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

by Rebecca Bradley

  Dominic took another step forward and the heat grazed his face. The child yelped in his arms. He pulled the coat from his head and draped it over the girl. He could see the spiralling blue lights of emergency vehicles through the open doorway. He had to make it through to them and they’d be free.

  The fire roared and Dominic took another step backwards.

  The girl whimpered. He could hear her mother screaming for her through the open doorway. The fire crew would be kitting up. They’d come and get them. But he couldn’t bear to stand in here any longer than necessary. He was feeling claustrophobic and needed to get out. He needed to find a way through.

  Dominic turned, keeping his hand on the bannister he ran up the stairs, turned into the bathroom, threw two towels into the bath and ran the cold tap onto them. Then he took the jacket from the child and enveloped the girl with a dripping towel and placed the second one over his head.

  It was cool and welcome in the heat and smog of the house.

  They were going to get out of here. Following the same handrail he made his way back down the stairs. They only had seconds to spare now as the fire was moving quickly.

  ‘Take a deep breath in and hold it,’ he shouted to the girl over the roar of the fire. He took his own deep breath and stumbled down the last two steps and forced himself towards the door. His free hand fumbling for the doorframe to guide him out.

  A pair of hands grabbed his arms and guided him through. Then the girl was lifted from his grasp and he was pushed down onto an ambulance trolley to be examined and an oxygen mask placed over his face. The mask cool on his skin.

  Dominic didn’t see the mother again. The ambulance containing the little girl left for the hospital before his did. He was taken to be checked out but released a few hours later and told sleeping in a more upright position might help if he found it uncomfortable lying flat and to return should he feel he had any problems with his breathing.

  He asked after the little girl and was informed she was being kept in overnight for observation but that his actions had very likely saved her life.

  Chapter 17

  Dominic

  The team were in the office bright and early the next morning. It didn’t matter that it had been a late finish the night before. This was the start of a new job. Morale was still high and his team were raring to go, determined to bring a killer to justice. Dominic hoped they could do this. The killer was a brutal man and Dominic had a feeling after seeing Julie’s body that hers would not be the last. In fact he’d be surprised if she was the first. It was a dark way to start off if it was. He imagined that there would be a stack of smaller offences behind him and even a killing that was less dramatic, less savage.

  They’d all heard about Dominic’s trip into the burning building as Ruth had sent a message to Kapoor, much to Dominic’s annoyance. But Ruth had wanted to make sure Kapoor was aware in case Dominic got into any difficulties with his breathing. Kapoor had informed the team.

  Dominic hadn’t made a decision on whether he was going to talk about last night and now the choice had been taken out of his hands.

  Rhys pushed a mug of coffee into his hand. Steam spiralled its way up to his nose and he was grateful for the drink and for the wake-up call. ‘Thanks, Rhys.’

  ‘You deserve more than a coffee, Dom, but unfortunately we’re at work, so it’s the least I can do.’ Rhys pushed another mug into Paul’s hands. He’d made drinks for their team this morning. Must have drawn the short straw.

  ‘Bit of a local hero this morning,’ said Paul. ‘Are we going to be seeing you in the paper this week?’

  ‘God, I hope not.’ Dominic was pleased his team were encouraging of his actions last night. His reputation meant a lot to him. ‘No one wants to see this ugly mug peering out at them.’

  ‘And how’s the little girl?’ asked Hayley.

  Dominic scowled at them good-naturedly. ‘I notice none of you contradicted me about my devilishly handsome good looks.’

  ‘Of course we think you’re press-worthy.’ Hayley grinned at him.

  ‘We always need something to wrap our chips in,’ quipped Paul.

  ‘Just how old are you?’ Rhys played horrified. ‘You’ll have health and safety on your back if you wrap your chips in newspaper. Especially if it’s got the sarge’s mug printed on it.’

  There was a howl of laughter round the room.

  Hayley looked at Dominic again.

