‘I think we need to talk to him and it’s the only way we have of conversing. For all he likes to talk to Dominic, he never sent a burner phone. He sent Dom letters and we said what we needed through the media. From what I can gather he wanted the publicity. My judgement is that Ruth’s safety is more important than whether or not we raise the level of public fear.’
Sharpe flicked her glowing stub into the air and watched it dive to the ground before she planted her pointed toe onto it and ground it out. ‘What are your thoughts on our culpability?’ she asked getting to the point.
‘For Ruth being in the position she’s in?’
Sharpe glared at Claudia.
‘Okay. We haven’t got that far yet. We haven’t got to Ruth going undercover. But he definitely has a type. Women in their forties who have children at home. Ruth doesn’t have any children so I’m presuming her profile was set up with at least one child.’
Sharpe agreed it was.
‘Look, I can’t say. My focus is on getting her back. Whatever state that may be in.’ She paused as she considered this statement. Let it sink in that they were, again, talking about recovering Ruth’s body. ‘But Dominic definitely had a relationship with this guy, who’s to say he didn’t figure out Ruth was his wife and he targeted her because of that.’
‘For what reason though?’
‘I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t finished interviewing him yet. I wanted to get this press conference done first. I thought it was the most important thing to do. Dominic was happy to wait. There’s still plenty of time on his clock.’
Sharpe turned and looked at Claudia. ‘What are you planning to say about Ruth?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Don’t play stupid with me, Claudia. I know you’re not. Are you going to say a police officer is missing or are you going to name her? Thereby giving the killer the information that he does indeed have Dominic Harrison’s wife if he wasn’t already aware. If he thought he had taken someone from the dating app then he’d think she was single.’
‘I think we can forget her meeting him on the app and being taken. The fact that she was taken from the home she shares with Dominic is enough to say he knew she was married to him. Whether he initially saw her through the dating app is another issue we don’t yet know. But there are photographs of Dominic and Ruth together in the house.’
‘So you’re going to name her?’
‘I don’t see that it can hurt anything from here.’
‘We’d better get in there,’ said Sharpe, straightening up her jacket and brushing off an invisible piece of lint. ‘The vultures are waiting.’
* * *
Claudia followed Sharpe into the press briefing room. She always felt a little bit dowdy in comparison to Sharpe who pretty much matched her name in all manner of ways: her speech, her conduct and her clothes.
They sat down behind the long table and peered out at the sea of faces staring back at them, eager to know why they had been called in so late in the day when they hadn’t heard of a new body being found. Whispers were going around the room that maybe the police had someone in custody at last. This could be the reason they would call them in without it being another murder. That or someone at the top had finally lost their job because of it all. They had been talking about that one for a while. A six-month investigation without changes in staff, someone surely had to answer for the fact that they hadn’t got anywhere. They were certainly making them answer in the pages of the press. Be that on paper or online.
‘Thank you for coming in,’ Sharpe started and the room fell quiet but for a couple of people who finished off the conversations they had started. Sharpe glared at them, and soon the whole room was silent and waiting for her to continue.
‘As you can imagine, being called at such short notice like this, we have something we want to tell you that couldn’t wait. It’s important and we wanted to do a press conference rather than send out a note.’
Pens were being scribbled across notepads and cameras were on and aimed at the pair of women in front of the room.
A hand went up in the middle of the huddle of reporters.
‘We’ll take a couple of questions at the end of the briefing,’ Sharpe cut them off.
‘Where are Harrison and Kapoor?’ the determined reporter persisted.
‘Like I said—’ her stare was hard, flinty — ‘we will answer questions at the end and if you let us get on with the briefing you may find you have some questions answered.’
A rumble went around the room as people presumed someone had in fact lost their job over this case.
Sharpe was clearly not impressed with the behaviour. She was used to her subordinates listening to her when she was talking and waiting for her to continue. This rabble seemed to be pissing her off. Maybe this was why she rarely did press conferences.
Sharpe and Claudia waited for the noise to die down. Eventually it did.
‘If you don’t mind giving us your full attention for the next ten minutes we’d appreciate that,’ Sharpe said. ‘I’m going to hand you over to DI Claudia Nunn who will inform you why you’re here and what’s happening.’ She inclined her head towards Claudia who smiled in response.
Claudia’s nerves were getting the better of her. This was a huge gamble. She was making a lot of assumptions coming out here with the story she was about to tell. But it was information-based if not evidence-based. She swallowed and started.
‘A woman has been reported missing and a thorough investigation has led us to believe that she has been taken by the Sheffield Strangler.’
There was silence from the room as they waited for more details.
She continued. ‘This is the first time we’ve been in front of him this way, knowing he has someone before we find the body. But he’s made it clear he has this woman. He wanted us to know. So we want to ask him to return her to us with no further harm caused. You’ll see in your press packs on your chairs that there is a photofit of a male. We’d like you to circulate this image as we believe he may be able to help us with our enquiries.’ This next part was the difficult section, the information that was going to cause uproar in the room. She took a deep breath in, held it and released. ‘We can inform you that the woman who has been taken is DC Ruth Harrison of South Yorkshire Police. She is a serving officer and—’
The room exploded. Voices shouted out to her, arms flew up into the air, flashbulbs blurred her vision. She tried to battle through the wave of sound.
