‘Do you have any family who could help you report them to the council?’ I asked. ‘They can install something in your house that records the noise, to prove how bad it is.’
Eric perked up a bit. ‘My granddaughter comes over once a week, cleans for me and does some shopping. I could ask her.’
‘You really should. It’s not fair on you, having to live with that.’
He nodded thoughtfully, then pointed over at Lukas’s house. ‘They were never no trouble, them two, not until recently. I don’t know what happened on the night of the fire, though. Must have fallen asleep in my chair, because I woke up and there was all these flashing lights and a huge fire engine outside my window.’ Looking at me, a thought seemed to occur to him. ‘Are they okay?’
Clearly, he didn’t get all the local news. I shook my head. ‘I’m sorry, but Nadia died, and Lukas is in prison.’
‘In prison?’ he asked, looking genuinely puzzled. ‘What for? He didn’t start that fire. I saw him go out.’
My ears pricked up at this: here was another eye witness to confirm that Lukas went out that night before the fire started. I made a mental note to suggest that Singh interviewed Eric, although as he’d already admitted to falling asleep in his chair I didn’t think he’d be considered very reliable. I didn’t know how much the police had made public yet, and Singh would kill me if I got the local rumour mill working, so I didn’t answer his question.
Luckily, Eric didn’t seem to notice and was still muttering to himself. ‘Bollocks. It will have been all those kids who were hanging around.’
‘Which kids?’
Eric jabbed a finger in the direction of the house. ‘The last week before that fire, there was all sorts of people coming in and out of the house at odd hours. No idea who they were, or why they were there, but I’d never seen any of them before. And there were loads of kids hanging around outside on bikes. Not a lot of kids on this street, just a couple down the other end, and it weren’t any of them.’ He looked at me triumphantly, as if he’d solved the crime himself.
I remembered Singh’s comment about kids hanging around outside the other house that had been damaged in a fire, and I wondered if it was the same group. Were they responsible for the fires? But what did that have to do with Nadia being murdered?
I spent another hour with Eric, listening to the gossip about the people whose houses he could see from his window. He was especially vicious about Jill Adams, but, honestly, I didn’t blame him.
As I left, he stood in the window to wave me off, and I returned the gesture. Turning back towards Lukas’s house, I looked up at the blackened walls, and the boards that had been nailed over the windows to keep the house secure. It looked like one of the boards had been prised off. Moving closer, I pulled it back, peering into the gloom of the living room, but the lack of natural light coming in meant I couldn’t see much. Just as I was about to go back to my car, I thought I heard a noise coming from inside the house. I froze, my breath catching in my throat. I was about to call out and see if anyone was there, but instinct stopped me. I’d been in too many dangerous situations in the last year or so, and I couldn’t risk walking into another, certainly not alone.
After stepping away quietly, I got back in my car and went home, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about what I’d heard: it had sounded like someone crying.
Chapter 21
Anna was still out when I got back and Eric’s words had got me thinking, so I spent the time sorting through my notebook again, which prompted me to go over my thoughts about Roy. The way the muscled guy had spoken to me the previous day had made me instantly suspect that Roy had killed Nadia and burned down Lukas’s house as a threat, and whilst Roy himself had seemed genuinely sympathetic to Lukas’s situation he could have just been covering his tracks. If Sasha was right that Lukas was innocent, I wasn’t sure if Roy was as obvious a suspect as she first thought.
Adding some more bits to my notebook, I thought about what Roy could gain from Nadia’s death. If Lukas had the money and was withholding it from Roy, it would make sense to threaten him, but to go so far as to murder his wife? That seemed pretty extreme. Unless Nadia had money that we didn’t know about, or if she had life insurance, in which case her death could benefit Roy financially. If Lukas was convicted of Nadia’s murder, however, the life insurance policy would be void, so that wouldn’t do either of them any good. Then, of course, there was the matter of the thefts – was Nadia responsible, or was she framed? And I still needed to find out more about how she and Caroline got on at work. I couldn’t imagine they were playing happy families.
It was too confusing, and I knew I needed to stop thinking about it for a little while if I was going to make any sense of it. I often found that if I did something different to take my mind off a case, my brain would carry on working away at it in the background.
I arrived at the Deaf club before Gem – she had a seven-year-old daughter called Petra, and I knew she would be making sure she was in bed and settled before leaving her with whoever was babysitting. The club was housed in a tiny old building near the steelworks, and provided the local Deaf community with opportunities to socialise. Some nights had organised activities, from yoga to bingo, but mostly people just met up for a drink and a chat. It wasn’t busy as it was mid-week, but I glanced around to see if I knew anyone before choosing a seat.
Ten minutes later, Gem came through the door looking flustered.
Sorry, sorry, she signed. I never seem to leave the house when I mean to.
I laughed. It’s fine, don’t worry. Do you want a drink?
I’d deliberately driven that evening to avoid a repeat of the previous night. Red wine wasn’t my friend the morning after, especially with how much I’d drunk, and I’d been dealing with a fuzzy headache all day. Gem got us a lemonade each and sat down opposite me, fixing me with a searching look.
