The Silent Suspect

by Nell Pattison

  Her reaction strengthened his resolve. Whatever it took, he’d find a way to get Roy Chapman out of their lives for good.

  Chapter 19

  Sunday 21st April

  I was woken by the door buzzer, and groaned as I dragged myself out of bed. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool after my overindulgence in red wine the previous evening. Who the hell was at my door at this time in the morning? A quick glance at my phone surprised me – it was already well past ten o’clock. It had taken me so long to get to sleep last night that I’d slept in far later than usual. The buzzer went again and I went to answer it.

  I was about to press the button to answer it when I stopped. What if it was Max, coming to beg me to change my mind? Or worse, to have a go at me for letting him down like that? As I was debating whether to ignore the door, my phone vibrated in my hand. It was a message from Sasha.

  Are you in? I need to see you. Urgent.

  I buzzed her in straight away, and a moment later she hurried into my flat, dropping her bag in the hall before turning to me, her face frantic.

  They’ve charged him.

  What? I was still half asleep and it took me a moment to process what she’d said.

  Lukas. They’ve charged him with murder. He’ll be in court for a hearing in the morning.

  My heart sank. I could see tears in Sasha’s eyes, which surprised me. I knew she felt strongly about this, but I hadn’t realised just how much it was affecting her.

  Go through and sit down, I told her. I’ll make coffee.

  I had assumed Anna was still asleep, but I found a note in the kitchen saying she’d gone out. I must have slept even better than I’d thought, because Anna was notorious for making a hell of a lot of noise when she got up. She said it was because she couldn’t hear things like cupboard doors banging, but I’d complained about it often enough that she knew by now. I thought she just did it to wind me up.

  A few minutes later I joined Sasha in the living room. I’d made the coffee pretty strong, because I needed it to wake me up and she looked like she could do with it too.

  What happened? I asked.

  She shook her head slowly. I don’t know. I just got an email informing me that they’d charged him with Nadia’s murder first thing this morning. She hung her head. I knew they were getting towards their limit for how long they could hold him. They’d already applied for the full ninety-six hours; they had to charge him or release him. But I suppose I thought they would have to release him without evidence that he’s guilty.

  I rubbed my face. That’s it then, I signed. There’s nothing else we can do.

  She stared at me fiercely, her eyes bright. What? Of course that’s not it! This doesn’t change anything.

  I hesitated. But they must have some more evidence, Sasha. Something we don’t know about. They wouldn’t charge him if they thought there was any room for doubt. I spread my palms wide. What about the bruises? We still have no idea how he got those. Maybe they found evidence that he got them when he killed Nadia.

  Well, what do you know about it that you’re not telling me? she snapped. You’re the one who’s been having cosy little chats with one of the detectives. What have you told him?

  Hang on, that’s not fair, I replied, holding up my hands defensively.

  No, what’s not fair is you not sharing things with me, Sasha replied. What have you been telling DS Singh?

  Nothing that he didn’t already know! I stood up and walked over to the window. I wasn’t in the mood for this from Sasha, especially when I knew she’d been keeping more from me than I’d kept from her. I don’t want to do this right now. Maybe you should go, and we can talk tomorrow.

  Sasha’s face fell and she stood up, crossing the room to join me. Paige, I need your help. I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do. How are we going to help Lukas now?

  I let out an exasperated noise. I don’t know, Sasha. We’re looking into things, but there’s nothing obvious. I can’t deal with this right now.

  Why, what have you got going on that’s more important than an innocent man going to jail? she snapped.

  Well, I split up with Max yesterday, if you must know, I retorted, scowling at her.

  There was a pause while she took in what I’d just said, as I glared at her, my hands trembling and tears threatening to spill again. I knew she cared about Lukas, but she needed to understand that he wasn’t the only person in the world, and that helping her wasn’t my sole goal in life.

  A moment later, she bit her lip and shook her head. I’m sorry, Paige. I’ve been so caught up with what’s going on with Lukas that I’ve barely noticed anything else that’s going on in the world. I should have realised. Do you want to talk about it?

  I sat down again. Not really. I gave her the bare bones of the story – that he’d asked me to move in with him and I’d realised I didn’t want our relationship to progress any further – and to her credit she listened without interrupting.

  Is there anything I can do? she asked once I’d finished.

  No, I’m fine. But I think you need to take a step back from this, I told her, meaning Lukas and the murder investigation. I think it’s not good for you.

  I understand why you’re saying that, she signed slowly, carefully choosing her words, but I can’t do that. I have a responsibility towards him.

  Have you ever stopped to think he might have done it? I asked, knowing I might risk her wrath again, but also knowing that I had to ask the question.

  She blinked rapidly, and for a moment I didn’t know if she was going to cry or explode at me again, but in the end she did neither. I don’t need to think about it, she replied eventually. Because I know there’s no way he could have done it. I don’t expect you to believe it, and if you don’t want to help me with this any more that’s fine. But I know he’s innocent, and I’m not going to stop trying to prove it. Even if he’s convicted and I need to fund an appeal myself, I’ll do it.