‘We want no further harm to come to DC Harrison. All we ask is that she is returned immediately.’
It was no use. They had heard enough; they had heard the important information and wanted their questions answering. Claudia looked to Sharpe. Her fingers were clenched together under the table. Her knuckles white with the pressure. She looked out to the reporters. Arms still in the air. Phone calls were being made. This was news and they wanted to get it out as quickly as possible.
‘We’ll take a couple of questions,’ Sharpe said, only loud enough for those who were still listening to hear her. Another couple of hands went up and she pointed to one of these. One of the reporters who hadn’t been rude enough to interrupt before. Claudia liked her style.
‘How do you know it’s the Sheffield Strangler?’
Sharpe looked to Claudia to take the question. She’d said she would. This was her show.
‘He left something behind that could only have come from the Sheffield Strangler,’ Claudia answered as vaguely as she could, then pointed to another reporter.
‘How long has DC Harrison been missing?’
Claudia sighed. ‘She’s been missing since yesterday evening.’ It was too long. She didn’t like how long it had been. They had no real concept of when she had been taken. She had left work at around five but Dominic said he hadn’t got home until about nine thirty. It could be any time between.
‘Her name is Harrison?’ said another reporter — here it came. ‘Is she any relation t
o DS Dominic Harrison?’
Of course she bloody was. ‘Yes, it’s his wife.’
Again the noise in the room erupted and Claudia’s ears were assaulted by the ferocity of the sound.
Sharpe nodded towards the door. It was time for them to leave. Claudia placed her hands on the table, ready to rise from the chair. ‘We are doing everything in our power to find Ruth Harrison, but again, if I can ask the person who has her to release her immediately, before any more harm can come to her, we would be really grateful.’
‘What do you mean, any more harm?’ someone shouted out from the rear of the room.
Claudia and Sharpe rose.
‘Has she been hurt?’ they shouted again.
‘That’s all in the way of questions for today.’ Sharpe closed it down.
‘What aren’t you telling us?’ from the left side of the room.
Claudia shuffled along behind the empty chairs that were pushed in behind the long table.
‘Where was she abducted from?’ this from the left side again.
‘Thank you,’ said Claudia as she disappeared from view.
Sharpe turned to her in the corridor. ‘They’re a pack of vultures. Why can’t they sit quietly, take the information we have for them, ask the couple of questions we allow and write up their articles? Why does it have to turn into—’ she waved her hand about in the air — ‘that.’ Her nose wrinkled in disdain.
‘They’re doing their job,’ said Claudia as they moved away from the door towards the stairs, back up to the incident room and Sharpe’s office.
‘If they were doing their jobs properly they’d have listened to the briefing, not exploded the minute they heard something remotely interesting.’
She had a point. They’d been like a bunch of school children. It wasn’t like them. But Ruth Harrison being abducted was big news. They had to get it out fast and they wanted as many facts for their articles as they could gather and quickly. Though behaving like a rabble wouldn’t achieve that.
‘You’re going to bed Dominic down for the night and start again in the morning?’ Sharpe asked.
Panic and fear gripped Claudia’s chest like a vice. ‘I was going to go back and continue.’
‘You look tired.’
Claudia understood Sharpe was attempting to show compassion but it came across hard and cold. ‘I can cope.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, Claudia.’ Sharpe directed a piercing gaze at her. ‘I’m not for one moment suspending the investigation for the night. It’ll continue throughout. Ruth is out there and she’s in trouble. You should know we don’t leave one of our own out there like that. But . . .’ She checked the corridor behind her. ‘You need to rest or you’ll not be able to take this all the way to the end.’
Whatever the end might be, thought Claudia darkly. Sharpe wanted Ruth back as much as she and her father did. It was the reason she had put Claudia on the job in the first place. This morning’s talk in the smoking shed seemed like weeks ago, and yet it was only this morning. ‘I can manage.’
‘But if we don’t allow Dominic to rest properly and he gets charged with anything—’
Claudia opened her mouth to interrupt, to remind Sharpe that her father was likely innocent of murdering Ruth, but Sharpe held up a finger.
‘I said if, Claudia. See, your hearing is already going. That or your ability to analyse spoken sentences. Your emotions are heightened and as you’re getting more tired the job is becoming more difficult. It really won’t hurt for you both to get your heads down. And like I said, if your father should be charged with anything then we need to have done everything by the book and that means allowing him to have his eight hours sleep.’
‘You know he won’t be happy.’ She wasn’t happy. Ruth was missing and she was being ordered to go home and leave her father in the cells overnight.
It was as though Sharpe could read her mind. ‘I’ll be here for a long time yet. I’m not resting quite yet.’
