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

Yawning widely, I looked at my watch, and she took the hint.

You go home and get some sleep, she told me. Hopefully the police will keep me informed of what happens next, but I won’t hold my breath.

I nodded, and stumbled off to my car, slapping my cheeks a few times to wake myself up before I set off. When I started the car, I put the air conditioning on, cold air blowing right in my face.

As I pulled out of the car park, I could see Sasha was still standing where I’d left her, phone in hand and texting, and I wondered what had happened in that house that Lukas wasn’t telling us.

Ten hours before the fire

Caroline slammed the car door and marched up to the house. She’d checked Nadia’s rota, so she knew she’d be able to get her ex alone at this time. He worked in the canteen at the steelworks, and he didn’t start until midday on a Tuesday. It was no use trying to talk to him when that woman was around; she just took over and pretended to be reasonable, when Caroline knew she was smirking at her behind her back.

She hammered on the door, unable to keep her frustration from spilling out into her body language. The flick of a curtain at a neighbouring window made her scowl in the direction of that house. The neighbours around here were so bloody nosy. Well, if Lukas didn’t let her in soon, there’d be a nice little scene for them all to gossip about for the rest of the week.

When there was no answer, she knocked again, looking through the window to see if there was any sign of Lukas. She got her phone out, about to text him, when he opened the door and peered out at her.

Caroline? What are you doing here?

She didn’t answer, but nudged the door further open using her shoulder, and pushed her way past him and into the living room. Once she was in, she sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs, taking off her scarf and dropping it down next to her. Lukas looked confused, but he followed her lead and sat down in a chair.

What do you need? he asked.

The question made her laugh, bitterly. ‘What do I need?’ she replied, speaking and signing at the same time. She’d learnt BSL when they’d first met, but she still found she couldn’t switch her voice off, especially when she was mad at him. ‘What do you think I need? Money, you bastard. I’m sick of waiting every month for you to pay me something for Mariusz. It’s always bloody late, if I get anything at all.’

Didn’t Nadia sort it out with you?

‘Nadia?’ she asked, incredulous. ‘Why the hell should I have to deal with your tart, when you can’t be arsed to do anything about it yourself? You’re a lazy bastard, Lukas Nowak, and I’m not taking money off her,’ she snapped, punctuating her sentence with the jab of a finger towards the kitchen, as if Nadia was in there, ‘when it’s your responsibility.’ She finished off this pronouncement by pointing at him, her glare sharp enough to make him cower slightly.

I know, I’m sorry. Nadia knows what to do with online banking, things like that. That’s all I meant.

He looked pathetic, she thought, sitting there making excuses for why he hadn’t given her any child support in three months. As if her pride would ever let her take money off Nadia. She’d die before she let her think she couldn’t manage by herself. Another woman who’d fallen for his charms, not realising that she’d end up looking after him as if he was a bloody child himself.

‘It’s not good enough, Lukas. I’ve told you before, if you don’t pay up I’ll take you to court, and they’ll take it straight off your wages.’

Please, don’t, Lukas begged, and a fresh wave of anger hit her. She’d told him so many times.

‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.’

Lukas hesitated, then hung his head. We can’t afford it.

‘What do you mean, you can’t afford it?’ she scoffed. ‘You should have thought about that when you left me for someone else, shouldn’t you! You’ve got a bloody job; you need to manage your money better.’

For a moment she thought he was going to make another excuse, but he just shook his head.

You don’t understand.

‘No,’ she replied, standing up and pointing a finger at him again. ‘You don’t understand what it’s like trying to make sure I keep a roof over our son’s head, make sure he has decent clothes and plenty of food, on just my salary. If I don’t have the money by the end of the week, you can see me in court. I doubt you can afford a solicitor.’ She stood up, then glanced around the room, her eyes lighting on a blue and silver vase on the mantelpiece. ‘And I’ll be putting together a list of items I want from this house, things that you should have given me when we split up six bloody years ago.’

Caroline stormed out of the house and got back into her car, fuming all the way into work. It was only when she got there that she realised she’d left her scarf behind; it was her favourite one, but there was no way she was going back to get it. She was too angry with him. There was no reason why Lukas shouldn’t be able to afford to give her the child support he owed her, unless he was spending it on something frivolous. A thought occurred to her – maybe Nadia was taking all his money and controlling their finances, and that’s why he’d thought she would have sorted it out. If Caroline found out that woman was withholding money that was rightfully hers, for Mariusz, there would be hell to pay.

Chapter 4

Wednesday 17th April

The following day, I was surprised to receive