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

Silence smothered the room. ‘He was distraught as you’d expect him to be. He was adamant the Sheffield Strangler has done this as he’s been chasing him for the last six months and thinks the killer wants him off his tail. If it is the Sheffield Strangler, and the lipstick goes some way to prove that it is, then this is as good a way as any to get the detective you see as bothersome off your back. His focus is going to be directed elsewhere. Little does our killer realise there’s a huge team involved in tracking him and not just the one who he’s been liaising with.’

She let the information sink in. ‘Today we continue to work with the Sheffield Strangler investigation team. It’s going to be another long day, I’m afraid.’

Claudia thanked them and walked back to her office. There was a small pile of mail waiting for her. She picked up the top envelope as she seated herself behind her desk. It was hand-delivered as it had no stamp or postmark. She opened it and stared as she read the note. Then dropped it on the desk, picked up her phone and photographed the paper in front of her as she re-read it.

 

DI Nunn,

It’s unusual for me to make a phone call. Letters are my usual mode of communication. I wanted to make sure you believe I do not have your missing officer. Because taking a cop is a step too far and I need you to believe this. I want to meet with you, so I can prove I do not have her. Come alone and I’ll tell you where I was and what I was doing at the time she was taken. But you must come alone. I do not trust anyone else. If I see signs of any other police presence I will not show up. Trust that I will know if they’re there. To find out the truth, meet with me at the graveyard at Cemetery Avenue at 11 a.m. in front of the Nonconformist chapel. Don't be late or risk your investigation being stuck in the wrong place and your cop running out of time.

 

A sudden coldness filled her chest and her skin prickled. This was direct contact from the Sheffield Strangler and he wanted to meet with her. She had no idea what she was going to do. It was a chance to finally capture him, but he’d said she had to be alone and he’d know if other cops were present. She had no idea what he had put in place to detect the other cops, but she was wary of scaring him off if she could get into a real dialogue with him while Ruth was still missing. Ruth was the priority here. She didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise her safe return. If going to speak to him, under whatever pretence he was setting up, was a way to get Ruth back safely then she would do whatever was needed. And that included going to meet him.

But without backup?

It just wasn’t something she was capable of doing. It went against everything she stood for. She was a rule-follower.

But what about Ruth? What if involving the troops got Ruth killed?

This guy said he didn’t have her and if he didn’t have her then what was the risk? Though the whole point for Claudia was to find Ruth. There was a chance he was lying to her and this made her wonder what game he was playing.

Claudia looked at her watch. She didn’t have much time. The Sheffield Strangler, as the press dubbed him, had obviously planned it so that the police couldn’t easily set up any kind of surveillance or anything where they were to meet. She couldn’t do this on her own though, no matter what his instructions were, it wasn’t how she was built.

She had to get moving if she was to do everything she needed: to update Sharpe and also to appraise herself of where the location of the meet was. She wanted to make sure she arrived in plenty of time, calm and organised. Quickly she dialled the Crime Scene Unit and informed them there was a letter on her desk that needed processing.

The next stop was Sharpe. Claudia printed out the photographed letter and with hot paper in hand she ran up the stairs to Sharpe’s office. Her head was spinning with fear and anticipation of what the next hour was going to look like. The apprehension of how this would go down with the Sheffield Strangler, and of locating Ruth wherever she may be and whatever state she may be in.

Maxine, Sharpe’s PA, was at her desk and Claudia could see beyond her into Sharpe’s office. It was empty. Claudia’s veins ran cold.

‘Where is she? I need to see her, urgently,’ she said as Maxine looked up.

‘She’s on her way back from a meeting with Connelly and the PCC. She shouldn’t be long.’

Claudia paced backwards and forwards in front of Maxine’s desk. ‘How long do you think she’s going to be?’

Maxine looked at the clock on her computer monitor then shook her head. ‘I really couldn’t say. She sent me a text when she was leaving to say she was on her way back. That was about twenty minutes ago.’

Claudia, desperate to get to the cemetery on time and not miss the Strangler, shifted impatiently in front of Maxine’s desk. It was urgent that she had backup. She needed to let Sharpe know about the meeting. Yes, she could organise the backup herself in normal circumstances, but these weren’t normal circumstances, she was on the clock. She needed to be doing other things and allowing someone else, someone higher up, to be organising the support. Plus, Sharpe really needed to be in the know.

She looked into the room again. Nothing