John Baer - The Black Mask Magazine (Vol. 5, No. 5 — August 1922)

Then after a pause:

“We were talking last time of the murder of Mr. Kirven. Have you changed your mind and accepted my theory that the missing Mr. Lesser in all probability remained in the city and made the bold stroke of adopting some mode of life which brings him into contact with many persons daily?”

The doctor stiffened perceptibly. “An ingenious theory, Mr. Carr. But to judge from the newspaper accounts of Mr. Lesser, he was probably not clever enough to work out so subtle a scheme.”

There was little conversation after that. Dr. Perry worked in almost complete silence on the tooth until the task was completed. The detective noticed that the dentist’s hands were a trifle unsteady.

Detective Carr left the office determined to proceed quickly and openly against Dr. Perry. He had reached the conclusion that he had succeeded in tormenting the doctor into such a state of “nerves” that he would be unable to stand up under a grilling at headquarters. It was Carr’s intention to consult the district attorney about the advisability of obtaining a warrant for Dr. Perry’s arrest.

While Carr was on his way to the district attorney’s office both of his shoe laces became loosened. He bent over to tie them. He held his head down for several minutes.

Then, just as Detective Carr entered the district attorney’s office, a strange phenomenon occurred. The detective was suddenly seized with a convulsion; he fell to the floor and his body became rigid.

A doctor was immediately summoned, but although Carr lived for almost an hour and a half, he could not be again brought to consciousness.

The symptoms — the rigid muscles, the stiffness at the back of the neck, the asphyxia, the wide open and fixed eyes, the risus sardonicus (drawn aside mouth) — convinced the doctor that Detective Carr had been poisoned with strychnine. The post-mortem investigation, however, only added another element of mystery to the tragedy. A chemical analysis of the stomach contents showed positively that no strychnine was present.

If the doctor’s diagnosis proved to be correct, it followed that strychnine must have been injected by a hypodermic syringe. But no needle was found on the dead man. It was also not clear why Carr — assuming it was suicide — had gone about it in this queer fashion. Symptoms of strychnine poisoning usually appear within twenty minutes or less after the poison is taken. Where had Detective Carr been before he came to the attorney’s office? Before the mystery could be solved that question had to be answered.

Dr. Raymond K. Perry experienced a queer feeling even during the first visit of Detective Carr. He had the premonition that the detective had penetrated his disguise. When, a few days later, the dentist was visited by a former client of Lesser & Kirven — who came ostensibly to have his teeth cleaned — Perry’s fears increased.

A short time after, three of the former clients of Lesser & Kirven were in the restaurant in which the detective took his lunch. Dr. Perry was then certain.

Detective Carr had identified him as the missing William Lesser. Dr. Perry knew that his arrest was imminent. Had any doubts remained, the actions of the detective himself would have cleared them away. The detective began referring — casually — to the Kirven case. He somehow managed to bring up this matter during every consultation. And he spoke of artificially induced baldness as an effective means of disguise.

The doctor was aware that in the beginning the detective was a trifle uncertain, but with each visit the uncertainty gradually resolved itself into conviction. Dr. Perry was in a continuous state of suspense.

It became obvious finally that the detective would arrest him. The dentist knew that an arrest would be his ruin. He would be unable to account for any of his actions previous to the last ten months. And if they held him in jail without bail — as is customary in murder indictments — his hair would start growing and that would expose him.

The dentist, of course, could have fled. But that would be equivalent to a confession of guilt. He would invite a man hunt. Also he would have to sacrifice all the money he had gained by the murder of Kirven. This money was tied up in real estate. If he attempted to make a sale, he would be merely inviting immediate arrest.

There seemed to be but one other alternative. From the fact that he was never shadowed, the dentist reasoned that Detective Carr had not mentioned his suspicions to any other police officials. There was every indication that only Detective Carr was privy to the secret.

If, therefore, a way could be found to dispose of Detective Carr, the status quo would be maintained and Dr. Perry could keep living in comfort the rest of his life. As the dentist figured it, nothing could be lost by a second murder. They can’t do more than electrocute a man. The murder certainly seemed to be an absolute necessity...

During the detective’s last visit, the dentist made him an amalgum filling for the first molar on the upper left-hand side. The dental pulp or “nerve” had been killed with arsenic and removed previously. It remained only to put in the gutta percha point, seal it with liquid gutta percha and close the top of the cavity with amalgum.

But the dentist did not use gutta percha. Instead he inserted a paste made of strychnine and rammed it into the root canal. Strychnine acts rather rapidly, especially when it may be absorbed easily into the blood. The dentist was consequently in somewhat of a hurry when he put in the amalgum. He was a trifle nervous and anxious; coldblooded murderers exist for the most part only in fiction.

He managed, however, to get the detective out of the office alive, and when that was accomplished most of his worries were over. For there seemed to be not the slightest chance that the murder could be proved against him. There would indeed be no way of proving that it was murder and not even the most careful autopsy would be likely to probe into the cavities of Detective Carr’s teeth.

The X-ray pictures which Dr. Perry had taken of Detective Carr’s mouth showed that the apex of the root of the molar in question extended into the antrum, which is a “pocket” extending from the nasal cavity into the bone. This is not at all an unusual condition. Dr. Perry knew that the strychnine would be absorbed into the blood by way of the antrum. Death would then be a matter of minutes. Under normal conditions it would take several hours for the action to start. By then the detective would no longer be near the dental office and the chances were that even if he lived long enough to give information, he would not associate the tooth filling with the poison.

The next morning’s papers, perhaps, would have the news of the detective’s death. It looked safe — absolutely safe.

As Dr. Perry expected, the next morning’s papers contained the news of Detective Carr’s strange death, and according to the accounts, headquarters was at a loss to explain the mystery. It was difficult to reconcile the known facts with either a murder or a suicide theory. The doctor smiled as he read the reports; they were very satisfying — to him.

He had been in his office about an hour when three men, who introduced themselves as Detective Sergeant Elm, Detective Mosher and Medical Examiner Richards called on him.

“From one of Detective Carr’s friends we learned that you have been treating Carr’s teeth,” said Detective Sergeant Elm. “Was Carr in here yesterday for an appointment?”

Dr. Perry, afraid that a trap was being laid for him and that he would betray himself by lying, was slow to reply. “Why — I’m not sure — that is he may have been — I’ll have to consult my records.”