Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck Read Free Book Online

be
pertinent to the investigation. He knew from past experience that Human
Resource managers were very close-mouthed about employees because of privacy
laws. In some cases the information they received came back to bite them in the
butt. This case was different, though. Ms. VanBuren was dead, and it didn’t
look so good for her boss either.
    “We did talk last week. But it was my understanding that she wasn’t
being investigated for any wrongdoing in the senator’s disappearance.”
    “I didn’t mean to imply,” Don quickly added.
    “I would have handled things differently,” Ms. Winslow said.
    Don looked at her with squinted eyes. “In what way?” he asked.
    “I’d rather not say.”
    Don was somewhat annoyed at Ms. Winslow and her evasive tiptoeing
around a sensitive subject.
    “This is a murder investigation,” he snapped.
    “I did receive a call. There were some allegations made against Raven.
I called to see if they were founded.”
    “What did Ms. VanBuren say?” Don asked.
    Don was curious now if Raven was promiscuous. He had this vision of
her being this perfect human being. He honestly would have been disappointed to
find out she was no better than a lot of the people who lived in Washington,
DC.
    There was something about her portrait and her house that made him
want to believe she was a person of substance. Ms. VanBuren not being in
contact with them was not normal. He wondered why they didn’t contact the
police if they were indeed concerned for her well-being. It would be something
he would have to ask them when the time came.
    Ms. Winslow quickly added, “Raven said there was no truth to the
rumors.”
    “Who made the allegations, was it a woman?”
    “Yes, she never said much. Just that she wanted Raven to leave her
husband alone.”
    “Did she leave a name?” Don asked.
    “No, she hung up before I could get more information. I did get her
number on caller ID.”
    Ms. Winslow handed Don the slip of paper. Don took it from her, looked
at the name, and then quickly glanced up at Ms. Winslow with a look of
confusion.
    “What did you do when Ms. VanBuren denied the affair?”
    She just shrugged. “What could I do? I scheduled another meeting with
Raven for early next week when she was supposed to get back from her time off,”
she said and then glanced at her calendar. “I guess I can cross that off my
planner. It was set for Monday at one.”
    Don was getting a different picture of the type of person Raven
VanBuren was. So unlike the sweet vision in the portrait. He felt deflated, and
was not sure if it was from lack of sleep or the inflated image he had of the
victim of this brutal crime. It was so unlike him to not think rationally about
this case. His mind had been clouded ever since he set eyes on that portrait.
    “Could I have a look at her office?” Don asked.
    “Sure, I’ll have my secretary take you.
    Ms. Winslow got up and walked out of the office quickly. She motioned
to her secretary.
    It was a long walk to where Raven’s office was and, judging by how
deep into the belly of the building it was, he guessed she worked for one of
the junior senators.
    It surprised Don he was left alone to go through Raven’s office
unattended. He sat at Raven’s desk and just glanced around for the longest
time. The desk was completely cleared off except for the incoming basket. Don
was curious if someone had gone through things before he arrived. He reached
over and grabbed the stack of incoming mail. He flipped through the stack of
memos. It made for dry reading, and after a few minutes he gave up on the mail
and started going through the drawers. Raven’s office was as neat and orderly
as her home had been. When he tried the bottom-left drawer, he found it locked.
Don lifted the desk mat and saw the key.
    “Creature of habit,” was all he said to himself.
    Don unlocked the desk drawer. Again everything was neat and orderly.
He opened the folders but nothing seemed of importance,