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."