Ellis working at his liquor store was available to people who needed a private eye. He did not like or drink alcohol. Sometimes he did have a weak bourbon and soda to calm his nerves. Too much of it or too frequently burned his stomach and made him sick. He would barf! He put up paper and cardboard advertisements that were shipped with the beverages. Ellis inked out price and sale figures to encourage buyers. Surprisingly a wide variety of people from all over town shopped there. People knew that he was a policeman and that he had a gun on him. So never was he robbed. This was odd as holdups were all too common. Ellis stood behind the counter near the cash register or sat on a stool there. When it was slow, he read comic books or cowboy novels. He smoked his pipe a lot. It relaxed him. Sometimes he sat in a wood straight back chair outside of the display window in the dirt parking lot. The fresh air and being outside for a while refreshed him.
As a year passed by, Ellis went out on detective jobs. All were in different locations and had varied clients with unique problems with an assortment of crimes.
Ellis got a telephone call from a woman one morning. Her husband had been murdered.