DI Robert Lewis (
justanothercop) wrote2012-02-11 03:56 am
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Entry tags:
APPLICATION FOR DDD
Player nickname: Red
Player LJ: None
Way to contact you: Plurk me, BB - RedGuru - or through PMs on DW
Email: lillegalguru@gmail.com
AIM: Don't have - well, I have it but I never use it and hate it so that's like not having it, right?
Other:
Are you at least 15?: Y
Current Characters: Severus Snape, Frank Bannister
Character: Detective Inspector Robert 'Robbie' Lewis
Fandom: Inspector Morse and Lewis (Lewis is a spin-off of Morse and uses the same canon and timeline - think in terms of Munch from Homicide: Life on the Street and then Law & Order Special Victims Unit)
Character Notes: Lewis is taken from right after Episode 2.04, "The Great And The Good". He is in his late-50s.
History:
Inspector Morse series
We first met Robert Lewis in the Inspector Morse series premiere, 'The Dead Of Jericho'. It was 1987 and Lewis was a detective sergeant in the Thames Valley Police Department of Oxford, England. He was manning the door to the house where the body of a woman has been discovered when Morse ran up and pushed past him. Morse, who was a detective chief inspector, had the rank to muscle in on the scene and was there for personal reasons - the dead woman was someone he had been in a local choir with and had been sort of dating. Lewis knew of Morse but had never worked with the rather surly DCI.
Initially, Detective Chief Inspector Bell was in charge of the case. Lewis was working under Bell at the time and seemed to be resented by the older man because he would notice things that the DCI would prefer be ignored - it was easier to clear cases when odd or unusual things were ignored. However, being one who spoke first and thought about the words later, Lewis would often throw theories and ideas out without regard for Bell's sarcastic remarks. It was Lewis's comment on how far a stool had been kicked that caught Morse's attention - made the young DS stand out as someone who was willing to think outside the box.
Lewis, for his part, did not think much of the meeting. All he knew of Morse was that the other DCI was said to be very clever but also very much into hitting the booze. Lewis, a family man who was friendly, cheerful, and had no fancy schooling, could not have been more different from the aloof, sullen, and moody Morse. At least, that was what he thought.
As the investigation continues, most assume the death was suicide but Lewis doesn't quite follow suit. Though the woman was found hung it still bothered him that the stool she supposedly stood on was found so far away from the body. Through interviews with neighbors, Lewis found out that Morse had been around to see the woman on a number of occasions which explained why he was so keen to barge into the house the night of her death. When Morse broke into the house later to investigate the crime scene by himself it was Lewis who caught him climbing back over the wall behind the house. Lewis had no qualms about openly accusing Morse of having a key to the woman's house or that he was borrowing money from her. Morse didn't and hadn't but he seemed to admire the DS's sheer gut even if it was misguided.
Weeks pass and then one of the woman's neighbors was found murdered. Bell was investigating this case as well when a promotion comes through and he was made a superintendent. Morse took over both cases and snatched up Lewis as his new bag man to boot. Whether this is to be viewed (at least at first) as a bit of luck or a punishment is anyone's guess. Most come down firmly on the side of feeling sorry for Lewis but the DS took it in stride in his typical hard-working manner.
The two who seem so different at first are, at second glance, more alike than they know. Both men are a bit prickly - not afraid to argue or disagree with the other. Lewis, who had been told to be quiet for so long, finally had a DCI who didn't berate him for speaking his mind but instead spoke his mind back. Lewis once likened their relationship to being married and with their bickering one could see exactly why.
Still, while the two men could raise their voices and take issue with each other, there was something special between them - when the chips were down and things were looking grim Morse and Lewis stood by one another. The friendship that formed was something different depending on the day. One day they were like a married couple, another father and son, and still another brothers. They could have an out and out shouting match but would still risk their life for the other.
Toward the end of Morse's life it became obvious that Lewis was to be Morse's legacy. Morse had no siblings and he had no children. Morse's spirit - his genius - would live on in the unassuming detective sergeant that everyone else had overlooked. However, Lewis did not realize this as he was, by that point, trying to step out of Morse's shadow and become a great investigator in his own right. He didn't want to spend the rest of his days as a DS - he wanted to become a DI - but with Morse as his boss and budget cuts all around no one would give him a chance. Things were well enough as they were to everyone's mind except Lewis's.
