"You fight back?"
"Exactly. You'd be surprised at how effective that technique can be."
"Did you and your husband talk business when you were alone together?"
"Business?" she said, and the smile became broader and more charming.
"Yes, we talked business-if you mean discussing our cases. We did it constantly. He sought my reactions and advice and I sought his.
Sergeant, this is not a profession that ends when you lock your office door for the night."
"The reason I asked, ma'am, is this: Your husband had a great number of patients, particularly if you include all he'd discharged. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of work to investigate them all. We were hoping you might be able to help us speed up the process. If your husband discussed his cases with you-as you say he did-would you be willing to pick out those patients you feel might be violent?"
She was silent, staring at them both, while her long, tapered fingers played with the pen on the desk top.
"I don't know," she said worriedly. "It's a troublesome question, involving medical ethics. I'm not sure how far I should go on this.
Sergeant, I'm not going to say yes or no at this moment. I think I better get some other opinions. Julie Samuelson's, for one. If I acted on impulse, I'd say, hell, yes, I'll do anything I can to help. But I don't want to do the wrong thing. Can I get back to you? It shouldn't take more than a day or so."
"The sooner the better," Boone said, then glanced swiftly at Delaney, signaling that he was finished.
Delaney, who was pleased with the way the Sergeant had conducted the interrogation, hunched forward in his chair, hands clasped between spread knees, and stared at Diane Ellerbee.
"Doctor," he said, "I have a question-a very personal question you may find offensive. But it's got to be asked. Was your husband faithful to you?"
She threw the ballpoint pen across the desk. It fell to the floor, and she didn't bother to retrieve it. They saw her spine stiffen, jaw tighten. Those sky-blue eyes seemed to darken.
She glared at Edward X. Delaney.
"My husband was faithful," she said loudly. "Faithful from the day we were married. I realize people say that the wife is always the last to know, but I swear to you I know my husband was faithful. We worked at our marriage, and it was a happy one. I was faithful to Simon, and he was faithful to me."
"No children?" Delaney said.
She gave a slight grimace-pain, distaste?
"You go for the jugular, don't you?" she said harshly. "No, no children.
I'm incapable. Is that going to help you find my husband's killer?"
Delaney rose to his feet, and a second later, Sergeant Boone jumped up.
"Doctor Ellerbee," Delaney said, "I want to thank you for your cooperation.
I can't promise that what you've told us will aid our investigation-but you never know. It would help a great deal if you'd be willing to name those of your husband's patients you feel might be capable of homicidal violence."
"I'll talk to Julie," she said, nodding. "If he approves, I'll do it.
Either way, I'll be in touch as soon as I can."
Boone handed over his card. "I can be reached at this number, Doctor Ellerbee, or you can leave a message. Thank you for your help, ma'am."
Outside, they walked west to York Avenue, fists jammed into their pockets, shoulders hunched against the cutting wind.
"Nice job," Delaney said. "You handled that just right."
"A beautiful, beautiful woman," Boone said. "But what did we get?
Zilch."
"I'm not so sure. It was interesting. And yes, she's a beautiful woman."
"You think she was telling the truth, sir? About her husband being faithful?"
"Why not? You're faithful to Rebecca, aren't you? And I know I'm faithful to Monica. Not all husbands sleep around.
Sergeant, I think you better make an appointment for us with Doctor Samuelson as soon as possible. Maybe we can convince him to tell her to pick out the crazies from her husband's patient list."
"She sure seems to rely a hell of a lot on his opinion."
"Oh, you noticed that too, did you?"
They parted on York. Boone headed uptown to his apartment; Delaney walked down to his brownstone.
He had left a note for Monica, telling her that he might be late and to go ahead and have dinner if she was hungry. But she had waited for him, keeping a casserole of veal and onions warm in the oven.
While they ate, he told her about the interview with Dr. Diane Ellerbee.
He wanted to get her reaction.
"She sounds like a woman under very heavy pressure," Monica said when Delaney finished describing the interview.
"Oh, hell, yes. The death of her husband has gotten to her-no doubt of that. That's why she's been leaning on the Department; at least it gives her the feeling that she's doing something. Both Abner and I thought she put unusual reliance on Doctor Samuelson. Granted that he's the president of an important professional association, still it sounded like she doesn't want to make a move without consulting him. A curious relationship. Abner is going to set up a meet with Samuelson. Maybe we'll learn more."
"Do you believe her about her husband being faithful?"
"I have no reason not to believe," he said cautiously i've never heard even a whisper of gossip about them," Monica said. "Things like that usually get out-one way or another."
"I suppose so. But I think Diane Ellerbee is a very complex woman. She's going to take a lot of study."
"You don't suspect her, do you, Edward?"
He sighed. "Oh, hell-I suspect everyone. You know I go by percentages, and most homicides are committed by relatives or close friends. So, sure the widow has got to be a suspect. But up to now, I admit, there isn't an iota of evidence to make me doubt her innocence. Well, we're just beginning."
He helped Monica clean up and put the dishes in the washer. Then he went into the study, poured himself a small Rdmy, and put on his reading glasses. He wrote out a complete report of the interrogation of Dr.
Diane Ellerbee and slid it into the file folder neatly labeled with her name.
He was interrupted twice. The first phone call came from Boone, who said that he had made an appointment with Samuelson for 7:00 A.M. the following morning.
"Seven o'clock! I'm just dragging myself out of bed at that hour."
"Me, too," Boone said mournfully. "But these psychiatrists apparently start the day early-to take patients before they go off to work."
"Well, all right, we'll make it at seven. What's the address?"
The second call was from Jason, who had just returned to the city from Brewster.
"No ball peen hammer, sir," he reported. "The handyman says he doesn't own one and never has. I think he's telling the truth."
"Probably," Delaney agreed. "It was just a gamble and had to be checked out."
"And the victim wasn't very mechanical," Jason went on.
"He owned maybe a tack hammer and a screwdriver-fiveand-ten tools like that.
Whenever any repairs had to be done, even like changing a washer, the caretaker was called in."
"You got to see the house?"
"Oh, yes, sir. Not as big as I thought it would be, but really beautiful. Even with all the trees bare, you can imagine what that place must look like in spring and summer. Plenty of land with a sweet little brook running through. Patio, garden, swimming pool-the whole bit."
"It sure sounds great," Delaney said. "I've got to get up there and take a look. Jason, we've got Parnell working on the financial backgrounds of the two Ellerbees and Doctor Samuelson. What I'd like you to do is dig into their personal backgrounds. Ages, where born, living relatives, education, professional careers, and so forth. You can get most of that stuff from Who's Who, records of colleges, universities and hospitals, yearbooks of professional societies, and any other sources you can think of. Dig as deep as you think necessary."