She turned to check the house behind her. People, especially people with kids, worried about what strangers thought of their homes. New mothers were not usually on top of the tidying.
‘I won’t keep you long, and it would be really helpful,’ Dominic pushed.
Finally she relented and stepped back, allowing him access. Dominic entered her home just as her husband — he’d seen a ring on her finger — walked down the stairs, dressing gown wrapped around his slender torso.
‘What’s happening?’ He rubbed his eyes.
‘This police officer wants to talk to me about the incident over the road.’
‘There’s an incident over the road?’ He yawned.
Dominic could see the fillings at the back of his mouth.
The baby grumbled.
‘Do you mind if I sort his breakfast out while we talk?’ the mother asked.
‘No problem at all.’ Dominic followed her into a bright and airy kitchen-cum-diner and the husband followed behind him.
‘I told you something was happening on the green,’ she said to her husband as she dumped the baby in a highchair. ‘You snored in response, though.’
She huffed at him — disgusted, Dominic imagined, that she was up early with the baby while he managed to sleep through everything. He remembered the fractious times when Claudia was little. The digs about who was doing what. Who had done the last feed or changed the last nappy or had the least amount of sleep, as though it were a competition.
‘Have a seat.’ She waved at the chairs around the circular table in the room’s corner.
The husband clicked the kettle on. ‘Can I make you one?’
‘A coffee would be good, thanks. It’s been an early start.’ Not that Dominic needed to remind this couple.
The woman stirred some porridge in a plastic bowl while the baby waited patiently, and Dominic realised he still didn’t have the couple’s names. He opened his notebook and asked for their details.
‘Julia and David Stewart,’ the woman answered as she carried the baby’s bowl across the room and sat down, pulling the high chair around so it faced her.
Dominic made a note. ‘Thank you.’
The baby guzzled his breakfast with barely disguised excitement. The first meal of the day and he was ready for it. His pudgy little hands patted the tray of the high chair and his mouth opened and closed around the spoon as his mother fed him.
Quickly, a steaming mug of coffee was placed in front of Dominic, the smell waking up any still-sleeping brain cells.
He looked up. ‘Thank you.’
David smiled and scratched his scalp, still trying to get his head around what he’d woken up to. Dominic sensed it was not normal to wake to a stranger in his house.
Now they were settled, Dominic started on his reason for being here. ‘What can you tell me about this morning?’
Again David looked bemused. He rose and walked to the front of the house and peered out of the window. Dominic heard a low ‘Oh’ as he took in the activity beyond. The ambulance, the police vehicles. The white tent that signified a body beneath it. He returned to the kitchen, looking even paler than when he’d left.
Julia looked up from what she was doing and shook her head. It was clear who had things in order here. No doubt her husband had the excuse that he needed to go to work. And no sooner had the thought gone through Dominic’s mind than David took a sip of his coffee before saying, ‘I sleep through so much as I’m up for work early. Then I help with the baby when I get home. It’s a busy household, as you can see.’
Dominic nodded his agreement, not daring to put a foot in either camp of this family. It was a delicate balancing act, and he couldn’t remember how good he’d been when Claudia was small. Of course, he’d still been working and her mother had taken maternity leave, so he might have been guilty of allowing her to take the bulk of the work through the night. Listening to the more modern fathers in the office, though, they appeared to lend more of a helping hand.
‘Noah stirred.’ Julia brought Dominic back to the question he’d asked of the couple. ‘That was what woke me initially. He’s eight months, so he’s in his own room.’ She continued to shovel his food into his greedy little mouth. ‘His room is at the front of the house. We use a baby monitor. There was a car in the background. I thought it unusual for being so late in the night. Or early in the morning. However you want to look at it.’
A thrill ran up Dominic’s spine. This woman might have actually seen something. He kept his stance relaxed so that she could continue to tell her story and took a sip of his own coffee. It was good. Just what he needed. ‘What did you do?’ He pushed for her to proceed.