In 1995, when Morse took time off after having a heart attack, Lewis was left under the direction of DCI Martin Johnson. Johnson despised Morse and planted the seeds of doubt and anger in the fertile soils of Lewis's already resentful mindset. Upon his return in 'The Way Through the Woods,' Morse took issue with one of the investigations that Johnson and Lewis worked and started asking questions. He took Lewis back and resumed their partnership of Lewis doing the leg work and being the designated driver while he got to be the genius. The DS, having had a taste of what it was like to have more responsibility in an investigation, did not take kindly to being returned to his place as the faithful dog.
Morse treated Lewis as if nothing had changed over the years. He still treated Lewis like a young officer instead of the now seasoned veteran that Lewis had a right to be seen as. Lewis tried to tolerate the treatment but he couldn't - he couldn't go back to the way things were before Morse took time off. Lewis was coming into his own and Morse didn't even realize it - much like a parent doesn't realize until after some disagreement or fight that their child had become a person in their own right with different thoughts and ideals and dreams.
Again and again, Morse took Lewis for granted - not understanding the risk Lewis took by leaving Johnson's side to return to Morse. The DS's resentment finally came to a head when Morse continued to tell Lewis that he had gotten it wrong with regard to the case he had worked on with Johnson. Lewis exploded, venting his anger at being held back and pushed aside and never appreciated, and Morse was shocked. The final verbal hit to Morse seemed to hurt him far more than Lewis's calling him names - Lewis had accepted a new position at a new station at Johnson's side. Lewis believed that Johnson cared about him and wanted him to advance while Morse was too stuck up to admit that Lewis might be able to make it on his own.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth but there was little Morse had done to make his respect and concern known. He was so wrapped up in his own mind that never thought of a world without Lewis at his side. The DCI had never told the DS how much he meant to him - how much he appreciated him - and now the latter was embittered.
The end of their friendship seemed imminent as Morse told Lewis that he once believed that the DS would make a decent DI in time but that time had passed if Lewis was going to follow the path that Johnson had laid out for him. Lewis, enraged, stalked off to rejoin Johnson when Morse shouted one last parting bit of information - how could a dead man pay his bills?
Though Lewis tried to forget about Morse's meddling and focus on his future and his new career there was something about Morse's comment that won't leave him alone. He posed the same question to Johnson but Johnson waved him off - they had the killer and there was no use in looking for another killer. Two killers would mess up their nice, tidy murder investigation and Johnson couldn't have that - even if it meant a killer walked free while another man, while guilty of some crimes, would remain convicted of one murder he did not commit.
In a moment of clarity, Lewis seemed to recall the young man that he once was - one who couldn't leave well enough alone if something didn't fit. On his own he followed up on the bill payments and found out who paid them and came to the same conclusion that Morse had - that there was a second killer and that person had killed for another reason entirely. He told Johnson of his theory and it was then that Johnson showed his true colors and, more or less, told Lewis to shut up and stop being a pest like Morse.
Lewis knew he could just shut up and go along. Doing so would guarantee him the detective inspector position he wanted so dearly. However, the price was ignoring the truth. He would gain the position not because he sought the truth but because he ignored inconvenient truths. And that was something he couldn't bring himself to do. Despite how much he had changed over the years, Lewis was still guided by the pursuit of justice, of thinking outside the box - the same traits that had first gained him Morse's attention.
The intuition that so many, including Johnson, had tried to snuff out in him - the intuition that Morse had encouraged and nurtured - came roaring back and Lewis raced headlong into the unknown believing his second murderer was a man who live on near the patch of forest where a body had been found.
Meanwhile, Morse was continuing to plod along on his own and came to almost the same conclusion that Lewis had - it was the wife of the man and not the man who was the murderer. She was the one who had always been counted among the death toll of the man Lewis and Johnson had brought to justice. She had lived and had killed a man who had been in the woods with her that day and had tried to force himself on her. And - she had a juvenile record. She had killed her father for molesting her as a child. Morse went off to confront Johnson with the new evidence but he again scoffed and told Morse that the only one who had ideas almost as crazy as his was Lewis - he told him of how Lewis believed it was the man - the husband - who was the murderer.
