They had been severed, their hollow black ends appearing like sinkholes to hell. But had they been cut with a blade or snapped by the force of the accident? The latter was certainly a possibility.

‘Only one way to find out,’ Manolis told himself.

He had to stretch his arm further and run a callused fingertip along the brake line’s exposed nerve endings to diagnose.

Feeling the smoothness of its edge, he smiled grimly.

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

MANOLIS STOOD, GRIMACING at the pain in his legs, his slowly scabbing knees. As he walked back to the road, his circulation returned, his muscles loosened. By the time he reached the car, he had a target on his back but a distinct spring in his step. He was clearly making progress, and someone was scared.

Sitting on the bonnet, Sparrow acknowledged his superior’s purposeful stride. The constable promptly extinguished his halfsmoked cigarette, returned to his seat and continued driving north.

They were escorted into the facility by a pair of guards, Deacon and a colleague. They heard men yelling, women wailing and children crying. Sparrow kept glancing over his shoulder and being reminded by Deacon to ‘look straight’. Manolis asked if everything was okay and was told, ‘Everything’s fine.’

The cops were soon parked in the manager’s office. Sparrow quietly mentioned that Onions had started working at the detention centre after being unable to handle life ‘on the outside’, and Manolis felt unnerved by the prospect of a personality who needed to return to a militarised zone for normality. Sparrow flipped Queenie the middle finger, which he hurriedly turned down as the door swung open.

Onions entered swiftly, glowering over them from his lofty height.

‘Detective, good morning,’ he said, sitting, reclining. ‘So, how did you go yesterday? I trust the detainees were professionally escorted to your station, cooperative, and that your interviews were worthwhile?’

‘Yes, they were, and thank you.’

Onions refused to make eye contact with Sparrow or acknowledge him in any way. Manolis had to formally introduce his colleague for Onions to fire a quick, dismissive glance at Sparrow’s purple eye.

Flipping hastily through his pad, Manolis consulted his notes. ‘Before I begin, I wanted to ask about a few serious issues raised during interview. The first of these concerns allegations of sexual assault in the facility.’

Onions pressed his palms together gently, as if preparing himself for prayer.

‘Go on,’ he said uneasily.

Manolis recounted the details in a measured, dispassionate tone. It took a certain degree of concentration and self-restraint given his feelings on the subject. He was careful to pause for effect and scan Onions’s face for any reaction, both appropriate and inappropriate. But there was none. The manager remained completely stony-faced throughout the entire description and blinked only twice, lowering and raising his eyelids unhurriedly like a calm predator.

Finally, he separated his hands. ‘Detective, has anyone actually visited the police station and officially filed a report of sexual assault?’