Chapter 19

Ed drove to City Hall where the news conference was to be held and Katherine followed in her car. She had wanted them to ride together, but he told her that he had to talk to Betty and try to convince her that she would be better off in Iowa. He was also worried about Ann. He knew that she couldn't remain sedated until all of this mess was finished. He wasn't sure how he would handle the situation with Ann.

Ed pulled into the municipal parking garage and Katherine parked next to him. They got out of their cars and walked to City Hall. The room where the news conference was to be held was packed and Ed immediately found Hy Symington sitting in one of the front seats. Ed and Katherine sat next to him. Ed introduced Katherine to Hy and she shook Hy's hand. Most of the reporters were busy giving their camera crews last minute instructions and had not attempted to find a seat yet. As 9 o'clock approached there was a mad scramble for the front seats. Ed and Katherine both received glares from the news people.

About 2 minutes after 9 o'clock Commissioner Schwartz walked in followed by the Mayor. Several of the news people tried to ask questions and the Mayor held up his hands. The room became quiet and Commissioner Swartz stood back and let the Mayor take the podium.

"I have a brief statement and then I'll let Commissioner Schwartz tell you why this news conference was called. This morning the Governor contacted my office to inform me that the CID Unit of the State Police was taking over an investigation and I have filed a formal protest with the Governor's Office. I have instructed the Attorney General for the City to go to court and stop this intrusion into City affairs. I have never heard of a city investigation being yanked away from the City Police Department while the investigation was ongoing. Now I'm going to have Commissioner Schwartz fill you in on the case and the impact of the State's illegal interference in this matter."

Commissioner Schwartz rose and thanked the Mayor and stood at the podium. He took a minute to survey the audience. Ed saw Scotty and another State Policeman dressed in suits standing along the wall just in front of the stage. Several other men were positioned around the room and Ed knew that Scotty had the room filled with his men.

Commissioner Schwartz started to speak, "The State Police are attempting to interfere in a City investigation into the murder of one of our most prominent citizens. Last night the 2 suspects in the case were engaged in a gun battle with our Police Force where we tried to arrest them. One of the suspects was killed by police gunfire and the other suspect is in critical condition in the hospital. The suspects have a long history of criminal activity and have been suspects since the night of the murder. The actions by the Governor have seriously impacted our efforts to bring this case to a successful conclusion. I can't comment on the Governor's actions because our attorneys are arguing this matter before the court as we speak".

Hy Symington stood up and interrupted the Commissioner. Commissioner Schwartz asked him to sit until he asked for questions from the news media. Hy pressed on with his question.

"Mr. Commissioner wasn't the actions of the Governor brought on by the revelation that your investment account and several of the City's officials investment accounts have been fattened by the actions of Mr. George Bynum, the murdered "prominent citizen?" This fattening of your account and the accounts of other City officials was at the expense of Union Pension Funds and other large funds including our University's Endowment Fund."

Hy flashed a copy of the papers that Ann had provided to him.

"Isn't it true that the killer of Mr. Bynum has confessed to the State Police and is right now in the custody of the State Police?

"Isn't it true that Mr. Bynum, you and several other men drugged women and raped them and attempted to make them into sex slaves? By the way, Mr. Commissioner, I have a complete set of the pictures that Mr. Bynum took while you and others were raping the women.

Commissioner Schwartz paled and looked around the room for help. Hy pressed on.

"Isn't it true that the suspects were picked because of their long rap sheets and really had nothing to do with the murder?"

"Isn't it true, Mr. Commissioner that all of the men that participated in the drugging and rape of the women have now been arrested and are in State Police custody?"

Hy stood and waited for Commissioner Schwartz to answer. Commissioner Schwartz laid his head on the podium and the Mayor started inched toward the door. The Mayor walked into Scotty. Scotty handcuffed the Mayor and several other State Policemen grabbed Commissioner Schwartz and handcuffed him. Scotty brought the Mayor over to the podium and started reading them their rights. Scotty and the others led the 2 men out of the room and pandemonium broke out. Every newsperson crowded around Hy and tried to get information about what had just happened. Hy played it to the hilt.

"You all can have the story later. Please contact my publisher for copies of the story."