BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book by Rebecca Bradley (rooftoppers .TXT) 📕

trainers and some letters on the table. A mirror over the table and a charger with its cord wrapped around it. ‘Notice anything out of place in here?’ Claudia asked.

Dominic shook his head. ‘I don’t understand what you think I’ll find that CSU didn’t.’

She turned and snapped at him, her patience wearing thin. ‘We’ve nothing to go on. Your neighbours haven’t seen anything, this is the only thing I can think of to try. If you can’t be bothered we can always take you back to your cell.’

Dominic grunted. ‘No, it’s fine. I get it. I’m here, aren’t I?’

Claudia pushed a hand through her hair. ‘Well damn well behave as though you have as much to lose as the rest of us then.’

His shoulders sunk under her glare. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. Shall we go through the rest of the house?’

They moved upstairs and quietly walked through each and every room. Dominic paused as they stood at the threshold of their bedroom. Claudia waited, not forcing him to step into the space. With a deep breath he crossed into it. He stared at the bed. A bed he had shared with his wife, the woman they were searching for with a fear in their hearts they could not express. He looked away and turned to the rest of the room.

‘Anything?’ asked Claudia.

He shook his head, opened up the wardrobe doors, peered into the drawers and rummaged through the contents. It was difficult with his handcuffs on. He didn’t say anything. Nothing was out of place and no item was there that shouldn’t have been.

They trailed downstairs, first Kane, then Dominic and bringing up the rear was Claudia.

The living room was warm and welcoming. Cushions thrown all over the sofa, a couple of thick woollen throws for cooler evenings when snuggles were called for rather than the oppressiveness of central heating. Photographs dotted the walls. Claudia looked at them and swallowed. The smiles. Bright, happy.

‘My mug is gone. I left it down at the side of the sofa.’ Dominic pointed with both hands as they were tethered to each other.

‘I presume CSU have probably taken it. We have to expect things will have been removed, but let me know if you can see any others and we will check with CSU when we get back. Make sure they all marry up with them and that nothing has gone walkabout by other means. When did you last see it?’

Dominic lifted his eyes to the ceiling. ‘This morning.’

‘Not likely it was taken by anyone else then, is it?’ she snapped at him again. This was getting harder than she had imagined it would be. She’d told Sharpe she could do this, but for all she tried to control them, she was a living breathing human and her emotions were leaking out.

Dominic didn’t respond.

‘Anything else in here?’ she asked.

He walked around the room. Moved cushions and throws, a newspaper that was on the table. He shook his head. ‘I can’t see anything that is making me anxious.’

‘Kitchen,’ she spat.

The pedal bin had been emptied. The kitchen looked like anyone else’s kitchen. Items lined the worktops. A toaster, a kettle, a knife block — that had been dusted for prints. There was a knife missing. The block was bound to have Dominic and Ruth’s prints on it. That was only to be expected. This was their house. It was if there were other prints they would get excited. But what if it was Dominic? How would they prove it? These items belonged to him. She needed to ask him about the glass in the pedal bin when they were back in an interview room.

Dominic scratched at his head. ‘I can’t see anything. I don’t know what you’re expecting here. I don’t get it. I don’t know what I can offer you.’ He was defeated and Claudia wanted to punch him.

‘Ruth is out there, you fucking moron. She’s relying on us not to give up. Stop whining like a baby and being defeatist and get your head in the game. You’re a cop. Act like a cop. I don’t give a shit if you’re in handcuffs. Pull it together.’

The words were harsh, her tone even more brittle.

Dominic stared at Claudia, his complexion pale, allowing her words to sink in. ‘I want to find my wife.’

‘Okay then. We have one last place to check and this one is the hardest, this is the place we found her blood, we need to go into the garage.’

Dominic’s shoulders slumped. ‘You keep saying it’s her blood, but the results haven’t come back yet, have they?’

Claudia’s hand was on the door handle. ‘No, they haven’t come back yet. I’ll let you know as soon as they do. Are you ready for this?’ She wasn’t sure what she expected from him as she had no idea what had gone down in this house. If he’d killed her, would he leave the blood to be found like that? It was unlikely. And the garage was a place you didn’t go into every day. It would be easy enough for him not to have seen it and walked into the police station oblivious to its being there.

Dominic bent over double, placed his hands on his knees — as best he could considering they were still bound together in the cuffs.

Claudia waited for him. ‘You sure you want to do this?’

‘I’ll do anything that could potentially lead to us finding Ruth.’

She understood his anxiety. Claudia steeled herself to go back into the garage. This had been her idea, she couldn’t blame Sharpe for this. Much as she’d love to. Sharpe knew she would do everything in her power to get to the bottom of the case and to find the truth. To find Ruth and to know Dominic’s part in it. Even if it was