BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 1)

by Rebecca Bradley

  Claudia frowned. ‘He might be innocent.’ It was a possibility. Again with the evidence. They had none either way — other than a pool of Ruth’s blood in his home.

  Sharpe tapped on the mug she was holding, waited a beat to respond to the statement. ‘Of course he may well be. And obviously you’re going to come at the investigation from that angle. But we trust you to follow the evidence. You’ll unsettle him, but also be open to whatever comes out in the wash. Guilty or not.’

  ‘And what about, if it turns out that way, when it gets to court? They’ll try to throw it out because I interviewed him.’

  Sharpe placed the mug back on her desk. ‘They can try, but as long as you stick to all the rules they won’t have a leg to stand on. You’re a stickler for the rulebook, Claudia. If that rulebook is followed to the letter and nothing goes awry, they have nothing to get it thrown out on. There is nothing in writing that says you can’t interview him.’ Sharpe leaned forward in her chair. ‘The question is, Claudia, can you do this? Can you stick to the rulebook on this one?’

  Claudia was starting to feel resigned to the fact that she was stuck with this investigation. ‘If there was ever a case where I had to, then this is it and I won’t step away from it.’

  Sharpe clapped her hands together, the sound loud in the sparse office. Like a crack in Claudia’s ears. ‘Good girl. So, you’re on board? You’re doing this?’

  Claudia let out an audible sigh.

  Sharpe smiled. It was more like a warning, Claudia thought, than a soft, friendly expression. Sharpe was all pointy corners, a little like her name if you wanted to put it that way. ‘You won’t regret it, Claudia. You’ll be the reason we get Ruth Harrison home and Dominic Harrison locked up at the end of the day. That has to bring you some peace,’ she paused, ‘of some description.’

  Again Sharpe was presuming guilt. ‘I’ll make the arrest,’ Claudia said. ‘I’ll interview him and I’ll go from there. I can’t promise anything. This could lead anywhere. It could be a real shit show or it could all be nothing, we’ll have to see.’

  Sharpe stood. ‘That’s all I can ask of you. You’ll have your team working on this with you. You know them, they’re dedicated and they won’t give you any trouble. Work them hard, get to the bottom of this. If you need any more resources you will get them as soon as you ask. All hands are on deck for this.’

  Claudia stood. ‘If it turns to shit ma’am, it’s on your head, or Connelly’s, I don’t care who takes the blame. I’m doing this under protest, but yes, I’m doing it. I want to know where Ruth is.’

  Chapter 7

  Claudia

  Claudia walked towards the incident room. A niggle of anxiety twisted in the pit of her stomach. This would be the first time she had seen her team since Sharpe asked her to deal with Ruth’s missing persons case this morning.

  Sharpe had tasked them with the background work, so they were aware of what was happening. A case had never been so personally close to any of them before. This was unusual and she hated that it was her that was linked to the investigation. Her they would all turn and stare at. Though she knew them better than that. They’d be more discreet. They were a great team and she was grateful for each and every one of them.

  She reached the incident room doors and took a deep breath before pushing one open and striding in. ‘Morning, rabble.’ A hush fell over the room. She’d aimed for light and breezy but it landed flat. The team stopped what they were doing and looked to her.

  Her DS, Russ Kane, rose from his chair. Claudia shook her head and he returned to his seat. The team kept a careful watch.

  They needed something from her. She had to fill this silence, to address the elephant in the room, before they could move forward and get back to work.

  ‘You know what we’re dealing with.’ Claudia moved towards the front of the room. ‘I know you’re probably wondering how I’m doing. I’m not going into detail though I will tell you that I’m fine.’ She perched on the corner of a spare desk. ‘I was tasked with leading this investigation and that’s what I’m doing.’ She looked around at her team. ‘That’s what we’re doing. Yes, I’m upset that we’re looking for Ruth but let’s try and keep personal feelings out of the way, shall we.’ It was more difficult than she’d imagined, trying to keep her feelings on a level and to deal with this as though it was any other case that had landed on her desk. She fought to keep control of her voice. ‘We conducted a search of Ruth’s home address and there was a pool of blood in the garage. CSIs are there now and we’ll know later if it’s a match for Ruth.’

  Russ rose from his chair again. Claudia glared at him but he ignored her, moved to the desk she was sitting on and placed himself on the opposite corner. Close but not intimately so.

  The silence in the room was deafening. Claudia’s breath came fast in her chest, hot in her mouth. Her cheeks flaring up.

  Russ addressed the team. ‘Let’s have a look at what we have so far.’ He looked to DC Lisa James. ‘House-to-house enquires next to Ruth and Dominic’s address?’

  Claudia was grateful to him and took the moment to calm her breathing, taking it slow and steady.

  Lisa cleared her throat. ‘It hasn’t got us anywhere.’ She checked her notes. ‘No one had heard anything. It’s a detached house so things have to be pretty loud for sound to travel or the neighbours need to be outside in the garden and no one was last night. Especially not at the time we’re focusing on.’

  This made Claudia realise how loud Dominic and Ruth must have been arguing the night they were heard by their neighbour. They really had to have been going at it.

