The Silent Suspect

by Nell Pattison

  THE SILENT SUSPECT

  Nell Pattison

  Copyright

  Published by AVON

  A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  HarperCollinsPublishers

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  Dublin 4, Ireland

  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2021

  Copyright © Nell Pattison 2021

  Cover design by whittakerbookdesign.com © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2021

  Cover photograph © Rekha Garton/Trevillion Images

  Nell Pattison asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

  Source ISBN: 9780008418540

  Ebook Edition © April 2021 ISBN: 9780008418557

  Version: 2021-03-01

  Dedication

  For my parents, Glynis and Mark

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Tuesday 16th April

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Ten hours before the fire

  Chapter 4: Wednesday 17th April

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Eight hours before the fire

  Chapter 8: Thursday 18th April

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Six hours before the fire

  Chapter 12: Friday 19th April

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Four hours before the fire

  Chapter 15: Saturday 20th April

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Three hours before the fire

  Chapter 19: Sunday 21st April

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Two hours before the fire

  Chapter 23: Monday 22nd April

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Ninety minutes before the fire

  Chapter 27: Tuesday 23rd April

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  One hour before the fire

  Chapter 31: Wednesday 24th April

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Fifteen minutes before the fire

  Chapter 34: Thursday 25th April

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  After

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38: Friday 26th April

  Acknowledgements

  Keep Reading …

  About the Author

  By the Same Author

  About the Publisher

  Prologue

  There was broken glass on the floor. Nadia paused in the doorway. The house felt empty, but she had to check every room before she was certain. Once she was sure she was alone, she breathed a little easier. After fetching a dustpan and brush, she cleared up the glass, straightening the furniture that had been moved. She noticed a couple of cigarette burns on the sofa but swallowed down her anger.

  When she was happy the house had been returned to a more orderly state, she went through to the kitchen and flicked the kettle on. Tea was always a good idea – and making it would give her some time to think. Nadia felt better, talking to Karen and getting everything off her chest, and now hopefully something would change. It had to. She wasn’t prepared to just sit back and let herself be taken advantage of, not this time. There was too much at stake. She knew that people assumed she would be a pushover, because she was deaf, and because she liked to keep herself to herself. But that didn’t mean she was going to put up with this. She wasn’t going to let herself be scared any more.

  By the time she felt the cord begin to tighten around her neck, it was too late. The cup of tea in her hand crashed to the floor, liquid seeping into her skirt when she fell. Within a few minutes, flames were licking at the back door, creeping across the cheap vinyl flooring. Smoke began to fill the room slowly but surely, a grey cloud hanging above the body lying there. There was a cracking sound as the heat from the flames split open something on one of the shelves, then a sudden shower of glass and liquid as a bottle of vodka exploded. The small rain of alcohol fuelled the fire further, making the flames jump and spread along the worktop. Below it all, Nadia lay, unmoving, the only light in her unseeing eyes the reflection of the fire.

  Chapter 1

  Tuesday 16th April

  I stared at Max, my mouth hanging open. The bustling sounds of the restaurant around me seemed to fade away. What?

  He swallowed. I asked if you would like to move in with me. His hands shook slightly with nerves as he signed the words again. Max was profoundly deaf, and we almost always communicated in British Sign Language.

  It had been a nice evening, at first. I had arranged for us to have dinner together at a fancy Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Scunthorpe. It was Max’s birthday, and I’d tried to make the effort.

  The meal had been fantastic, some of the best food I’d had in a long time, and the romantic atmosphere in the restaurant had been lovely. After we’d eaten dessert, we went to sit in the bar for a drink, and I had thought to myself how perfect it was – I was finally in a position where I could say I was happy with my life. I was enjoying my job, and was finally feeling financially stable with the regular salary from interpreting for Sasha, a profoundly deaf social worker. From Monday to Wednesday I worked with her, whether that was meeting hearing clients or interpreting for her in professional meetings, and sometimes supporting her deaf clients in meetings too. I had the rest of the week to take on any freelance jobs that came my way. My relationship with Max was perfect – we saw each other regularly, but still had our own separate spaces. We’d met when I first worked for the police just over a year earlier, and being with him had helped me to overcome my fear of being in a relationship, after what had happened before.

  Max had reached over and taken my glass of wine from me, placing it carefully on the table.

  I want all of your attention on me for a moment, he’d signed, and I’d laughed, happy to indulge him.

  Do you want me to gaze into your eyes? I asked.

  He sat back and pressed his lips together as if he was thinking, then gave a little nod. I’ve been thinking a lot recently, about you. About us.

