Chapter 16
"Ann, this is Betty, She had the same thing happen to her that happened to you," Ed said, "I'm going to show you the pictures that Bynum took. I used some software to black out her face. The pictures that I'm going to show you are the doctored pictures. I destroyed the disk that showed her face."
Ed started the computer and brought up the pictures. He went through them slowly, giving her a chance to review each one before going on to the next picture. When he got to the last picture she gasped.
"I though I got..." she stopped realizing that she had gone too far.
Ed looked at her, "Did you get the other disk out of Bynum's desk?"
She shook her head and reached into her purse. Ed tensed ready to grab her arm if she pulled out a gun. She pulled a computer disk out of her purse and handed it to Ed.
"I came back to the office to try and find this disk the night George was murdered. I found him on the floor and I looked through his desk and found this disk. I loaded it into his computer and saw that it had my pictures on it and took the disk. I left the office without anyone seeing me and George was found by the cleaning people."
She looked at Ed, "Can you erase my face from the pictures like you did on Betty's pictures? Can you hide the tattoo?"
Ed took the disk from her and loaded it into the computer. He pulled up the first picture and Ann looked away ashamed. The men on the pictures were the same men that had raped Betty. Ed used the software to hide her face and then erased the tattoo. Ann looked at the result and nodded. Ed went through every picture and did the same, each time waiting for Ann to give her approval. After he had made all of the changes to the pictures, he inserted a blank disk and copied the doctored pictures to the disk. He then erased the pictures from the hard drive and removed the disk. He went into the kitchen and got a pack of matches. Ed took the disk showing Ann's face out on the patio and struck a match. He held the match under the disk until the edge started the burn. Ed blew out the fire and held the disk, being careful to not touch the melting plastic until it cooled. He threw the disk into the trashcan in the kitchen.
"Ann, can you tell me how this all started with you?" Ed asked.
"George asked me to work over one night. My husband was out of town and I had no plans for the evening so I agreed to work over. George ordered some dinner from a Chinese carryout and went to get it. When he came back with the dinner, he told me that he would set it up in the conference room and call me when it was ready. I went in after he called and started eating. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up on the couch in his office the next morning. I was naked and George was sitting at his desk laughing. He asked me if I had fun the night before and showed me the pictures. I was so ashamed that I took off work for several days. George called my house and told me that if I didn't come in he would send a copy of those pictures to my husband's office. When I came back to work he made me have sex with him sometimes in his office after work."
Ed inserted the disk with Betty's pictures and pulled up the last picture, "Do you have any idea who this man is?"
Ann looked at the picture and shuddered, "Yes that's Earl Schwartz, the Police Commissioner. George told me that if I told anyone about the pictures Schwartz would have my husband thrown in jail. He said that the police could manufacture enough evidence to put him away for years. George took care of the investments of many of the prominent people in town and he was well known to all of the politicians in town."
Ed was stunned. The Police Commissioner was appointed a few weeks after Ed left the force. This was why he looked familiar. Ed had seen his picture in the newspaper. Ed pulled up the picture with the man's hand on it.
"Do you recognize this ring?" he asked, "This guy's face doesn't show on any of the pictures."
Ann leaned forward and looked at the ring, "Yes, I've seen that ring before. It's gaudy isn't it? That's Brian Fullman, the City Councilman. George took care of his investments too. He came into the office many times."
Ed looked at Ann, "Why are so many of the politicians and the Police Commissioner so close to George Bynum?"
Ann looked down and hesitated, "George took care of several trust funds and some of the union pension funds and university endowment funds. It was fairly easy for him to shift some of the gains into his friend's accounts. He would take a small percentage of each fund and give it to his friends. A small percentage of a hundred million is a lot of money. All he has to do is tell one of the large funds that they made 9% on their investments when they really made 9.35%."
Ed sat few a minute unable to talk, "How did you find out about this setup?"
Ann looked down at her hands, "When I threatened to go to the police, George told me the Police Commissioner and The Mayor and City Council were all in his pocket. That's when he told me that my husband could be sent to jail on trumped up charges if I told anybody."
