The Silent Suspect by Nell Pattison (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud .TXT) 📗

he was definitely drinking. It seems he’s a regular there. I can’t imagine his addiction counsellor would be supportive of that.’

I watched as Sasha’s face fell. I don’t know about that. As far as I knew, Lukas hadn’t had a drink in a long time, and had reached the stage where he was comfortable around other people who were drinking. Maybe he’s been going to the pub to socialise? Did they actually tell you he was drinking alcohol?

Singh took a moment to flick back through the notes of his conversation with Lukas, and his confession, then looked back at Sasha. ‘They mention pints and shots. I can’t imagine either of those were soft drinks. It’s too late to check his blood alcohol level, unfortunately, even if he wanted to claim that alcohol was a factor. We’ll be looking for other witnesses to confirm the time he arrived at and left the pub, so I’ll make a note to confirm what he was drinking.’

I could see from the look on Sasha’s face that she was sure the witnesses were mistaken. Over the last four months I had learnt how passionate she could be when she was standing up for her clients. She wasn’t a pushover, and she would tell them exactly what she thought, handing out tough love whenever it was necessary, but she would defend them to the death if she thought they weren’t being treated in the way they deserved. The clients I had met clearly respected her and felt respected by her, which had an impact on how much effort they put into helping themselves. Her caseload was huge, the whole department stretched to breaking point, but she still worked damned hard for every single one of them. Of course, some weren’t grateful because they resented the interference in their lives, or because they were scared of the implications of having a social worker. It didn’t help that the media had condemned social work as a profession long ago, but she and her colleagues were pretty thick-skinned, as far as I could see. Nobody went into social work thinking they were going to change the world and be showered with praise for it, but if they could change the life of one person, it was worth it.

Lukas has been so much better since he met Nadia, Sasha told Singh. She was a very calm and supportive person, but she also didn’t let him get away with anything; she wouldn’t take any excuses. The medication and therapy helped to improve his mental health, but I think being with Nadia was the best therapy he could have had.

Singh looked like he was sizing Sasha up, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed together, but then he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. I can make a note of your concerns, but it doesn’t do anything to counteract our evidence. We’ll continue to investigate, and if we find anything that suggests he’s not responsible, of course things will change. Until then, I suggest you convince him to speak to a solicitor, and to then give us a statement.’

Sasha’s eyes lit up when he said this, and a ghost of a smile crossed her face. Did that mean Singh thought there might be some truth to what we’d been saying? He was right, of course: Lukas really needed legal advice, and without a solicitor things could go very badly for him.

‘Is there anything else that you think might be relevant?’ Singh asked.

Sasha glanced at me, and I thought she was going to add something, but then she shook her head. I don’t think so, she replied regretfully. I wish I could make sense of this.

‘Well, you can go and see Lukas now, if he’s willing to see you. Maybe he can explain it to you.’ Singh smiled gently at Sasha, and I could see he was trying hard not to be patronising, but he thought she was deluded. I could see his point – surely nobody would keep their mouth shut about their own innocence, unless they were actually guilty. Lukas had been given plenty of opportunity to give his side, both to Sasha and the police, but had he completely clammed up due to guilt, or fear?

Rav led us through the police station and downstairs to another meeting room, this one very stark and bare. I imagined it wasn’t much nicer than the cell where Lukas was being held.

‘I’ll bring him along. You can have about ten minutes with him, but that’s all.’

We sat and stared at the heavy metal door for a moment, then Singh was back, with a shadow of the man we knew.

Lukas, Sasha signed as soon as she saw him. Lukas, what’s going on?

He shook his head jerkily, avoiding looking straight at Sasha, but didn’t reply. Sasha sat down and pointed to another chair for him to do the same. Lukas hesitated, a wary look in his eyes, and didn’t sit down.

Lukas, you need to tell me what happened. Why won’t you give a statement? Sasha asked him.

Instead of answering, he turned back towards the door, looking out of the tiny window as if he wanted Rav to take him back to his cell. My heart sank; Lukas still wasn’t going to say anything, whether to defend himself or otherwise.

Sasha got up and walked round so he could see her again. This doesn’t look good, you know, Lukas, she told him, gently but firmly. You need to give the police a statement, tell them your side of the story.

Lukas leant his head against the metal door and took a deep breath, letting it out again in a weary sigh. He turned his head to face Sasha, but I couldn’t see his expression. A worried frown crossed Sasha’s face and she shook her head. I assumed she was trying to tell Lukas that he couldn’t continue like this; he would have to communicate with someone soon.

Sasha came back and sat down, folding her arms, watching Lukas the whole time.