That was the positive thing about Sharpe. She may be all flinty and blunt, but the job was important to her. She was loyal to her staff. If the wheel was about to come off you could rely on Sharpe to be there trying to hold it on.
‘You’ll keep me updated?’ Claudia asked with reluctance.
‘Isn’t that my sentence?’ Sharpe tried a smile on for size. It really didn’t fit. ‘Just go. And yes, I’ll let you know if anything of significance occurs.’
With that Claudia walked away and headed back to the cells to inform her father he was staying for the night.
Chapter 46
Claudia
Her father hadn’t taken the news well. In fact Claudia had never seen him so angry. He was all over the place. It was to be expected with what he was going through, she supposed. She had to reassure him that though the interview was postponed for the evening and an extension would be sought tomorrow, the investigation itself was not closing down. There were officers on the night shift who were still searching for Ruth. His wife was still the force’s top priority and no one was backing down from finding her.
In the comfort of her own home Claudia allowed the mask she’d been wearing all day to slip away. The mask that enabled her to deal with the case that involved family. With one member desperately at risk and the other on the hook for her potential murder. Now, in the quiet of night, with the curtains drawn on the world, Claudia let the pain of the day wash over her as she couldn’t hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall every hour.
Claudia stood in the shower and allowed the jets of water to cascade over her as she sobbed. Her heart breaking. Nothing in her life or her career could have prepared her for this. Where was Ruth now? Was she being kept alive somewhere? Was she cold and afraid? This thought nearly brought Claudia to her knees. Considering that Ruth was injured and cold and afraid while she stood here warm and safe. Claudia clutched at her stomach, physical pain tearing through her body.
Or were they already too late? Claudia howled out in protest. At the unfairness of it all. Her father locked in the small space in the custody block, terrified for his wife but unable to actively do anything to help. He was innocent but she followed orders and the logic behind them made sense. It had to be done this way. It would happen like this if it was anyone else, she couldn’t deny that.
She towelled herself dry and padded to the bedroom. Sleep would be elusive but she’d make the pretence of trying.
Eventually in the early hours of the morning she slipped into a dark sleep where she found herself sitting with Ruth in a bar, both of them holding a glass of red wine. Ruth laughing at something she’d said. Then, as she sipped on her wine, blood started to pour from Ruth’s mouth. Loud laughter carried on around them. Echoing and repeating. Ruth’s eyes bulged in horror, her wine glass filling with blood, mixing with the red wine, swirling in a vortex. Claudia reached out to grab her but however far forward she leaned she was unable to reach her. She shouted out and found herself in the inky blackness of her bedroom once again.
After that she didn’t sleep. Her fear tormented her. Her mind whirred.
As soon as was reasonable, she rose, grabbed a tea in a reusable carry mug, pushed her shoulders back, put her work mask back in place and left the house.
There had been no forward momentum during the night. It was always a difficult period where little could be progressed. They had no idea where to even start searching for Ruth. Not one witness had mentioned a vehicle they could trace. It was a matter of hoping someone recognised the image they put out yesterday and hoping the interview with her father gave them something useful. Thinking of her father, she really wanted to get back to him and start again.
Russ entered her office. ‘How’d you sleep?’
She shook her head. ‘What about you?’
He shrugged.
There really were no words for how shitty they were all feeling.
Russ slumped into the chair in front of her desk. ‘You want to get back over to the custody block?’
She was about to answer him when her phone started to ring. She picked it up, tried to tell the caller she was tied up and then said she’d be there shortly.
Russ raised an eyebrow in question.
‘Someone has come in and wants to talk to me.’
‘You think it might be from the press conference yesterday?’
‘He says he’s family of one of the victims. I couldn’t send him away.’ She rose from her chair. ‘I won’t be long and then we’ll get straight off.’
* * *
The man waiting for her stood with his hands behind his back, his shoulders straight, and where people usually appeared a little nervous in a police station he had an air of self-importance.
‘How can I help you, Mr Chapman?’
They were in one of the witness interview rooms. In fact it was the very same room she’d spoken to her father, just yesterday morning.
‘I saw the media appeal that went out yesterday. I believe it was you who ran it.’
‘Have a seat.’ Claudia waved at the chair opposite her as she slid into the one nearest her.
Alex Chapman let out a sigh of impatience and seated himself in the chair she’d pointed out.
‘How can I help?’ she asked again.
‘My ex-wife, the mother of my child, was murdered by this animal. You’ve done nothing to catch him but now he’s taken one of your own it’s all systems go.’
Was he going to ask her a question or was he here to make a complaint? ‘The team dealing with the case have been working hard for months. I understand it’s been difficult—’
He waved his own hand at her. ‘I don’t want your platitudes. I want to know that you’re going to catch this man. That I can tell my son he can sleep at night.’
That problem at night was familiar. ‘Mr Chapman. I’m sorry it’s taken so long. I can assure you the investigation team are dedicated to their task. But yes, while we have the opportunity to get one of the women back alive we’re going to do everything within our power to find him.’
BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 1) Page 23