When I arrived, I checked in at the desk.
‘Oh, you’re the interpreter.’
‘I am,’ I agreed, ‘but …’
The woman on the desk didn’t give me a chance to finish telling her that I was there to give a witness statement, but led me straight through to a room where Lukas was sitting with a couple of PCs. They would need to process him, take his fingerprints and DNA, which they couldn’t do without an interpreter. It was at this point I wondered if there had been a mix-up, but I figured it couldn’t hurt if I did this for them before giving my statement and leaving.
Once Lukas had been processed, the detectives turned up to interview him and I was both pleased and surprised to see DS Singh, even if he was shortly followed by DI Forest. Singh gave me a big smile, which made up for the frown on his boss’s face. Singh’s broad frame was a reassuring presence in the room, and there was an openness to his face that made it easy to trust him. I could see even Lukas felt the same, by a subtle relaxation in his body language.
‘Great to see you, Paige,’ he said reaching out to touch my arm affectionately before he noticed Forest was watching and pulled away. ‘It’d be nice to catch up but we’re rushed off our feet and need to get this interview underway.’
‘But I’m …’
‘This way please, Miss Northwood,’ Forest snapped, opening a door and ushering me inside, before following me. Lukas had already been brought in by the PCs and was sitting opposite us looking mournful. I wondered if he really was in a fit state for this. His skin was deathly pale, and looked almost as white as the bandages covering the burns on his arms. Another bandage was covering his shoulder, and it showed around the neckline of his T-shirt. I could see the bruises and cut on his face more clearly now that he’d been cleaned up a bit, and the blues and purples had developed a deeper hue overnight. How had he got them? Hopefully his statement would cover that.
Rather than sitting down, I hovered by the doorway, unsure of what to do. There must have been a mix-up, unless another interpreter was on their way in and Forest had just assumed that was why I was there. They must not have been told that I was a witness to the fire.
‘DI Forest, I don’t think I …’ I began, but the detective shot me a look and interrupted me once again.
‘Miss Northwood, would you sit down? I don’t have time for this,’ she snapped.
Fine, I thought. If she was going to be a bitch I’d sit here and do this interview for them, then she could deal with the consequences if it made the interview invalid.
Singh gave me a strange look; he was probably wondering what I’d been trying to say. I knew if he’d been in charge he would have at least heard me out, even if it meant wasting a bit more time.
‘Mr Nowak, do you understand why you are here?’ Forest asked Lukas.
Lukas watched me as I signed, but merely shrugged in response.
‘Do you wish to contact a solicitor?’
He’d been asked that already this morning, but he’d refused, and he did so again now. Sasha had wanted to talk to him about a solicitor last night, but if he didn’t want to communicate with her, there was only so much she could do.
‘Can you tell us about what happened yesterday afternoon and evening?’
Lukas looked from me to both detectives, then shook his head, not even lifting his hands to sign.
Forest sighed, clearly frustrated.
‘It’s important that you give us your version of events so we can establish what happened yesterday.’
I interpreted this for Lukas, but he shook his head again.
Forest leant back in her chair and narrowed her eyes at Lukas.
‘Mr Nowak, did you kill your wife?’
Still no response from Lukas, which I imagined would wind Forest up even more. I didn’t understand why he wasn’t trying to defend himself.
‘We can sit here all day, Mr Nowak,’ she said. ‘If you think you’re going to achieve anything by refusing to talk to us, you’ll find you’re sorely mistaken. Whilst your statement would be beneficial to us, it won’t change the evidence we find, and if that evidence suggests to us that you killed your wife we’re going to charge you, with or without a statement.’
She waited a while for it to sink in, then she opened the file that was sitting in front of her. Taking out some photos, she carefully laid them on the table in front of Lukas. His eyes briefly flicked down to the images and I saw the colour drain out of his face before he lifted his gaze again.
‘These are pretty hard to stomach, I know,’ Forest said, looking at the images herself. I kept my eyes on Lukas, knowing if I looked at the pictures I wouldn’t ever be able to forget them. ‘This is your wife, Mr Nowak. Someone killed her, and I will find out who did that, with or without your help.’
Forest leant forward, her elbows on the table, her eyes narrowed.
‘What happened, Lukas? If you tell us the truth now, it might go better for you. Judges always look more favourably on people who have cooperated with us when it comes to sentencing.’ She paused, but Lukas just kept his eyes on me, waiting for me to continue signing but offering nothing himself.
‘Did she do something to annoy you?’ Forest asked, her voice light, but I could hear the razor-sharp undertone to it. ‘Did she make you angry? Was it the final straw,
