He sent a quick text to Ruth explaining a body had been found and they were being sent out to it. She said she’d leave him some food in the microwave in case he didn’t manage to eat at work. She wouldn’t be annoyed if he grabbed a bite on the job. She knew what it was like. Sometimes they had the opportunity and other times they were run off their feet and there was no chance. Not that he cared if she was annoyed or not. The job was more important than anything else for him right now. This was where his focus was.
He spun his car keys up in the air and caught them as they came down. ‘Let’s go and see what we have out there,’ he said.
Chapter 5
Claudia
Ten hours since Ruth’s attack
Claudia interlocked her fingers on the table. ‘Okay. Look, I’m going to go out and do the search of your house myself, I—’
‘Why? What have I said that has made you decide you need a look?’ Harrison was practically leaning across the table.
Claudia kept her poise. ‘As I was saying—’ she eyed him straight on and he backed off a little — ‘I think I owe it to you to do a proper job on this and that means doing every step myself and not fobbing the premises search off onto uniform officers. Yes, I’ll take them with me but I want to have a look around. That way I’ll also have more of a feel for things as we talk.’
Harrison pursed his lips.
Claudia ignored the look he had given her and ploughed on. ‘You going to be okay here if I disappear for a short while?’
‘What else am I going to do? I might go a little stir crazy, but as long as I know people are looking for her then I can wait.’
Claudia stood. ‘I’d better go, before the sergeant I gave your key to disappears off to your house. And yes, people are looking for her. What do you imagine her team are doing right about now? You think they’re twiddling their thumbs? Or continuing with the case as usual? No, they’ll have split resources and they’ll be focusing on Ruth.’
Harrison looked at her. ‘What about my team? What happens to that job?’
Claudia was at the door. ‘You’re seriously still worrying about that case in the light of what’s happening?’
‘I am. Because he’s responsible for what’s happened to Ruth. Why aren’t you listening? We’re so close to catching him that he’s decided to strike back.’
Claudia pursed her lips. ‘There are still plenty of officers working on it and we’ll consider your thoughts as we progress today. Let’s see how things go.’ And with that she was out the door leaving Harrison sitting at the table, in the room, with the too-high window, all alone.
It took Claudia about twenty minutes to drive to Dominic’s home address at Green Lane, Wharncliffe Side, with the uniform officers. She had been many times before but it made her skin crawl to be there with cops to search the place for signs of wrongdoing in relation to Ruth and what may have happened to her. Claudia desperately hoped that she was safe and well. That she had walked away for some time out, even though she knew better than to go without leaving word of where she was going. Even if she had walked out on Dominic and didn’t want to contact him, Ruth knew to let someone know where she was. Claudia would probably be that someone. Right now though, Ruth going walkabout would be better than the alternative.
Claudia thought once again of what was on Ruth’s mind that last night she saw her. Could it have driven her away or caused her to come to some mortal harm? And if she was at the mercy of another, why hadn’t she confided in Claudia if she was in trouble? Claudia wondered if it really had been job related. Maybe that was the reason for her distraction.
One of the cops carried a search bag in. He dumped it in the entrance hall and Claudia bent down and pulled out a pair of small gloves, snapping them onto her hands. They had to be careful in case they found something and needed to call a forensic team in.
She walked into the neat and welcoming living room, a room she was familiar with. There was no sign of a problem. Nothing looked out of place. All the cushions were positioned where they were supposed to be on the sofa. Prints and family photographs hung on the wall. Ruth smiling down at her, carefree and happy. A knot of worry caught in her chest. Come on Ruth, where are you? Give us a clue as to where you’ve gone, what has happened?
‘I’ll go upstairs,’ said one of the uniform cops.
‘Okay, I’ll go check out the kitchen and utility room,’ Claudia replied as she made her way through the door into the kitchen.
There was a dirty mug on the kitchen worktop. Everything else was away. Nothing seemed out of place here. She pushed the foot peddle on the kitchen bin and peered in. The container was filled with the usual kitchen rubbish. Food leftovers and non-recyclable containers. She was about to let the lid drop when something glinted. With a gloved finger she moved a piece of kitchen roll and found shards of broken glass. Yes, glassware was easily broken in homes, but what were the odds of her finding a broken glass in the kitchen the day after Ruth went missing? She would need to get a