  ‘What about a CCTV trail for Ruth?’ she asked.

  Harry Harbor, another DC on the team, piped up next. ‘We’ve identified the time Ruth left work and collected CCTV from along her route home. There’s a lot of viewing to get through to see if she made it home or if she veered off at any point. Obviously there’s no CCTV round where she lives but we got as close as we could.’

  ‘Okay.’ Claudia was on a more even keel now they were talking investigative procedures. ‘Someone’s checked the hospitals, I take it?’

  Russ spoke again. ‘She’s not been admitted and there’s no unidentified females matching her description either.’

  Claudia didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. ‘Dominic believes the Sheffield Strangler had something to do with Ruth’s disappearance. While it’s a long shot, we can’t discount it. I’m going to interview him and try to get to the bottom of it. I’ll feed back to you as I do. But the upshot is, his team were closing in on an arrest as far as I can make out and Dominic feels Ruth was targeted because of this, to distract him.’

  The room came alive as the team immediately started to talk to each other about this possibility. The rare time a killer might actually set his sights on a police officer.

  ‘Okay,’ Claudia raised her voice. ‘I know it seems a bit far-fetched, but we follow every lead. I want you to split the team and investigate Ruth as a missing person and also check the work Dominic’s team was doing on the Sheffield Strangler case.’

  Graham Dunne, an ex-soldier turned DC, looked puzzled. ‘You want us to investigate the work of another team?’

  She waved a hand at him. ‘It’s fine. I’ve run it past Sharpe and it’s anything goes as far as this investigation is concerned. Ruth is one of our own. If checking up on that case can bring us answers then that’s what we’re to do.’

  Graham inclined his head. ‘I’ll get access to the file straight away.’

  ‘Dominic told me earlier that they felt like they were getting close. His team should be trying to ID a potential witness. I want that witness found at all costs today. Do I make myself clear? If this is connected I don’t want to find myself on the back foot.’

  Her team had her back. They’d pull out all the stops for her. She was grateful for them. Now she had to gather her strength. She had to go and face Dominic again. This time things were different and Claudia had no
idea what to believe or how she was going to get through this.

  Chapter 8

  Claudia

  Claudia walked down the stairs and back to the room that held Dominic Harrison. Again she found herself hovering outside the door, wondering what entering the room would mean for her in the coming minutes and hours. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined when she got to work this morning that she would be doing this. But Ruth Harrison was missing, possibly murdered if the pool of blood was anything to go by. So now she had to do anything in her power to find answers.

  She pushed the door open. Dominic Harrison was slouched down in his chair, head in his folded arms on the table. Exhaustion and defeat overwhelming him. He must have known what she would find when she went to search his house. He must have expected this next part of the process. His despair was visible in the defeated slouch of his shoulders. What Claudia couldn’t figure out was why he hadn’t cleared up the mess in the garage before he had come into the police station this morning. Hadn’t he seen it himself? It didn’t make any sense.

  Harrison jerked upright as the door opened. The shadows below his eyes were even darker than they had been when she left. He looked terrible and she found it difficult to muster up any sympathy for him. She wanted to throw herself at him and scream and shout and beg for him to tell her where Ruth was. It was inconceivable to her that a cop could walk into a police station and not expect every other cop in their vicinity to want to pull his eyes out of his sockets if they thought it would help locate a missing, potentially murdered, colleague.

  ‘Get up,’ she glared at him.

  ‘What?’ Confusion played across his face.

  ‘I said, get up. On your feet.’

  ‘What’s wrong? What did you find? Have you found Ruth?’ His eyes widened.

  Claudia took a couple of steps closer to him. ‘I said get up on your feet.’ She couldn’t help her anger with him even though she had not ten minutes ago defended him to Sharpe. The arrest was out of her hands and she was angry she was in this position. Angry at the pool of blood in the garage. Angry she didn’t know where her friend was and angry Dominic Harrison possibly had the answers.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘So I can look you in the eye when I arrest you. Now. Stand. Up.’

  Slowly Harrison pushed back in his chair, his eyes locked on Claudia. ‘Arrest me? For what? Please, tell me what’s happened.’

  Claudia stayed where she was and Dominic unfolded himself out of the chair and came to stand in front of her. ‘Please, Claudia.’

  She stared at him, the familiar lines on his face now alien to her. She felt disjointed and disoriented.

  ‘Dominic Harrison, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Ruth Harrison last night at Green Lane. You do not have to say anything but it may—’

  ‘Murder?’ he whispered so quiet she had to strain over her own words to hear him.

  ‘—harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something—’

  ‘Ruth is dead?’ His eyes were wide, his voice more insistent, though still quiet.

  ‘—you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

  ‘She’s dead?’ He asked again.

  ‘Yes, Dominic, evidence suggests Ruth is dead.’ To her ears her voice sounded dead too. Flat and lifeless. Why had she said she could do this? She couldn’t do this. Any DI could have made the arrest, it didn’t need to be her.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ he said, stepping back again, arm outstretched behind him, searching for his chair. ‘I don’t understand. She wasn’t there when I left this morning. Tell me what you found.’ His hand caught the chair and he dropped into it with a thud, his eyes unfocused and glassy.

