Five

Edward Williams first tried to tell his story at the 33rd Street sheriff's substation in south Orlando.  The desk officer there, apparently unaware that the crime was now a county matter, told Williams that he should go to the Winter Garden police headquarters.

Williams left.  The sheriff's officers at the store were dismayed to learn by radio that their first potential witness had been sent off into the night.

An OCSO detective, H.D. "Denny" Martin, was waiting for Williams when he arrived at the Winter Garden headquarters around midnight.  Williams was driving his gray Camaro.  He was accompanied by a woman named Mary Ellen Stewart, whom he described as a friend from Orlando, and Mrs. Stewart's son-in-law.

Edward Williams was a black man, a forty-seven-year-old native of the Bahamas who had come to the United States in 1953 with a harvesting crew and had become a citizen ten years later. He still spoke with a soft Bahamian accent.

This is the story he told:

At 7:28 that evening he arrived in his pickup truck at Zeigler's house.  On Monday, Zeigler had asked Williams to meet him at 7:30, to help deliver some large gifts.  Zeigler had reminded him of the appointment on Christmas Eve.  Nobody was at home when Williams arrived at Temple Grove Drive; Williams found a note from Zeigler saying that he would be back in a few minutes.

Williams waited in his pickup.  After about ten to fifteen minutes, Zeigler drove up to his car, accompanied by two people, one up front beside him and one in the backseat.

Zeigler went into his house while the passengers stayed in the car. When he came out, two or three minutes later, he walked up to Williams in the truck.  He told Williams to wait another ten minutes, and he drove off with the two passengers.

Williams waited.  After ten to twelve minutes another car came up the driveway, a white man and a woman; they backed out and left.  The time now would have been about 8:00 to 8:10, based on Williams's estimates.  After about twenty minutes Zeigler drove up again.  This time he was alone.  He parked the car in the garage and jumped out holding a small bag.

Zeigler went to a sink in the garage.  He wet a towel or cloth and appeared to wipe around the car.  He put the towel in the sink, came out, and closed the garage door with a remote control in his pickup truck.

He climbed into Williams's truck, and Williams noticed something strange.