The Silent Suspect

by Nell Pattison

  As I walked, I realised we weren’t far from Lukas’s house. The two fires and now this – whatever it was – were all within walking distance of one another, and I wondered if it was a territory thing. I didn’t claim to be an expert on drug gangs, but from what I knew they tended to only work in certain areas to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. Part of me wanted to believe I was being ridiculous, that Mariusz had just been hanging out with a group of friends and had nothing to do with drugs, but what other explanation was there for the strange interactions yesterday between the lads outside, the man inside, and the people visiting the house? The lad who’d ridden off on the bike had been carrying a package given to him by the man inside, so the most obvious answer was that he was acting as a courier.

  Five minutes later, Mariusz had stopped outside another house. This one wasn’t dark – the curtains were closed, but a glow from an upstairs window showed a light was on in one of the bedrooms. It was a terrace, with a small passageway leading round the back, which was shared with the neighbouring house. Mariusz looked like he was about to head round there when the gate belonging to the next house opened and a man came out, shortly followed by a Staffordshire bull terrier on a chain.

  I jumped out of the way as Mariusz ran straight past me, but he paid me no attention as he pelted away from the house. By the time I’d caught up with what was happening, he was at the end of the street and I only just glimpsed which way he turned. I set off after him, walking quickly because I was afraid running would attract attention, but by the time I reached the end of the road there was no sign of him.

  ‘Shit,’ I muttered to myself as I turned into the next street. There was a scattering of alleyways Mariusz could have ducked into, as well as a couple of other roads that met this one. I walked to the next crossroads and looked up and down in both directions, wondering where he could have gone.

  As I looked, I realised that the road to my left was where I’d seen Mariusz the previous day. I had well and truly lost him now, so I thought my best bet was to go in that direction, in case he was meeting someone at the same house. I wanted to see with my own eyes what they were up to, so I had something concrete to prove my theory, and then tell Singh about. The street was empty and eerily quiet. A dog barking made me jump and I thought I saw someone watching me out of a window, but when I looked again whoever it was had gone. I told myself that as soon as I’d checked out this house I would go back to my car and go home – I’d had enough of this.

  The house was near the end of the street, so I put my head down and hurried up, not looking to either side as I walked, in case I attracted someone’s attention. As I got closer to the house, I couldn’t see anyone hanging around outside it, nor could I see any lights coming from inside. In fact, where the front window had been yesterday, there was now a sheet of plywood boarding it up. Puzzled, I stopped by the lamp-post next to the house. The front door was still in place, but in the orange glow I could see the white paint had bubbled and was covered in a layer of black soot. There was more soot around the window upstairs, which was also boarded up, and the yard in front of the house was piled with damaged furniture and covered in filthy boot prints.

  I stepped back so I could get a better view of the house. This confirmed everything I’d suspected, and I was starting to think Sasha and I were in over our heads. Another fire, at a house linked to a gang hanging around outside. But what did the fires have to do with Nadia’s death?

  To my right, a group of people rounded the corner so I quickly turned and walked away. I didn’t want anyone to see me outside that house. Picking up the pace, I kept walking with my head down, hoping I wouldn’t draw any attention to myself that way. Keeping my attention focused in front of me meant I didn’t notice someone approaching me from behind until it was too late. Something hit me in the middle of my back and I fell, cracking my head on the pavement. The pain was like a small explosion, overwhelming me with agony until everything went black.

  Chapter 30

  When I came round, I wasn’t alone. I could hear voices but couldn’t make sense of what they were saying, and when I opened my eyes I could see some people hovering over me.

  ‘You all right, love?’ one of them asked me, and I blinked a few times before he came into focus. He was a middle-aged bloke, wearing a branded polo shirt – he worked for the chippy over the road, and must have seen me lying on the ground.

  ‘Someone knocked into her,’ another voice said. ‘They ran off up that way.’

  I tried to open my mouth to ask which way she meant, but I couldn’t quite coordinate myself.

  ‘Should I call an ambulance?’ the woman asked.

  ‘Nah, give her a minute,’ the man replied. ‘She might just be pissed.’

  Gee, thanks, I thought, but then I remembered the state I’d been in when I got home from my night out with Gem on Sunday, and thought I probably didn’t have the right to be offended.

  Taking a few deep breaths of the cool night air, I pushed myself up to sitting, holding my head as it throbbed. The man was crouching down next to me, but the woman was standing up. I couldn’t bring myself to tilt my head back to look at her, thinking I might be sick if I tried it.

  ‘My car,’ I muttered. ‘My car’s not far away.’ While following Mariusz I’d doubled back on myself and I was only a couple of streets away from where I’d parked. I patted my pockets, finding my phone, but no keys. I groaned.

  ‘Don’t think you’re in any fit state to drive, love,’ the man said with a chuckle. ‘Think you’ll need a few coffees first!’

  ‘Not drunk,’ I told him. ‘I hit my head.’

  He frowned and looked at me, peering at my head in the darkness. ‘Yeah, you do have a bit of an egg on your temple there. Maybe we should call an ambulance.’

  ‘No, I’ll call someone,’ I told him. ‘Can you help me up?’