Johnson commented on how much of a fool Lewis was and it was then that Morse's true feelings came out -
"Detective Sergeant Lewis is no one's fool least of all yours."
The other DCI just seemed annoyed and then told Morse that Lewis had gone home for the day. Morse tracked down a young uniformed man and asked him to ring Lewis at home and get him back to the station. The uniform told Morse he can't. When Morse asked why the young man told the DCI that Lewis didn't go home - he had gone off on his own to confront his murder suspect. At that moment the world came crashing down on Morse as he realized that his cold manner and Johnson's indifference had sent Lewis running headlong toward his own death.
Morse raced out after Lewis but arrived too late. Lewis had already come and gone - he had, at first, confronted the husband but was interrupted when the wife emerged from the shadows with a shotgun aimed at Lewis. The husband begged for Lewis's life - that he didn't know the truth, he didn't deserve to die. It is then that things clicked into place for Lewis - the wife was the woman they had always counted as a murder victim. The husband had found her in the woods years earlier, wandering around, and took her in. Later, they were married. He knew of her past but knew she had killed out of self-defense so he could live with both killings. But now she was going to murder an innocent police officer and, additionally, she had already killed one innocent man - he couldn't stand by and watch that happen.
In the woman's rage, believing that her husband would help the police send her back to jail, she shot and killed him. She then forced Lewis to lug the man's body into a car and drive them deep into the woods. Once they arrived at a spot she found acceptable she ordered Lewis to dig the man's grave. Lewis kept stalling, talking to the woman in an effort to buy some time, to think of a way out of the mess. Still, she finally ordered him to stop digging and shove the body of her dead husband into the hole.
She then told Lewis to turn around as she raised her shotgun. Lewis looked up at her, eyes pleading. He told her of his wife and kids but she didn't care and ordered him again to turn around. The ever faithful, ever courageous Lewis refused, his expression changing from pleading to defiance. If she was going to kill him she would have to look him in the face as she did it. He would face death with honor, not turn away in fear.
All seemed lost when a miracle called out through the trees. Morse had found them and called out to the woman to distract her. He tried to reason with her, to get her to stop but she was set on killing another. Lewis had already told Morse that she had spent one shotgun shell and only had one left. With two now facing her down one could take the bullet and the other would then be able to apprehend her.
Morse made a decision on the spot that would change the course of his friendship with Lewis forever - he told the woman to shoot him instead of Lewis. He goaded her, dared her, to take his life instead of Lewis's. Lewis was stunned that the same man he had been so convinced didn't give a damn about him was about to give his life for him. Once again the shotgun was raised but this time at Morse and Lewis made his choice - a choice that would solidify his future and where his loyalties had always lain. He dove forward with a bellow, distracting the woman, and threw Morse the shovel he had been using to dig the grave. Morse charged forward and in the ensuing struggle the woman ended up shooting and killing herself.
Later that same day, the two men sat to themselves long after the rest of the investigators had left. Morse was shaken by the fact that he had taken the life of another while Lewis just seemed relieved to be alive. As Morse stood to walk to his car he did something he had never done before or anything close to before - he wrapped an arm around Lewis's shoulders and gave him a light squeeze. Lewis, covered in dirt and blood from his ordeal was a little surprised by the gesture but said nothing as he followed Morse back to his car and they go home.
After that day, Morse became Lewis's strongest advocate - pushing again and again to let Lewis go take the inspector's course and, at long last, give him the detective inspector position he rightfully deserved. Morse was continually shot down but he kept trying all the while taking any chance he got to let Lewis know he was appreciated. Morse's eyes seemed to have been opened that day in the woods - how easily he could have lost the one person he considered a true friend and, perhaps, even a son.
It took some time but at long last Lewis was approved to take the inspector's course. Had it not been for Morse's prodding, though, that day would have never come. Lewis left Oxford for the class and Morse was left to his own devices. In Lewis's absence Morse reflected further on his own morality. While he was still able to work cases his years of alcohol abuse had finally caught up with him and he knew that he wasn't long for this world. But Morse was okay with this - he wanted to die while still able to work. He didn't want to retire and waste away.
