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

down. It doesn’t last long, they say. It doesn’t happen often. Well, it was too often for me, and there was obviously something dodgy about it.’ She nodded firmly, as if she’d made her point exceptionally clear, but I was confused.

‘I’m sorry, what do you mean, something dodgy?’

Jill spread her arms wide. ‘Well, why did they have a blazing row every time it happened? You can’t tell me there wasn’t something going on there.’

I nodded slowly. ‘What were their fights about?’ I asked, hoping to get a bit more information and lead her back to Tuesday night.

She wafted a hand in front of her face. ‘Oh, I haven’t a bloody clue. I can’t understand a word those two say to each other. It’s not like they can speak properly, is it?’

To my horror, she proceeded to do an impression of what she thought Lukas and Nadia sounded like, causing me to grind my teeth and suck in a deep breath through my nose. I felt sorry for Lukas, having to live so close to such a vile woman. I knew it was an attitude that existed, and unfortunately most deaf people came across it occasionally, but it was still shocking to bear witness to.

‘They were at it on Tuesday, though, I remember that. There’d been people round on Monday night, right into the early morning, then they were rowing during the day on Tuesday.’

‘And you’re sure it was Tuesday?’ I asked. The fake smile had gone now; I couldn’t keep up the charade in the face of this awful woman.

Her lip curled. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Of course it was Tuesday. I’d been out to do me shopping, and when I was walking back from the bus stop I could hear them. It was mostly her, wailing about something or other. Didn’t give him a chance to answer back, she didn’t.’

I perked up at this bit of information. ‘So, you heard her side of the argument, but no sounds from him?’

She shuffled uncomfortably on the wall. ‘Well. Not exactly. But he was there; it were him she were shouting at. I saw him go past my house later, off to the pub I bet.’

That was exactly what I needed to hear: she couldn’t be certain Lukas had even been in the house. All she’d heard was Nadia shouting, or maybe crying, the way she’d described it.

‘Thank you, Mrs Adams, you’ve been very helpful,’ I said, forcing my lips into something close to a smile. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

‘Wait, but what about my compensation? For my COPD, the smoke?’

I should have known she wouldn’t have forgotten about that.

‘As I say, we’ll be in touch if we think there’s anything due to you.’

I was seething by the time I got back in the car and related what she’d told me to Sasha. She was still standing outside her house, watching my car.

So she told the police they were both in the house when she only heard Nadia? That’s good, Sasha told me with a nod. Hopefully the police will double-check her statement before putting too much stock in anything she says.

I agreed with her, but didn’t voice my concern that the police still didn’t know how Lukas had come by the bruises all over his body – and if there was an innocent explanation, why had he kept quiet about it?

Chapter 10

We sat in my car and discussed what to do next. My first instinct was to go to DS Singh and tell him everything we’d been thinking – even if they’re weren’t looking for an alternative suspect, I’d still feel better if we shared information. Keeping it from him made me feel like I was getting involved in exactly the way he’d warned me against. Sasha, however, wasn’t keen.

If we want to convince them they have the wrong man, we’re going to need to find something stronger than our gut feelings, and hearsay from Lukas’s neighbour.

If we can find something that the police should look at, then we’ll go and speak to them, Sasha reassured me. It’s not that I don’t want to involve them – of course I do. We’re not vigilantes. It’s just that I think we might only get one opportunity to convince them of Lukas’s innocence, and, based on what you’ve told me about DI Forest, if we mess it up then it’s gone for good.

So, what do you want to do next? I asked her.

She stared out of the windscreen for a moment, then frowned. Who’s that?

I followed her gaze to where a middle-aged man in an expensive grey suit was standing outside Lukas and Nadia’s house. As we watched, he stepped back and rubbed his chin, looking up at the smoke-blackened windows.

Journalist, maybe, I replied.

That or an ambulance chaser. A cheap lawyer. Maybe one of the neighbours is hoping for compensation, Sasha suggested, a dark look on her face. I felt a pang of guilt for the lie I’d told Jill Adams – maybe there really were people looking to cash in on the tragedy.

Let’s go and find out, she signed, already moving to get out of the car. I would have refused, but she wasn’t paying any attention to me, already moving towards the stranger.

I got out of the car and followed her up to the house. The man turned to look at us as we approached, a confused frown on his face.

‘Can we help you?’ I asked, keeping my face and voice neutral until we found out who he was and why he was there.

‘I … I’m looking for Nadia,’ the man said, looking back at the house. ‘She didn’t turn up to work this morning. What happened?’

‘You work with Nadia?’ My heart sank at the realisation that I would have to break the news to this man.

‘Paul Ilford,’ he said, holding out a hand for me to shake. ‘Nadia’s a carer, and I run the care agency she works for. I’m not just her boss though, I’m friends with