‘Claudia.’ Sharpe warned her with a word. She looked lost as to what to do with her hands and fished out another cigarette from her pocket and lit it.
‘No.’ Claudia was equally adamant.
‘We’re still reeling from the loss of Ruth. What do you think it’d do to Dominic if he lost you right now?’
That was a low blow, and it took the air out of Claudia. She gasped at the severity of the comment. It was meant to shock, and it had done its job. ‘That was below the belt,’ she moaned.
‘Yes, but it’s had the effect I intended.’ She smirked. It wasn’t an attractive look on her.
‘These are completely different circumstances. For starters Ruth didn’t know she was at risk. I’m fully aware and will consciously assess my surroundings at all times.’
‘Ruth was an undercover officer. She was working on the Strangler case. Do you not think she was cautious of the situation around her?’
‘He attacked her in her own home.’
Sharpe blew smoke out and stared at her pointedly. ‘And you don’t think it’s possible the Artist can attack you in your own home, Claudia? Are you listening to yourself? You’re not making much sense.’
The fury was building inside Claudia. At every turn she was being blocked. Whatever she wanted she was being disappointed. How could she gain control of the situation? She hated being treated like this, like a child who needed guiding.
‘Look, I’ve relented on having another SIO in my incident room. Surely you can’t expect me to give in about this as well?’ She tried for calm.
‘It’s not about give and take,’ said Sharpe. ‘It’s about doing things the right way and keeping you safe. I have a compromise, though. How about you only have protection while you’re at home in the evening?’
‘And can we knock it down to a uniform car parked outside?’ Claudia asked. ‘I really don’t need anyone sitting inside the house. And surely a marked police vehicle is going to be enough to put the most hardy killer off.’
Sharpe let out a sigh along with a breath of light-coloured smoke in the bright glare of the sun. ‘You fight a hard battle, DI Claudia Nunn.’
Claudia smiled. She was not a child, and neither was she about to be the next victim of the Artist.
CHAPTER 61
The Artist was taking a walk. He was in the location he’d drawn on the invitation he’d sent to DI Claudia Nunn and the location of his final installation.
The birds spoke quietly above him.
It was something you can’t place into a drawing. All the external factors of a live exhibit. That’s the joy of having a live exhibit, in so much as his exhibits were live. The joy was the surroundings. Like here, where the birdsong would create a soundtrack, though he doubted anyone would notice it once they were here. They’d be stressed and angry rather than being open to what he was achieving.
Prison wasn’t an outcome he wanted, but capture would enable the public to finally see him for who he was and what he was creating — the art, rather than the panic the press where whipping up.
He sniffed at the mere thought of the press. They were useful in some ways but they really were a world all of their own. He hoped they would support him in explaining the artistic meaning of the installations, if the police managed to do what they were aiming to do. But whether they did or not, a court case would give him all the opportunity he needed.
He wasn’t afraid.
Creating a name that people would recognise for years and even decades to come, that meant more to him than a few years locked up. He was sure he’d still be able to create in prison. After all, they had libraries. They weren’t barbarians.
The Artist looked at the small moss-covered wall he’d depicted in his invitation, the place DI Nunn would soon be sitting, and smiled. It was a perfect place. Difficult to decipher — he really didn’t want them to stop this one. They had a head start knowing it was Claudia, and in a location that was meaningful to many. If he was creating his last installation, he may as well create it in a meaningful place with a meaningful woman.
A thrill of electricity ran up his spine.
He was ready.
CHAPTER 62
Claudia found DCI Adam Blackwood waiting in her office when she returned from the smoking shed. The CSI had finished and gone.
Blackwood smiled when she walked in.
She noted he hadn’t been presumptuous and taken her seat. He was hovering in the middle of the room.
‘Ah,’ he said when she pushed the door open. ‘I do hope Sharpe’s had a word with you.’ He looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Claudia moved around her desk and sat, making it clear whose office this was. ‘Yes, I’ve just come from a meeting with her.’ Though she wasn’t sure standing in the smoking shed could be classed as a meeting.
Blackwood inclined his head. ‘Glad to hear it. I didn’t want to have to explain my appearance here myself.’ He grinned. ‘It could have been awkward. You’re doing okay?’
Was he asking about the fact that he’d been tasked with taking over the investigation, or was he asking if she was okay having a killer target her? ‘I’m doing okay,’ she responded equally opaquely.
Blackwood indicated the chair in front of her desk. ‘Mind if I have a seat?’
He was being polite about the situation.
Claudia noticed faces turning towards them through the glass windows. They’d be wondering what was happening in there. There was no one as nosy as cops. ‘Help yourself.’
Blackwood, tall as he was, folded himself into the chair and faced her. ‘Look, I hope I haven’t bent your nose out of shape. This is obviously a last-minute thing. I only just received the email from Connelly. Said it was urgent. Gave me a brief outline of why. Sounds tense.’ He leaned forward to put a point on his words. ‘I’m here to do anything I can to help, without trampling all over the investigation you’ve already got up and running. Connelly is worried about you investigating yourself as a potential victim in this scenario, as far as I can make out, and only wants me to cover this part of the case. What comes beforehand is still totally yours.’