A bright spot returned to Morse's life when Lewis finally returned after passing the course with flying colors. Still, there was no room for another detective inspector at the Thames Valley division so Morse had to give Lewis the disheartening news that he would have to remain a DS a little while longer. Lewis was disappointed but Morse encouraged him to not give up - he would keep pushing for him and until then they would work as equals instead of him being the subordinate.
In the final episode of Inspector Morse, 'A Remorseful Day,' it was the year 2000 and Lewis was assigned to a case that Morse had originally worked. Morse was not given the case again because it turned out he had been involved with the woman who was murdered. Lewis was more than capable of taking the case but there was discomfort. He knew something was wrong with Morse - more than the other man was saying - but he didn't realize just how wrong.
As Lewis stepped into Morse's shoes and ran the investigation, busy growing up and becoming a man who could stand on his own and lead, Morse watched with something akin to pride. Lewis had finally become the investigator Morse saw in him so many years ago. During the course of the episode, the dying Morse was shown putting his affairs in order and, in a surprising move, left one-third of his estate to Lewis (another third was left to the only woman he had ever truly loved who had moved to Australia and the other third was left to found a music scholarship - a scholarship which is referenced to in the first episode of Lewis).
In the final minutes of 'A Remorseful Day,' Morse was struck down by another heart attack and rushed to the hospital. As he was being taken to the emergency room he managed to tell Lewis the fact that they had all missed - the solution to the murder. Lewis was urged to go and arrest the murderer who was about to flee the country and leave others to stay at Morse's side. Reluctantly, Lewis left, promising to return as soon as the murderer was caught. It was to be the last time Lewis would see Morse alive. Morse's final words were -
"Thank Lewis for me."
Morse's final words not only reflected how much he appreciated Lewis catching the murderer of someone he had cared about but also seemed to ring much deeper. The words seemed to also be a 'thank you' for all the years of friendship and dedication Lewis had given Morse. Lewis had allowed Morse to be a part of his life and for that Morse was forever grateful - Morse's life made a difference in the world because Lewis allowed him to. That impact was the greatest gift the younger officer could have ever given his mentor.
As Lewis was arresting the murderer at the airport he received a call from the hospital - Morse had died. Heart-broken and full of regret for not being there when his dear friend had passed, Lewis returned to the hospital to say goodbye. Morse was not to have any sort of ceremony - no burial service - so the hospital morgue was the only place that Lewis could pay his last respects. After placing a kiss to his mentor's forehead Lewis took a step back and said his final words to the one man who had always believed in him -
"Goodbye, Sir."
Lewis series
The years pass and many things change. Of course, Oxford didn't really change much but Lewis did. After mourning the passing of Morse, Lewis moved on with his new life as a detective inspector. His children were coming of age and he and his wife, Val, were enjoying a good life - one they had worked hard for. Everything was going as it should and Lewis's dream of one day being a DCI didn't seem as far-fetched as it once had. However - "nothing gold can stay".
On December 19, 2002, Val had traveled to London to do a bit of shopping while Lewis was busy with a new murder investigation. As the woman that Lewis had adored since the first time he had laid eyes on her made her way along the sidewalks of London a robbery was taking place on the premises of the Building Society nearby. The robber botched the job and was racing away from the scene when he lost control of his car and jumped the curb, striking a pedestrian. Never bothering to stop the robber disappeared into the chaos following the accident.
Lewis was at work when he got the call that Val had been the victim of a hit and run. He raced to London where doctors tried to save Val's life but her broken body was beyond repair. Later that same day she died leaving behind her husband, her daughter, and her son.
The Lewis family was torn apart. Lewis's son left England for Australia not long after Val's death and Lyn, the Lewis's eldest child, could only do so much to comfort her father as she now had a life of her own - living with her boyfriend and working as a nurse in another part of England. Lewis was left on his own to face an empty house and painful memories.
The tragic death of his wife made headlines in all the local newspapers which didn't help matters any. Before long Lewis was drawing in on himself, only able to find peace by crawling into a bottle. He had lost his soul mate and his horrific loss was fodder for the public to read about in graphic detail, over and over. Before long his drinking turned into a bottle of brandy a day habit. He couldn't stand the ghosts which filled his house and his mind.