  ‘Her blood, Dominic. We found her blood.’

  ‘Ruth, no, oh my God, no.’ His head shot up towards Claudia who hadn’t moved. She was still standing in the middle of the room, still facing him, watching his reaction. ‘You have to believe me. No. It’s not me. I didn’t do this. Why would I come here knowing there was blood at the house? I’ve been framed. Claudia?’

  Her mind tumbled. She’d thought the same thing herself. It didn’t make sense.

  ‘We have to take you to the custody suite before we can talk about this, Dominic. Then you can tell me what you think has happened.’

  ‘Tell me you believe me, Claudia. Please, you have to believe I didn’t do this.’

  Her bones were leaden, like she was glued to the spot. Or like something heavy was weighing her down. But she had to move. She had to transport him to custody. She had promised Sharpe she would work the case and she would. Now she was involved she would do this to the best of her ability and find out what had really happened.

  Whether Dominic was guilty or not.

  For Ruth.

  ‘Claudia, you have to believe me. Of all people, you have to know I didn’t do this.’ His voice was so quiet she had to strain to hear him.

  With leaden limbs she pulled her cuffs out of her back pocket where she had pushed them before entering the room. ‘I need to put these on you to travel to the custody suite.’ She clenched her jaw tight to hold back tears that threatened to tumble from her eyes. This case was just too emotional for her. She had to draw on some real reserves of strength to get through it.

  Harrison’s eyes were on the floor. He looked up at her and at the rigid cuffs in her hands. His eyes darkened and he placed his wrists out for her to cuff him, gaze locked on hers.

  ‘Take your jacket off,’ she instructed.

  ‘My jacket?’

  ‘Take it off.’

  He slipped the jacket off and threw it over the back of the chair, then put his hands back in front of him so Claudia could cuff him.

  She clipped the first cuff into place, the metal teeth grinding into the locked position around his wrist and then she pushed the second cuff over his other wrist and he was secured. She picked up his jacket and draped it over his hands, covering his cuffed wrists, so anyone who saw him walking out of the station with her would see him carrying his jacket rather than the handcuffs underneath. Though the rumour mill would be working overtime soon enough, she didn’t want him to feel all eyes on him as he walked out of there. If he had done what it looked like he’d done, then he would pay for it.

  ‘You ready?’ she asked. As much for herself as it was for him.

  He took a deep breath in. ‘Claudia . . .’

  ‘I asked if you were ready?’ She had to steel herself, as much as she hated to do it. What if he was responsible? It was all such a goddamn mess.

  ‘I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.’

  Chapter 9

  Claudia

  Shepcote Lane custody suite was a fairly new one for Sheffield and heralded the closure of the other suites scattered around the force area. The fifty-cell suite was state of the art and had dedicated rooms for drug and mental health teams.

  Claudia walked Dominic up to the custody desk and in front of the custody sergeant. Claudia knew the sergeant, Kirsty Greene.

  ‘Well, good morning, you two reprobates. What have you brought me in this morning?’ she asked with a smile, a mug in hand, halfway up to her mouth.

  Harrison looked down, all blood drained from his face.

  Claudia’s stomach plummeted to the floor. ‘Kirsty, it’s Dominic.’ She kept her voice as low as she could while still getting the sergeant to hear her over the high desk.

  ‘I can see it’s Dominic. What’s he done, brought me in an offender who’s going to be vomiting all over my nice clean cell?’

  ‘No . . . it’s . . .’

  Harrison lifted his hands up and rested them on the desk, jiggled them from side to side so the jacket slipped off slightly and the cuffs could be seen. Kirsty stared at him in disbelief. Her hand holding the mug sank down to the desktop and she let it go.

  ‘Oh.’

  Harrison pulled his arms down and shook his head apologetically at Kirsty. ‘I didn’t do it, Kirsty.�
�

  She shook herself. ‘You can’t say that to me, Dominic. Whatever it is. You can’t talk to me about it. You know that.’ She tapped her computer awake. She turned to Claudia. ‘You’re the arresting officer?’ She looked around the custody suite to see who was paying attention but so far no one had noticed what was happening at her section of the large desk.

  Claudia let out a sigh. ‘I am. Take it up with Sharpe and Connelly. It’s their decision. I’m just following orders. You know me, a rule-follower to the end. Even with this.’

  Dominic frowned. ‘I’m sorry, Claudia.’

  ‘Prove to me you didn’t do this and that will be apology enough.’ She was tired already and she had a long day ahead of her. Hours and hours in an interview room with Harrison as well as directing a team of officers who were working the investigation. It was one of the reasons she hated that so many of the custody suites had closed. You were never in the same station as your team when you were interviewing an offender. It made the process difficult to say the least. But costs had had to be cut and, in this case, custody suites were the victims.

  ‘Okay,’ said Kirsty. ‘Reason and grounds for arrest, Claudia?’

  Harrison looked back down to the floor. Claudia rubbed her face with her hands. She had to do this. The quicker she got through it the better. Once it was done she wouldn’t have to do it again.