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

thought I saw someone watching me out of a window, but when I looked again whoever it was had gone. I told myself that as soon as I’d checked out this house I would go back to my car and go home – I’d had enough of this.

The house was near the end of the street, so I put my head down and hurried up, not looking to either side as I walked, in case I attracted someone’s attention. As I got closer to the house, I couldn’t see anyone hanging around outside it, nor could I see any lights coming from inside. In fact, where the front window had been yesterday, there was now a sheet of plywood boarding it up. Puzzled, I stopped by the lamp-post next to the house. The front door was still in place, but in the orange glow I could see the white paint had bubbled and was covered in a layer of black soot. There was more soot around the window upstairs, which was also boarded up, and the yard in front of the house was piled with damaged furniture and covered in filthy boot prints.

I stepped back so I could get a better view of the house. This confirmed everything I’d suspected, and I was starting to think Sasha and I were in over our heads. Another fire, at a house linked to a gang hanging around outside. But what did the fires have to do with Nadia’s death?

To my right, a group of people rounded the corner so I quickly turned and walked away. I didn’t want anyone to see me outside that house. Picking up the pace, I kept walking with my head down, hoping I wouldn’t draw any attention to myself that way. Keeping my attention focused in front of me meant I didn’t notice someone approaching me from behind until it was too late. Something hit me in the middle of my back and I fell, cracking my head on the pavement. The pain was like a small explosion, overwhelming me with agony until everything went black.

Chapter 30

When I came round, I wasn’t alone. I could hear voices but couldn’t make sense of what they were saying, and when I opened my eyes I could see some people hovering over me.

‘You all right, love?’ one of them asked me, and I blinked a few times before he came into focus. He was a middle-aged bloke, wearing a branded polo shirt – he worked for the chippy over the road, and must have seen me lying on the ground.

‘Someone knocked into her,’ another voice said. ‘They ran off up that way.’

I tried to open my mouth to ask which way she meant, but I couldn’t quite coordinate myself.

‘Should I call an ambulance?’ the woman asked.

‘Nah, give her a minute,’ the man replied. ‘She might just be pissed.’

Gee, thanks, I thought, but then I remembered the state I’d been in when I got home from my night out with Gem on Sunday, and thought I probably didn’t have the right to be offended.

Taking a few deep breaths of the cool night air, I pushed myself up to sitting, holding my head as it throbbed. The man was crouching down next to me, but the woman was standing up. I couldn’t bring myself to tilt my head back to look at her, thinking I might be sick if I tried it.

‘My car,’ I muttered. ‘My car’s not far away.’ While following Mariusz I’d doubled back on myself and I was only a couple of streets away from where I’d parked. I patted my pockets, finding my phone, but no keys. I groaned.

‘Don’t think you’re in any fit state to drive, love,’ the man said with a chuckle. ‘Think you’ll need a few coffees first!’

‘Not drunk,’ I told him. ‘I hit my head.’

He frowned and looked at me, peering at my head in the darkness. ‘Yeah, you do have a bit of an egg on your temple there. Maybe we should call an ambulance.’

‘No, I’ll call someone,’ I told him. ‘Can you help me up?’

It took a minute or two, but I eventually managed to get to my feet with assistance and a lot of nausea. The woman was still watching – she looked to be around the same age as me, and she was shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

‘I told him someone pushed you over, but he wouldn’t listen to me,’ she said. ‘I think they stopped to check on you before they ran off, though.’

‘I think they stole my car keys,’ I replied, after another search of my pockets turned up empty. The pair of them had a look around where I’d landed on the pavement, but there was no sign of my keys. Shit. Who had taken them? Did they know which car was mine? Had they been following me, while I was following Mariusz? Or had Mariusz spotted me and looped around to get behind me?

‘I’d better go and see if it’s where I left it,’ I told the two people who were helping me. I was feeling steadier on my feet now, so I thanked them for their help and turned up the road where Caroline lived. At least the mugger had left me my phone, so I could call someone for help, although I had no idea who to call – Anna was the obvious choice, but I didn’t want to completely freak her out. I’d lied to her when I went out, telling her I had an evening interpreting job. Sasha, maybe? Though then I would have to explain what I’d been doing.

To my utter shock, my car was still sitting where I’d left it, in the road adjacent to Caroline’s. As I approached, I could see that the door was open, and the interior light was on. My bag had been upended on the passenger seat, and whoever it was had rifled through the glove compartment and the pockets