  It took a minute or two, but I eventually managed to get to my feet with assistance and a lot of nausea. The woman was still watching – she looked to be around the same age as me, and she was shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

  ‘I told him someone pushed you over, but he wouldn’t listen to me,’ she said. ‘I think they stopped to check on you before they ran off, though.’

  ‘I think they stole my car keys,’ I replied, after another search of my pockets turned up empty. The pair of them had a look around where I’d landed on the pavement, but there was no sign of my keys. Shit. Who had taken them? Did they know which car was mine? Had they been following me, while I was following Mariusz? Or had Mariusz spotted me and looped around to get behind me?

  ‘I’d better go and see if it’s where I left it,’ I told the two people who were helping me. I was feeling steadier on my feet now, so I thanked them for their help and turned up the road where Caroline lived. At least the mugger had left me my phone, so I could call someone for help, although I had no idea who to call – Anna was the obvious choice, but I didn’t want to completely freak her out. I’d lied to her when I went out, telling her I had an evening interpreting job. Sasha, maybe? Though then I would have to explain what I’d been doing.

  To my utter shock, my car was still sitting where I’d left it, in the road adjacent to Caroline’s. As I approached, I could see that the door was open, and the interior light was on. My bag had been upended on the passenger seat, and whoever it was had rifled through the glove compartment and the pockets in the doors, too. Instantly, I knew what was missing. Strangely, the mugger had also dropped my keys on the front seat. Had they been hoping it would be stolen before I came back to it, to cover up their crime? I sighed and pulled my phone out, knowing who I needed to call.

  Singh arrived in just under fifteen minutes, parking behind my car and jumping out.

  ‘How are you doing?’ he asked straight away, taking me by the elbow and leading me to his car. He opened the passenger door and made me sit down so he could look at the bump on my head. I’d sat on the pavement while I was waiting for him, know
ing I shouldn’t touch my car but not wanting to leave it, and I was glad of somewhere comfy to sit down now.

  ‘I feel a bit sick,’ I confessed. His face was very close to mine as he examined my head, then looked back at me. I felt a swooping sensation in my stomach, then everything went a bit blurry and I leant back in the seat, waiting for the head rush to pass.

  ‘I’m taking you to the hospital,’ Singh said, standing up and folding his arms. ‘No arguments.’

  ‘Wait. Look at my car, first.’ On the phone I had just told him I’d been mugged and needed his help. To his credit, he didn’t ask what I’d been doing there, although I knew he was just filing the question away to ask later.

  ‘Right, I’ll get someone to come down here and secure your car. We can fingerprint it, see if we can get anything that way. Is anything missing?’

  I nodded sheepishly. ‘I’d been writing down things about the case in a notebook. It was in the pocket in the driver’s side door, but I think it’s gone.’

  Singh rolled his eyes at me, but didn’t say anything, just pulled out his phone and requested for someone to meet us there. Once he’d done that, he pulled out a small torch and shone it in my eyes.

  ‘Hey, what are you doing that for?’ I pulled away, blinking, then clutched my head after the sharp movement made it throb again.

  ‘Checking to see if you’ve got concussion,’ he said.

  ‘I’m fine, honestly. Just take me home, please.’

  ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘You might not have any regard for your own welfare, but I do.’ Something in his tone flooded me with a warm sensation and set my head spinning again.

  As he looked me over, he gently took one of my hands in his to reassure me. Before I knew what I was doing, I leant in and kissed him.

  For a split second it was perfect; the touch of his lips on mine was warm and gentle, sending a little spark of electricity through me. But then he pulled away and shook his head, giving a little nervous laugh.

  ‘Oh God, I’m sorry,’ I said, sitting back and drawing my hands into my lap away from him. ‘I don’t know what I … I just …’ I didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said quietly. ‘You’ve had a bump on the head.’ He said this with a little self-deprecating smile, and I wanted to tell him that didn’t mean anything, but I was too embarrassed. He’d pulled away, so it obviously wasn’t something he wanted.

  ‘Come on, we need to get you checked over.’

  I could tell there was no arguing with him, so I sat quietly while we waited for someone to arrive. When a police car pulled up a few minutes later, Singh had a quick chat with the PC who was there to have a look at my car. Once that was out of the way, Singh got in the driving seat.

  ‘Right, hospital next,’ he said, and I didn’t protest. I was grateful to him for picking me up and still helping me even after I’d kissed him, and started to say so, but a wave of tiredness washed over me. Leaning my head back, I was tempted to let it take me, but Singh shouted my name a couple of times.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Paige, I need you to try and stay awake until we get to the hospital, okay?’

  ‘Okay,’ I mumbled, though I couldn’t see why it mattered.

  We were only a couple of minutes away from Scunthorpe General, and once we were there he parked as close as he could get to A&E without blocking an ambulance bay.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you inside,’ he said, reaching into the car to help me out.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I told him, just before my legs gave way.