"Is the Mayor in on this?" Ed asked with his eyes almost ready to fall out of his head.
"I know he knows about what's going on. I don't know if he's getting any money," Ann answered.
Ed sat back in his chair and started to try and piece together everything that he knew about the case. With the facts that Ann had given him, he didn't think that Bynum was blackmailing anyone. There was no reason to; he was one of the most powerful men in the city. He had the city government and the police in his pocket. The case was now suddenly more dangerous. The most powerful men in the city could come down on him hard if they had an inkling that he was snooping around. If any of the men involved in this scheme knew the women were talking to Ed all of their lives would be in danger.
"Is there any way we can prove any of this?" He asked Ann.
Ann reached into her purse and pulled out Some Horizon Investment Account Statements. She handed them to Ed. The first paper was a statement for the Carpenter's Union Pension Fund. It was stamped "Office File, For Office Use Only". The second statement was also for the Carpenter's Union Pension Fund but showed a slightly lower return on the investments. The difference was over $100,000, but considering the size of the pension fund, it was a relatively small amount and most pension fund trustees wouldn't suspect anything. ED looked at the 3rd paper. It was a statement for Earl Schwartz's investment account. It showed and an increase this year of 18.2%. Ed shook his head. The stock market was in a bear market and had been since 1999. Most fund managers were happy to break even. Ed knew that this was much bigger than anything he could handle. He knew that Hy would be indebted to him for life.
"Ann, Hy Symington is working with Betty and I on this case and I would like you to talk to him," Ed told her, "I'm going to do my best to keep the existence of the photos from becoming known but I can't promise anything. I am also going to have the State Police CID Unit get into this. As of this minute all of our lives are in danger. These men can't let any hint of this get out."
Ed put his hand over Ann's, "Ann, you're going to have to tell your husband about the photos and Bynum and his friends raping you and Betty."
Ann's shoulders dropped and her face went blank, devoid of all emotion. She sat for a while as if unable to speak. Ed let her think and kept his hand on hers for support.
She finally spoke, "I knew that I would eventually have to tell my husband after George's murder.
You can get him over here and I'll tell him how Bynum did this to both of you. I think that it would be best if he were here when I went of everything with the State Police. If he loves you, he'll understand."
Ann nodded her head. Ed could see that she was totally defeated and he knew her life would never be the same.
Ed went to the phone in the kitchen and dialed Hy Symington's number. He left a message on the answering machine to call Ed when he received the message.
Within 5 minutes the phone rang, "Hy, you have to get over here. This case has broken wide open. This is bigger than any thing we could have imagined. I know who the man in the photo is and who the ring belongs to."
Hy hung up without answering. Ed dialed the number for the state Police CID Unit. The CID Unit of the State Police was an investigative force similar to the force on the "Hawaii 50" television show. When the operator answered Ed asked for Officer Paul Scott.
"Officer Scott," the voice said.
"Scotty this is Ed Harold. I need some help big time," Ed started, "I don't think I should go into this over the phone and I think you better get your supervisor in on this. The state might have to take over the city government. That's how big this is."
Paul Scott hesitated before answering, "God Ed, what have you gotten yourself into this time."
"Scotty do you remember how to get to my apartment? I have some people here that you need to talk to. You'd better bring a tape recorder and a video camera. Hy Symington is involved in this and you're going to have to sit on him a little. He's going to want to run with this."
Scotty asked Ed to hold for a minute and left the phone. About 5 minutes later Scott's supervisor came on the line. Ed had always gotten along with Commander Rice.
"What's this about taking over the city government, Ed?" Commander Rice said.
Ed laid out the situation in general terms, being careful to not give any particulars. Commander Rice listened without comment until Ed had finished.
"Damn, you do it up right, don't you," he growled. "I'm going to bring a stenographer with me. We'll be there in 1 hour."
Commander Rice hung up the phone without waiting for Ed to answer.
Ann called her husband and asked him to meet her at Ed's apartment. She told him that she would tell him the reason when he got to Ed's apartment.