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

be in her sixties, but still young considering what she struggled with in her life. Dom brought himself up. Maybe she coped perfectly fine. Why shouldn’t she still look young because she was in a chair and was an amputee?

‘Mrs Grady?’ He hadn’t phoned and warned her he was coming because if he had she would have jumped to conclusions and would have had to wait for the answers. Instead it was better to give her the news and the answers she needed all at once.

‘Yes, can I help you?’

He had his warrant card clasped in his hand and opened his palm out to her to show her the identification. ‘I’m DS Dominic Harrison. I’m here to talk about your daughter, Madeleine.’

Her hand went to her mouth. Not a sound escaped, but it was that moment when the news passes silently between people without a word having to be said. Dominic hated it. He would rather form the words and have an actual say in how the news was imparted but this freaky sense that some people had of taking the information from you without you having any choice in the matter rattled his cage.

He stepped over the threshold and into the house. They were still on the doorstep. ‘Can we go inside?’

She moved back allowing him to enter.

‘Shall we go into the living room and I can explain why I’m here.’

She agreed and pushed the door closed behind him.

‘Is there anyone else here with you?’ Dominic asked.

‘No. I’m here alone. Madeleine used to visit me every day. That’s how I knew she was missing. My grandson is currently staying with me since she went missing but he’s out at college at the moment.’ She wheeled herself into the living room.

It was comfortable with a large cream sofa facing the small television in the corner and plenty of room for her chair to move around. Dominic paid attention to the size of the television because nowadays most people had the largest TVs they could fit into the house. This was small and neat and fitted well with the décor of the room. It was comfortable. Homey.

He indicated the sofa. ‘Mind if I sit?’

Mrs Grady shook her head and Dominic sank into the deep cushions, feeling at odds with Mrs Grady in her hard looking chair. He tried to straighten himself and stiffened his back in the process but ended up collapsing further into the softness of the fabric. He wriggled to gain control but was losing so gave up and hardened his posture as much as he could.

‘I’m sorry to tell you, Mrs Grady—’

‘Gwen.’

‘Sorry?’ The uncomfortable position he was lodged in was affecting his brain.

‘My name,’ said Mrs Grady. ‘It’s Gwen.’

He had to lean forward to hear her. A feat of its own.

‘I’m sorry, Gwen. We think we’ve found Madeleine.’

‘You’re not talking about safe and sound, are you?’ Her hands were tight in her lap.

‘No, I’m sorry, I’m not. We found her body early this morning. A young couple happened upon her.’ He left out the reason they were out and about. No need to add details like that.

Gwen Grady talked down to the floor. ‘What happened to my baby?’

‘She was killed. We’ve launched a full murder inquiry and no stone will be left unturned in order to identify who did this.’ He climbed out of the soft fabric that held him and crouched in front of her. ‘You’re going to hear on the news that her murder may be linked to another murder we had a few weeks ago.’

‘You could have stopped this?’ Tears were streaming from her eyes.

Dominic hated this question. He shook his head. ‘Not with the evidence we have so far. And on that basis I need to ask you some questions about Madeleine, if that’s okay? We need to learn more about her. About her life and her last movements. Shall I make us a drink first? Is there anyone I can call to come and sit with you?’

Gwen let out a quiet sigh, like the world was now too heavy for her. ‘The kitchen is through there. I’ll call my sister while you do that. She thought the world of Maddy. She’ll be devastated.’

Dominic stood and walked through to the kitchen. Everything had been lowered so that Gwen could do the tasks herself. He could see she was an independent woman even if her daughter did come to visit her every day. At first he had presumed it had been to come and take care of her, but looking at the layout of the kitchen, the units and the utensils, he realised it was probably because she loved her mother and wanted to see her. Some parents had such a relationship with their children.

He walked back into the room with two mugs of coffee and placed them on coasters on the small square table at the end of one of the sofas.

‘How’s your sister?’ he asked.

‘She’s on her way, but it’ll take her a while to get here. We can talk.’ Gwen was shaking, tears silently slicing their way down her face.

This time Dominic perched on the edge of the sofa and managed not to collapse into it. ‘When did you see Maddy last?’

Gwen took in a deep breath. ‘It was about two weeks ago. Like I said, she comes to see me every day. She doesn’t live far away. She didn’t want to move too far from me. I told her I didn’t need her but her whole life she’s been the same. She married and stayed close by and when they divorced I thought she might take the opportunity to move and get away from those memories, but she didn’t.’

‘How did she seem?’

‘She was good. She said she’d met someone.’ Gwen’s hand fluttered over her chest as a