The baby had finished his porridge and Julia rose and started to make a bottle. Moving easily around the kitchen, placing the dirty bowl and spoon in the dishwasher while waiting for the bottle-filling machine to finish. They never had anything so flash when he was a new dad.
‘I saw to Noah first. He was grumbling because he’d lost his dummy. I never wanted him to have one, but it’s the only way he settles at night. He can’t put it back in himself yet, so when he wakes without it he lets me know, and I have to get out of bed to settle him.’
Dominic allowed her to ramble off topic. Some officers, less experienced officers, would attempt to guide her to the path they wanted her on. But Dominic was aware that as she talked and as she placed herself in her child’s room at the right time this morning, she would be right there where he needed her to be, in her mind. She may or may not have witnessed something important, and that was what they were about to find out.
He sipped his coffee again, savouring the warmth. The aroma was waking his body.
Julia sat back down with the baby’s bottle and leaned it towards the still-hungry mouth, which was open like a baby bird. The teat was soon enveloped and the baby once again happy.
‘It took me a while to settle him,’ Julia continued. ‘It was still dark, but I had the sense daylight was not far away.’
June brought early mornings. Unless you had blackout blinds or heavy curtains, the day woke you at an unreasonable hour. Dominic understood the feeling of daylight being not far away, sensing it about to break.
‘Eventually Noah settled, and I remembered the car engine I heard. I looked out of Noah’s window. I worry about cars being broken into or houses being burgled through the night. So I’m alert to sounds I might hear when I’m awake with Noah.’
Dominic leaned forward.
David’s mouth was open slightly. He glanced at the time on the microwave. Dominic presumed he would need to get ready for work but wouldn’t want to miss what his wife had to say.
‘I couldn’t see anything. If there had been a car, it had gone.’
Dominic was deflated. David’s mouth closed.
‘But there was someone sitting in one of the chairs on the green. They had their back to me. The winged seat has its back to the house. The wings are rather large. All I could see was a rough outline of their body and the tip of their head. The size of the chair hid the majority of them. I couldn’t even see if it was a male or a female.’ She put her free hand up to her mouth as she shook her head. ‘I had no idea there was anything wrong. To be honest, tiredness overwhelmed me.’
She turned to David, who looked down at his feet then at the clock on the microwave again before rising.
‘I have to get ready for work.’ He returned his gaze to Julia. ‘Will you be okay? Do you want me to take the day off and stay with you?’
She looked worn out. Like relaying the early morning/late night’s events had taken it out of her. And Dominic hadn’t finished questioning her yet. ‘We’re going to need a statement, Julia. I don’t know if you’ll need someone to look after Noah or not while we do it,’ Dominic said in response to David’s question.
David looked put out that Dominic had answered instead of Julia, but Dominic just continued to sip at his now-cooling coffee while the couple sorted out their domestic arrangeme
nts. He wished they would hurry, as Julia hadn’t finished relaying this morning’s events. Dominic wanted every detail from her.
David dropped back into his seat, resigned to the fact that his morning at least was going to be scuppered, and picked up his own coffee mug again.
‘What happened next?’ Dominic asked of Julia, bringing her attention back to the subject at hand.
She shook her head. ‘I closed the curtain and left them there. I presumed they were waiting for someone. Though it was a little early. Oh, first I checked our car in front of the house hadn’t been tampered with. That was fine, so I headed back to bed.’
‘The car you mentioned hearing, what make or model was it?’
‘It wasn’t in sight by the time I opened the curtain to have a look outside. You think I missed something important?’
It was clear she’d missed the killer dropping Zach Williams’s body off. What Dominic needed was a timeframe. ‘Did you check the time when you woke?’
Julia paused. Dominic watched the question running through her head. The neurons searching for the answer. Again, he remembered back long ago to the early days of Claudia being so small and the haze that enveloped you.
