Sitting forward in her chair and giving Mariusz a reassuring smile, Sasha tried her best to put him at ease.
Mariusz, you can tell us anything you know that you think is important, okay? But you know we’ll need to tell the police. They’re the only ones who can catch the person who killed Nadia, and get your dad out of prison.
Mariusz looked to me as Sasha was signing, so I interpreted for him. I thought the way Sasha worded it was a smart move – hopefully Mariusz would trust her enough to tell her what was on his mind.
The boy shuffled so he was sitting on his hands, and started rocking slightly, shaking his head.
‘I don’t know anything. My mum told me Nadia died before the fire started. I don’t know who killed her, but it wasn’t my dad. It can’t have been him; he loved her. He’d never hurt her. And he’d never leave me by going to jail.’ His voice was on the edge of breaking, and it cracked at the end of his sentence.
I understand you’re upset, Sasha told him. We want to help him too.
Mariusz’s eyes darted around the room and he started to bite his nails, before sitting on his hands again.
‘What if there’s someone who knows something, but they haven’t told anyone about it?’
Sasha paused before she replied. What do you mean? Do you know something, Mariusz?
He shook his head violently. ‘No, I told you, I don’t know anything. But what if someone did?’
Well, they should tell the police, Sasha replied, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. It was clear she didn’t believe him.
‘But, what if they don’t want to tell the police? What if they’re worried they’ll get in trouble too, and Dad’ll still be locked up?’ His eyes were wide as he asked these questions, and I could see how scared he was. But was he scared of Lukas being charged with murder, or was there something else?
‘Mariusz, if you know something that could help your dad, you should tell us,’ I told him, signing at the same time for Sasha’s benefit. ‘We can help you, if you do.’
He shook his head vehemently. ‘No, I don’t know anything. Why would I know anything? I was at home with Mum that night.’ But his eyes were still shifting all over, and I instinctively knew he was lying. Sasha and I shared a look, but I couldn’t tell if she was thinking the same thing as me.
Do you know anyone who might have hurt Nadia? Sasha asked, trying a different angle. At the mention of her name, Mariusz shook his head again.
‘I told you, I don’t know anything. I just want to be able to help my dad, and I thought you could help me.’
I could tell Sasha felt as exasperated as me by this conversation; there was obviously something the boy wanted to tell us, but he was scared to say it, and we were just going round in circles. If he was this afraid, though, it must be worth hearing, so we had to persevere.
‘How do you want to help him?’ I asked, but he looked at me blankly. ‘You say you don’t know what happened the night Nadia died, so you don’t have any useful information for the police. So, in what way do you think you can help your dad?’ I gave him an encouraging smile and touched him gently on the arm, in the hope he’d open up to us.
‘I don’t know, I thought you could tell me that,’ he said. ‘Maybe, I could give the police some information about a different crime, to show my family’s honest, and then they’d let Dad go.’ His eyes widened as he spoke and his hands were clenched so tightly they trembled.
I didn’t know if this was naivety or just a poorly thought-up story, but I shook my head. What other crime, though? Was that something he’d thought up on the spot, or was there something else going on?
‘It doesn’t work like that, Mariusz, I’m sorry. But if you know something about a different crime, you should still tell the police.’
He hung his head and his shoulders drooped, and he stayed in this position for a moment or two, before standing up.
‘I need to get back to school.’
It was like a mask had dropped over his face. The fear and anxiety we’d seen a moment ago had gone, hidden behind a toughened exterior. He went towards the door and I stood up to open it for him. As he left, he glanced at me and I caught a flash of anguish in his eyes again. He muttered something I didn’t quite catch, then bolted for the door.
After he’d gone, Sasha looked at me.
What was all that about?
I have no idea. I think he knows something, but I don’t know what.
Do you think he might have been there that night, and he’s lying about being at Caroline’s? Sasha asked with a frown.
I shrugged. Maybe. But if he had any evidence that someone else had killed Nadia, why wouldn’t he tell us? He’s hardly going to get in trouble with the police for being out when his mum thought he was at home.