  I’m glad you think about me, I replied, but he held up a hand and shook his head.

  Let me finish, please, he asked, and I could see from his eyes how anxious he was feeling. My heart thudded – what was wrong? Was he breaking up with me?

  Max paused and looked down at the table for a moment, choosing his words, and I sat back a little in my seat. I should have kno
wn it was too good to be true, I’d thought. If this was the end of our relationship, I would be sad, but maybe not surprised that our relationship had run its course.

  He’d looked so nervous I had almost interrupted him to put him out of his misery, but I thought it was only fair to hear him out.

  It’s okay, I signed to him, giving him a small smile. Tell me whatever it is you want to tell me.

  Will you move in with me?

  And now I was frozen. There was a long pause as I took it in, and I tried to force my train of thought onto a completely different track. Where had this come from? Was it a whim, or had he been building up to asking me for a while? Thinking back, I couldn’t recall any signs that he wanted to move our relationship forward. He’d given me a key to his flat recently, but I thought that was just to make things more convenient, not so I could start moving my stuff in. Had I been completely naive? I tried to picture it – living in Max’s flat with him – but I just couldn’t conjure the image.

  I was trying to think of a reply when my phone rang, and I seized the interruption like a life raft. The name that popped up on the screen wasn’t one I was expecting – Lukas Nowak, one of Sasha’s clients. Sasha had asked me to interpret for him at his regular meetings with the addiction support team, so I’d met him quite a few times. He was one of those small men who compensated for their size with an excess of charming personality, and I got the feeling his counsellor looked forward to the banter in their weekly meetings. But why was he calling me on a Tuesday evening?

  I’m sorry, I need to take this, I told Max, trying to ignore his look of irritation. I got up and moved away from where we’d been sitting, into the entrance of the restaurant.

  As soon as I answered the video call, I could see something was wrong. Lukas looked frantic and his signing was shaky and erratic. He was outside somewhere – I could see streetlights and a couple of parked cars in the background, and he was obviously moving.

  Lukas, stay still, I signed. I can’t understand you.

  He stopped moving and the picture became a little clearer. Paige, I need your help. Call 999 for me, please.

  What’s happened? I asked. Don’t you have the emergency text number?

  I haven’t set it up. Please, Paige! My house is on fire, and I don’t know where Nadia is! She might be inside!

  My screen went blank as Lukas hung up. I tried to process what he’d just told me, and quickly called the fire brigade and gave them his address, before trying to call Lukas back. No answer.

  Looking back through the glass door into the bar I saw Max watching me. The restaurant was only a few minutes from Lukas’s house – I couldn’t not help. I knew Max would be cross, but I couldn’t stay there, not when I knew one of Sasha’s clients was in trouble. She was in Birmingham for a three-day training course and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, and Lukas would need someone to interpret for him with the emergency services.

  I went back through to the bar, and my heart sank at the look of nervous anticipation on Max’s face.

  I’m really sorry, it’s an emergency. I have to go.

  Seriously? Paige, it’s my birthday.

  I know, but this can’t wait. I’ll call you as soon as I get a chance.

  Max looked like he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t have time to explain or argue, so I picked up my bag and left.

  The heat from the blaze took my breath away and I took a couple of steps back. I hadn’t expected the fire to be this bad – whatever I had been picturing in my mind, it had been minor. What I saw before me was so much worse than I had envisioned, and fear gripped my heart as I tried to get closer to the house. There was no sign of Lukas on the street outside, or in the alleyway between this and the neighbouring house. He’d been here when he called me, so where had he gone? I hoped he’d gone to a neighbour for help, and hadn’t done anything stupid.

  I dashed up the path and put my hand on the front door, but pulled it away again sharply. The paint was starting to blister, it was so hot, and I knew I couldn’t risk opening it. Moving sideways, I tried to look through the window at the front of the house, to see if anyone was inside, but all I could see was the flickering of the flames through a sea of dark smoke.

  Shouting would do no good, even if the people in the house could hear. I hadn’t realised a fire would be so noisy – there was a low roar from the fire itself, as well as a myriad cracking and thumping sounds as items inside the house were engulfed by it.

  I stepped back from the front of the house and looked upwards, searching for any sign of life inside. Smoke was pouring out of the upstairs windows, making me cough so hard my bones shook. I put my arm across my face but it didn’t do much to shield me from the smoke. There was another loud cracking noise from inside the house and I froze in fear. Was I in danger?

