Chapter 6

Ed awoke in the morning shortly after the sun started pouring through the patio door leading to the balcony. The sun was striking him right in the eyes. It took several seconds for him to remember why he was sleeping on the couch. He rolled over and pulled the blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes. After fighting a losing battle to try and fall back asleep, he got up and started the coffee pot. Ed sat at the table in a half-asleep state waiting for the coffee to perk. Ed is one of those types that wander around in a daze until after the second cup of coffee, no matter how much sleep he had gotten the night before. The coffee pot quieted down and Ed got up and poured himself a cup of coffee. He drank the hot brew as fast as humanly possible and refilled his cup. The second cup was sipped a little slower and the caffeine started to hit his brain and shake out the cobwebs.

The events of the previous night were coming back to him and he was as confused as he had been last night. Something was not right with the entire situation. Why would George Bynum hire him to follow a girlfriend when he had a wife? Why would someone kill Bynum? Did the killing have anything to do with the girlfriend? Who had the pictures, Bynum, others, what about the police? Did the wife know about the girlfriend? Did the wife kill Bynum? Did the other men in the pictures kill Bynum? Was Bynum also blackmailing the men in the pictures? Did the police know the girlfriend's name yet? Was she the prime suspect? Ed put his face in his hands. The most important question was why was he getting involved in this mess?

Ed got up to check on the woman in his bed. He knocked softly and, hearing no answer, looking into the room. The woman had thrown the covers off during the night and was lying on her back with one leg hanging off of the bed. The shirt had come unbuttoned and had fallen open reveling her to his gaze. He went over to the bed and covered her again and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

Ed got his 3^rd cup of coffee and went into his office and got a legal pad and a pencil and brought it back to the table. While drinking his coffee, he wrote a list of the questions that he needed answers to. On a second sheet he wrote a list of everyone who might want George Bynum dead. The second list was, by no means, complete, as he did not know all of the players in this game yet. Ed took a 3^rd sheet and wrote down all of the facts that he knew. He laid all 3 sheets side by side and looked to see if an item on 1 sheet would answer a question on another sheet or even add a new question. After several minutes he decided that he was as confused as he was before he started this exercise and would need some input from Betty.

Ed got his 4^th coffee from the pot and turned to sit down. Betty started out of the bedroom heading for the kitchen table. She had buttoned the shirt but had not put on the pajama pants. She sat down on the seat hard and put her head in her hands. Ed poured a cup of coffee for her and got some ice from the refrigerator and put it in a tall glass. He drew her glass of water and set the ice water and the coffee in front of her. He was sure what she would do, exactly the wrong thing. Ed was an expert on hangovers since his wife and he divorced. Ed told Betty where the bathroom was and waited. Betty took the ice water and drank almost all of it at once. She sat for about 90 seconds and her eyes got a weird look and she bolted for the bathroom. She hadn't had time to close the door and Ed could hear her emptying her guts into the toilet. He poured a glass of milk and took it into the bathroom. Betty wasn't throwing up anymore, but she was still hugging the toilet. Ed set the milk on the bathtub next to her and told her to sip it only. As he left the bathroom he heard her heaving again.