her father. giving his daughter a monstrous and bloody gift of liberation from a man they both loathed. so detectives tried to call ed ates at his home in florida. they say his wife dottie said he was away and she had no idea how to reach him. >> the detective out of bergen county, new jersey. >> he is essentially out of touch for 24 hours from the time of the murder, and he's the person that we're looking to talk to, and when you have that type of situation, it starts throwing up red flags. >> the night after the murder, thursday it, ed ates did return the police's calls. he told them he was currently in louisiana at his elderly mother's. obviously the new jersey detectives were eager to interview ates in person, so they flew to louisiana. by the time they arrived, the one-time father-in-law had already hired a lawyer and