Ed McBain - Poison

"I think I've heard just about enough of this," Ellsworth said.

Carella had also heard that one before.

"Dr. Ellsworth," he said, "I have here a search warrant granted earlier this evening by a supreme court magistrate, empowering us to search your person and the premises here as well as the premises at 257 Carrington Street, where your dental office is. Would you care to look at this warrant, Dr. Ellsworth?"

"Search? A search warrant? For what?"

"Specifically for a Colt Super .38 automatic pistol. Do you own such a gun?"

"It's in the top drawer of his dresser," Mrs. Ellsworth said.

The detectives turned at once. She was standing in the open door to the bedroom.

"You bastard," she said.

And Ellsworth broke for the front door.

Willis's gun came out of its holster.

"Freeze!" he shouted.

Ellsworth kept running.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" Willis shouted. The gun was trembling in his hand. The muzzle was leveled on the center of Ellsworth's back.

"Don't force me!" he shouted.

Ellsworth stopped dead.

He turned.

He looked past the detectives to where his wife was still standing in the bedroom door, a sitcom laugh track blaring from the television set behind her.

"I'm sorry," he said to her.

Which line, too, Carella had heard a hundred times before.

The Q & A took place in Lieutenant Byrnes's office at nine forty-five that night. Present were Detective/Lieutenant Peter R. Byrnes, Detective/Second Grade Stephen L. Carella, Detective/Third Grade Harold O. Willis, an assistant district attorney named Martin J. Liebowitz, and the man they had charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, Dr. Ronald B. Ellsworth.

Because Willis had spoken to Marilyn Hollis about her relationship with Ellsworth, he handled the early part of the questioning. Because Carella had spoken to Paul Blaney about McKennon's dental chart, he picked up where Willis left off.

Q: Can you tell us when Marilyn Hollis first came to your office?

A: In December sometime. Last year in December.

Q: Miss Hollis says it was on December fourth, a Wednesday according to her appointment calendar.

A: I don't recall the exact date. If that's what her appointment calendar…

Q: Yes, that's the date in her calendar. Did you continue to see her regularly as a patient after that date?

A: I did. She needed extensive treatment. Her teeth were in very bad condition, I don't know why she'd let them go so long without adequate dental care.

Q: According to Miss Hollis, shortly before Christmas, you asked her out. Is that correct?

A: It is.

Q: And continued seeing her on a more or less regular basis…

A: I saw her six times.

Q: A total of six times during December, January and February—when she ended the relationship.

A: Yes. Six times.

Q: Were you at any time intimate with Miss Hollis?

A: I was.

Q: Can you tell us now why Miss Hollis ended the relationship? Excuse me, I'd like to ask first if she terminated your professional services at the same time.

A: She did.

Q: And this was early in February, was it not?

A: It was.

Q: Why did she stop seeing you, Dr. Ellsworth?

A: I made a mistake.

Q: Sir?

A: She was always talking about total honesty, I made the mistake of being honest with her.

Q: In what way?

A: I told her I was married.

Q: What was her reaction to this?

A: She told me she never wanted to see me again. She said she didn't date married men.

Q: What was your reaction to that?

A: Well, what do you think it was? I was furious.

Q: But your anger had no effect on her, isn't that right? She did, in fact, stop seeing you.

A: She did.

Q: Now, Dr. Ellsworth, when did Mr. McKennon start coming to you as a patient?

A: Late in January.

Q: And he came on Miss Hollis's recommendation, did he?

A: Yes. She told him I was a good dentist. That was before we broke up, of course. Then I wasn't such a good dentist anymore. Then she stopped coming to me.

Q: He said she had recommended you as a good dentist?

A: He said a friend of his had recommended me. I'm not sure whether he told me at the time that the friend was Marilyn. I may have learned that later.

Q: He did not mention her name on his first visit?

A: He may have, I don't remember. I guess he did. But at the time, I didn't know what his relationship with Marilyn actually was. He only said a friend. I didn't know they were sleeping together.

Q: When did you discover that?

A: In February sometime.

Q: How did that come about?

A: I had seen him several times by then. I did an extraction, as I recall, and several fillings. I also recommended that a root canal be done on the lower right first molar. We'd become quite friendly—within the context of a professional relationship, of course. I believe it was during one of those visits that he mentioned Marilyn.

Q: Said he was intimate with her?

A: Well, you know the way men talk.

Q: What did he say, exactly, Dr. Ellsworth?

A: He said he was fucking this terrific woman, said he'd never had a woman like her in his life.

Q: He was referring to Marilyn Hollis, of course.

A: Yes. Well, I didn't know that at first. It wasn't until later that he told me her…

Q: Later during that same visit?

A: Yes. He was rinsing, I believe. He said Well, you remember the girl who sent me here, don't you? She's the one I'm fucking.

Q: And what was your reaction to that?

A: Anger.

Q: Why?

A: Because she'd thrown me overboard—a professional man—and she'd taken up with this idiot who worked for a buglar-alarm company!

Q: Did you mention to him that you'd been dating Miss Hollis?

A: Of course not! I'm a married man!

Q: Then he didn't know that you'd also shared a personal relationship with her?

A: He did not know.

Q: This anger you experienced…

A: Rage!

Q: Was it transmitted to Mr. McKennon? Was he aware…?

A: No, no, of course not. He never once suspected.

Q: Suspected what, Dr. Ellsworth?

A: Why, that I was going to kill him.

Q: Did you, in fact, kill him?

A: I did.

Q: Did you also kill Basil Hollander?

A: I did.

Q: Why?

A: For the same reason. An accountant, for Christ's sake! Because, you see, after McKennon was out of the way, I began to wonder if there were any others. So I began following her. And, of course, there were others, plenty of others, oh, a fine little slut she is, I can tell you!

Q: Did you kill Mr. Hollander with a knife?

A: A scalpel. From my office.

Q: Did you also kill Nelson Riley?

A: I did. He was another one, you see. She was seeing four men altogether. I was going to kill Endicott next, the lawyer. But then…

Q: Yes.

A: This is nothing personal.

Q: What is it, Dr. Ellsworth?

A: Well, she started seeing you. So I… it was going to take some planning to get to Endicott, the way it had with Riley. Getting into that loft was no picnic, believe me. So I needed time to get to Endicott. And you were handy. You were living with her, weren't you? I assumed you were. Which made it simple to track you. I've had that gun for a long time, by the way, I even have a Carry permit for it. I told them I sometimes transport gold, for fillings, you know, which was stretching the truth a bit, but they gave me the Carry permit.

Q: You tried to kill me—I identify myself for the tape, Detective Harold O. Willis, Detective/Third Grade, Eighty-seventh Squad—with this gun, is that correct? I show you a Colt Super .38 automatic pistol with the serial number 3478-842-106.