The Silent Suspect by Nell Pattison (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📕

area he lives in, the experiences he’s had in life … none of these things have left him in a position to trust many people in authority. And if whoever he borrowed this money from has a bad reputation, Lukas will feel like he’s safer in jail than back on the streets.

I paused to let this sink in, suitably chastised. I’d let my own situation influence what I thought about Lukas, and hadn’t stopped to look at things from his perspective.

But there could be something in what you’re saying, Sasha continued. We have to look at the people in his life he might want to protect, and see if they had a motive for murdering Nadia.

The people at the neighbouring table were watching us curiously. Public conversations using sign language usually garnered attention, but in this situation I was very glad they didn’t understand what we were discussing.

Other than Nadia herself, I can only think of Mariusz, I replied.

He’s almost an adult, but I can’t see him murdering someone. He’s sweet, and small for his age, Sasha replied. And Mariusz and Nadia got on really well.

How’s he taking it? I asked.

I’ve been trying to get in touch with his mother, Caroline, to find out, Sasha told me, nodding at her phone. But she’s not my client, and neither is Mariusz, so if she doesn’t get back to me I don’t have many other options. I suppose we could go round and see them, just to ask how they’re doing.

I’m not sure that sounds like a good idea, I replied with a frown. The police might not be happy about it. I had been trying to ignore the number of times she’d signed ‘we’ rather than ‘I’. I wasn’t even being paid to interpret for her today, and I didn’t want her to drag me into something I wasn’t keen on doing.

Sasha shrugged. She’s not my client. I’m not working today. What’s wrong with knocking on the door just to check they’re okay? The worst Caroline can do is refuse to talk to us.

You can try it if you like, I told her, emphasising the first ‘you’ with a sharp jab of my finger in her direction, but be prepared for it to backfire.

She nodded slowly, then looked up and smiled at me, and I knew what was coming.

I don’t know how good Caroline’s signing is. I mean, she must be able to sign to communicate with Lukas, but I don’t want to have any miscommunication.

I shook my head before she even asked the question. No, Sasha. I promised Singh I wouldn’t get involved. This is your client, and much as I feel for him, I can’t support you poking around. Until now I’d thought Sasha just wanted to discuss alternative theories for what happened to Nadia, but it was dawning on me that she wanted to go further than that and actively investigate.

I’ll sign off your overtime, if that’s an issue, she replied. Then it’s no different from you interpreting for me with any of my clients or the other professionals I meet. It’s me who’s getting involved, not you.

I hesitated. If Sasha found something that pointed to another suspect, I knew she’d rush to take it to the detectives, but would she be so quick to act if she unearthed evidence that incriminated Lukas? I knew I should trust her to be impartial, but it felt like she was taking this case personally.

Against my better judgement, I agreed, and a few minutes later we were on our way back to Scunthorpe. I was surprised that she knew Caroline’s address, but then wondered if she’d been planning this all along and had only asked me to meet her to enlist my help before going round there. It was too late to change my mind, though.

Caroline lived in a neat little row of tiny terraced houses near the hospital, and when we rang the bell I heard movement from inside. The house opened right onto the pavement, and from our position next to the door we were very close to the front window. I tried my best not to stare, but Sasha stood and watched as the curtain twitched and a young face looked out at us for a moment.

Thirty seconds later, Caroline appeared in the doorway. She was clearly dressed for work, in a carer’s uniform, and didn’t look particularly pleased to see us.

‘You’re Lukas’s social worker, aren’t you?’ she asked, looking Sasha up and down before turning to me. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Sasha’s interpreter,’ I replied, which got an eye roll from Caroline but no further comment.

‘What do you want?’

We just wanted to see how you’re doing, Sasha told her, putting on her best expression that managed to convey both sympathy and friendship. I interpreted for Caroline, although from her scowl I could tell her BSL was good enough that she had understood.

‘I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?’ Caroline replied with a shrug, glancing over her shoulder and back into the house as she did so.

‘Have you heard about the fire? At Lukas and Nadia’s house?’ I asked, just in case she hadn’t been told about it.

‘Have I heard that my ex is in jail for murdering his wife and burning his house down to cover it up?’ she asked, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. ‘Yeah, it’s come up a couple of times. But why are you here? I don’t need a fucking social worker.’

We just wanted to see if there was anything you or Mariusz needed, Sasha explained. There are things we can do to support you in this sort of situation. If Mariusz wants to talk to anyone about it, we can arrange that.

Caroline took a step forward, shoving her face into Sasha’s. ‘Don’t you come near my boy. It has nothing to do with him. I’m just glad he was here with me that night, and not at his dad’s.’

Before Sasha had a chance to respond, a figure appeared behind Caroline in the hallway.

‘Mum, don’t.’ Mariusz