Chapter 17
Hy Symington knocked on the door about 5 minutes after Ed got off the phone with Commander Rice. Ed let him in and Ed introduced Hy to Ann. They all sat at the kitchen table.
"You said you know who the man in that last picture was," Hy said, "You also have an ID on the ring?"
Ed shook his head, "I know who they are. I had the call the State Police and ask them to get involved. They're on the way over here right now. Hy, this is too big for us. All hell is going to break loose.
Hy shoved some papers over to Ed. One showed an enhanced photo and Commissioner Schwartz's face was legible. The other photo was an enhanced image of the ring.
Hy looked at Ed, "Ed I have to go with this. This is the biggest story of my career. I can't let this one pass."
Ed started to get mad, "Hy we don't know who the murderer is yet. You might be putting these women in danger.
Ed and Hy argued for several minutes and neither showed any sign that he was going to back down. Ed leaned back in his chair to collect his thoughts and to give both of them time to cool down. Ed got up and went to the phone in the kitchen. He looked at the advertisement on the bulletin board next to the phone and dialed the number. He ordered 2 pizzas for delivery.
"Let's get something to eat. We're both getting too angry to think rationally," Ed told Hy.
They waited in silence for the Pizza deliveryman. When the deliveryman knocked on the door, Ed asked Betty to get the pizzas and handed her $40. Betty brought the pizzas back to the table and Ed cleared a spot for them. Betty brought the roll of paper towels in from the kitchen to use as napkins. As they ate, Ed started trying to convince Hy that they had to wait for another day. Ed wasn't making much headway.
Ann's husband knocked on the door and Ed let him in and introduced him to everyone. Ann took over the conversation and she tearfully told Sam Hornsby about the pictures and how she had been drugged and raped by Bynum and several other men. Sam Hornsby sat quietly and listened while Ann told him everything that happened that night and also after the night of the rape. When Ann finished Ed told Sam how Bynum had also done the same to Betty and maybe other women. Sam sat quietly with his hands in his lap and stared at his hands. The hairs on the back of Ed's head stood up. Sam was not taking this like most husbands would.
There was a knock on the door and Commander Rice and Scotty walked into the apartment followed by a Police stenographer. Ed introduced everybody and they moved into the living room. Ed started printing a copy of all of the pictures on the disk that Ann had given him. When the printer finished the pictures, Ed followed the others into the living room. Ed waited until Scotty set up the video camera and the recorder and got an extension cord for the stenographer's machine.
Commander Rice was he one to break the silence, "Now let's start. What is this all about? And you had better hope that you're not wasting my time."
Ed handed Commander Rice the account statements and explained how money was being skimmed off of the large accounts and was being put into the accounts of the police commissioner and some of the politicians. Commander Rice asked if Ed had any hard evidence against the Mayor and Ed admitted that he only had suspicions at this time.
Commander Rice picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. He ordered the person who answered to empty the Horizon offices and to seal the offices and place state police guards to keep everyone out. He told the person to let no one in the offices except himself until further notice.
Commander Rice then called the Governor and explained the situation and told the Governor that he had sealed the Horizon offices. Commander Rice moved into the bedroom and continued his conversation with the Governor.
Commander Rice came back into the living room after about 15 minutes and sat down He asked the stenographer if she was ready to continue and she nodded her head.
"The Governor is going to get a court order allowing the State Police to take over the murder investigation. He's going to have a team of auditors go into Horizon in about 2 hours. The Governor is calling Police Commissioner Schwartz right now and ordering him to turn over all of the evidence on the murder to me. The Mayor and some of the members of the City Council are going to be followed starting now and I am going to ask for wire taps on certain phones." Commander Rice looked at everybody, "If word of this leaves this room, I will arrest whoever talks for interfering with a police investigation."
Commander Rice's cell phone rang. He listened with the caller spoke, occasionally saying yes or Ok. He
put the cell phone down and smiled.
"It seems that Commissioner Schwartz is upset and has called a news conference for 9 A.M. tomorrow to protest the actions of the Governor."