Sasha nodded, deep in thought. He knows something, though.
Maybe he saw something else, I suggested. Something that he thinks might be connected, but not Nadia’s murder?
Sasha shook her head and gave me a tight smile.
Whatever it is, he’s clearly not ready to talk about it. Chances are that it’s not relevant, and he’s just a scared kid wanting to do something to help his dad.
I nodded, but I didn’t entirely agree. Something had made Mariusz come all the way here and wait to speak to us, and I didn’t think he’d do that unless it was important. Before I could put this point forward, though, Sasha had left the room and was heading to her desk.
We spent the next forty-five minutes discussing what we had achieved so far, which seemed to be very little. I tried to bring up the subject of what Mariusz might know, but Sasha brushed it off again, so I left it.
Roy Chapman seems to be our most obvious suspect, she insisted. He has a bad reputation for getting his own way using violent means, and it’s almost certain that his businesses aren’t a hundred per cent legitimate.
But what would he get out of killing Nadia? I asked, still stuck on this aspect. I can’t see that Lukas owing him money is enough of a motive. It means he’s less likely to get his money back.
Sasha frowned at me. If Lukas didn’t respond to his threats, it’s only natural that he’d escalate them.
Threats, yes, but stretching as far as murder? I don’t know about that one. I don’t know how much Lukas owes him, but surely it can’t be enough to warrant murdering someone.
She sat back in her chair and folded her arms, looking down at her desk. I could tell she wanted to disagree with me, but I was prepared to keep pressing her on this matter. If she was so convinced that Lukas was innocent, she’d have to come up with something more solid than Roy’s reputation.
What other motive do you suggest? she asked, her face impassive.
I thought for a moment, then picked up my notebook and flicked to a page, pointing to one of my scribbles.
The thefts. I wasn’t prepared to back down on this one. Paul Ilford told us he had to change her shifts because several clients accused her of theft. Maybe she knew who the real thief was, and they killed her to keep her quiet.
You’re assuming Nadia wasn’t the thief, Sasha replied, with a tilt of her head. Maybe she was.
I wasn’t going to be deterred. In which case, maybe she took something that was far more valuable than she realised – either monetary value, or sentimental – and someone was desperate to get it back.
They wouldn’t kill her then, would they? Sasha reasoned.
They might, if she’d sold it on and they couldn’t find it. Or once they’d got it back, they could have just killed her in a rage. I sighed. All I’m saying is that we’re speculating, we don’t have any evidence, so we can’t fixate on one suspect. I have no problem with speculation, but if we don’t keep an open mind about it then we risk being as blinkered as you think the police are.
From the look on Sasha’s face I was sure she was going to argue with me again, but eventually she nodded.
Fine, we’ll consider all angles for now. But that means still looking further into Roy’s connec
tion to Lukas and his movements on the day Nadia was murdered, as well as seeing what we can find out about the thefts.
I nodded, knowing that this compromise was the best I could hope for, but I was still uneasy. I wanted to help Sasha and Lukas, but I was mindful of Singh’s warning not to get involved. What Sasha was suggesting would involve more digging, and I didn’t know where to draw the line.
I have an idea, she continued, but I’m going to need your help. I think it’s best if a hearing person does it, and if he figures out who I am it could look bad for me.
She outlined her plan and I felt my heart sink. I wasn’t keen to do it, but if it meant we could rule out Roy as a suspect it was probably worth it. We spent a while discussing what I was going to do the following day, before I left Sasha to her emails.
On my way out of the door, I sent a quick text. I knew Sasha had her own way of going about this, but I had a nagging feeling that there was something she wasn’t telling me. Even though she had dismissed Mariusz’s visit, I wondered if there had been something he couldn’t bring himself to tell us. As he’d left, the words he’d muttered had been so quiet I might have misheard him, but I thought he’d said, ‘It’s all my fault.’
Chapter 13
Fifteen minutes later, my car door opened and DS Singh got into the passenger seat. I’d sent him a message asking if we could talk, and he’d told me to meet him outside the police station.
