At the critical moment, Lincoln's execution was halted due to the discovery of new evidence, prompting Judge Kessler to order a temporary stay. Lincoln confidently told Michael that he had seen their father, who had left home nearly 30 years ago, in the execution witness room.
The Vice President ordered Agents Kellerman and Samantha to investigate who had leaked the information that spared Lincoln's life. Despite pressure from the Vice President, Judge Kessler insisted on exhuming Terrence's body for an autopsy. Unwilling to wait for the investigation results, Michael prepared to continue the escape plan, this time altering the route to pass through the psychiatric ward, which shared a pipeline with the infirmary.
The Vice President publicly criticized the judge and Veronica's push for the autopsy. Meanwhile, Terrence's coffin was exhumed and loaded into a vehicle. Due to advanced decomposition, forensic experts extracted dental molds and compared them to Terrence's historical records, concluding that they were an exact match.
A large hole suddenly collapsed in the guard station wall, but Michael and the others managed to conceal it from Bellick. Lying in his solitary cell, Lincoln recalled watching baseball games with his father as a child and suddenly remembered a familiar name. With Sucre's help, Michael obtained a guard's uniform and entered the tunnel to familiarize himself with the new route. While passing through the steam room, he was severely burned, and the uniform melted onto his skin. Forced to burn the remains of the uniform upon returning to his cell, he left behind traces. In the infirmary, a nurse informed Sara that the fabric fibers on Michael's wound belonged to a guard's uniform. Michael later told Sucre that the portion of the tunnel map corresponding to the psychiatric ward had been destroyed in the accident.