He held his hands open wide.
Claudia wasn’t sure how to respond to this. He was sincere in his approach. She couldn’t fault him in this. He hadn’t asked to take over her team. They had pushed it onto him. She was furious, but she was furious with the situation, not with individual people — the killer behind it all excepted. He took all the blame.
‘I have to admit to finding the whole thing difficult,’ she admitted. ‘I can’t promise to be the best behaved “victim”—’ she placed air quotes around the word — ‘but I’ll be as courteous as I can while you do your job and I’ll instruct my staff to do the same.’
He gave her the same wonky grin again. ‘It’s all I can ask for, in the circumstances. To be honest, Claudia, I’m not sure how I’d react to this. You appear to be bearing up admirably.’
She laughed out loud. ‘I’m glad the act is working. Now shall we go and update the very nosy crowd who are breaking their necks out there as to what’s happening?’
The pair walked out of Claudia’s office and the necks that had been straining to see what was happening quickly snapped back to forward positions as the team pretended to be getting on with some work.
‘Okay, everyone, can we have your attention?’ Claudia called to them.
The act of working didn’t last for long. They wanted to know who the new guy was, and those who knew him wanted to know what he was doing here in their office space.
Claudia moved to the front of the incident room and Adam followed. ‘This is DCI Adam Blackwood. He’s from Intelligence. In fact, he’s just taken over the department following the retirement of DCI Jennings.’
There were murmurings around the room as staff voiced their thoughts as to why he was standing in their office.
Claudia glared at them, not amused at the rudeness. They soon quelled. ‘You saw I had a
meeting with Sharpe after the drawing came in. The outcome of that meeting was that we need another supervisor for the area of the investigation that covers this new drawing. A drawing that is of me.’ The words that is of me nearly caught in her throat. She supposed that was another indicator she wasn’t the best person to lead the case. That she struggled with the fact she was being targeted by such a lethally brilliant killer. She was coming to terms with the reality that Adam had been drafted in to deal with this section of the investigation. It was just a matter of relaying this to the team. ‘DCI Sharpe advised me that DCI Blackwood here would be taking the lead with this. He’s extremely competent, and I want you all to afford him your utmost respect and work as hard as you can for him.’ She laughed at them. ‘Bearing in mind it’s my neck on the line.’
There was an uncomfortable silence where no one else thought this funny, and she coughed and carried on. ‘Okay then. I’ll still be here to deal with the rest of the case we have running into the previous three victims. It’ll benefit Adam as I hold all the information and might be able to help with whatever he needs for current lines of enquiry.’ She turned to look up at him. ‘I’ll hand over to DCI Blackwood to say a few words.’
Blackwood took a step forward and clapped his hands together as though to capture their attention, though he already had it. A smile lit up his features. It was warm. Made him appear welcoming. ‘I know I’m a new face to many of you. I do, however, recognise a couple of you from our time around the force over the years, but for those of you who don’t know me, I’m DCI Adam Blackwood. As DI Nunn mentioned, I’ve slid over from Intelligence for a short while, to give you a dig out. That’s it. Nothing more sinister than that. I’m not here to take anyone’s job. I have a job I’m perfectly happy with and a team I’m already making myself comfortable with. I don’t want to have to change that. So let’s not get our knickers in a twist about putting anyone’s nose out of joint and creating a hostile working environment. We’re all here with the same objective, to prevent Claudia from becoming the fourth victim of the Artist.’
Claudia shivered as a cold sensation ran over her body. This was the second time she’d had such a physical reaction while she’d been dealing with this job. She was not usually so reactive. But this case had gotten under her skin.
Particularly now.
There was no other way for her to be. She was the woman in the drawing.
Adam continued. ‘Does anyone have any questions? I’d rather clear the air now than have someone brooding, causing friction to grow and problems later on. I want a smooth working team so we can get this bastard and keep DI Nunn safe.’
The room was silent.
‘Okay then.’ He clapped his hands together again. ‘Let’s get straight to work. I need someone to run the whole case past me first, then in particular I want the details on DI Nunn’s drawing. Who wants to volunteer to be my guide?’
Officers and civilian staff looked at each other. Krish lifted a hand so the new boss would know who was speaking. ‘I can do that, boss.’
‘And you are?’
‘Krish, Krish Dhawan.’
‘Great. Thanks, Krish. I’ll grab a chair and you can pull me up to speed.’ And with that DCI Adam Blackwood found himself an empty chair and pulled it across to Krish’s desk and seated himself beside the detective constable. He looked up at Claudia and winked. He was getting stuck straight in. Claudia was grateful for his easy manner, both in working alongside her and not making her feel he was taking over from her and in the way he had handled the team. Now all they had to do was prevent Claudia from being murdered and becoming another statistic.
Claudia walked to the kitchen and made herself a cuppa before taking it back to her office. Once there she opened up her email and the image of herself in the woods.
Sheffield might be a city, but there were so many woods within and surrounding it that it was impossible to determine where this location was.