Unable to escape his past in Oxford, Lewis accepted a post in the British Virgin Islands to assist in the training of police officers. He spent two years there - the first year upping his brandy habit to two bottles a day and the second year dealing with the hangover - and began the slow process of learning how to live a life without Val.
Three years pass - it was now 2005 and Lewis's assignment in the British Virgin Islands had come to an end. He returned to Oxford, in the first episode of Lewis, expecting his daughter, Lyn, to be waiting for him at the airport. However, instead of his lovely daughter he was greeted by a lanky man with short blond hair holding up a sign with his name on it. Puzzled, Lewis approached the young man. He introduced himself as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway - he had been sent by Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent to collect Lewis from the airport.
The world weary Lewis more or less shrugged and went along with Hathaway. He asked if they could make a stop along the way to the station. It was to a graveyard and the tombstone he visited is not the one the viewer expected as there had not yet been any mention of Lewis losing his wife. We all expect him to be paying his respects to Morse but instead he was visiting Val's grave and replacing the flowers there with fresh ones.
Hathaway was originally assigned to another DI but when a new case comes in his DI was on forced leave after he was charged with drunk driving. Innocent was, at first, looking to put Hathaway in charge of the murder inquiry until the DI returned to active duty. She had already settled on what she is going to do with Lewis - send him out to pasture to teach new officers in Oxford. She felt that Lewis was a throwback to a different time and did not wish her department to go in that direction - favoring the younger officers over the older investigators. Lewis, of course, objected making the valid point that she was having an inexperienced investigator lead a murder case while he, a seasoned DI, was left kicking his heels.
Reluctantly, Innocent temporarily put Lewis in charge of the murder case until the other DI returned. Of course, along with the case came DS Hathaway. Hathaway was everything Lewis was not - a Cambridge-educated man who once aspired to join the priesthood but was kicked out of seminary school for being too frivolous. Highly educated and a God-botherer - Lewis looked at this as just his luck and it did nothing to improve his grumpy outlook.
While his joking manner hearkened back to his youth, Lewis had changed drastically. He was hardened and withdrawn, lost in his own world for the most part. Everything in Oxford had changed for Lewis and he had no one left to anchor him - that was until he visited the crime scene and found himself face to face with a friend from the past, Dr. Laura Hobson.
Hobson had taken over for Max as the forensic pathologist not many years before Morse's death and had even fancied Morse. She turned out, though, to not be Morse's type. She was too blunt and her humor was too biting. Hobson was a woman not afraid to speak her mind and was able to take care of herself - and the years had not changed that about her. She was still the spunky doctor with a morbid sense of humor and a quick wit. She was pleased to see Lewis back in Oxford and in their first encounter since his return she kept the conversation cheerful as they were in the presence of others.
Later, though, when Lewis dropped by the morgue to ask her about the post-mortem, Hobson dared to ask Lewis how he was doing. She recognized that Lewis wasn't so much tired as fed up with everything. For the first time since returning to Oxford, Lewis had someone to vent his frustrations to - about being pushed aside for the younger brood and treated like he had outlived his usefulness. Hobson, who had been friends with Lewis when Morse was alive and before Val's death, knew very well just how far the DI had fallen and seemed to be the only one who could ask him about his wife's death without getting yelled at.
Much too Innocent's surprise, Lewis managed to solve the case before the other DI returned to active duty. At the end of the first episode of Lewis she begrudgingly asked Lewis to officially join Oxford's criminal investigation division after Hathaway requested to continue working with Lewis. A little taken aback, Lewis accepted the offer and found himself not only on active duty in Oxford once more but also the mentor to an ambitious DS. It seemed that Lewis was destined to follow in Morse's footsteps in more ways than one and, along the way, strike out on a path all his own with Hathaway at his side.
By the end of the second series of Lewis, the grumpy DI Lewis and his faithful DS, and now friend, Hathaway, have found a sort of balance. Hathaway never looked down on Lewis and he recognized the other man's genius. The younger officer looked to Lewis for guidance and advice. Lewis, for his part, was quick to give feedback - good and bad. He enjoyed the perks of being a DI and putting a whole new generation of copper through what Morse once put him through. Of course, it was all done in a way that was meant to teach respect and the pecking order. If a DS wanted to make his bones he had to slog through the grunt work just like all those who came before him.