‘I’m sure I checked the time when I heard Noah but . . .’ She pulled the teat out of Noah’s mouth to allow milk to flow where his suckling was creating air blocks. His greedy little mouth searching out the bottle his mother had removed from him until she replaced it. She rubbed her forehead. ‘I think it was probably around three forty-five.’
‘That’s really helpful. Thank you.’
‘The person on the chair, under the tent, what was it?’ Julia asked.
Dominic frowned.
‘Was it a man or a woman?’
‘He was a man.’
‘You think he’s anything to do with the guy in the papers?’ asked David. ‘The one they’re calling the Artist?’
‘It’s not a name we’ve given him. And at this time we don’t know what we’re dealing with until we take him back to the mortuary and inform his next of kin.’
Silence fell in the kitchen, leaving just the sound of a greedy suckling baby.
CHAPTER 53
The Artist hadn’t been able to get any sleep. He had expected no one to be up and about so early, and it irked him that things hadn’t gone to plan. A simple phone call would have sent the police to the right location at the right time, but people, people, they were such an unknown quantity.
Now he had to plan his next installation with detailed precision. Especially with the focus of the exhibit he had planned being the most difficult yet.
But planning was what would get him through it.
He would need to identify a location. Somewhere fantastical. Somewhere that topped everything he had used so far. This was to be his crowning glory.
Could Sheffield produce that for him?
His head was spinning with the thoughts that whirled through his mind.
He could not fail this time.
They would witness his greatness. It would be there for all to see when he displayed the next and final exhibit. After this, there would be no need to show his work any further. This would be his jewel in the crown. And he wanted to move on it sooner rather than later.
His heart raced with excitement at the thought of where he was going next. No need to worry about the failures of the last one. Focus on the next piece of art. Move forward. Always forward. It was an artist’s life. To always create. He would show Sheffield what he was made of.
CHAPTER 54
Claudia paced around the incident room like a caged tiger.
She was utterly furious.
Zach had been in their protection and they had failed him. He had succumbed to the wanker the press had named the Artist.
‘What a ridiculous name,’ she shouted out at no one in particular.
Blank, pale faces stared back at her, afraid of the fury she would rain down on them.
‘What is?’ Dominic asked. One person who would not be kowtowed by her.
‘The Artist,’ she hissed. ‘A name for someone who creates beauty. What we see from this killer is not beauty. It’s ugly and stark and vile.’ She turned and paced again, running out of steam a little now.
‘We can’t help what the press do, Claudia,’ Dominic pushed back. The rest of the room sat in continued silence, grateful for his presence this morning. Even Russ Kane, her battle-hardy second, was quiet.
It wasn’t about the name at all. It was about the incompetence, and yet she couldn’t scream at them for that. Because the incompetence was down to her, not them. But that was indeed what she wanted to do. She wanted to scream the place down and blame someone for the shitshow that she was standing in the middle of, that had allowed Zach Williams to die the way he had.
So instead she turned and railed on Dominic. ‘What the fuck? If I want to bitch about the ridiculousness of this killer’s media-given name, I damn well will and no one here is going to bloody well stop me. Do you hear me?’ She was absolutely raging.
Dominic rose from his chair. His hands curled into fists at his sides.
Russ also rose to standing. ‘Claudia?’ His voice was calm.
Her head snapped around to look at him, her attention drawn away from Dominic. From the fists at his sides. The pulse hammering in his jaw.
But Dominic wasn’t having the interference. ‘Russ, I don’t need your help here.’ His tone was flat with a sharp edge.
‘I was talking to Claudia, Dom.’
No one else moved. To Claudia it was as though the room itself was holding its breath, waiting to see who would back down first. The energy was exploding from inside her like a volcano, but Dominic had risen to her display of temper with one of his own. She could see the fear in her team’s eyes. No one knew what a clash between these two titans would look like. And in the middle was Russ, calm and quiet but no less fiery. Claudia knew he’d hold his ground. But his stance was different. His reason for being involved was not the same as hers and Dominic’s. Whereas they were escalating, Russ was there to dampen the fire.
