The silent house arc, p.14
The Silent House (ARC), page 14
Elisha.
‘I convinced her it was the best thing to do for the
children.’ Bridget’s voice was brittle; she didn’t like having her opinions challenged, which was clearly how she’d
perceived my question. ‘It’s not good for them, being in
that kind of environment.’
‘Okay. So why does she want an interpreter now?’
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Bridget sniffed. ‘You’ll have to ask her that. I’ve been there for her as much as I can, supported her throughout
her pregnancies, especially with Lexi after Alan left her for that tart, but never mind that. If the solicitor says get an
interpreter then I suppose she’s choosing to listen to him.’
Having met Elisha, I was surprised to hear her described
as a tart. She didn’t come across as the sort of person
who would deliberately steal a man from another woman,
though I supposed Bridget needed to blame both of the
offending parties for hurting her daughter.
A cup of tea was plonked down in front of me with
enough force to make some of it splash out onto the table.
I got up to fetch a dishcloth but Bridget waved me back
into my seat. We didn’t speak as she mopped up the
spillage, then sat down opposite me.
‘I don’t know what the solicitor is thinking. Maybe he
thinks I’m not giving Laura good advice, and he wants
to change her mind about something. I’ve given her as
much support as I can, but if she wants to go ahead
without me, so be it.’
‘I doubt it’s personal, Bridget,’ I said, attempting a
reassuring pat of her hand. ‘It’s probably just because he
wants to cover his back in case the court doesn’t give
Laura what she’s asking for. He doesn’t want her to turn
around and say she was poorly advised because they didn’t
have a BSL interpreter. I’ve seen things like that happen
before.’
Bridget appeared to be slightly appeased, and sipped
her own cup of tea. Her hands were still shaking, and
after a moment she put the cup down and put her hands
in her lap. She didn’t want me to see these signs of her
inner turmoil. I was struck with a rush of sympathy and
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I felt the urge to get up and give her a hug, but I knew Bridget would hate such a show of affection, and it would
probably do more harm than good.
I made up my mind. I would do my best to help Laura.
I couldn’t be criticised by the police for getting involved
in the custody case – I would be doing what I was paid
for. Everything I discussed with a client was confidential.
I wouldn’t pass Laura any details of Lexi’s case, but maybe
sticking close to the family would provide me with some
more information.
I shook myself. Was I being ridiculous? I wasn’t a police
officer, nor was I a private investigator. It wasn’t my job
to find out who killed Lexi. I was getting myself involved
far more deeply in the investigation than was good for me.
I was still wondering if I’d made the right decision when
Anna came into the kitchen, looking for a bottle of wine.
Bridget pursed her lips as Anna headed straight for the
fridge, and I resisted the urge to apologise for my sister.
It was eight-thirty, not an unreasonable time for a drink,
after all.
Come on, Laura wants to talk to you, she told me,
tucking the bottle precariously under her arm so she could
sign. I gave Bridget what I hoped came across as a
supportive smile, and followed Anna back through to the
living room.
She’s really upset, so give her time, Anna told me before we went in.
Of course she’s upset, someone killed her daughter.
Anna glowered at me. You know what I mean.
We walked into the room where we sat with the detec-
tives the other day. The atmosphere felt much lighter,
despite the weight of the situation bearing down on us.
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Laura was curled up on one of the sofas, still wearing the huge hoodie, her bare feet tucked underneath her.
Hi Paige. Thanks for coming.
It’s fine. Your mum says you need an interpreter next
time you see the solicitor?
Yes, please. I really want you, not a stranger. I’ll pay.
I nodded. Everyone had their own preferences when it
came to interpreters. Some didn’t want a familiar face,
others did. A lot of women preferred a female interpreter
when it came to medical matters in particular. I didn’t
question, I just took the jobs as they came.
Your mum seems a bit upset about it, I said, hoping to get Laura’s side of the story. She rolled her eyes.
She’s offended because I want a proper interpreter
instead of her. But she can’t sign all the legal stuff, and even when the solicitor explains things, she doesn’t explain it properly to me. She has a conversation with him,
completely ignoring me, then tells me what they’ve agreed.
She’s not interpreting for me, she’s taking over.
I was pleased by Laura’s reaction. I would have half
expected her to sit back while her mum sorted everything
out for her, especially now, but it looked like she was
standing up for herself and taking charge.
