‘I deserve to be punished for what I did,’ Nadia said.
Ms Hussein put a steadying hand on her arm. ‘What happens in Long Fleet is an internal matter for them.’
She was right, Zigic realised. The complaint had been dealt with internally. The police were never involved. Nadia had been morally in the wrong but legally there was nothing they could charge her with, no reported crime it related to.
And yet he found himself wishing there was.
It was a horrible, discomforting feeling, wishing that on someone who had suffered so much. He understood why she had done it – she’d made sure they understood, a cynical voice in the back of his head noted – but there was nothing to justify lying like that.
Already he was thinking of the damage it would do if it got out. A single high-profile false accusation could derail any number of other assault cases, feeding into the hateful and pervasive misinformation about women who falsely accused men for their own ends. Nobody would remember why she did it, or consider Patrick Sutherland’s Svengali-like role in the whole affair; all that would stick was the idea that women lie.
He thought about how far the accusation against Ainsworth had derailed the investigation. How they’d allowed it to, by believing it.
Because why wouldn’t they? Everything they knew about Long Fleet before and during this case supported the likelihood of it being true. And wasn’t there something tempting about the whistle-blower who turned in all the other offenders to take the heat off himself? Some twisted logic to it.
Sutherland did the same, he reminded himself. The theory was correct but the guilty party wrong.
‘I’m sure you have lots of questions for Nadia but after that rather harrowing conversation, I think we need a break.’ Ms Hussein stood up, smoothing her hand down the front of her tailored linen dress. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, Inspector?’
‘Fine,’ he said, still slightly shell-shocked by the revelation.
Ferreira ended the recording and Ms Hussein asked if she could speak to them for a moment outside.
She walked a few paces away from the door and back again, and Zigic realised she was building up to something, but he wasn’t particularly in the mood to listen to justifications or applications for more lenient treatment. A good solicitor would know that, he thought. She would wait until some of the heat had drained from the moment.
She came back and leaned against the wall, exhausted-looking.
‘I can see that neither of you is very impressed with Nadia right now,’ she said, tucking her hands into the small of her back. ‘But I’d like to remind you that she is a vulnerable young adult and that she was under significant mental duress in Long Fleet.’ Ms Hussein glanced at Ferreira. ‘I also think it’s reasonable to say that she is still under a serious degree of duress from Patrick Sutherland.’
Zigic folded his arms. ‘What do you want from us, Ms Hussein?’
‘I know you’re a good guy,’ she said smoothly. ‘You wouldn’t have called me to represent Nadia otherwise. So I’m relying on your moral compass here.’
‘Nadia is staying in custody,’ he said. ‘We might not be able to charge her with false reporting but she’s still a suspect in a murder inquiry.’
Ms Hussein nodded. ‘I’ve discussed the matter with Nadia already and I can tell you she is completely innocent of any involvement.’
‘It’s not really your place to call that,’ Zigic told her.
She shifted where she stood into a more offensive posture, before realising and clasping her hands in front of her.
‘Nadia chose to come clean to you today against my advice,’ she said gravely. ‘She is a decent, honest young woman who has made a terrible decision under circumstances you and I will likely never find ourselves in.’
‘And is she going to come clean about Ainsworth’s murder?’ Ferreira asked impatiently.
‘She is,’ Ms Hussein said.
Zigic heard the unvoiced ‘but’.
Ferreira voiced it. ‘She wants something in return?’
‘I’d like to be able to tell her that you’ll inform the CPS that she has cooperated with you from the moment you first spoke to her.’ She held a finger up. ‘Which she has. Nadia has been scrupulously honest with you and she will continue to be.’
‘It kind of depends what she knows,’ Ferreira said. ‘And if the evidence backs her up. She’s hardly a reliable witness right now.’
Zigic felt a prickle of unease, listening to them talk. Deals made in corridors and promises for support that might not be justified – he didn’t like working this way, thought that it undermined the whole process. Sometimes it was necessary and he would swallow his principles and do what had to be done. But he wasn’t convinced it was necessary in this case.
Ms Hussein obviously read his reluctance. She stepped back very slightly.
‘Why don’t you take some time to consider it, Inspector,’ she suggested. ‘I think Nadia has been through enough for one day, don’t you?’
Ms Hussein returned to the interview room briefly to say goodbye to Nadia before she was taken back down to the cells for the night. Then she left as well, taking the corridor at a brisk clip, as if she had plenty still to do this evening. Zigic suspected she would arrive fully prepared tomorrow for the next round, knew she wasn’t someone to underestimate.
For a moment they lingered in the corridor. Neither of them was quite ready to return to the bustle of the office after what they’d heard.
Ferreira drew her fingers back through her hair, blew out a long slow breath.
‘You were right.’ The admission looked painful to make after days of arguing with him over Nadia’s innocence. ‘She lied about the whole thing.’
‘It’s a bit more complicated than that though, isn’t it?’ He sat down on the cold radiator. ‘Nadia was