  ‘I called this morning. They won’t tell me much as I’m not family. But because I’m a police officer and the one who pulled her out of the building they were willing to tell me she was stable.’

  Hayley smiled. ‘That must be a relief.’

  ‘Like you wouldn’t believe.’

  At that point DI Adyant Kapoor walked into the incident room and they stopped talking immediately.

  ‘Morning, guys.’ Kapoor was bright regardless of the pressure he must have been under to resolve this case. No one wanted a murder on their patch, never mind a vicious stranger murder like this. Domestic murders were usually the kind they worked. The offender was picked up immediately and the case was worked and put to bed at a reasonable clip. This was different. Everyone knew it. No one had to say it.

  There were murmurings of ‘morning’ in response.

  Kapoor turned to Dominic. ‘How are you feeling this morning? Good to keep going?’

  ‘I’m fine. I’m quite annoyed at Ruth for contacting you, but that’s another story.’

  Kapoor didn’t need telling twice. ‘Yesterday Julie Carver was found in Ecclesall Woods having been brutalised and her life taken from her.’ Kapoor had their attention. ‘We have no immediate leads and very soon the press will be breathing down our necks. I can’t hold them off indefinitely. You have a little leeway today, but after that be prepared for questions.’ He stared at them. ‘But I expect no one to talk. Do I make myself clear?’

  Everyone nodded. They were a good team, not just his small part of the team, but the bigger murder inquiry team as a whole. They were good people and he would trust them with his life.

  ‘Okay,’ said Kapoor, ‘on that note, let’s look at what we have, shall we?’ He propped himself against a desk, one leg on the floor and one leg swinging as the corner of the desk held his weight.

  ‘First of all, for your information, this investigation is filed under the name Operation Halo. And yesterday afternoon a call came in that a dog walker had fallen over a body, and in doing so had contaminated the scene because he had literally fallen into the grave. CSU are assessing if he caused any damage.’

  There was a light titter around the room at the thought of the clichéd dog walker finding the body, but it was a cliché for a reason. Bodies were left in the ground or out in the open in fields and woodland areas which was where dog walkers and joggers tended to frequent. They’d had more than their fair share of dead found by this group of people, but never before had they actually fallen into the scene and contaminated it.

  ‘DS Dominic Harrison and his team went out to the scene. What can you tell us about it, Dom?’

  Dominic put his mug down, a tightness gripping his chest. He took a deep breath in and was rewarded with a fit of public coughing. ‘I’m so sorry about that,’ he said when he’d finished.

  Kapoor was concerned. ‘Don’t worry about that. The important thing is, are you okay?’

  Dominic hammered on his chest with his fist. ‘I’m fine. Just leftovers from last night, I’m afraid. Nothing to worry about. A bit of a cough. I’m fine to be here though.’

  Kapoor frowned. ‘You’re sure? We can cope if you need to go home.’

  Dominic didn’t like the sound of this. ‘I’m absolutely fine.’ He sat straighter in his chair. ‘Shall we carry on?’

  Kapoor didn’t look convinced but indicated that Dominic could continue.

  Dominic cleared his throat once more and got on with the task at hand. ‘It wasn’t pretty and that had nothing to do with someone falling on top of her,
or how long she’d been left in the ground. In fact, the pathologist, Nadira Azim, said it looked as though she had only been there a couple of days. Whoever killed her did a nasty job on her. There was strangulation but, bizarrely, after that he decided to cut her throat and smeared her face with lipstick, leaving the used lipstick at the scene with the body. We have no idea what any of this means, but it seems as though for him, it holds significance. There is too much to this killing for it to just be a murder. It means something to him. And in scenarios like that we have to be concerned about escalation. Unless of course he knew the victim and the mode of killing was specific to her.’

  The room was silent, there was no place for laughter when you listened to details like that.

