To the side was a glossy, white, long desk with a smartly turned out male sitting behind. Dominic and Hayley approached. The young man looked them up and down barely disguising the comment that he thought they were in the wrong place.
This, thought Dominic, is where Alex Chapman’s whole demeanour came from.
Eventually, after warrant cards were shown and a strong refusal by Dominic to return later, they were hand-delivered to the floor where Chapman’s boss resided. Chapman, it turned out, worked in the financial crime threat mitigation department.
‘You protect individuals from fraud?’ Dominic asked as they settled around a table.
The woman smiled. ‘That’s a simplistic way of putting it. The FCTM department is responsible for all financial crime, individual and big business, in every country the bank operates in. It’s a challenging, global role.’
Dominic inclined his head, little understanding the scale of banking across the world. It wasn’t important though, having no bearing on why they were there. ‘You supervise Alex Chapman?’
‘He’s part of the team, yes.’ The tip of her tongue ran along her lower lip which was glossy red.
‘Was he at work eight days ago?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘How can you be so sure, without checking?’ asked Dominic.
She crossed one leg over the other. ‘I don’t need to check. Alex is dedicated, like everyone here, and I can’t remember the last time he took a day off.’
Hayley scribbled in her notebook.
‘What’s he like?’ asked Dominic.
She let out a sigh, which reminded Dominic of Alex. Was everyone here impatient with the world around them?
‘Like I said, he’s dedicated.’
‘As a person,’ Dominic clarified.
The woman leaned back in her chair. The chair relaxed with her, then bounced back to its original position. Behind her, through the huge window that framed her desk, the sky was grey and heavy. ‘I’m not quite sure what you mean.’
Dominic tried to keep his own patience. ‘Is he a calm man? It must be a very stressful job.’
‘Alex is excellent at his job. The team couldn’t run without him. He gels very well with his colleagues and we’ve had no complaints about him.’
It wasn’t much. ‘Has he said much about his divorce, his ex-wife?’
‘Not to me. He tends to keep his personal life personal. This is a busy office, we don’t have time for heart-to-hearts.’
It sounded like a pretty cold place to work if you asked him. He thanked her for her time and they were, again, hand-delivered back downstairs to the atrium.
‘We didn’t get much from this visit.’ Hayley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
‘No, but we did get a bigger picture of a cold-fish of a man. One who isn’t really connected to people. Who works with numbers all day and goes home to an empty house. Who will view the fact that Maddy had custody of their son as a loss in his eyes. He won’t have liked that.’
They handed their lanyards in to the man behind the glossy white desk and walked towards the huge glass entrance doors.
‘You really do fancy him for this, don’t you?’ Hayley was mesmerised by the silent hush as the doors slid open in front of them. There was real money here.
‘I’m not making the narrative fit the man. I’ll wait him out until we have real evidence. But, yeah, I get a real uneasy feeling from him.’
* * *
Back in the incident room Dominic updated the team and HOLMES. Hayley sent Rhys into the kitchen to make a brew. He grumbled as he stalked out of the room, a tray of empty mugs clattering in his hands.
Dominic was engrossed in HOLMES when the door to the incident room was quietly opened and one of the front counter staff crept in and handed the day’s post out onto the relevant desks. There were two items for Dominic which she placed beside him. He ignored them and continued tapping away at his keyboard, writing in reasons Alex Chapman should remain a person of interest. One whom they should refer to when any evidence came to light or God forbid, any further murders occurred. Dominic was aware there was an underlying personal dislike on his part, but there was also sound logic dictating Chapman be kept in mind.
He finished typing as Rhys walked back in with a tray filled with fresh drinks, followed by Kapoor. He was looking for an update.
‘Just what I need.’ Dominic grinned at his DC. ‘Thanks, mate.’ He lifted a mug from the tray that was presented to him and placed it on his desk. ‘We haven’t got much to tell,’ he said to Kapoor. ‘I’ve just typed it all up on HOLMES.’
‘You think he’s good for it?’ asked Kapoor.
‘Thinking he’s good for it and being able to prove anything are two different things entirely.’ He looked down at the two envelopes that had been left on his desk. One in a brown, official looking envelope. It was a report from Social Care on a couple of children that were involved in a case they had picked up six months ago.
‘Did you even boil the kettle?’ asked Paul, scowling at his coffee.
‘Make it yourself next time.’ Rhys wasn’t impressed.
Dominic picked up the second envelope. This one was white and slim.
‘Any further work to do on Chapman?’ Kapoor asked.
Dominic shook his head as he ran his finger along the edge of the envelope to tear it open. ‘I think it’s just a matter of waiting to see what evidence we get and bearing Chapman in mind.’ He pulled out the single sheet of paper that was contained within. He read it, his brain not quite connecting with what his eyes were seeing. He raised his arm as though in school. ‘Erm, sir.’
Kapoor looked at him. ‘What is it, Dom?’
‘I think we might have a problem.’
‘More of a problem than the one we’re discussing?’
Dom looked down at the paper again. ‘Well it’s related.’ He waved the sheet in the air. ‘We’ve had contact, boss.’