I didn’t want to take Alan to court in the first place,
it was her idea, but if we’re doing it then I want to be
the one in control. I should be making the decisions about my children, not her.
Laura’s face crumpled as she realised what she’d just
signed – children, rather than child. Anna rushed over
and squashed herself up close to her friend, flinging an
arm around her and almost smothering her. I waited
patiently as Anna soothed her friend. One thing I can say
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about my sister is that she’s great when someone she cares about is in distress.
You told me everything was okay with Alan, that it
was working for you, didn’t you? Anna prompted Laura to get her talking again.
Laura sniffed and nodded. He sometimes changes plans,
but so do I. If I have a night out or something I ask Alan to have the kids for an extra night, or whatever. It was
fine. But Mum didn’t like it because we were getting on
with it without her. She wants to have a legal ruling about when he can see Jaxon and Lexi. Her eyes filled with tears again. But now this has happened, I don’t know
what to do. What if he did this? What if he killed our
baby girl?
I’m so sorry, Laura, but I don’t know. I don’t know
what happened, and I don’t know who did it. I know the
police are working hard to find out, though.
I want to kill them, she replied, her eyes flashing.
Anna stroked her hair and signed, Me too.
I nodded. I know. The police will do all they can to
keep them locked up. And if it was Alan, then I’m sure
he won’t be allowed to see Jaxon. The solicitor will be
able to help you with that. But it might not have been
him. Why would he hurt Lexi? Didn’t he love her?
Laura blew her nose while nodding. He’s a good dad.
Well then, it was probably someone else. I can’t imagine
he’d hurt his daughter like that for no reason.
Laura threw her hands in the air, taking me by surprise.
You don’t know what it’s like, having to deal with this.
My little girl has gone and I’m never going to see her
again and I don’t know why! Why would someone do
this to a child?
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Her fury died down as quickly as it had risen, and she burst into tears again. Anna squeezed her tight and stroked
her hair while she sobbed. My heart was breaking for her.
I couldn’t imagine her pain.
I tapped Anna on the shoulder. I think maybe we should
go. Laura needs to rest.
She nodded her agreement and I got up to fetch Bridget.
She was still sitting in the same place at the kitchen
table, staring into her cup of tea, which must have been
stone cold. When I walked in she didn’t even look up
until I said her name. Her eyes were red.
‘Where did I go wrong?’ she said.
I frowned, unsure what she was talking about. ‘What
do you mean? This wasn’t your fault, Bridget.’
She shook her head sadly. ‘It is, it’s all my fault. Right
from the moment she met that man I knew it was going
to end in disaster. I should have intervened then. Now
look where we are.’
‘Bridget, the police don’t know who did it or why, but
there’s no way you can blame yourself. Nobody could
have seen it coming.’
When she looked at me again I was taken aback by
how dead and hollow her eyes looked.
‘I don’t think I’m ever going to sleep again.’
I sat down opposite her and gently placed a hand over
hers. ‘Is there someone else who can come and stay with
you, help the two of you out for a while? You can’t be
expected to deal with all of this on your own. One of
your sons?’
Laura had two hearing brothers, and I was sure Anna
had told me Bridget had siblings, at least one of whom
was deaf. There was a wider family network I hoped they
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could get support from, but none of them lived locally as far as I knew.
‘No, the boys are busy. Maybe my sister. I don’t know
though.’ Bridget shook herself. ‘No, we don’t need anyone.
Laura and I will be fine. We can see this through, support
each other. I appreciate you coming round, Paige, but we
don’t need any more help.’
A mask had come down, and I knew that we’d outstayed
our welcome. ‘We’re going to go now, give you some peace
and quiet, but Laura’s quite upset.’
All of sudden Bridget turned from a meek kitten into
a snarling tiger, and she was out of her chair and in the
hall before I could move.
‘What did you say to her? I knew she shouldn’t be
having visitors yet! Don’t you know she’s suffering? You
shouldn’t have gone to talk to her.’
I didn’t bother arguing with her, because I knew it
wouldn’t have any effect. She was upset and defending
her daughter; I couldn’t take offence. Behind Bridget, I
waved Anna out of the room and we slipped away quietly.
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13 hours before the murder
Did they say why they want us to pick him up? Laura
asked again as they got out of the car. She usually walked
to pick Jaxon up from school, but her mum had insisted
on driving.
All they said was there had been an incident and they
wanted us to come as soon as possible, Bridget replied.