  Dominic carried on. ‘We identified her reasonably quickly as Julie Carver as she’d been reported missing by her brother. He’s going to do an official ID this afternoon after the PM. We spoke to him and his wife and they said Julie had been dating online and had met someone new recently. They couldn’t give us any more details on him or tell us what the app was she used. She leaves behind a fourteen-year-old son who is being cared for by the uncle and aunt.’

  Kapoor clapped his hands together. ‘Thanks, Dom. So we need to identify the app she was using, dig into the background of the dog walker, see if anything suspicious pops up for him and I’d suggest that this guy she was dating has become our number one priority. Anyone disagree?’ He waited to see if anyone else had any information to add to the discussion, perhaps a different viewpoint to look at.

  The briefings were a fluid affair where every team member got their say and everyone was heard. Kapoor didn’t believe in dismissing anyone. Any so-called silly observation or consideration could be the one idea that could break an entire case. Dominic wondered if Kapoor had learned this the hard way on another team, another case, another time. Whatever the circumstances, he liked the way his boss did the briefing and was inclusive.

  ‘Okay, good. CCTV has been collected around the dump site. Because we believe it is a dump site and not the place she was killed. It’s not bloody enough to be the kill site.’ Kapoor looked at Dominic. ‘Dom and one of his team are going to the PM this morning and will be doing the ID this afternoon. Lizzy Fields is to be the FLO on this case and will pick up with the family as soon as the ID is done.’

  Lizzy raised her hand in the corner of the room. FLOs were not a part of Major Crime teams but were brought in off their own teams when a case was up and running. There was a list of FLOs who could be used so one single FLO didn’t burn out being given every case that came up. Dominic liked Lizzy, she was calm and practical and the families tended to get on well with her. This was important because much as people thought FLOs were there to soothe the family through their nightmare, they were actually a conduit between the SIO — Kapoor — and the family. A way for information to flow between the two and mostly from the family back to the investigation. It was the little things that could potentially be important that families let slip when they were comfortable in their own homes, things that they might not otherwise say when being questioned by police in a more official capacity. They relaxed more with a FLO, even though the FLO was always upfront that they were there to gather information. Lizzy was great at keeping families onside about this.

  ‘What time is the post-mortem?’ Kapoor asked.

  Dominic looked at his watch. ‘It’s in an hour, boss.’

  ‘Okay. Anyone have anything else they want to add at this point? Your team leaders will sort you out with actions from HOLMES. Let’s pull together on this one. I’m afraid it’s going to be long hours and maybe a long job, so get ready for that. Let your families know. I’ll give you some time off as and when I can, but you know the routine, the first days matter. Let’s make them count.’

  Chapter 18

  Dominic

  Nadira Azim was already in the mortuary at the Medico-legal centre on Watery Lane with Julie Carver, who was laid out on a steel table. Julie was still in her clothes waiting for the police to seize and exhibit them as they were removed one item at a time. Dominic had brought Krish to the morgue with him. He was one of the more steel-stomached of his team and this was not going to be an easy post-mortem.

  ‘This isn’t a pleasant one, Krish,’ Dominic said as they both changed into spare scrubs.

  ‘No worries, sarge. I ate a while ago, there’s no concern about me bringing my breakfast up. Besides, I’m a professional guy. You never have to worry about me.’

  ‘I know that.’ Dominic put his clothes and mobile phone in a locker. ‘I want you to be prepared for what you’re going to see. I imagine I’m going to be shocked again as it’ll be more visible now she’s out of her grave. It always is. The bright lights bring everything to life.’

  Krish locked his own stuff away and the pair of them walked into the morgue.

  There was an overwhelming smell of disinfectant and an underlying smell of Julie. Her body was starting to break down. Dominic recognised the scent of decomposition.

  ‘Morning, Nadira.’ Dominic gave her a smile and she turned around from the notepad she had been scribbling in and gave him a wide smile in response.

  ‘Morning, you two. It’s good to see you, even if it is under these circumstances.’ She stared hard at Dominic. ‘How are you feeling today?’

  Dominic groaned. ‘I don’t believe it.’