The relationship between Lewis and Hathaway was similar to the relationship Lewis had with Morse in that there was an almost father-son or husband-wife dynamic. Hathaway enjoyed teasing Lewis and, in return, Lewis always made Hathaway be the designated driver. The two could fight like cats and dogs but seemed ready to go to bat for each other at the drop of a hat. Lewis welcomed Hathaway to voice his thoughts and theories; much the same way Morse once did for Lewis, and, under Lewis's watchful eye, Hathaway started to find his own feet as an investigator.
Unfortunately, at least in Innocent's eyes, Hathaway also tended toward Lewis's irreverent behavior and he wanted little to do with social gatherings and graces. Neither man was someone Innocent would put on TV or ask to talk to reporters as neither would ever be ready for primetime. But - they got the job done when no one else could and that's why she allowed them to remain partners.
In the series two closer, though, the partnership and friendship between Hathaway and Lewis was tested when a murder suspect mentioned Lewis's dead wife and then mailed him a newspaper clipping about the hit and run along with a key. However, before Lewis could question the man further he was murdered as well - leaving the DI with a lot of unanswered questions. Lewis was determined to find out what it all meant - desperately hoping that somewhere in the files and notes of the one-time murder suspect turned murder victim there was a clue to solving his wife's death.
Initially, Hathaway knew nothing of the letter or the key. Lewis, a private man in all matters regarding his wife, kept the knowledge to himself. Eventually, though, he was forced to hand over the letter and let Innocent and Hathaway read it. All it said was, "Your house is not a home. Never stop looking." It looked like a wind up but now that the idea was in his head Lewis couldn't escape the obsession of searching and re-searching all of the dead man's endless filing cabinets for the piece of the puzzle he was missing.
Hathaway, upset by how his friend's emotions are being twisted around, at first refused to help Lewis search the files again. Lewis didn't ask for Hathaway's help nor did he bother to try and keep the other at the dead man's flat. However, the younger officer was at a loss - torn between knowing the search was pointless and his compassion for Lewis who had never found closure. Predictably, it didn't take long for Hathaway to take a spot on the floor and start sifting through piles. The episode ended with the two men, side by side, searching for a needle in a haystack.
Of course, they find nothing useful and it really was just a wind up - toying with Lewis's mind for kicks. It is from right after the series two finale that I take Lewis.
Personality:
When someone first meets Lewis many take him as just being another thicky cop. With a pronounced Northern English accent, many in the city of Oxford look down on Lewis as being uncouth and dense. However, Lewis uses the arrogance of those he encounters to catch criminals. What he lacks in higher education (he did not go to college) he more than makes up for in his ability to reason things out and read people. Even his Cambridge-educated partner, Hathaway, watches him in awe when Lewis gets going and has even commented to Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent that, "You have to admit - he is a genius."
Lewis, though, is a humble man who fully acknowledges his short-comings but bristles at the idea that just because a person has a fancy degree it gives them the right to look down on him or be above the law. He dislikes high society and hates social functions. It's not because he doesn't like being around people - he is just a very private person who is happy to do his job and not have any sort of fuss made over him. Additionally, when he attends dinners and such he sticks out like a sore thumb because of his accent and the lack of letters after his name. As such, the idea of scholars and privileged people are chips on his shoulder.
Inspector Lewis is not a man given to talking much about himself. Often described as 'enigmatic' one can look at Lewis and see that he is mulling over something or that there is a deep sadness in his eyes but he rarely says what he is thinking if it is not related to a case.
But - Lewis has not always been like this. When he was younger and the ever-patient 'bag man' for the infamous Detective Chief Inspector Morse, Lewis tended to babble on about his wife and two children (he loves kids and even now will take time out for them and protect them) - much to Morse's irritation. Back then, DI Lewis was Detective Sergeant Lewis who, despite the snide remarks of his superior about his background and his education, was loyal to Morse to the end. DS Lewis preferred beating the pavement and chasing down leads and hunches (which often proved correct) to searching for the answers to life's mysteries in books. Street-smart, honest, and hardworking, the young DS was a happy-go-lucky sort who could always be found at Morse's side to be the designated driver.
