6 Unpleasant News

The drive to the publishing company was a quiet one. Abel didn't seem to be one much for conversation as he caught Ray up on a few details that he had missed. Ray wanted to ask Abel questions about himself, but knew it would probably have to wait until after they were finishing up for the day or off work.

The victim worked as a rather respectable editor for the publishing company having been there for a little over five years, she'd gained quite a bit of popularity with a constant and reliable work system and her ability to charm people into submitting their contracts with her company rather than another. Overall, she sounded like a great employee which did leave some space to consider whether the incident could've happened as a case of jealousy.

They pulled up to the blue building that had the publishing company's name printed in bold letters across the front of it. The parking lot in front of it looked fairly empty except for a few cars scatter around the lot. The less packed it was, the easier it would be to go in and make inquiries without drawing too much attention.

Able parked the care at one of the front lots close to the door. The perks of having an unmarked car was that hardly anyone generally stopped to stare so they were able to get out and enter the building without much of a commotion.

"Follow my lead and don't say anything until we talk to the owner." Abel told Ray in a hushed voice as they entered the building. Ray hadn't been expecting him to be taking the lead so quickly, but since he didn't have a problem with it, he just nodded his head in affirmation.

A few people were in the waiting area and lifted their head to see who had come in but quickly when back to what they were doing. Able didn't pay much attention to them as he approached a reception desk where a female secretary was seated.

"Hello, do you already have an appointment or are you looking to make one?" She asked, flashing a polite smile at them.

"I don't actually have an appointment, but I was hoping your boss would be available to speak with?" Abel asked, discreating flashing his badge for her to see but in such a way that it was blocked from anyone else's view. The color drained from the woman's face when she saw it.

"I-I see." She replied trying to keep herself composed as she stood up. "Let me go check with Mr. Clarke real quick and I'll let you know if he can see you or not." She told them, flashing one more smile before she walked around the corner to where a hall was located that lead back to the offices where initial meetings were held between clients and staff.

It didn't take long before the secretary returned with an older looking man in a business suite. He looked like one who hadn't weathered being in such a stressful environment for so long as well as some. The sudden stressful news didn't seem to have done him well either as he his face looked rather red as one would expecting someone who suffered from high blood pressure to look. His dark hair was also thinning and the small rectangle glasses on his face looked rather old themselves.

"Thank you gentleman for waiting." He greeted the two of them with a nod of his head, putting on his own airs most likely because he also didn't want to draw too much attention to what was going. "Why don't we go up to my more private office on the third floor? It might be easier to discuss matters there." He offered. Abel nodded his head in reply.

"If that works for you, thank you for the consideration." Ray nodded his head as well but didn't say anything as he watched the two interact. He couldn't blame the man for being stressed. It wasn't everyday that the police came into someone's establishment and requested to see them and when they did, they never came with any kind of good news.

The secretary stayed behind as the owner lead them over to the elevator and pressed the up button. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he dabbed at his face while waiting to clear up the small amount of perspiration that had begun to build up from the stress. Once the elevator came down, he let them enter first before he got in behind them and pressed the button to go to the third floor.

No questions were asked until after they were in his office and the door had been closed following a 'do not disturb' sign being placed outside the door.

"What terrible news brings you here?" Clarke asked as he sat down at his desk. He seemed slightly less stressed out now that he wasn't around so many other people.

"Victoria Ingles was one of your employees here, correct Mr. Clarke?" Abel started as he and Ray both took their seats across from the other man. The other nodded his head.

"Yes?" More of a statement rather than a question.

"Well I'm sorry to inform you sir, but she was murdered at the early hours of this morning in what may or may not a burglary gone wrong." Abel explained, he had hardly finished speaking before the color had drained out of the other man's face.

"Dear god." was all he managed to say. It wasn't the new that he had been expecting to hear.

"I'm terribly sorry, but we're here because we need to ask her colleagues as well as you, her boss a few routine questions. We'd also like to see her office if possible and we may need a list of recent clients that she had been working with." Ray replied, giving the a sympathetic smile as he spoke. The other just nodded his head as he tried to process the news.

"Um, you can speak with me and a few of our other staff who are here, I can indicate those who worked closely with Victoria, but not everyone is here today. It's the day off for some. You can get that information from my secretary, I'll make sure she sends it to you. As for her office this is her key here. Her office is located on the fourth floor." He said, reaching into one of the draws and pulling out a ring that held a number of keys on it. He took off the one that belonged to Victoria's office.

"Is this the only key?" Abel asked as he took it and placed it in his pocket.

"No." Clarke replied. "All of our employees here who have offices are given a copy of a key that unlocks only their office. The other one Victoria should've had with her." Ray made a note of this, they would have to check and see if there was such a key in her house.

"Now, can you tell me where you were between last night and this morning at six thirty?"

"I was having dinner with my wife's parents last night. They have been here all week to celebrate my Son's twelfth birthday. We stayed out until about ten and then this morning I had to wake up early to take them to the airport so that they didn't miss their seven-thirty flight." Clarke replied. "I suppose you will need the name of the airport and perhaps to verify with them that I was the one who took them there?" He asked, Abel nodded his head.

"It's all part of the process." He responded as he waited for the other to give him the information. They could have it verified once they got back. Considering how cooperative he was being and obviously distressed over the news, it seemed unlikely to Ray that he had anything to do with what had happened.

"How likely is it that we can start questioning the rest of the questioning?" He then asked after Clarke had finished.

"Give me a few minutes to let them know individual what's up. Some of them have appointments that can't exactly be rescheduled so if working around that is alright with you." Abel was about to refuse when Ray cut in first.

"It's fine, we can go and check out her office while we wait." He replied as he motioned for Abel to follow him as he stood up. He didn't want to create too much trouble for anyone yet since they didn't have a suspect.