Kapoor’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. ‘What?’
‘I’ve received a letter that appears to be from the killer. Sent directly to me.’
‘Drop the letter onto your desk,’ demanded Kapoor. ‘We need to get a CSI up here to retrieve it and get it fingerprinted, and tested for DNA if he’s licked the envelope.’
As Dominic let go of the sheet of paper it fluttered down to his desk. A desk he was now unable to work from.
‘Can you still see what it says?’ Kapoor asked.
Dominic peered at the sheet. It had been folded into the envelope so had rigid fold marks, but if he bent his head at an angle he could still read it. ‘Yes, boss.’
‘I have so many questions,’ Kapoor started, ‘but the first one has to be, what does it say?’
Dominic checked the sheet he’d dropped on the desk and read from the page:
‘DS Harrison, please don’t worry that you are failing the families as the press are making out. You are not. It’s just that I’m too good for you. And if you fear this is a hoax, I left the women with a little red kiss.’
Chapter 31
Claudia
Twenty hours since Ruth’s attack
‘I heard that the killer was in contact with someone on the investigation team, I just never realised it was you. Why did you keep it a secret from Ruth and me?’ They were back in an interview room in the custody suite. Claudia’s surprise and horror at this disclosure was plain to see.
Dominic sighed. ‘How do you think you both would have reacted if you’d known it was me he was talking to?’
‘We’re cops, you know?’ Claudia spat back at him. Now they were talking about their personal life the frustration she felt spilled over.
He laughed. ‘You sound so much like Ruth.’
‘I’m glad we’re not pretending that you’re not my dad anymore.’ She waved an arm between them. ‘It was a damn strain trying to run this like any other case.’ Her head was tight and throbbing at the same time, like it was going to explode. First there was the e
xcruciating concern for Ruth — she was family. Not only family by marriage, but they were close, they were friends, and good friends at that. They spent time together, away from her dad, shopping, tea and coffees, wine, chatting, putting the world to rights. Her heart was breaking. Then she’d been placed in this ridiculous position of interviewing her own father about the situation. A father where tension easily flared up at the best of times. They both had issues. Silent fears that mostly left unsaid managed to leave a rumble of disquiet. Ruth had always been great at smoothing things out between them. But now she wasn’t here and it was like the world was splitting apart.
Dominic put his head in his hands. ‘They knew what they were doing putting you in here to interview me.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Claudia looked to Kane who shrugged his shoulders. She didn’t believe anything between them was obvious at work. After all, they’d never actually worked together on any jobs in the past.
‘Just look how emotional we’re getting. If I had anything to let slip, we’re heading into the time when it’s going to happen, don’t you think?’
Claudia dropped her voice, fear curdling in her stomach. ‘Do you have anything to let slip? Do you know what happened to Ruth?’ Sharpe had played her cards well asking Claudia to run this investigation, but it was harder than she could ever have imagined. No one could have considered that it would get this dark.
He lifted his head. ‘I’m not a killer, Claudia. How can you ask these questions?’
‘Because that’s what I’ve been sent in here to do, you’ve acknowledged that.’
Dominic nodded.
‘You know the rules, Dad. For the recording.’
He sighed. ‘Yes. I know that’s why you’re in here.’
‘So why all the secrecy around the contact?’
Dominic leaned back and crossed his arms. ‘It wasn’t just to protect myself from getting grief from you and Ruth about the danger I could be in. It was to protect the pair of you.’
‘You were protecting us? How?’
‘If I kept my two lives apart, my home life and my work life, then I hoped the Sheffield Strangler wouldn’t realise you were both important to me. And hopefully you wouldn’t be targeted if he ever became angry with me. Which he did at times. It’s not easy liaising with a killer through the press. And this was why I was so up in arms when Ruth was given the task of going undercover to try to trap him.’
‘You really thought he’d risk himself by coming after us?’
Dominic rolled his eyes. ‘He’s a dangerous man, Claudia, you must know that? You haven’t worked the case but you know enough from the chatter within the force and from the press. Plus the little I’ve told you myself.’ He let out a sigh. ‘What happened if he wanted to send me a more personal message? Not one printed on paper? One to get under my skin? How do you think he would do that?’
Claudia rose from her chair and paced around the room. ‘You think he would hurt someone you love to send you a message?’
Dominic nodded.
‘Dad . . .’
‘Sorry. Yes. Yes, I do think he’d hurt someone I love to send me a message. He liked to have the upper hand. He gloated and he taunted and he hated it if we made any steps forward. He wanted to put me back in my place.’
Claudia paced around the room some more. Kane sat silently. He was here for support. This was her interview. Her investigation. He would do as she wanted and he’d keep quiet until she needed him.
Dominic kept his head down.
‘So,’ she said, ‘You think he’s found out Ruth is your wife rather than her going missing as part of the operation?’
