As an accountant, whenever I start something I go and get as much information as possible. So I'll do that here.

First my name is Ed. I guess you could best describe me as just and average kind of guy. I'm 54 years old, 5' 9" tall and about 210 pounds, with some gray hair. I have been an accountant for over 30 years,

I met my wife while in college and we got married, just after getting my degree in accounting and business. I was offered a good job with a large company and I have stayed there ever since.

Both my wife and I wanted the same things it seems until it became apparent that we were not going to have children. We had some tests done but there were no answers as to why she couldn't get pregnant, and it sure was not for the lack of trying. After ten years of trying and failing, she asked for a divorce saying that she needed to feel fulfilled as a woman, and to her that meant having children. About six months after the divorce, her car broke down and she called me and asked if I could pick her up at a garage her boss told her about. Since we are still friends, I picked her up and dropped her off at her place after work. To make it a short story, the guy that owned the shop gave her a good deal on the repairs as long as she had dinner with him. After dating a few months, they got married and 19 years later they have three boys and two girls. She is very happy and I guess so is he. He got the little housewife he was looking for and she got a house full of wonderful kids.

I never remarried. Oh I had a few semi longterm relationships, but nothing lasting over a couple of years. I guess I'm not what you would call a special or a great catch of a man.

I'm just average to plain looking. I dress in simple office attire, dark pants, white shirt and a solid color tie. I wear a jacket to and from the office but otherwise it just hangs on the back of my door.

I drive a three year old Chevrolet Impala, and I have a very simple one bedroom condo. That way there is no yard to keep up and it has a pool, not that I use it. Who wants an old guy lying about who hasn't been exposed to the sun since Jimmy Carter was president.

My only real recreation activity is that I drive a few hours east to a little casino a few times a year. It has been around I guess since they started allowing gambling, and caters to just the locals. When I go there I have about the only car with out of state license plates there.

The casino has about a hundred rooms, I guess, and the table games have low minimum bets. I prefer to play black jack because they only use one deck at a time. For a small number of people, that gives us an advantage. (If you don't act like we are counting the cards) If you know anything about card counting and money management, you can move the odds to where you win about three out of five hands. I have been going there, I guess, for about fifteen years and after all my expenses and the losses while I was learning, I'm up by about $25,000. I always try to sit at what is called 3rd base, or the last seat on the left side. That way I can better watch all the cards that are played except the dealers hold card.

So now back to what happed last week.

We had our annual audit at work and with our new computer system, it only took three days rather than the usual two weeks. With the extra time saved and the fact that I had a few days left over from last year's vacation that I hadn't used and will lose if I don't take it this month, I headed east and got a room for a few days at my little casino.

On the morning of my second day, I had my usual vacation breakfast of steak and eggs with potatoes and a muffin. Then I headed over for a couple of early morning hours of playing cards at the tables. I know that it will be quiet and that the players are ALL locals and just having some early morning fun enjoying the free drinks before starting their day of work or just being retired.

Being that it was early, there were only two tables open and both were the $2 blackjack tables. You can play a long time and not lose or win a lot, even after a couple of hours. After playing for just over an hour, a woman I had never seen before joined the table, sitting in the middle chair. She looked to be about 5 foot 5 inches and about 150 pounds, a little on the full side but everything looks like it's in the right place. Light brown hair, hazel eyes and she was dressed in what can be described as spring casual and without a coat.

She bought in with $200 and after watching her play a few hands, it is very apparent that she had very little knowledge of the game other than playing her hand and not even playing against the dealer's card. After half an hour she is down to about 50 dollars. The table is clearing out as the locals are moving out to do their thing. So it's just her and I, the dealer is playing on remote and has very little knowledge of life going on around her.