mean that they didn't have anything to do with this disappearance. >> reporter: police recorded ed raulerson'sinterview. during questioning, ed made a potentially important admission. >> i love her to death. i would do anything for her. you know, one of the detectives asked me, you know, who would she call if she wanted to disappear. i said, me. i'd be here in however many hours it took for me to get here 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. 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. >> reporter: detec