However, not long after Lewis passed the inspector's course, Morse took ill and died leaving Lewis feeling more than a little lost. Ever though they had not worked together for a bit prior to his death Morse was still, oddly enough, Lewis's friend who taught him a different way of looking at the world - through crosswords and anagrams, books and education. It was a way that would later help him in his career as a DI.
Lewis would have probably remained the cheerful Geordie the rest of his life were it not for his wife's death. Having her taken so suddenly in a hit-and-run completely devastated Lewis as Valerie was not only his wife but his best friend. What made it worse was that it took over five years for the man responsible to be caught so he lived that entire time in a very dark and very lonely world.
Drawing in on himself, the DI turned his back on living and threw himself into his work. Eventually, he took a post in the British Virgin Islands to help train police officer where he spent two years trying to pull himself out of hole he was in. When he returned to Oxford, Lewis remained completely shut off from others unless he knew them before his wife's death - like Dr. Laura Hobson.
As the years have gone by, Lewis has gradually started to open up a little but he will probably never be the happy-go-lucky sort he once was. He has an extremely kind nature which attracts people to him - especially women - but he never lets anyone get too close. Anyone who attempts to pry into his life without his permission will face his vengeful wrath. If it's not related to a case then he usually doesn't want to talk about it.
Lewis has never said much about the time between his wife's death and his departure for the Islands but he has mentioned how he crawled into a bottle for about two years after Val's death. The personal Hell he lived during that time is off-limits to everyone but it's safe to assume that the reason he refuses to talk about it is that it was an extremely dark time. When his wife died, part of Lewis died as well leaving behind a man who, while still very kind, has a quick temper and evasive nature and who has no use for religion of any sort.
Still loyal, still hardworking, still kind, Lewis has managed to keep parts of himself from being destroyed by suffering and hatred. But - he is and probably always will be haunted by the memories of his past that gives him an edge of cynicism that was never there before his wife's death.
Other: I have re-used parts of old apps for him for his personality and history sections. However, all the writing is mine - you can check out his journal for my old applications to other games and see that while the characters are not mine all the words are. Thanks!
Additional Links:
http://www.britishmysteries.com/Lewis.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Morse_(TV_series)
http://mjmcx2too.homestead.com/Thawseries.html
http://youtu.be/uvFs1YTUbeQ
First Person (entry type):
Why send a letter? Why dangle that bit of hope in front of my face if there is nothing there? What was the purpose? The point? Of all the things to wind a man up about why pick the death of his wife? There has to be something here, right?
Maybe I really am just putting too much faith in a man who - he raped a young woman for God's sake just to show he could be like the rest of the lads! He was warped - evil. And yet, in spite of all that, his murder was a crime. As a father I can understand the rage - the anger - it would take to go that far but - I would serve my family better by being there to comfort them and not be in prison for the rest of my life.
God, what a waste all around. A waste of time, a waste of life, a waste of innocence - just a waste. It's enough to make me question if I'm getting too old for this job. I just can't understand the world these criminals live in - though, to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to understand it.
Third Person:
A bright and glorious day outside and where was Lewis to be found? In the basement of a murdered man/rapist, searching through rusty filing cabinets and dusty newspaper clippings. The windowless room suited Lewis's mood just fine. In all truthfulness, he had been living in a dark place since the day Val had been killed.
Dangling that letter in front of him was like a fox for a hound - he couldn't stop chasing it. As he opened the same drawer he had opened hundreds of times before, Lewis had one singular thought in mind - this time, this time he would see something he had missed the first few hundred times. The clue, the piece he needed, was just around the corner - he could feel it.
And yet, Lewis knew the search was pointless. Deep down he knew that he was wasting his time but he couldn't help himself. He had spent day after day, rooting through every piece of paper, every photograph with nothing to show for it but he kept going. It was something to do. For so long he had felt like he was treading water - no one knew where to turn next in Val's case and it was officially 'cold'. Now, though, he had gotten a whiff of something - a new scent - and he was off like a shot. The false hope was like a drug and he was the addict.
This was how one descended into madness. The detective inspector knew that but he kept going. He didn't care - perhaps in madness he could finally escape.