‘Have you spoken to her team? Was she going on a date? If it was part of the operation they’d know about it and she wouldn’t be missing because they’d have been there to back her up and support her. No matter how pear-shaped it went, she’d have come home at the end of the day. No, this is her going missing because he found out somehow that she’s my wife and he’s playing a game with me for some sick reason. Maybe I was getting too close. Think back to the witness we’re talking to who saw the man lurking near the scene. If we ID that guy we might have him.’
Claudia stared down at him.
‘If he wants to send a message, she might still be alive. He might want to talk. We have to do something, Claudia. Being locked inside this tiny room is doing no good. It’s not doing Ruth any favours. I need to be where he can contact me. It’s me he’s playing a game with.’
Chapter 32
Dominic
Five months ago
Kapoor was focused. ‘Tell me what it said again. I want to make sure I have it straight in my head.’
With his head bent Dominic read it for the office again. ‘DS Harrison, please don’t worry that you are failing the families as the press are making out. You are not. It’s just that I’m too good for you. And if you fear this is a hoax, I left the women with a little red kiss.’
‘He’s directed it to you personally,’ Kapoor noted.
‘Why would he do that?’ Dominic straightened up in his chair. ‘What did I do to draw his attention?’
‘Maybe it was because you took the questions after the Butlers gave the press the link between the murders. It was either going to be me or you as we were the ones out there with the media. Is it hand-delivered or has it gone through the postal system?’
The envelope was face down so he couldn’t tell. Dominic shrugged. ‘I can’t see, boss.’ He picked up a pen and flicked the envelope over.
Kapoor tutted.
‘It was posted. Postmark is Sheffield so I’m not sure if it’s going to help us any.’
‘We’re not going to get DNA from the stamp, but we may well get some from the envelope. Stamps are self-adhesive, but not all envelopes are.’ Kapoor rubbed his chin. ‘He’s gloating. He thinks he’s well ahead of us and he wants us to know he’s out there.’
‘Not that we could forget that.’ Rhys shook his head.
‘Quite.’
The door to the incident room opened and Catherine, a CSI, walked in with a black bag in her hand. ‘I heard you have something for me?’
‘Hi Catherine.’ Dominic waved her over to his desk. ‘It’s over here. A letter from the killer.’
‘It’s real?’ she asked.
‘Seems to be. He knows details we haven’t released.’
‘Ooh, he’s brazen.’ She snapped on her blue gloves and opened up her bag. ‘Who’s touched the paper? Including the envelope.’
‘I’m the only one who’s touched the inside letter, but the envelope, I can’t say for sure. Me, and Dawn from the front counter brought it in. You’ll have to check with her if anyone else had contact with it out there. Then you’ve got a whole host of people on its journey through the postal system.’
Catherine snorted through her nose. ‘That’s not very helpful, but hopefully we’ll get a print off the contents inside. Can you wheel yourself away from the desk very slowly so I can get in and work, please?’
Dominic placed his feet against the floor and pushed away from his desk, one of the wheels on his chair squeaking as he wheeled away. Catherine moved in closer and started to work.
She took a camera from her bag and began by taking photographs of the paper and the desk it was sitting on. Once she was sure she had an image from every angle she grabbed some tweezers from her bag and selected a couple of paper bags to store the items in. This was to prevent the paper from sweating in a plastic bag which would degrade potential fingerprints. Then she gently picked up the letter and the envelope and placed them in their own evidence bags.
‘I’m going to check your desk for trace particles that may have dropped out of the envelope when you opened it.’ She let them know what she was doing as she worked.
‘What do we think he wants from this letter?’ Kapoor asked of the room.
‘A response,’ said Paul.
‘And how are we going to respond?’ asked Dominic.
Hayley pursed her lips. ‘Through the press is the only way I can think of.’
Kapoor considered this. ‘What do you suggest we respond with?’
‘Do we respond at all?’ Dominic asked, countering his initial query.
‘That’s a valid question.’ Kapoor was concerned. ‘What’s his end game? What’s he want from this dialogue? Why does he think he’s going to get it from Dom? All questions we need to consider before we even contemplate engaging in any kind of interaction with him.’ He checked with his team. ‘And do we believe it’s him?’
‘I’d suggest it is, with the mention of the lipstick,’ said Dominic. ‘It’s a detail we haven’t released to the press and yet he knows about it.’
Kapoor blew a breath out. ‘The only way we can talk to him is through press releases. Anything we say, now we know he’s watching and listening, has to be agreed at a higher level. I’m running this up the flagpole to Connelly. He has to sign-off on any release we put out.’
‘Do we think Dom is safe?’ asked Hayley.
Kapoor furrowed his brow. ‘What do you think, Dom? Do you sense any threat? I don’t pick up any aggression, it feels more like a gloat to me. But if you see it differently then speak up.’
Dominic shook his head. ‘No. No, it’s fine. I don’t feel threatened at all. I think he wanted to let us know he’s watching us and couldn’t help but tell us he was there.’
Catherine stood up and backed away from Dominic’s desk. ‘All done. I’ll let you have the results as soon as I’ve processed these. With any luck we might get a fingerprint on the paper.’ She looked at Kapoor. ‘I’m presuming this is also urgent.’
BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 1) Page 16