today. >> reporter: but, he insisted, heather never made that call. and there was more. ed told detectives he was surprised by the first question he was asked when initially contacted by the police. >> detective cook called me and he said, "is your girlfriend there?" and i said, "yes, she's in the backyard." and he said "good, okay, so heather's, okay?" and i said, "heather's not my girlfriend. she's a friend of mine and we've been friends for 20 years." >> reporter: so if ed and heather weren't an item, and he was dating someone else, what exactly was going on? >> the detective wanted to hear from you immediately. once they learned a name. >> oh yeah, once they knew who i was. >> you were an important piece of the puzzle to them. >> yeah. >> reporter: detectives learned from ed that his relationship with heather went back decades, long before heather married chris. ed said he and heather met in 1993 when they were both teens living in florida. ed remembers they fell fast for each other. >> it was young love. they say you don't know what love is, but i do. >> reporter: ed said they dated for two years before he moved away.