Blood Relative Read Free Page B

… I’m sorry, Pete, I don’t know what to say … How’s Mariana?’
    ‘She’s here. She’s not doing too well. I mean, physically she’s fine, but she’s in a hell of a state mentally. They were the only people in the house.’
    ‘Oh, right … I see.’ Monkton’s voice changed as he took in the implications of what I’d just said. He seemed to be casting aside his role as my friend and, for the first time, looking at the situation through lawyer’s eyes. ‘Look, this is a bit out of my territory. You’re going to need criminal lawyers – both of you, I should think. And they’re pretty hard to find these days. No money in it, you see, and you have to be specially registered to be able to take legal aid cases.’
    ‘We don’t have much time, Jamie. Would it just be quicker for me to look in Yellow Pages?’
    ‘No, I’ll find someone … hang on, there’s someone here … Samira something: one of our friends brought her as his plus-one. I’m sure she said she did legal aid work. She might be able to help. Look, I expect the rozzers’ll bring you both down to York nick. They might move you to the force HQ at Newby Wiske later if they think the case is important enough. But the first stop will definitely be York, so I’ll meet you there, with anyone we can rustle up. In the meantime, don’t touch anything that looks remotely like evidence. And when the police arrive, say nothing. Keep it to name, rank and serial number.’
    ‘Sorry about your dinner party,’ I said, still under the mistaken impression that I was living in a world in which any of the normal rules and manners of my past life still applied.
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Monkton, ‘that’s the least of our worries. Listen, Pete, be careful, OK? This is serious stuff … Right, I’d better go and get things moving. I’ll see you later.’
    I managed to get Mariana to a dining chair, well away from Andrew’s body. I guided her with a hand in the small of her back, where there wasn’t any blood. Aside from that, I didn’t touch her. I didn’t put my arms around her to comfort her. I told myself I was doing only what my lawyer had told me. But it was more a case of self-preservation. I didn’t want to be implicated in whatever had happened here. If only I’d known what was going to happen over the next hours, days, weeks, months, I’d have let the evidence and implications look after themselves, taken Mariana in my arms and pressed her as close to me as I could, just to feel her against me. But I didn’t, and I’ve regretted it ever since.
    Mariana was settled now, still very passive, staring blankly into space. I pulled up a chair, sat down and tried to talk to her, but she didn’t even seem to be hearing me. We were still there a few minutes later, as silent and still as two showroom dummies, when there was a sharp rap on the door.
    The police, it turned out, had got there before the ambulance. Two cars arrived in quick succession: a pair of uniformed officers in one, two detectives in the other. When he saw Mariana, the senior of the two detectives called up his station and asked for a third car and a female PC. And that was just the start.
    We were both arrested and read our rights. I imagine that for some people the words of the police caution must be part of their everyday lives, as familiar as their name and address, or the words to ‘Happy Birthday’. But I’m not one of them. As the constable intoned, ‘You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence,’ I could barely credit that he was talking to me. When I said, ‘But I haven’t done anything,’ he didn’t even try to disguise his scepticism.
    Once that was done, we were asked to give our version of events. I refused to talk without a lawyer present. I also pointed out as strongly as I could that Mariana was