Chapter 15

Betty was sitting at the kitchen table when Ed awoke. She had been up for a while and had taken a shower, dressed and made coffee. Ed staggered into the kitchen and grabbed a mug and poured himself a coffee. He leaned against the counter and drank the strong brew before attempting to talk to Betty. Ed poured himself a second cup of coffee and sat down at the table across from Betty. Betty watched him with an amused smile on her face, knowing that he needed at least 2 cups of coffee before he would even realize he was awake.

"I fell asleep last night," she said when she saw his eyes becoming focused, " How did your meeting with Mrs. Bynum go?'

"I didn't learn too much," he started, "I think maybe she can be a help to us after I poke around today. I have to find out who that other woman is. She might be the one that killed Bynum. I'm going to start poking around Horizon and try to find out who gets rattled when I start asking questions. I'm going to print the pictures and maybe show them to the men that raped you and see if they know the pictures exist. I have a feeling that Bynum was either blackmailing one of the men or all of them."

Ed could see that Betty was not happy about the pictures being printed, even though she knew that her face was blacked out and no one would be able to know that she was the woman in the pictures. Ed got up and poured himself a 3^rd cup of coffee.

"I think that you better stay inside again today," he said, "I'm going to start rattling some cages and it might start getting sticky. It seems the police aren't considering you a suspect anymore, but I'm afraid that the men in the pictures might still consider you a threat to them."

Betty agreed and said that she didn't mind staying in the apartment.

"Betty, I had Hy Symington come over last night. I looked at the picture of the other woman and I realized that the man on that picture wasn't on any of the other pictures. You can't tell who the man is because the quality of the picture isn't very good. Hy is going to have his people try to enhance the picture so we can figure out who he is. He looks familiar but I can't see his face well enough to ID him."

Ed stood up, "I'm going to get a shower and get going. It's time to turn up the heat and see who gets nervous."

Ed got clothes out of the bedroom and went in and took a shower.

Ed started the drive into the city. He decided to start at Horizon and see what he could find out. He was hampered in his investigation because he no longer had the police powers to enable him to put pressure on people when he had to. He would just have to play it by ear.

Ed walked into the offices of Horizon. He flashed his badge at the receptionist and asked for Bynum's secretary. The receptionist didn't give more than a quick glance at the badge and directed him to George Bynum's secretary. As Ed passed Bynum's office, he saw that the crime scene tape was still up. No one was in Bynum's office. Ed stood before the secretary for a second before she realized he was there.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

Ed looked at the nameplate on her desk and saw that her name was Ann Hornsby. She was a pretty woman dressed in a business suit that did little to hide her excellent figure. She appeared to be in her late 30's. She seemed to recognize him. Ed introduced himself and she appeared nervous.

"Mrs. Hornsby, I was here the other day and met with Mr. Bynum," Ed started, "He hired me to do some work for him and since he was murdered before I was able to start what I was hired for, I figured that I should return the retainer he gave me to his widow. Is there any chance you would have her address?"

Ann Hornsby looked at him. He saw a hint of fear in her eyes. Ed realized that for some reason she was worried about Bynum hiring a private detective. He studied her face and decided to take a chance.

"Mrs. Hornsby, I have a copy of the pictures that Bynum has."

Ann Hornsby got flustered, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Ed knew he was on to something. Why else would she get so flustered, "The butterfly tattoo is clear on several of the pictures."