‘Aren’t we going in?’ I asked.
‘No, Forest’s in a foul mood for some reason. Better if we go somewhere else.’
‘Fine by me. Where to?’
In the end, we drove a few minutes round the corner to Scunthorpe’s Central Park. The old civic building had been closed down and was being converted into a new university campus and the car park was blocked off, so we drove round and parked by the children’s playground before getting out and going for a walk.
‘What did you want to talk to me about?’ Singh asked. I was surprised by the lack of small talk; I appreciated that he’d taken time out of his day to see me, but it would have been nice to catch up a bit with him. When we’d been sitting close to each other in the car I’d tried not to notice how nice he smelled, or the slight tingle I felt in my skin when he looked at me.
‘Lukas Nowak,’ I replied, and he nodded to show that he’d assumed that much by himself. I thought for a moment about where was best to begin, then stopped and faced him.
‘On the night he was arrested, I went into his room to see him, before Sasha arrived. He told me that he knew who was responsible for Nadia’s murder.’
Singh frowned. ‘Who?’
‘He didn’t say who, just that he knew who it was,’ I explained. ‘But then when Sasha arrived, he didn’t say the same thing to her.’
Singh folded his arms and looked away for a moment, up the path towards the fountain. ‘Paige, why didn’t you tell me this? When we were questioning him, or when you gave your statement?’
I grimaced, feeling stupid, and knowing I deserved the annoyance I could see written all over his face. ‘I’m sorry. I had this idea in my head that maybe he’d deliberately told me that to manipulate me, but I realise now I should have told you. I’m sorry,’ I repeated.
He nodded to show that I was forgiven. ‘I mean, I know it’s not evidence,’ I continued. ‘I might have been right, and he could have just been saying that to try and convince me he’s innocent, but then why wouldn’t he say the same thing to you?’
We’d come to a bench so I stopped and sat down, resting my elbows on my knees. He sat next to me, stretching his arm along the back of the bench for a moment before he caught my eye. He gave a shy little laugh, then pulled his arm back and clasped his hands together.
‘You’re right, it’s not evidence, and if he’d told us he knew who killed his wife but then wouldn’t say who it was, I don’t think I would have believed him. Have you any idea why he’d tell you that, then refuse to speak to us? Has he said anything to you and Sasha when you’ve visited him?’
I shook my head. ‘No, we wanted to see him this morning but he refused. Sasha was annoyed. I think she’d hoped Lukas would speak to her once he realised the severity of the situation. She particularly wanted to talk to him about his financial situation. I assume you’re looking into that?’ I asked, with a quizzical look.
‘We know about him owing money to Chapman, if that’s what you mean,’ he replied. ‘We are actually quite good at finding this sort of information, you know.’ I knew that was a playful dig at me, so I raised an eyebrow at him.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
He chuckled. ‘You know full well.’
I folded my arms and adopted an expression of injured innocence, making him laugh.
‘Fine, it had absolutely nothing to do with you, and your habit of poking your nose in because you think we can’t solve things on our own.’
‘Hey, I never said that,’ I protested. ‘I never intend to get mixed up in things. It just sort of happens.’
‘Well, don’t let it happen this time, or I’ll set Forest on you,’ he joked. I kicked him lightly on the ankle and he pretended to clutch it in pain, then sat back and looked at me.
‘Anyway,’ I said, going back to our original conversation. ‘That’s what Sasha wanted to discuss with Lukas today, his debts.’
‘What about yesterday?’
‘We didn’t see him yesterday,’ I told him, after thinking for a moment. I could sometimes lose track of days when my job changed from week to week, but I knew we’d only seen Lukas on Wednesday and then again today.
Singh sat back and put his arm back along the bench again. ‘You might not have been to see him yesterday, but Sasha did.’
I stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, wondering if I’d misheard him. He was watching me, obviously interested in my reaction.
‘Didn’t she tell you she’d been to see him yesterday morning?’