  I thought for a minute, taking her words in. I trusted her judgement, but I also trusted Singh and his ability to do his job correctly, and in this instance one of them must be wrong. For the first time I started to think that perhaps Lukas was guilty, and Sasha was being swayed by her personal connection to him. I knew I couldn’t say that to her, though, without risking another fight, and I didn’t have the energy for it. Her comment about paying for his appeal reminded me of what Singh had told me about the solicitor, and I needed answers before I was willing to trust her further.

  Why didn’t you tell me that you’d been to see Lukas on your own?

  Sasha’s eyes widened and I thought she might be about to deny it, but she swallowed and nodded.

  Okay, you’re right. I should have told you about that. I suppose DS Singh told you?

  I nodded, waiting for her to answer the question.

  I don’t know, if I’m honest, she signed with a shrug. I went on a whim, thinking I might be able to talk Lukas into speaking to the police, to professing his innocence. But it didn’t work and he still refused to speak to me. I hoped he might have changed his mind the next day; that’s why I asked you to call.

  But why wouldn’t you tell me about it? I pressed.

  I thought you’d say I was getting too obsessed with the case, she replied. I didn’t want anyone to know just how much of my time I’ve been putting into trying to find a way to prove his innocence. If my manager knew, she wouldn’t be impressed. Supporting a client through the criminal justice system is one thing, but I know I’ve neglected a few of my other clients this week because I’ve prioritised Lukas.

  You paid for his solicitor, too, I said. This wasn’t a question, it was a statement, and she knew there was no point denying it.

  I did. I wanted to make sure he had someone decent to defend him, and you don’t know who you’re going to get with legal aid.

  I nodded. All of this is stuff you could have told me, Sasha. If you want me to help you, you need to trust me.

  She
hesitated for a moment, and I wondered if there was something else she’d been keeping from me, something that even Singh didn’t know about.

  I promise to be honest with you from now on, she told me. But please, Paige, I need your help.

  Do you really think there’s a chance of you finding evidence against someone else? I asked her. I thought about my conversations with Jill Adams and Roy Chapman, and the second house fire. We haven’t got anywhere so far.

  The fierce light came back into her eyes as she nodded. I do.

  I took a deep breath. Okay. In which case, I want you to come with me tomorrow to speak to DI Forest. It went against all my own instincts, to voluntarily talk to the DI when she had always wanted to see the back of me in the past, but I thought that might be the only way to convince Sasha to give up on this idea. It was obvious that I wasn’t going to change her mind, so maybe the detective inspector in charge of the case would be able to.

  Sasha looked unsure. I don’t see what that will achieve.

  Maybe there will be an avenue they haven’t looked into, that you can tell them about, I suggested. And maybe they can share with us what evidence they have against Lukas.

  Do you think they’d be willing to do that?

  Knowing Forest, possibly not, but it can’t hurt to ask. You’ll be there in a professional capacity, as Lukas’s social worker, and maybe she’ll do you the courtesy of answering your questions.

  Sasha nodded slowly, not completely convinced but obviously willing to agree to it if it meant I’d continue to help her. All I could hope was that Forest would lay things out clearly to show Sasha it was futile, rather than just throwing us out of her office.

  Make an appointment to see the DI tomorrow, I suggested. Have we got some free time in the diary?

  She pulled out her phone to check, and we moved on to discussing which clients she would need to see over the next few days, some of whom she’d cancelled appointments with last week, in order to see Lukas. Whilst I didn’t relish talking about work on a Sunday, I thought it was a good idea to help Sasha focus on the rest of her caseload, instead of devoting all her energy to just one man.

  When she’d gone, I stood by the window for a while, watching people coming and going. My chat with her had kept my mind off Max for a while, but now the flat was empty again I couldn’t avoid the thoughts that were cropping up. Now I had time to think about it, I was sure it had been coming for a while, my desire to end our relationship, but that didn’t stop me from feeling as if a rug had been pulled out from under me.

  Checking my phone, I noticed a message from Gem, telling me that we were going out that evening. I didn’t protest, knowing she wouldn’t accept any excuses, even though I would rather hide away from the world for a while. As I stood and thought about it, my phone rang in my hand. It was Max. After a brief inward battle, I decided to ignore it. I put my phone down on the table and watched it until it stopped ringing.

  Perhaps a night out with my best friend was exactly what I needed.

  Chapter 20

  I felt like I needed some fresh air, so I walked up into the village and went to sit on the green, near the children’s play area. Any evidence that the funfair had been there had been cleared away, except for some patches of grass that had been churned to mud. The sun was warm and there was a slight breeze, and something about it lifted my spirits a little. There were some children playing on the climbing frame, and their excited chatter drifted over to me as I tried to clear my mind a little.

  Checking my phone, I found myself thinking about Max’s call. Did I want him to rant at me and call me a heartless bitch? Or did I want complete radio silence, suggesting he hadn’t thought about me at all? I didn’t know the answer to that question. Should I call him back? If he wanted to talk I should at least let him say whatever it was he wanted to say, but if it was going to be an angry rant I didn’t think I could take that right now. I wanted to be able to judge his emotional state before talking to him, in order to take my own feelings into account. A small part of me thought I deserved to be called every name under the sun, but then I had never intended to upset him. If his feelings were stronger than mine, there was no way to end it without hurting him.

