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 Fratelliâs. Libby had taken it in her stride when heâd told her about what happened after sheâd left, and had said she was glad to be so busy that she had little time to think about it. She didnât venture out for lunch unaccompanied though, on Bobbyâs advice.
The day of Alexeiâs 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 Fratelliâs among everyone they passed.
Bobby halted at the kerb as they waited for a gap in the traffic to cross over to the entrance. âYouâre not going to put Alexei at ease looking so nervous.â
âSorry,â Adam apologised.
âRemember, youâre leading this conversation. Try to strike up a rapport. Maybe loosen your tie when we get in there.â Bobby nodded at Adamâs collar.
Adam felt his hand rise to the tight Windsor knot at his throat. His nerves were racing and he knew they couldnât squander a moment they had with Alexei. Bobby was relying on him to make a connection with the defendant, but the confinement and Alexeiâs communication issues were going to be a further challenge.
âLet me and Pearce update him first and then you can try to reassure him.â
Pearce St Clair was Alexeiâs solicitor and Adam hadnât yet met him. âIs Alexei still determined to maintain that the guns belong to him?â he asked.
Bobby nodded. âStepanâs always looked out for him, but I donât think heâs been open with Alexei about what going to prison will entail.â
âWell, Stepanâs never done significant time,â Adam pointed out. It was true. Heâd been arrested and held in custody on multiple occasions, but the police had never convinced the CPS of any of the serious charges theyâd previously tried to bring against him.
âHe knows what could happen to Alexei inside. Particularly as a vulnerable young adult. Hardly brotherly love, is it?â
Adam was an only child and had often wondered what it would have been like to have had a brother or sister. Heâd 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?
âAlexei trusts his mother implicitly and sheâs not helping matters.â
âSo sheâs backing Stepan?â
Bobby nodded.
âEither through fear or greed or both. Weâre all Alexei has when it comes to his wellbeing.â
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 â 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.
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