I hope he’s okay.
I’m sure he’ll be fine. If he was hurt they would have
told us.
Laura nodded. She knew her mum would have to inter-
pret for her when they spoke to Jaxon’s teacher, but she
hoped Bridget would actually include her in the conver-
sation and not do what she usually did.
As they entered the school, Laura carrying Lexi on her
hip, the secretary looked up from her desk and flashed
them a brittle smile.
‘I’ll see if Mrs Folkes is available.’
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She scuttled off through another door and Bridget told Laura where she was going.
Why do we need to see the head? Laura asked, her
heart sinking. This was happening too often.
We’ll have to wait and see what she says. I’m sure it’s
a fuss over nothing.
They only waited for a couple of minutes before they
were ushered through to the headteacher’s office. There
were two chairs set out for them, so Laura put Lexi down
on the floor with a couple of toys from her bag. She’d be
happy to entertain herself for a short time.
Sitting behind her desk, Mrs Folkes looked stern.
‘Good afternoon. Thank you for coming in.’
‘What’s happened?’ Bridget asked immediately, signing
as she spoke.
‘I’m afraid there has been another incident with Jaxon
and another child,’ the head replied, looking between
Bridget and Laura. ‘We’ve had to contact the other child’s
parents as well. Jaxon cut a little girl in his class quite
badly with a pair of scissors.’
‘I’m sure it was an accident,’ Bridget replied.
‘One of the staff witnessed the incident and I’m afraid
it seems that Jaxon did it deliberately. They didn’t have
scissors out as part of the activity they were doing. He
went to get some from a drawer then turned around and
cut the girl’s hand. Her mother has taken her to A and E
to have it looked at.’
Bridget bristled and sat up straighter in her chair. ‘I’m
sorry to say I’m very disappointed in the attitude towards
Jaxon at this school. He is constantly being blamed for
minor incidents that are clearly accidental. He’s six years
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old, accidents like this happen in a busy classroom. The teacher can’t control the class properly, so when something
like this happens everyone seems to jump to the conclusion
that Jaxon is somehow at fault.’
‘Mrs Weston, you must understand, we’re doing our
best to support Jaxon, but the incidents are stacking up.
So far this year we have had complaints every week from
other children about his behaviour in the playground. We
spoke to you in October when he deliberately stamped on
another child’s neck, then in December when his teacher’s
wrist was broken.’
‘You can’t blame a child for an adult getting her wrist
trapped in a door,’ Bridget snapped.
‘Two other adults witnessed Jaxon intentionally slam
the door on her.’
Laura looked between her mother and the head, failing
to follow the conversation. Bridget hadn’t interpreted Mrs
Folkes’ side of the conversation for her, and in her anger
she’d stopped signing her own words as well.
Mum, what’s happened? Laura asked, but Bridget waved her off.
I’m dealing with it.
Laura was about to protest, but Bridget had turned
back to the headteacher.
‘I want to speak to this staff member who allegedly
saw what happened today.’
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible, they’re busy right
now,’ Mrs Folkes replied smoothly. ‘We’d like you to take
Jaxon home early today, and then we can arrange a meeting
for next week to talk about a plan going forward.’
‘A plan? What sort of plan?’ Bridget snapped.
‘A plan to manage his behaviour. We have various
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stages of intervention we can introduce, but something must be done. You understand, we need to safeguard all
of the children in our care, which means ensuring Jaxon
gets the most benefit from his education whilst also
protecting the other children in his class.’
Mum, you need to interpret. What happened? Is Jaxon
okay? Laura grabbed her mum by the shoulder, forcing Bridget to look at her.
He’s fine. There was an accident with another child and
a pair of scissors and they want to blame it on Jaxon, but I won’t let them do that.
Let me deal with it, Laura replied.
No, we need to be forceful, Bridget told her.
‘Mrs Folkes,’ Bridget said, turning back to the head. ‘I
wonder if I could get a copy of your school’s policy on
discrimination? Or perhaps I should contact someone on
the board of governors to ask why this school is victimising
a deaf child?’
‘I’m sorry you see it that way, Mrs Weston,’ the head
replied, her eyes narrowing slightly. ‘But you know full
well that we’ve done everything we can with the resources
available to us to ensure Jaxon has full access to the
curriculum. He has a TA who is a fluent BSL user, and
we’ve provided sign-language lessons for the children in
his class so he can communicate with his peers. If you
