The Suspect by Rob Rinder

Author:Rob Rinder [Rinder, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781804940419
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2024-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

27

A week and a half later Adam was feeling no less jumpy about his experience in Fratelli’s. Libby had taken it in her stride when he’d told her about what happened after she’d left, and had said she was glad to be so busy that she had little time to think about it. She didn’t venture out for lunch unaccompanied though, on Bobby’s advice.

The day of Alexei’s plea and trial preparation hearing (or PTPH) had arrived, and Adam was walking with Bobby Thompson towards the Central Criminal Court under louring clouds. As ever, he found himself looking for the tattooed man from Fratelli’s among everyone they passed.

Bobby halted at the kerb as they waited for a gap in the traffic to cross over to the entrance. ‘You’re not going to put Alexei at ease looking so nervous.’

‘Sorry,’ Adam apologised.

‘Remember, you’re leading this conversation. Try to strike up a rapport. Maybe loosen your tie when we get in there.’ Bobby nodded at Adam’s collar.

Adam felt his hand rise to the tight Windsor knot at his throat. His nerves were racing and he knew they couldn’t squander a moment they had with Alexei. Bobby was relying on him to make a connection with the defendant, but the confinement and Alexei’s communication issues were going to be a further challenge.

‘Let me and Pearce update him first and then you can try to reassure him.’

Pearce St Clair was Alexei’s solicitor and Adam hadn’t yet met him. ‘Is Alexei still determined to maintain that the guns belong to him?’ he asked.

Bobby nodded. ‘Stepan’s always looked out for him, but I don’t think he’s been open with Alexei about what going to prison will entail.’

‘Well, Stepan’s never done significant time,’ Adam pointed out. It was true. He’d been arrested and held in custody on multiple occasions, but the police had never convinced the CPS of any of the serious charges they’d previously tried to bring against him.

‘He knows what could happen to Alexei inside. Particularly as a vulnerable young adult. Hardly brotherly love, is it?’

Adam was an only child and had often wondered what it would have been like to have had a brother or sister. He’d always understood that the older sibling looked out for the younger. What sort of person passed their punishment on to a family member to keep themselves out of prison?

‘Alexei trusts his mother implicitly and she’s not helping matters.’

‘So she’s backing Stepan?’

Bobby nodded.

‘Either through fear or greed or both. We’re all Alexei has when it comes to his wellbeing.’

The pedestrian light changed to green and Bobby and Adam made their way across the busy road.

They headed up the steps into the lobby and passed through security alongside a stream of other people. Those around Adam and Bobby fell into two clear camps – carrying either the professional demeanour of solicitors or the pinched and worried faces of distressed family and friends.

Every time he had occasion to pass through these doors Adam was struck by the stark contrast between the baroque surroundings of the entrance and the reality of what lay below them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.