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

but I couldn’t work out what it might be. What was going on in these houses? One thing I did know was that Mariusz knew something, and somehow one of us was going to have to find a way to get him to talk.

Chapter 26

I drove away from the house without looking back, half expecting a missile of some sort to land on my bonnet as I passed, but my car remained unscathed. Instead of going home I headed into town, parking at the cafe where Singh had talked to me and Sasha barely an hour earlier. I needed to think, and that seemed like a good place to do it.

After ordering myself a coffee, I chose a table in the far corner and checked my phone. As I’d expected, there were a couple of messages from Anna. I replied, reassuring her that I was okay, then pulled out my notebook. Unsure of how to link things, I started a whole new page and added everything I’d heard about a group of teenagers hanging around outside the two houses that had then been set on fire, as well as what I’d seen today. Part of me had hoped that writing it all down would suddenly make everything become clear, but I was still as confused as I had been before, if not more so. What was I missing?

My food arrived and I ate in the hope that doing something else would let my brain work on the problem, but my thoughts kept drifting back to Mariusz. When he’d come to see Sasha at work he’d seemed genuinely concerned about his dad, and he’d obviously cared about Nadia. I’d been surprised to see him hanging round with a gang like that, and whilst rudeness from a teenage boy wasn’t always unusual I hadn’t expected it. What had changed? What were we missing? Frustrated, I put my notebook away and pulled out my phone, knowing I needed to talk to someone who could help me make sense of everything.

‘Hi, Paige, how can I help you?’ Singh was straight to the point when he answered the phone. I wondered if he was too busy to speak to me.

‘I can call back later if that would be better?’

‘No, it’s fine,’ he replied, then I heard a noise that sounded like a door shutting, and suddenly his voice was clearer. I hadn’t noticed the level of background noise until it had stopped; he must have stepped into another room.

‘Is this about our conversation earlier?’ he asked. ‘Do you want to tell me what really happened?’

‘No, it’s nothing to do with that.’ I thought it was best to be open with him, so I told him about passing the house and noticing the gang outside, including Mariusz.

‘I remembered you’d said that there were kids hanging around outside the other house that caught fire, so I wondered whether Mariusz might know something about it.’

There was a pause on the end of the line, and for a moment I thought we’d been cut off.

‘Where are you?’ he asked.

‘I’m in town, why?’

‘Can you come into the station?’

‘Sure, I’m only round the corner,’ I told him, puzzled.

‘Good, I’ll see you soon, then. Ask for me when you come in, and for God’s sake, don’t talk to Forest.’

He hung up before I had a chance to ask him anything else.

When I got to the station I did as Singh had told me and asked for him directly. A few minutes later, a door opened and he appeared, beckoning me to follow him.

‘Come on, we’ll go through this way,’ he said, leading me to an interview room. I sat down, and he sat opposite me, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

‘The things you just told me on the phone,’ he said, his face serious, ‘would you be willing to give a formal statement?’

‘A statement?’ I frowned, confused. ‘Why?’

He tapped his fingers together before replying, seeming to choose his words carefully. ‘The case with Lukas Nowak has potentially been linked to another case. An ongoing investigation across a couple of different teams. It sounds like you might be able to provide us with some important information.’

‘Sure, okay,’ I replied. This must have been what he was alluding to earlier, and I was keen to help if I could. Singh had spent plenty of time defending me and my ideas to his superiors, so if I could help in any way I’d gladly do it. ‘What do you need me to do?’

‘I want you to take me through what you saw and heard today, and I want to record it. If you could tell me exactly where you were, and try to remember everything in order, that would be really helpful.’

I nodded, thinking before I began, then I took him through what I’d seen that afternoon. I tried not to add any of my own speculations, though it was difficult. Singh interrupted me a couple of times with questions.

‘Are you certain the boy you saw was Mariusz Nowak?’

I nodded, then realised I needed to speak for the recording. ‘Yes, it was definitely him. I’ve met him before, and it was clear that he knew I was speaking to him when I said his name.’

He also asked me for detailed descriptions of the people I’d seen, particularly the man who had been inside the house. I struggled with that one, and felt a sinking sensation when I saw a look of disappointment flash across his face. I desperately tried to remember more detail, but the more I forced myself the less sure I was that my memory was accurate.

‘I’m sorry,’ I told him, hanging my head. ‘I was concentrating on Mariusz.’

He gave me a small smile. ‘Don’t worry, this is all really useful. Thank you.’

Singh double-checked that there was nothing else I could add before turning off the tape.

‘What’s this all about?’ I asked him. ‘Is it something to do with Lukas?’

He looked at the door, then back at me.