I shook my head slowly. ‘No, she hasn’t mentioned it. In fact, I saw her yesterday afternoon and when I asked her how Lukas was, she told me she hadn’t had any information since Wednesday.’ Staring down at the grass, I went over our recent conversations in my mind. Could she have thought she’d told me about it, but actually she hadn’t? No, that didn’t make sense, because why would she have said she didn’t know how Lukas was doing? Maybe there was something they’d discussed that she couldn’t share with me, for confidentiality reasons.
Singh put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention back, making me jump.
‘Sorry, you were miles away there. I’m sure it’s nothing – I just assumed that she would have talked to you about it.’
‘No. She’ll have her reasons,’ I said, trying to brush it off, though I was feeling quite hurt. I thought Sasha trusted me, and I thought she genuinely wanted my help to try to prove Lukas’s innocence. But if she wasn’t sharing everything with me, maybe I couldn’t help her in the way she wanted. Could it even be possible that Lukas was guilty after all, and she knew? But then why would she want him to be released? I couldn’t think of a logical answer to any of these questions, and every route my brain went down came to a dead end.
‘Maybe she just went to see him to arrange his solicitor,’ Singh said, obviously concerned that he’d said something he shouldn’t, but once again I looked at him in confusion.
‘I didn’t know he even had a solicitor,’ I replied. ‘If he does, surely you arranged it?’
Singh shook his head. ‘No, we didn’t. We would have arranged for a duty solicitor to be assigned to him, but he’s got one who’s been hired for him. We were told that Sasha Thomas had arranged it.’
I frowned. Lukas had refused legal advice just as he’d refused to give a statement, so I didn’t know when this had changed. Sasha hadn’t told me that she’d done this, and frankly I was surprised that social services had the budget for a solicitor for one of their clients if they were entitled to legal aid. Unless … No, surely Sasha wouldn�
�t have paid for it herself?
I turned these thoughts over for a few moments, then pushed them to the back of my mind. It didn’t make sense, but I didn’t have all the information yet. When I next saw Sasha, I’d ask her to explain why she’d felt the need to hide these things from me, and hopefully she’d have a reasonable explanation.
‘Did Lukas speak to the solicitor?’ I asked.
Singh shook his head. ‘No, he brought an interpreter with him, but he sent them away.’
So it hadn’t been Lukas’s decision to hire him, presumably. It all seemed very strange, and I wondered what I was missing.
As we sat, I became increasingly aware of Singh’s presence next to me, and my mind went back to the conversation I’d had with Anna the other day. Until I’d said it to her, I hadn’t really admitted to myself how strong my attraction was to Singh, but now I’d said it out loud I couldn’t deny it. But I was in a relationship so I’d never really allowed myself to think about it before.
I still didn’t know what I was going to say to Max. Would he accept that I was happy with things the way they were, and wasn’t in any hurry to change them? I could imagine what Anna would say to me, if she could read my thoughts – would I be so reticent if it was Singh who had asked me? He was so different from Max; I always felt like he took the time to remember little things that were important to me, he was considerate of boundaries and didn’t behave as if I needed constant protection. But I couldn’t start thinking like that, and I gave myself a small shake.
Stealing a sideways glance at Singh, I saw him watching me curiously.
‘Are you okay? I think we lost you again for a minute there.’
‘Sorry,’ I said, shaking myself once more.
‘Anything I can help with?’
I fervently hoped my face wouldn’t betray me as I gave a short laugh. ‘No, I don’t think so. Personal stuff.’ He definitely couldn’t help with my confused feelings about him and Max, and I didn’t think I should tell Singh just how much Sasha had kept from me, in case it jeopardised her relationship with the police. Whatever she’d done, it wouldn’t do her clients any good if she antagonised the people she was supposed to be allied with. Telling Singh that she’d lied to me would hardly encourage him to trust her. I thought about what Sasha and I had been planning, too. If Singh knew what I would be doing tomorrow, I didn’t think he’d be very happy with me.
The Silent Suspect Page 10