How are you?
I grimaced. I’ve been better. But I’ll be okay.
Of course you will be, she replied, but I need to work out how I can help you to get to being okay.
I squeezed her hand briefly across the table. Thank you, I appreciate it.
What are friends for? I picked you up after the disaster that was Mike. You picked me up after Peter died. I can pick you up again this time.
I nodded my agreement. Sometimes I needed reminding that I had been there to support my friends as much as they’d been there for me. Peter, Gem’s husband, had been killed in a car crash when she was pregnant with Petra. It had been a devastating time, but I had pulled together with a couple of her other friends to make sure we kept her going, through the rest of her pregnancy and those first few months of navigating parenting on her own. Petra had a lot of aunties whom she’d spent time with in her formative years, and we made sure Gem was able to rebuild herself and her life.
This won’t be as difficult as my experience with Mike, I told her with a wry smile. After all, I was the one who ended it.
That doesn’t mean you’re not hurting, she replied. It’s a big decision to make, ending a relationship, and it’s scary. I’m proud of you, though.
Why? I asked, confused. I thought you liked Max?
Oh I did, I do. He’s a nice guy, even if it didn’t work out. No, what I mean is I’m proud of you for knowing your own mind and acting on it, even when it’s hard.
I nodded, knowing what she meant. When I was with Mike, I thought about ending it so many times over the years, but I could never bring myself to do it. Partly, it was because I was scared of him, scared of what he would do, either to me or to himself. But it was also the fear that he’d planted in my mind that I wouldn’t cope on my own, that I wouldn’t be able to look after myself or maintain the flat by myself. Of course, now I knew that it was rubbish, and he’d spent years gaslighting me and making me doubt my own abilities, but at the time I hadn’t been able to see past that. My friends had noticed what was going on though, and it was Gem and Anna who had cleared
Mike’s belongings out of the flat while I was in hospital, recovering from my ordeal of being locked in by Mike.
I’d seen Mike again last year and it had brought back a lot of bad memories. One thing it had shown me, though, was how much I’d changed, how much stronger I was now. I wasn’t going to stay in a relationship that wasn’t right for me any more, however hard it was to end it, because I knew it would only make things worse in the long run.
I explained all of this to Gem, and she let me talk for as long as I needed to. I poured out all the things that had been going round in my head all day – whether I’d made the right decision about Max, as well as my fears of being single forever and missing out on things like marriage and children.
You can have children when you’re single, Gem signed with a pointed look.
I know, and I’m not knocking what you’ve achieved, but you know what I mean.
She nodded. I do. But you’re only thirty-one, Paige. You have plenty of time to meet someone else and settle down. There’s no rush, and panicking about it is only more likely to cause you to end up with the wrong person. I wondered if she’d always thought of Max as the wrong person for me, and what the right person would look like. An image of Singh rose unbidden in my mind and I felt a strange churning sensation in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it. Right now I couldn’t work out what my feelings were for Rav; there was too much going on and my head was all over the place.
You’ll get there, Gem told me with a smile. The first few days after a break-up are always hard.
I’m so used to texting him, I told her, nodding at where my phone sat on the table, noticeably silent. I keep thinking of things I should tell him. I read an article this morning and automatically went to send him the link before I remembered.
You’ll get used to it soon. And maybe you’ll be able to form some sort of friendship, once you’re both used to it.
I grimaced. I don’t know. He was so upset yesterday. I really didn’t want to hurt him; he didn’t deserve it, but there wasn’t an alternative.
Give him time. Have you talked to him since then? I shook my head, and she nodded. Good, probably best to leave it a bit longer. She was about to sign something else when she grimaced at something over my shoulder. I went to turn round, but she put a hand on my arm to stop me.
I groaned inwardly as I realised what, or rather who, she’d seen.
Max has just walked in, hasn’t he?
She nodded. Shall we go somewhere else?
I thought for a moment, then shook my head. No, we need to get used to seeing each other occasionally. It might as well start now.
We sat for a moment, Gem carefully watching over my shoulder, me resisting the urge to turn round. I racked my brains for something to talk about, but my mind had gone blank.
I think he’s coming over, she signed, her nose wrinkling to show she obviously thought it was a bad idea for me to talk to him. Do you want me to head him off?
No, it’s fine, I told her, standing up. If he wants to talk, I’ll talk.
Turning around, I saw Max approaching and gave him a small smile. I had no idea what sort of mood he’d be in, but I really didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of the Deaf club.
Hi, he signed, his face twitching between a smile and a frown. He glanced at Gem, who took the hint and went off to chat with someone else. I sat back down at the table and Max joined me, pulling his chair out a little so he wasn’t within arm’s reach of me.
How are you? he asked.
I’m okay, I replied cautiously. You?
He nodded, then shook his head immediately after. I don’t know. I can’t get my head round it at the moment. I called you this morning, he added, giving me a searching look.
I know, I’m sorry. I was busy with something for work. It wasn’t strictly the truth, but I didn’t want to explain why I’d felt the need to ignore him.
Okay. But you didn’t call me back.