  Even though we’d only been together for just over a year I was now used to being in a relationship, and the idea of being single again was uncomfortable. Before Max, I’d been single for three years, and it hadn’t done me any harm. I could do it again now, without a problem, and I’d always rolled my eyes at people who couldn’t cope if they weren’t in a relationship. But right now I wanted to stay with the familiar, and I knew it was going to be a difficult adjustment. Change was terrifying.

  Deciding against calling him back, I put my phone back into my bag. He could wait. At least until I’d got my head round this situation myself, then maybe I’d feel up to getting in touch with him.

  I shook myself and stood up. Wallowing wasn’t going to do me any good, so I needed something to take my mind off Max. I didn’t know if Anna would be home yet, and I didn’t want to go home and sit in an empty flat until I went out that evening, so I walked back towards home, got in my car and drove into Scunthorpe. Before I realised which direction I was heading in, I found myself approaching the end of Lukas and Nadia’s street. The case was the perfect distraction right now, and my subconscious had taken me back to where it started.

  There was a space right outside the blackened shell of a house, so I pulled up there and got out. Before I had a chance to decide what I was going to do next, the front door of the house opposite opened.

  ‘You don’t want to park there.’ An elderly man stood in the doorway, glaring at me and my car.

  ‘Is this someone’s space?’ I asked, doing my best to sound innocent.

  The old man snorted. ‘Nobody got their own space round here. I were just trying to help you. That house is trouble.’

  ‘This one?’ I replied, pointing at Lukas’s house behind me.

  He nodded. ‘Leave it there if you want, but don’t expect it to be in one piece when you come back.’

  He turned and was about to go back into his house.

  ‘Wait!’ I called, and jogged across the road so I could speak to him more easily. He looked me up and down suspiciously, but clearly decided I wasn’t going to mug him or anything like that.

  ‘What do you want?’

  I pointed at the house again. ‘Did you see what happened, the night of the fire?’

  ‘Why do you want to know?’

  ‘I’m friends with the couple who lived there,’ I told him, stretching the truth as far as I dared. ‘I’m worried the police aren’t going to find out what really happened.’

  ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Paige.’

  He paused for a moment. ‘I’m Eric. I don’t go out much any more, and I spend most of my days sitting in my front window watching the world go by. So happen as I did see some things on that night, yes.’

  I tried to hide my excitement, wondering how I could get this man to talk to me, but a moment later he was already ushering me inside his house. The hallway was dark, with woodchip wallpaper that was browning at the edges, and a dark red carpet that had worn through in patches. The decor in the front room was similar, and a slight smell of rising damp added to the effect. There was a large recliner chair next to the window, which was clearly Eric’s seat, so I perched gingerly on an elderly sofa that sagged in the middle.

  ‘Cup of tea.’ It was a statement rather than a question, and I waited while he clattered around in the kitchen. I had offered my help before he left the room, but he just glared at me and didn’t reply, so I’d taken that as a refusal.

  While he was making tea, I got up and stood behind his chair, looking out over the street. The angle of the window meant you could see people approaching on the opposite side of the road from several houses down in both directions, and if you stood right in the bay you could see the front doors of Eric’s neighbours’ houses too. I wondered
whether there was much that went on at this end of the street that Eric didn’t know about, even if he rarely went out.

  ‘Here you go.’ He appeared in the doorway behind me with a tray in his hands, which I took off him and carefully placed on the low table at the side of the room. He seemed to have no objection to me pouring the tea even though I hadn’t been allowed to help make it, and he settled himself in the recliner while I busied myself with the milk and sugar.

  Once we both had a drink and were seated, he nodded out of the window.

  ‘You see what I mean, love. I don’t miss much. And I know you’ve been back a couple of times in the last week. Saw you talking to her ladyship the other day.’ He pointed over at Jill Adams’s house, and I felt my face flush. I should have realised that in an area like this someone would have been bound to notice me poking my nose in and asking questions. Perhaps I shouldn’t have come into a stranger’s house when nobody knew where I was, but Eric must have been in his eighties and didn’t look like he meant me any harm.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I just want to find out what happened. I don’t think the police really care.’

  He sighed. ‘They often don’t care about folks who live round here. I’ve reported all sorts, but you never see anyone actually coming out to investigate. They say they’ll send someone round when they can, but it never happens. Or they say it’s an issue for the council, not the police. Riotous parties, bottles being smashed in the street, people screaming at each other, but no no, nothing to do with the police.’ He shook his head. ‘I remember the days when you’d always see a copper on the streets, and there was never any of this trouble like we get nowadays.’

  ‘Who is it that has the parties?’ I asked, wondering if there was another reason the neighbours might have disliked Nadia and Lukas, but Eric pointed over his shoulder at the house next door to his.

  ‘Don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep with that happening. Music that shakes the walls, people running up and down stairs. Happens regular like, at the weekends.’