Chapter 10
Ed woke up at 6 o'clock and went into the kitchen and started the coffee. He slipped into the bedroom and got clothes for the day from his dresser. Betty didn't stir. Ed looked at her and he felt that she was probably exhausted from crying most of the night. Ed went into the bathroom and took a shower and was dressed when Betty came out of the bedroom about 8 o'clock. She walked into the kitchen and sat on the stool at the kitchen counter still half a sleep. Ed poured her a cup of coffee and sat it in front of her.
"I'm going to start digging around today and see what I can find out," Ed told her, "I don't think that you should leave the apartment or make any phone calls until I am sure that the police don't consider you a suspect. I'm going to try and find out who that other woman on the CD is."
Betty looked at him, "Why are you helping me? Aren't you getting yourself in trouble?"
Ed thought for a minute, "I really don't know. I am sure that you had nothing to do with Bynum's death and I can't figure why he wanted you followed. You seem like a very nice person. I can't picture you having anything to do with Bynum. This whole situation bothers me. Something is not right with the whole mess and I can't put my finger on it. When I can't figure a case out it bugs me and I can't rest until I know all of the answers. I'm going to talk to some of the few friends I have left in the police department and try to figure out what they know and what they are looking for."
Betty put her face in her hands, "I just wish this was all over."
"It will be over soon," Ed told her, not really believing it himself, "There's plenty of food in the freezer until I get back. I kind of live on TV dinners. Help yourself until I get back."
After showing Betty where he kept some cash, Ed left the apartment and headed downtown. His first stop was going to be the police station. Ed still had some contacts in the homicide division and 1 contact in the crime scene unit. He knew that he had to be cautious asking questions. He started formulating a plan of attack on his way to the police station.
Ed drove to where he had stashed one of his cars and parked the van and drove the car to the police station. He parked the car in a visitor's spot and went into the station. The desk sergeant recognized him and they talked for a while. Ed told him that he might have some information that the detectives might be interested in about the Bynum murder. The desk sergeant directed him to Homicide Division, Ed's old office. The detective working on the case was an old friend of Ed's and had gotten in trouble taking up for Ed with the Captain.
Stu Hale was in charge of the Bynum case and was at his office going over some paperwork. Ed walked into the Homicide Office with his visitor's badge and made his way to Hale's desk. Stu Hale looked up and saw Ed and smiled. He stood and shook Ed's hand and they made small talk for a few minutes.
"What brings you down here?" Stu asked.
Ed explained that he was hired by Bynum to check on Bynum's wife. He told Stu that Bynum thought that his wife might be running around on him and that he wanted Ed to check her out. Ed explained that he hadn't had a chance to do anything on the job yet, but he thought that the police would be interested. Ed pulled out his note pad and gave Stu the time that he had met with Bynum and the time that he had left the office. He told Stu that Bynum's secretary would be able to verify that Bynum was alive when he left Bynum's office.
"Well, I don't think that we'll consider you a suspect," Stu said with a smile, "We have an APB out for 2 Hispanics that were seen in his office shortly after quitting time the day of the murder. 2 men working with Bynum saw him arguing with them as they left for the day. The description of the 2 fits the description of 2 guys known to have a rap sheet as long as your arm."
Stu leaned toward Ed; "I'm getting a lot of heat from downtown to wrap this one up."
Ed tried to keep a poker face. The hairs on the back of his head stood up. This case was getting stranger by the minute.
"What the hell are you doing here?" a voice behind him boomed.
Ed turned and saw the captain that he had a confrontation with when he quit the police force. It seemed that nothing had changed.
Stu stood up, "Ed here, just came in with information that Bynum was worried about his wife running around on him. Bynum hired Ed to tail his wife."
"Get him to sign a statement and get him out of here," the captain said as he walked into his office.
Stu shook his head and started to type out a statement for Ed to sign. Ed signed the statement and stood up and shook Stu's hand.
"Can you walk me down to the Crime Scene Unit?" Ed asked, "I'd like to see John Hammel.
Stu took Ed down stairs to the Crime Scene unit. John Hammel was an older man who could retire today if he wanted to. John was a widower and kept working more to have something to do than because he needed the money.
John smiled as Ed walked into the room. He stood and shook Ed's hand. Ed told him about giving the statement about Bynum hiring him to shadow his wife.
"You should be glad your out of this mess," John said when they sat down, "These cases get stranger each day. This one is really strange. It's the first time I was ever rushed to complete the crime scene investigation. They acted like they wanted to get Bynum's office ready for his replacement. I insisted that we seal the office until I was sure that we found everything we needed. The captain fought me on that and he sure wasn't happy that I insisted."
Ed kept his thoughts to himself and they continued to make small talk for several minutes. Ed stood up and shook John's hand and left the office. Ed's mind was going a mile a minute as he walked to his car. He sat for several minutes trying to digest the information that he had just learned. Why was there pressure from downtown? Ed knew that downtown meant the politicians. Who had steered the detectives to the Hispanics? Why didn't the detectives investigate the clue about the Hispanics but continue to keep every other avenue open? Why was there a rush to close the investigation? Why would Bynum have his pants off when he was talking to the "Hispanics"? Ed shook his head, trying to clear it. This was a strange case. A high school kid could see that things were just not adding up.
Ed saw Tim Speckler walking across the parking lot and got out of his car and walked over to him. Tim waved to him as Ed neared.
"How's it going, Tim?" Ed said. "Looks like I got out at the right time. This place is like a loony bin."
Tim smiled, "Too many people worrying about covering their ass. To be a lieutenant or captain these days, you have to be a politician first and a cop second."
Ed questioned Tim a little about the Bynum case but Tim knew little about the case. Ed and Tim talked for a while and Ed said goodbye and walked to his car.