  Nadira raised an eyebrow.

  ‘That you’ve heard about last night here.’

  ‘We have,’ she said. ‘It was a very heroic thing you did going into that house.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘And very dangerous. Really, how are you?’

  This wasn’t a good time but Dominic had a huge urge to cough and couldn’t stop it. He covered his mouth and coughed as lightly as he could. Then he smiled at Nadira. ‘I’m fine, honestly. A little residual cough, but other than that, I’m fine.’

  Her look was serious. ‘You have to be careful. If you find it difficult to breathe then you need to get checked out again. Are you listening to me?’

  Dominic couldn’t help himself, he saluted her.

  Nadira rolled her eyes. ‘For your own good.’

  He realised this and thanked her for her concern and advice.

  ‘Are we ready to go ahead?’ she asked, looking at the woman in the centre of the room.

  ‘We are,’ Dominic agreed.

  Smithy, the morgue tech, took each item of clothing off Julie one at a time and Krish bagged them up meticulously, sealing each bag and signing the exhibit label with his signature and the item details, date and time. One item per brown paper bag. Items sweated if you placed them in plastic bags. A photographer was there recording every move they made and recording the process Julie went through. He took shots of her whole body, then closer shots with a ruler at the side of all the marks and injuries so they could be logged correctly.

  She was still wearing the clownish looking lipstick that had been smeared around her lips, overlapping the edges. The bruising around her throat was dark and vivid against her now chalky skin.

  ‘While the last of the photographs are taken shall we have a look at the X-rays we took before you got here?’ Nadira walked over to her computer monitor in the corner of the room. She moved the mouse and woke the screen up, bringing the X-rays into view; she had obviously prepared them before their arrival.

  ‘Anything interesting?’ asked Dominic.

  ‘Actually . . .’ Nadira scrolled through the images until she found the one she wanted. ‘If you look at this one here—’ she pointed with a pen — ‘you can see a couple of breaks, here and here.’

  Dominic peered at the monitor and could see black lines cutting across the white of the bone, and white bone sticking out past the sleek line of the external edge. ‘What are we looking at?’

  ‘Her right arm, and—’ Nadira clicked the slide to another image and pointed again — ‘see again here.’

  ‘What a bastard,’ Krish breathed behind them.

  Na
dira clicked through to another screen.

  ‘What, more?’ Dominic clenched his fists.

  ‘These are her ribs. There are two breaks in here as well.’

  ‘And strength needed to cause these injuries?’ he asked, his fingers dug into his palms.

  ‘She’s only a petite woman, an average sized man who was angry enough could cause these injuries, and looking at the state of her I’d go so far to say he was pretty angry, wouldn’t you?’

  Krish huffed behind them both again.

  Nadira and Dominic turned around to face him and Dominic unfurled his fists and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘Come on, mate. This is going to be a tough morning. We can do it, for her.’ Krish lifted his chin and they all made their way back to the table.

  Nadira logged each injury by drawing it on a body map, even though photographs had been taken. Next she took more swabs, even though she had taken some at the scene. She swabbed Julie’s neck where the bruising was. There was utter silence in the room as Nadira worked. All samples were logged and signed so the evidence could be forensically examined and to ensure it would be allowed should a case go to court. Then she swabbed the victim’s lips and the lipstick.

  The rest of the post-mortem went by without a hitch. Julie was a healthy woman who had no sign of illness and was reasonably fit and was capable of putting up a fight. Her muscle tone was good and her internal organs healthy. Cause of death was exsanguination from the cut across her throat.

  Having finished up, Krish leaned on the counter writing up the exhibits list with all the items they had seized. It was important the continuity be kept for all items so nothing could jeopardise a court case.

  ‘I have the lipstick here for you.’ Nadira walked to a drawer under one of the counters. It was locked. Nadira pulled a key from a pocket and unlocked the drawer, pulled out a bag and held it up so Dominic could see inside. There was a single lipstick container. It was dirty from being buried with Julie.