Both Dominic and Claudia turned on Russ immediately.
‘I don’t need . . .’
‘She doesn’t need . . .’
They glared at each other.
Russ took a step closer to Claudia. ‘Shall we take this into your office?’ he asked quietly.
‘She doesn’t need mollycoddling, Russ,’ Dominic spat.
Claudia straightened her spine. Dominic pushed back his shoulders.
‘We don’t need to do this in here.’ Russ’s voice was level and calm, like silk.
‘I’d listen to Russ if I were you, DI Nunn.’ The voice was like an electric shock through the room. It had appeared from nowhere. Everyone had been so engrossed in the action in the middle of the incident room that no one had seen Sharpe enter. Her heels, which usually gave her entry away, were hidden beneath the animosity being thrown about by the father and daughter.
‘Ma’am.’ Claudia lowered her stance. Brought the anger down a notch. Recognising where she had nearly allowed things to go, shame flooded her system.
‘Like DS Kane said, not in here. Your office, shall we?’ And without waiting for an invitation she strode straight into Claudia’s office, followed quickly by Claudia.
Russ and Dominic looked at her and she shook her head. She’d deal with this alone. They were to go back to their desks. This was over.
‘Close the door,’ Sharpe instructed as Claudia moved into her office.
She pushed the door to.
Sharpe narrowed her eyes. ‘What the hell did I just walk in on?’ She was sitting in Claudia’s chair, waiting for answers.
Claudia stayed standing like a naughty schoolgirl in the headmistress’s office, rather than a detective inspector in her own space, in control of her own team. Though a minute ago she really hadn’t been in control of anyone, least of all herself.
She deserved to feel ashamed of herself.
; She deserved the look Sharpe was bearing down on her.
It wasn’t as though she had any answers for Sharpe. Anger had been driving her. Pure unadulterated rage that Zach had been murdered when she’d thought he was in her care.
Claudia ran a hand through her hair.
Sharpe softened. ‘You thought you had him — the victim,’ she clarified as though Claudia needed it.
Claudia gave a short nod, then crossed her arms over her body.
‘We can’t save everyone.’ Sharpe visibly relaxed. The lines on her face that had been like ravines when she’d entered the incident room were mere wisps on her skin now. She stared at Claudia standing in front of her. ‘But whatever occurred, Claudia, there’s no way I can be walking in on what was happening just then.’ The softness was gone from her face. ‘Do you understand me?’
‘I’m sorry you had to see that.’
‘You’re sorry I had to see that or you’re sorry it happened? I’d much prefer the latter. The first one indicates you wish you hadn’t been caught.’ She would clearly not take any shit this morning. And certainly not from her detective inspector.
Claudia dipped her head. ‘I’m sorry it happened. I don’t know what got into me. It should never have got out of hand like that. I should never have allowed it to get to that place.’
‘And can you sort it out? It looked like it was about to get physical, and I can’t have my sergeants brawling in front of the team and the inspector allowing it — in fact, not only allowing it, but instigating it.’ Sharpe was brittle.
Claudia was suitably chastised. Unsure herself what had happened, she did not know how to explain it to her supervisor. ‘I can only apologise, ma’am. Emotions are obviously running high. I let it get out of control. I’m sorry. I’ll sort it out.’
‘You’re damn right you will,’ Sharpe snapped. Then she looked at Claudia and leaned back in the chair. Claudia’s chair. And softened.
‘Leaving the disgrace of what I saw aside, I can understand why the team is struggling.’
Claudia should have felt better, but Sharpe’s melting only served to remind her of her failing. Of Zach’s murder. Of the lively boy he’d been only hours earlier. Of the life he’d had ahead of him where now he had none.
SECONDS TO DIE a totally gripping serial killer thriller with a twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 2) Page 20