  People had emerged from neighbouring houses and I could see the panic on their faces. A couple of them pointed at me and gesticulated for me to get away – I knew they were right, but I needed to be able to tell the fire brigade if someone was inside. Some of the onlookers started to bang on neighbours’ doors, and I could see others with phones pressed to their faces. The emergency services were already on their way, but they were bound to receive a few more calls about the fire.

  Where was Lukas? I looked around at the faces in doorways and on the street, but I couldn’t see him. I wanted to make sure he was safe, but I didn’t want to go any closer to the house. Even I knew better than to run into a burning building, whoever might be inside.

  In the distance I could hear sirens, and a moment later two fire engines pulled up outside the house.

  ‘Are you the home owner?’ one firefighter asked me as the others busied themselves with their equipment.

  ‘No, but I called you.’

  ‘Is anyone inside?’

  My mouth gaped for a moment as I panicked. Had Lukas gone inside to look for Nadia? Fear gripped me as I imagined how desperate someone would have to be to run into a burning building.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe,’ I replied, angry with myself for not being able to provide a definite answer. ‘A man called Lukas lives here, and his wife, Nadia. They’re both profoundly deaf.’

  ‘Okay, anyone else?’

  I nodded. ‘Sometimes his son, Mariusz, I think. He’s sixteen. But I don’t know if he’ll be here or at his mum’s. I can probably find out, though.’

  The man turned back to his colleagues and they huddled round to hear what I’d just told him. Looking back at the house, another ripple of fear went through me. If anyone was inside, I didn’t see how they could survive that.

  A police car and an ambulance pulled up and I looked over, wondering if I would know the occupants from any previous cases I’d worked, but two unfamiliar uniformed officers stepped out. I should have realised CID wouldn’t have been there, not until they knew if the fire had been started deliberately. It had probably been an electrical fire, I thought. A lot of these older council houses had a backlog of maintenance issues.

  One of the PCs approached me.

  ‘You’re going to have to move back,’ she said with a frown. ‘It’s not safe.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I replied. ‘I thought I could be useful.’

  ‘How?’ she asked, unable to keep the doubt from her face.

  ‘I’m Paige Northwood,’ I told her, digging my ID out of my pocket. ‘I’m a British Sign Language interpreter. I had a call from the tenant, Lukas Nowak, and he asked me to call 999.’

  ‘Why didn’t he call himself?’

  Now I was the one resisting the urge to roll my eyes – I would have thought my job would have given her a clue.

  ‘He’s profoundly deaf. He doesn’t speak.’

  It seemed like a lot more than fifteen minutes since Lukas had called me. I shivered at the memory of the terror on his face.

  ‘Why you?’ the PC asked, still suspicious of me.

  ‘I work with his social worker, Sasha Thomas. She’s profoundly deaf herself, and I’m her
interpreter. Lukas has my number so I can support him if he needs an interpreter.’

  She gave me a long stare, then nodded. ‘Fine. But I’m going to need you to move back. It’s not safe for you to be anywhere near the house.’ She pointed away from the house and I obediently stepped back and into the road.

  I watched as the two PCs set up a cordon to keep the neighbours away from the blaze, and comforted those whose properties adjoined Lukas’s. The fire didn’t seem to have spread beyond the one house yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time, unless the fire brigade managed to get it under control very quickly.

  Checking my phone, I saw three missed calls from Max. I fired off a quick text to let him know I was okay and would call him later, but I didn’t want to call him back in case I was needed. Lukas’s call couldn’t have come at a worse time, and I felt bad for leaving Max hanging. I was actually glad I had a bit of breathing space before I had to answer Max’s question, but even thinking that brought a wave of guilt.

  There was a shout from a firefighter and I looked over just as one of the downstairs windows shattered, sending a spray of glass out onto the pavement. I ducked instinctively, even though the glass hadn’t come anywhere near me.

  ‘Get back!’ someone yelled at me, and I swiftly obeyed, moving as far back as I could whilst still being able to see the front door. Where the hell was Lukas? He hadn’t been inside the house when he called me. Had he gone in, looking for Nadia or Mariusz?

  Sweat dripped down my back, my proximity to the fire sending adrenaline coursing through my veins. Wasn’t there anything I could do to help? There was another shout from the firefighters, and someone came out of the front door – a man kitted out in full protective gear, his tan and yellow uniform blackened by the smoke. There was a bundle over his shoulder, and as he rushed over to the waiting paramedics I could see it was Lukas.

  Finally, I could be of use. I ran over to the ambulance, but pulled up when the same police officer stepped into my path, hand held out in front of her.

  ‘You can’t come any closer,’ she said firmly, but I waved my ID badge at her.