis'; she needed something to busy her mind between the twice daily visits from Lyn and wee Jack- so that she did not remember how close she came to losing him.

"How is the patient, Dr. Hobson?" Innocent inquired.

"The human body's ability to heal is marvelous," Hobson crowed as she twisted Lewis' arm in demonstration.

"Oy! I'm not one of your corpses!" Lewis cried as Hobson continued to examine the gashes along his forearms. Lewis was being kept in hospital for observation following his wounds and a massive blood transfusion, but despite his injuries there was no sign of infection- and he was secretly enjoying all the attention. The veteran detective felt vindicated and more than a little smug with the arrival of Hathaway and Innocent at his bedside.

"Do you have any news of the case?" Lewis asked eagerly.

"Don't get yourself too excited, Robbie." Hobson interjected.

"Laura," Hathaway put his hand on her shoulder. "When is the last time you had something to eat?"

"Don't worry about me; Lyn makes sure I nibble here and there." She answered.

"Still, why don't you go down to the canteen and grab a bite? We'll take good care of him." Hathaway persuaded.

Laura demurred.

"Go, Laura, love," Robbie began, "I need you to keep your strength up so that you can take this old sod home later. Or if you're not hungry, at the very least, you could smuggle me in a doughnut."

Hobson glared at Hathaway because she knew she was being bamboozled, but she couldn't say no to Lewis. "I suppose I could get a coffee," Hobson conceded and gave Lewis a parting peck on the cheek.

With Hobson safely out of the room, Innocent produced three wine glasses and a bottle from her handbag. "Good result, Lewis. We've got Lawrie locked up for good now."

Lewis beamed. "My Laura won't be too happy about me mixing wine with medications. Don't see the harm in a wee nip, though."

Innocent and Hathaway leaned in to clink their glasses with Lewis. Yes, he was truly enjoying this.

Suddenly, the door swung open. "I'm back, and I found… Robbie? Are you drinking… wine?" Hobson asked aghast.

"What was your first clue? Was it the stemware? I did tell the chief super that plastic cups would be more discrete." Hathaway said, sassing Hobson.

"What happened to your coffee, love?" Lewis asked.

"I ran into Sergeant Maddox in the lobby. She was on her way to join you, so I thought I'd show her to your room." Hobson crossed the room and took the bottle from the bedside table, scrutinising the label like she would any other poison. "Hmm, this is a good bottle, ma'am."

"Yes. Mr. Innocent has excellent taste in wine- if nothing else."

Lewis, Hathaway, and Hobson were used to the chief super's cryptic references to Mr. Innocent, but Maddox raised her eyebrow in surprise.

Hobson continued. "What do you say we finish it up, Maddox? There are plastic cups in the loo." Hobson was actually glad to see Lewis enjoying wine in moderation again and didn't mind a celebratory glass.

Lizzie Maddox chuckled. "I've just been to your house to feed Monty and take in the mail, sir."

"Did the package I was expecting arrive?" questioned Hobson.

"Yes, of course." Maddox reached into her coat and produced a baggie of kiwifruit. She laid it on Lewis' bed. "I had to put it in a baggie because I am deathly allergic."

"What the hell?" Lewis asked.

"A fruit basket arrived overnight delivery from Australia. It was mostly kiwi." Maddox handed the envelope to Lewis. He took out the card.

Dad, I'm sorry and I hope to make amends. The kiwis in Australia are the best we've ever had. I want to share them with you in person sometime soon. Til then, stay out of trouble and let Laura look after you. Love, Ken.

"Do the kiwis mean anything special?" Maddox asked.

"Aye," said Lewis, without elaborating. He closed his eyes in satisfaction.

Hathaway went back to the station that night, thinking of Robbie and Laura, Lizzie and Tony, and even the Innocents. He admired couples that stayed together for better or worse. He went to the break room in search of some coffee to help him focus on his work.

PC Julie Lockhart was also in the staff room, but she didn't look up to greet him. After a moment, Hathaway inquired, "are you all right?"

Lockhart gave a little sniff. "Pamela Carson died because of me. I mean, she killed my mate Mark Travis and attempted who knows what with Lizzie, but if I had done my job properly she would have gone to trial and justice would have been served. I guess I feel a little guilty."

Hathaway knew exactly how she felt; he had been there too many times himself. He felt his heart swell, like suddenly he had met a kindred spirit. Is this how Lewis felt about mentoring me? He wondered.

"I had to do the same thing, back there in the graveyard- choose between saving Lewis or apprehending a criminal. For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice. Lewis is…" Hathaway's voice faltered.

"Lewis is like a father figure to everyone here." Lockhart supplied for him. "Even when he is grumpy."

"Especially when he is grumpy." Hathaway said, and they shared a smile. He gave Lockhart a handkerchief.

"Thanks, Sarge." She said and blew her nose.

"Inspector." He corrected her. She straightened her posture and went rigid.

"I'm sorry sir, force of habit."

Hathaway winced. He was so inept at human relations. "I… I didn't mean it like that." What would Robbie do in this situation? Even if it had taken Lewis years to muster up the courage to properly court Hobson, he had always seemed so smooth when talking to anyone. Hathaway admired that skill of Lewis'.

"You know," Hathaway said, "it's ironic; Graham Lawrie thought he was Nietzsche's superman with all his underlings doing his bidding, but in the end, Lewis is the real ubermensch. Not in the sense that Neitzche meant with the death of God and whatever all that entails- and certainly not in the way that the Nazis interpreted it- but as an ideal goal for humanity? Good copper, family man… Lewis is not a bad choice for ubermensch."

Lockhart giggled, "but can you imagine a master race of Lewises?"

Hathaway joined in a good-natured pastiche of his mentor. "God forbid, they'd all have bad teeth and Geordie accents." He sipped his coffee. "This stuff is horrible. Do you want to… (he cleared his throat nervously)… maybe go out and get a coffee? Or something else?"

Julie Lockhart blushed and nodded. "I'd like that."

Hathaway stood up and took a lesson from Lewis. "When we're not at work, you could call me James…"

Next: epilogue