Hy got up and started for the door. Scotty ran after him and pulled him back by his arm.
"I've got to go with this," Hy said.
Commander Rice put Hy under arrest. Hy protested and Rice informed him that he could hold him for 48 hours. That would be enough time to rap up this case. Hy protested that the story would be old news in 48 hours and told Rice that his paper would sue. Rice was not easily intimidated. He told Hy that he was under arrest again and Scotty got out his handcuffs. Hy and Rice argued for several minutes with Hy getting angrier by the minute. Hy saw this story slipping away and he was going to fight for it.
Rice motioned for Scotty to sit Hy down, "I'll make a deal with you. You can break this story at the news conference tomorrow and run with it wherever you want. You have to stay out of the murder investigation though. We still don't know who murdered Bynum."
Ed was watching Sam Hornsby and saw a look in his eyes that told Ed that Sam knew more than he was telling. Ed decided to take a chance.
Ed spoke, "Commander Rice, maybe Sam could tell us something about the Bynum murder. Ed looked into Sam's eyes, "Sam, get it out in the open. It will just eat you up if you hold it inside."
Sam's eye dropped to lap. Ed saw that tears were falling on his hands. Ed walked over to him and put his arm around Sam.
"I found the disk with the pictures on it," Sam said haltingly, "I confronted Bynum in his office and he laughed at me and told me that he was going to keep having my wife and if I did anything he would have me put in jail. He said he had friends in the police department and they could make any case against me that they wanted. I walked over toward him to punch him and he pulled out a gun. I backed up and he laughed at me again. He dropped his pants and told me to get my wife; he called her that bitch whore secretary. He said that he wanted to take her in front of me. He acted like he was on drugs. He started to wave the gun around and I thought he was going to shoot me and I dove over the desk and the gun went off. When I got up I picked up the gun to keep it away from him. He was moaning and trying to get to me. He died and I realized that my fingerprints were on the gun so I put the gun in my pocket and threw it in the river."
Sam put his hands to his face, "I'm so sorry Ann. Can you forgive me?"
Ann rushed to him and took him in her arms and they were both crying. Scotty walked over to Sam and waited until Ann pulled away. Scotty handcuffed Sam and read him his rights. Commander Rice called for a car to take Sam to the State Police barracks. Betty went to Ann and took her into her arms to consol her. Ann was sobbing so loud that Betty took her into the bedroom. Within minutes 2 state policemen knocked on the door. They lifted Sam by his arms and took him out to the car. Sam walked as though his legs weighed a ton.
Commander Rice looked at Hy, "Well it seems that we have our murder suspect. Now, I would like to request that you still wait until the news conference before breaking this story. I have a few loose ends to tie up. I never give out news stories so what you have is an exclusive. I only ask that you do the job on Schwartz right. That bastard has screwed up several lives and I'm going to make sure he pays and pays a lot. He has abused his police powers and the public trust."
Hy nodded and told Rice that he would wait. Rice and Scotty questioned Ed, Hy, and Betty for several more hours. Ann was too hysterical to question and Rice asked Scotty to get her a doctor and to ask the doctor to give Ann a sedative.
Rice stood up, "I think we have enough for now. Everybody remain available. There are a lot of questions that I need answers to. I'm going to post a state police guard on this apartment and I ask that you all stay here until tomorrow."
ED thought for a minute, "Mrs. Bynum has hired me and I think she has a right to know what is happening. I know she would do nothing to upset the investigation and I'll take full responsibility for her actions.
Commander Rice thought for a minute and Ed hoped that Rice would not question him about the lie he told about Katherine hiring him. Rice agreed to let Ed talk to Mrs. Bynum and warned him not to let her talk to anyone about the case.
Ed walked to the door with Rice and Scotty and the stenographer and let them out. Betty went back into the bedroom and sat on the bed with Ann. Ed could hear her sobbing. About 10 minutes after Rice and Scotty left a doctor knocked on the door and Ed let him in and took him into the bedroom. The doctor gave Ann a sedative. Ann's sobs grew weaker and, after a while, Betty came into the living room and said that Ann was asleep.