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

‘You presume correct.’ He smiled.

She clipped her bag shut and walked towards the door. ‘This is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. Keep yourselves safe, guys.’ And with that she was gone.

‘She’s right,’ Kapoor said. ‘I want you all to make sure you take extra precautions. He’s obviously paying attention to the investigation team. So pay attention to yourselves and your surroundings. Do not let yourselves get caught in any dangerous situations. I don’t want to have to visit a crime scene with one of you as the victim.’

The words cut through the room like a blade. Everyone looked at him. The words sinking in. The implications of what he was saying imprinting on brains. This guy knew who they were and he wanted their attention. They would be foolish to think he wouldn’t go after a cop. They’d have to keep their guard up.

Chapter 33

Claudia

Twenty-one hours since Ruth’s attack

They’d been at it for hours now. Claudia was exhausted. Dominic surely must be. Not that he’d admit it or agree to a break, but a break was what he would get. She needed to follow up with her team. See where they were in the investigation. If they had any leads or information she needed to be aware of.

She looked at her dad, sent a silent prayer up — though she wasn’t one to pray — that Ruth would be found and that the man in front of her had nothing to do with this.

‘Interview ended at—’

Dominic exploded. ‘What?! What do you mean interview ended? Why? What are you doing? We haven’t finished.’

Claudia kept her calm. She’d expected this. When she was a child he’d worked all the hours the job had dictated, regardless of what effect it had on his family. She’d felt his absence keenly and it wasn’t until she became a detective herself that she understood the drive her father might have felt. But she also recognised that he could have walked away some of the time and left it to someone else. He’d chosen the job over his family. And that loss of time had driven a wedge so deep she didn’t know if she could ever drag it out. She felt Kane shift in his chair and continued her closure for the recording. ‘Eighteen oh-two hours.’

Kane pressed the stop button and started the procedure of wrapping the discs up and labelling and signing the seals.

Dominic glared at Claudia, waiting for a response.

‘You need a break. I’m going to ask the custody staff to feed you. We should have done this sooner but it’s been too important to stop.’

‘It still is,’ he barked. ‘I don’t need to eat.’

‘Maybe not, but you’re having a break and I’m going to check in with my team and see what’s been happening in my absence.’

With that he settled a little, his shoulders relaxed, rounding off again.

‘Don’t worry—’ she tapped at the table with a finger — ‘I’m not going to sit and relax while you have a break. I’m still working. I’ll come back and we’ll pick up where we left off as soon as I know what’s been going on.’

‘Check in with my team, see if they’ve made in-roads with identifying the witness.’

Claudia stayed silent. She didn’t want to antagonise him any further by informing him that her team was also working the Sheffield Strangler angle as he’d made it such a prominent part of Ruth’s case. She rose from her chair. ‘I’ll be with you as soon as I can.’

Kane would return Dominic to his cell while she made a call back to the incident room.

Exiting the interview room and heading into the bowels of the custody suite, Claudia could hear detained people locked in cells, banging on doors and shouting for attention. The clatter and shrieking was a regular soundtrack of the suite. People were very often angry, frustrated. It was a space of helplessness. And that’s how she felt. It covered her like a heavyweight blanket. Bearing down and smothering her.

Running a hand through her hair, Claudia turned right and into the report-writing room where the computer terminals and phones were housed for attending officers to use. She picked up a phone and dialled in to her incident room.

Graham answered. He sounded hassled. Stressed.

‘What do we have?’ she asked him after checking he was okay. She was eager for news and Graham didn’t bore her with details of his welfare. He was fine, just busy.

‘About half an hour ago we identified the second witness at the abduction site of the Sheffield Strangler’s latest victim — the one eating from a bag of chips.’

A full working day had passed but she hadn’t expected this progress. ‘How did you manage that?’

‘We narrowed down the time, went to the closest two chip shops and asked about customers. A couple of them had paid by card. We identified them, made contact, and we have a winner.’

Claudia couldn’t believe it. If she was with him she could have kissed him. She realised her emotions really were running around unchecked with this case and reigned herself in. ‘You’ve spoken with him?’

Graham made a grunting sound. ‘Not as such. We had a landline number. It was his wife we spoke to. She confirmed he was out the evening in question and provided his mobile number so we could contact him. He’s at work at the minute. We were just about to call him before you rang in.’

Her skin itched. She was desperate to speak to this witness herself. So much of her life was invested in this case. It was fine to keep detainees in their cells while lines of enquiry were followed up and she had the time. He’d be frustrated, but if the end result cleared him and found Ruth then he’d soon