She sipped on her drink and stared at the drawing, losing track of time. She carried on sipping until the drink was cold and then until the mug was empty, and still the drawing said nothing else to her.
Claudia looked at her watch. She’d been staring at the drawing and trying to decipher it for half an hour, and it was then she realised that there wasn’t a clock or a day written in the corner of the paper. There was no timestamp, no clock they were up against.
She didn’t know which terrified her the most. Having a ticking clock counting down to your death or having an open-ended image that basically said you were going to die, but when was anyone’s guess. You would just have to wait and find out.
CHAPTER 63
The day had been tense. Blackwood had been meticulous about going through the whole case with a fine-toothed comb. Every time Claudia walked out the office, someone jerked from their seat and asked where she was going and demanded she be escorted. It became ridiculous when all she wanted was the ladies’ room. An embarrassing standoff had commenced until Blackwood had stepped in and told the team he thought she was safe enough within the confines of the police station.
It had smarted that it hadn’t been sufficient that she had been saying this all day, that it had taken the new boy, the man, to give them the instruction before they listened. But eventually she calmed down and understood that they simply cared about her, that their nerves were shot and they were desperately trying to keep her safe.
Now, this evening, her father had decided he was going to spend some time with her. It wasn’t enough that there was a marked police vehicle outside her address. No, he had travelled back with her in her car, leaving his in the car park, giving the excuse that she was to cook him dinner. They’d not had their regular Sunday meal due to work commitments for quite some time.
Claudia couldn’t shake him from his decision so she went along with it. Now she stood in the kitchen with a pan of water coming to the boil as she chopped pancetta and grated cheese. Tonight they were having spaghetti carbonara. It was far too warm for a full chicken dinner.
Dominic leaned against the kitchen counter as she worked, a can of beer in his hand. Not only was he staying for dinner, but apparently he was staying the night in her spare room.
‘What about clothes for work tomorrow?’ she asked moving around the kitchen getting the ingredients she needed ready.
‘Do you think anyone is going to care if I turn up in the same suit I was in today?’ he said. ‘Bearing in mind I’m staying here to add to your security. Besides,’ he added, ‘we could pop by my place on the way in and pick up a change of clothes.’ He grinned and took a slug of beer. ‘I’m so glad you have some beer in. I’m only having the one, though. No good getting shit-faced, is it? Kind of defeats the reason I’m here.’ He laughed and Claudia rolled her eyes, tipping spaghetti into the now boiling water.
Dominic straightened himself. ‘How are you feeling?’
Claudia was aware how in turmoil he must be. It wasn’t long ago he’d lost his wife. They’d both lost Ruth, but she was his wife. And now his daughter was under threat. Jesus, his emotions must be all over the place. She really did need to take it a little easier on him.
‘I’m okay,’ she said, actually meaning it. The stress that had plagued her in the office all day had ebbed away once they’d left, which was surprising as there was more opportunity for the killer to access her once she was out of the building. But for some reason, being with a bunch of cops who were all equally wound up about the drawing had strung her out, much as their tension had come from a good place. And leaving them all behind had eased that tension and relaxed her somewhat.
She wasn’t scared. There was a marked police vehicle outside and it wasn’t just a show of force, it had two cops inside who were bloody good at their jobs. Plus, her dad was here with her. And on top of that, she was a fully trained cop who could handle herself. If this killer wanted her, he had a lot to get through.
‘I’m pretty well protected,’ she elaborated. ‘There’s two cops outs
ide and two inside. He’s got a fight on his hands if he wants me tonight.’
Her father was serious. ‘It’s not just tonight, Claudia. This will go on until we catch him.’
Claudia couldn’t help herself. She groaned. ‘Seriously?’
‘You’d rather we give up after a few days and he slips in and grabs you and you die? All because we couldn’t be bothered to keep it up or felt it had gone on long enough?’ He wasn’t messing about.
Again, she had to think about how he was feeling. Plus, she really didn’t fancy being dead. ‘No, Dad. It’s just a lot of effort.’
‘And your life isn’t worth it?’
She needed to change the subject. Getting a large flat pan out, she fried the pancetta with a crushed garlic clove, turning her back on Dominic. ‘How are you feeling about the Tyler thing?’ She wasn’t aiming to stress him out any further but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Her own stress levels had been rising, and a desperate need to change the subject had resulted in the question popping out of her mouth unbidden.
The only sound in the room was the pan of water and pasta boiling, the crackle of frying pancetta and garlic and the quiet sup and glug of Dominic taking a drink from his beer.
She regretted the question, but the pressure of the last subject was bearing down on her.
Eventually Dominic spoke.
Claudia stirred the pancetta.
‘I’m glad it’s coming to a conclusion. I need to move on, Claudia. He might not have made the confession to us, which would have been better for me, but a second-hand confession is just as good.’ He paused. Took another glug of his beer.
Claudia waited.
‘I miss her so much. It’s like a physical loss. Like a part of me has been excised.’
Claudia’s heart hurt hearing her father talk this way.
SECONDS TO DIE a totally gripping serial killer thriller with a twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 2) Page 23
