Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck Page A

anymore. She knew the longer
he was gone, the worse the scenario might be. Ellen was desperate to breathe
new life into the investigation.

Chapter 11
     
    The maid quickly walked Don and Fred out of the mansion, thankful
their stay was not that long. They stood on the porch and glanced around the
grounds.
    There was a fresh smell to everything. The Magnolia trees were almost
in full bloom, but the rain last night had left a lot of the blossoms scattered
about the freshly cut lawn. There was a distinct citrusy scent in the air that
was so unmistakably clean and fresh smelling that even a busy city couldn’t
take it away.
    Fred turned to Don, who still had the flash drive in
his hand.
    “What are you going to do with that?” Fred asked.
    “Have Charlie take a look at it. I wouldn’t even know where it goes in
a computer.”
    “That’s what I thought,” Fred said as he laughed and walked over to
the squad.
    Don put the flash drive in his jacket pocket. He took out the pack of
cigarettes, quickly put one in his mouth, and lit up as he slowly walked over
to the squad and got in.
    As Fred climbed into the passenger seat, he looked over at Don. “You
should quit. Those cancer sticks are killing your brain cells.”
    “It’s all I have left in life.”
    “Maybe you should start thinking about that life.”
    “Now you’re sounding like Maggie,” Don said as he took a long drag on
his cigarette and held it in for the longest time before exhaling. He then
turned to Fred and asked, “Got any suggestions?”
    Fred glanced at his watch and then turned finally to Don, “Yeah, go
back to square one I guess.”
    “Where’s that?” Don asked.
    “Her place. Somebody was looking for something. You may have scared
them off, then again...” Fred started to say and then stopped.
    Don just waved his hand for Fred to stop. “All right!” Don snapped. “I
got the message. Square one, it is.”
    It was early afternoon, and Don knew the lab guys should be finishing
up at Raven’s house by then. He was curious if they’d come up with anything but
figured he would have gotten a call letting him know if they had.
    As they pulled up to Raven’s house, a few of the neighbors peeked out
their windows, as they seemed to be curious about all the activity. The yellow
crime-scene tape only added to their inquisitiveness. Raven’s untimely death
had made the early morning edition so everyone was aware that something bad was
amiss. But no one had the nerve to come over to ask what was going on. At least
not while Don and Fred were there.
    They quickly got out of the squad and walked up the path to the front
porch. Once they entered the living room it was clear the lab men were about
finished with their work, as they were packing their cases. Don walked up to
one of the technicians, his tag said Jack. Don had never seen this group
before, so he wasn’t sure just how much information he’d get out of them just
then. He opened his suit jacket so the detective shield was clearly visible
before he started asking any questions.
    “Find anything?” Don asked.
    Jack just turned to Don. Before answering, he glanced at the shield
quickly and then turned to the other tech, who was finishing up in the living
room. Jack just shrugged indifferently.
    “The place was wiped clean,” he said as he shut his case and then took
off his gloves.
    “What do you mean?”
    “The outer surfaces have been wiped clean, just what I said,” he
snapped, not knowing how much clearer he could say it for the two.
    Jack pulled out a slip from the case and handed it to Don. “We found
this on the dresser upstairs.”
    Don stared at the slip from Merry Maids. It was a bill for cleaning
services.
    “So she hired them to clean up the place?”
    “Looks like it. But they forgot the laundry chute.”
    “What did you find?” Don asked, while the excitement in his voice was
clearly noted.
    “There were a couple of bloody towels. Not her blood type