I sighed. Because I didn’t know why you’d called, Max. I didn’t know if you wanted to have a go at me, and I wasn’t in the right head space for an argument.
He frowned. Why would I have a go at you? I just wanted to talk.
Okay. I’m sorry. But if you’d sent me a text I would have known why you were calling. I ran a hand over my face. What was it you wanted to talk about?
He looked down at the floor for a moment, clasping and unclasping his hands as he sat there. When he looked up I could see in his eyes that he was hoping for a reconciliation, and my heart sank. Even though I’d had a few moments of panic during the day, wondering if I wanted things to change, I knew I’d made the right decision.
Are you sure, Paige? he asked eventually. Are you sure this is what you want? I understand why you’re wary of us moving in together, because of what happened with Mike, and I completely respect that. If you’re not ready, that’s fine. Can’t we just carry on as we were?
I took a moment to decide what I wanted to say to him.
I don’t think that would be fair to you, Max. I care about you, a lot, but I don’t think I’ll ever want that future with you. Would you really want to waste time with me, hoping I’d change my mind, and then miss out on the possibility of meeting someone else? Someone who could be the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?
He stood up abruptly, and rubbed his hands on his jeans, his mouth set in a firm line. Okay. Fine. I just wanted to make sure.
I started to sign I’m sorry, but he turned and walked away. Closing my eyes, I wondered if I could have done that any differently. Not that it mattered now.
Gem slipped back into her seat and reached over to get my attention. Want to ditch our cars and go and get drunk?
Before I had a chance to reply, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from Max.
You were the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
I nodded at Gem. Yes please.
Chapter 22
What had been planned as a quiet evening out with Gem turned into a late-night drinking session. From the Deaf club we went to the nearest pub and had polished off a couple of bottles of wine before they called last orders. I wasn’t finished, and Gem was following my lead, so we found another pub with a later licence, which was when we started on the shots.
By the time I half-stepped, half-fell out of the taxi outside my flat I’d had far too much to drink, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t handle the emotions I was feeling – blaming myself for hurting Max, but also anger with him for blaming me, confusion over my own feelings, frustration with myself for looking stupid in front of Singh when that was the last thing I wanted him to think of me – it went on and on. I’d needed something to numb me and distract from everything that was happening in my life, and for a few hours it had worked.
My phone screen seemed blurry as I checked it for messages before going inside. Anna had got in touch when I hadn’t come home by eleven, but I expected she’d have been in bed ages ago. Nothing from Max, which was to be expected. I’d half hoped for something from Singh, not least because he was now the only significant man in my life, but it was probably a good job he hadn’t been in touch. Drunk as I was, I couldn’t trust myself not to say or do something that would embarrass us both, particularly as I was newly single and very aware of it.
Whilst we were out, Gem had tried to cheer me up by getting me to look at other men and rate their attractiveness, but I felt uncomfortable doing it. Max had come into my life by pure chance. I hadn’t been looking for anyone to be with, in fact had actively sworn off dating, but he won me over with his charm and his easy-going manner. Now that was over, I couldn’t see myself wanting to meet someone new any time soon. It was all too messy and painful and confusing.
Putting my phone away, I rooted in my bag for my keys. I could hear something jangling, but in my drunken haze they seemed determine to evade my searching hand. Frustrated, I put my bag down on the low wall outside the block of flats and started to take things out. I looked up at
the bank of buttons that would ring the bells in each of the flats, and wondered if it was worth risking it. There were flashing lights connected to my doorbell, for Anna, but not in her bedroom, so if she was asleep it wouldn’t wake her. I decided to risk it and, forgetting that I’d scattered half of the contents of my handbag along the wall, rang the doorbell to my flat.
I waited for a moment, then remembered my bag. Turning back, I caught sight of movement out of the corner of my eye, but before I could work out what it was I was slammed against the wall.
‘Get off me! What the hell? Who are you?’ I yelled loudly. I didn’t care if I woke anyone. ‘Get off me!’ I shouted again, before a large, calloused hand was pressed firmly across my mouth.
I don’t know if the sheer amount of alcohol I had in my bloodstream made me brave or stupid, but I kicked back against him – I was sure it was a man, with the size and strength of him. When I did, he didn’t even twitch; it was like kicking a brick wall.
‘Stop being so fucking stupid and listen to me.’ Definitely a man. At that point it occurred to me just how much danger I could be in, and I froze. Would anyone have heard me shouting? Or was this man going to be able to do anything he wanted to me without anyone coming to my aid? My heart thundered and I felt my breath catching in my throat as I fought off the rising panic. Please just let him take my purse and my phone, I thought. Please, let him be a thief and nothing more.
‘You need to learn what’s good for you,’ he growled. ‘I’ve got a message to deliver.’
A message? What the hell was he talking about? I managed to control my breathing, and the roar of blood pounding in my ears subsided a little.
‘Back off. Stop sticking your nose into other people’s business, or you might find it gets cut off.’
I held my breath. Was this about me going to the gym yesterday? He was certainly built like someone who spent time there.
‘Who sent you?’ I demanded, my drunkenness disabling my sense of self-preservation.
The Silent Suspect Page 16