BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book by Rebecca Bradley (whitelam books .txt) 📗

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