  ‘Yeah, I can see that,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Come on.’ He pulled my arm across his shoulders and helped me inside, propping me up on a chair as he got me booked in. I don’t know if it was because I had a head injury, or because he was a police officer, but within a few minutes I was taken through and helped up onto a bed in a small bay. I was reminded of when I’d been here only a week ago, with Lukas, and I felt like bursting into tears.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said to Singh, my voice shaking. ‘Thank you for helping me.’

  ‘Hey, it’s okay,’ he said, giving me a hug as I started to cry. ‘You know I’ll always help you, Paige.’

  The doctor appeared then, so Singh sat down and let her get on with examining me. After a while, she decided it was safest to keep me in for the night under observation, then I could have tests in the morning if they thought it was necessary, much to my distress.

  ‘I don’t want to stay here,’ I told Singh when the doctor had gone to arrange for me to be transferred to a ward. ‘Can you get them to send me home?’

  ‘No way. If the doctor thinks you need to stay in, then you need to stay in.’

  ‘I have to call Anna,’ I said, looking around for my phone.

  ‘I’ve already texted her,’ he told me. ‘She’s worried about you, but I told her you’d call when you felt up to it.’

  I looked at him in surprise. ‘You have my sister’s number?’

  He nodded. ‘She texted me when we last worked together, don’t you remember?’

  I was still surprised that he’d saved her number, but I didn’t question it.

  ‘Will you come up to the ward with me?’ I asked, suddenly not wanting to be left alone. I knew I was pushing it, especially after he’d pulled away from my kiss earlier, but I still wanted him there. Tentatively, I reached for his hand, needing the reassurance and comfort of having him there with me. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze and didn’t let go.

  ‘Of course, but then you’ll need to get some sleep.’

  It was another hour until the bed was arranged, and Singh pushed me up there in a wheelchair. I insisted I could walk, but the doctor wouldn’t let me even attempt it, pointing out that if I passed out on the floor and hit my head again it would take me even longer to get discharged. Keeping my mouth shut, I let myself be wheeled into the lift and along to a ward, then into a side room.

  I was surprised not to be in a communal bay, but maybe Singh’s presence had made them find me a private room. Whatever the reason, I was grateful to have the room to myself. Once I was settled, he looked at me. I felt my face flush, wondering if he was going to mention the kiss, or if he was going to ignore it.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what you were doing there?’ His voice was gentle, but there was a firmness to it, and I knew he wasn’t going to be happy with the answer, but I told him anyway. I thought he would be annoyed with me, but his reaction went well beyond what I was expecting.

  ‘Are you serious?’ He took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Paige, what the hell did you think you were doing?’

  ‘I wanted to see what Mariusz was up to with this gang of his.’ I was too tired to defend myself properly.

  ‘When I told you it was probably connected to an ongoing investigation, didn’t you consider that maybe you should have just left it well alone?’ His voice was rising, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. I’d never seen him this angry before, and what made it worse was that it was directed at me and I knew I deserved it.

  ‘You have absolutely no idea the sort of danger you’ve put yourself in, have you?’ he snapped at me. ‘Every time our paths cross, you do something dangerous, but this is the worst. Do you get that? You’re dealing with something you don’t understand. I’m trying to keep you safe!’

  ‘Well, if you told me what the hell was going on, maybe I would understand,’ I replied, but he just shook his head and made a sort of frustrated growling noise.

  ‘You’re not a police officer, I don’t have to tell you anything.’ He shook his head and turned away from me. ‘I wish you could understand …’ He tailed off.

  ‘Understand what? What are you not telling me?’

  He rubbed his face and turned round, but then the door opened and a nurse came in.

  ‘What’s going on in here?’ She had a face like thunder, and I was glad she was glaring at Singh and not me. ‘Are you the police officer who escorted her here?’
she asked, looking him up and down.

  ‘I am,’ he snapped. ‘And I’m leaving.’

  ‘I should think so too.’ She stood back, holding the door open for him, and he stormed out without looking back at me. I pressed my head into the pillow, trying to stop myself from bursting into tears. The nurse fussed around me, checking my blood pressure and my pupils, but she soon left me in peace. When the door shut behind me, I wondered for a moment where everything had gone wrong. Within an hour I’d gone from kissing him to him shouting at me and storming out, and what was worse was that I knew it was all my own fault. I hadn’t intended to kiss him – it had just sort of happened – but it had felt right. I didn’t regret it, but now I might have ruined everything anyway. The tears came then, before the fatigue washed over me and I fell asleep.

  One hour before the fire

  Lukas was still feeling out of sorts by the time he arrived in the pub. He ordered himself his usual pint and a whisky, then went to sit at the end of the bar, where he could see everyone else and try to get an idea of the conversations that were happening.

  His pint disappeared pretty quickly, and he ordered a second. He used to have problems with alcohol, and he knew Sasha and Nadia would both have a go at him if they knew how much he liked to have at the pub some nights, but it wasn’t a problem. He could handle it.

  Over the next hour he got through a third pint, nodded to a few people and watched others come and go. The regulars he was friendly with had all picked up a bit of sign language over the last couple of years, and between that and basic gestures they managed to have a conversation with him. He was starting to think he’d go home to Nadia, continue their conversation about starting a family, when Roy walked in. Lukas’s eyes narrowed when he saw him.