Of Lights and Shadows (Book 4)

3) The Devil in the Deep Blue Suit

An unmarked bridge spanned the ocean between Rikers Island and Queens, the only other way to the island was by ferry. It was across this very bridge that Commissioner Gallapolo, Mayor Carrow, Bourgins and Detective Mulligan crossed a little later that day. With the Mayor on board the car, they passed through all the gates and checkpoints a whole lot faster than they normally would, and wound up outside the facility housing Dastardious Hollow.

The island consists of 10 jails and a few other facilities. Thought to be named after a Dutch settler who moved to Long Island in 1638, the city of New York bought the island off his family in 1884 and have used it as a jail ever since.

It had been a hard choice for the law to decide exactly where to place Hollow. The North Infirmary Command dealt with the mentally ill inmates, though technically Hollow was declared sane despite his reckless tendency. So, instead, they housed him in the Otis Bantum Correction Centre.

A stern, pockmarked faced warden approached them as they passed through the doors and held out his hand.

'Good afternoon, gentleman, Mr Mayor, I'm Francis Long, Senior Warden for this facility,' he introduced himself. He was an oldish man, probably in late sixties, but looking strong enough to be able to break up a brawl. 'If you will please follow me I will take you to see Inmate Hollow.'

They walked for a while in silence, heading deeper inside the facility, only stopping to have their bodies searched while waiting for the doors to open. Hollow was, they had been told, in solitary confinement for the moment. It seemed he had spent a lot of time there since arriving at the island. He had been placed in cells with other men, but they had all tried to be tough with him, apparently, and he quickly sorted them out. Over half of them had to be rushed to the emergency wing with others sustaining minor injuries.

Solitary confinement was supposed to be hard on the inmate, to teach them a lesson of what happens when you don't abide by the rules of the jail. Dastardious Hollow seemed only to abide by the rules just because he felt like it, and didn't mind the punishment if he broke a rule. In fact, it seemed to Long and the guards that whenever he broke a rule it was on purpose just so he could be alone. Not that he needed to worry about that, shortly after his arrival the other inmates learnt to be weary of him and stayed out of his way. They would go so far as to cause ruckuses just so they were removed from him.

With each story Mr Long retold to them, Mulligan could see the Mayor and Commissioner exchanging looks. Maybe with luck Mr Long would continue and eventually frighten them into leaving. It wasn't to be. Leading them down a long hall of grey, metal doors, Mr Long stopped in front of one marked 47 in black.

'This is his cell,' he told them. Rapping loudly on the door with his club he called, 'Wake up, Hollow! You have visitors!'

From within came a low, menacing growl. 'It says "solitary confinement" for a reason. Tell 'em to go away.'

'It's Mayor Carrow to see you!'

No reply came, and eventually the Mayor indicated for Mr Long to open the door and let them in.

The keys came jingling from his belt as he selected the one needed and opened the door. Grabbing the handle, he dragged the door to the side. Inside of the concrete cell there was a mass of deep grooves in the wall, Hollow had obviously been inside for a while. There was no furniture inside, as part of the punishment, nor were there any windows. There was a light bulb though, but it was dim and fading quickly.

Leaning against the wall in the far right corner stood a tall man in the dark blue suit the inmates had to wear. His hair was brown but greying and grizzly, about shoulder length and they could all see it hadn't been washed in a while. Nor had he, but there was still an aura around him that let you know that despite physical appearances he was still the same man inside.