Heaven

DAY 172 SUNDAY 6 JANUARY 2002

8.00 am

As it’s Twelfth Night, I spend a couple of hours taking down my Christmas cards (1,712), and packing them up so I can hand them over to Will when he visits me this afternoon.

10.30 am

Linda tells me that a nurse at the Pilgrim Hospital phoned urgently about the prisoner with the groin injury. An officer is dispatched immediately to keep an eye on him until he’s safely back in his room at NSC. Not a bad idea to get yourself transferred to the local hospital if you plan to escape, but it’s not that bright to ask a nurse where the exits are.

2.00 pm

Will visits me, accompanied by my Christmas present. Neither he nor James have heard a word from their mother since she landed in Kenya. Will reassures me by suggesting she’s either having a good time, or she’s been eaten by a lion.

8.00 pm

Doug arrives at the hospital with the news that five prisoners who were out on a town leave have failed to return. As none of them are murderers, only the local police will be alerted. If a murderer absconds, the Home Office has to brief the national press within twenty-four hours.