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

I knew I shouldn’t be asking the question, and he was well within his rights to refuse to answer me, but I also knew he trusted my judgement of Lukas.

‘Paige, I think it would be a good idea if you stopped looking into this,’ he began, his voice level. ‘There’s more going on here than you realise.’

I took a moment before I answered, trying to make sure I didn’t snap at him. ‘I’m not going to do anything stupid, but I want to help Lukas. Have you even interviewed Mariusz? The guy who went into the house while I was there looked like a drug addict, and the one who was inside the house passed something to the kid who rode off on his bike. Maybe Mariusz is mixed up in something with this gang, and Lukas found out about it?’ He looked like he was about to speak but I leant forward and cut him off. ‘What if this gang are connected to Nadia’s death, and the fire, and Lukas lied about it in order to protect his son? I can’t think of anyone else that he’d be willing to go to prison for. I don’t know if Mariusz had anything to do with his stepmum’s murder, but maybe Lukas thinks he did.’

I sat back triumphantly, sure that Singh would be happy to talk to me about it, but to my dismay he shook his head.

‘You need to stop doing this, Paige. I can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation – you know that. You’re not interpreting for us this time, and I can’t justify talking to you about it.’ His tone was firm and I knew he meant it. I felt my face colour.

‘I’m just trying to help an innocent man,’ I replied, louder than I had intended. ‘How can you carry on with your job knowing he shouldn’t be in jail? Or if you think he should, why don’t you believe me?’

Singh frowned, and for a moment I thought he was angry with me but then I realised he was confused.

‘Paige, Lukas has been released. One of the witnesses changed their statement earlier today, probably while I was speaking to you and Sasha, and as a result the CPS decided the evidence against him was too circumstantial to hold him.’ He must have seen the delight on my face at being proved right, because he continued. ‘This doesn’t mean we don’t think he’s responsible,’ he warned me. ‘It means that we no longer feel we can prove our case. What we’re going to be doing now is continuing our investigation, gathering more evidence, and then we’ll arrest the person we believe is responsible. That might still be Lukas.’

I didn’t know what to think. I was elated that Lukas had been released, and that the police investigation would be looking at all the angles I’d been considering, but I was also aware of the look on Singh’s face. Something had changed since our earlier chat, and now he wasn’t convinced that Lukas was innocent; I’d been wrong about him trusting my judgement. That hurt, but I tried not to let it show.

‘Where can I find Lukas?’ I asked. ‘His house isn’t habitable right now.’

‘A friend came to collect him. I don’t know who, and don’t bother trying to ask another officer because we can’t give out that sort of information.’ He sat back and looked at me. ‘It’s good that you’re doing your best to fight for what you think is right, but can’t you find yourself a different cause?’ He laughed, but it was with exasperation rather than humour. ‘I like you, Paige, but you’re your own worst enemy.’

I opened my mouth to reply, then shut it again. I thought of the notebook in my bag, and the people I’d been speaking to. With a slight shiver, I remembered the bulky man waiting outside my flat, shoving me roughly against a wall and threatening me. My pride would take me too far one day, and perhaps I should listen to Singh for once. After all, he did have my best interests at heart.

He glanced at the door again. ‘Look, I need to be getting back, but I just need to ask. Are you okay? You seem really on edge about this, more so than I would have expected from you.’

Swallowing hard, I nodded. ‘I’m fine. Honestly.’

‘Is Anna okay?’

‘She’s fine, yeah. Loves her new job, and it’s been good for her.’

‘Good.’ He looked down at his hands. ‘You haven’t had any problems from your ex again, have you? Mike, I mean,’ he added, obviously remembering that Max was now my ex, too.

I smiled at his efforts to hide his concern. ‘No, nothing like that. I …’ I let my voice tail off. I’d been about to tell him what had happened with Max, but then thought better of it. It wasn’t the time or the place.

Tilting his head on one side, he gave me a quizzical look, but when he realised I wasn’t going to continue he smiled and stood up.

‘Okay, I’ve got some criminals to catch,’ he said lightly, holding the door open for me.

I was still burning with curiosity about the gang Mariusz had been hanging around with, and whether they were linked to Nadia’s death, but he’d made it clear that he wouldn’t be telling me anything else. Saying goodbye, I went back to my car and called Sasha straight away. She picked up, and I could see from the background that she was still at the office.

Paige? What’s wrong?

I’ll get straight to the point – do you know that Lukas has been released?

A look of confusion turned to a look of delight. No, I didn’t know. Sometimes it takes a while for that sort of information to filter through to us. Oh, I’m so pleased for him. How did you know? Have you seen him?

I shook my head. I’ve just been speaking to Singh again. I gave her a brief explanation of seeing