Ellie gave a faint smile. “Sleeping pills. Strong sedatives. Twenty pills to a bottle of liquor. Simple recipe.”
Simmons pulled out a recorder and switched it on. “Time is 3:17 a.m., March nineteenth. Interview of witness… uh… detained subject.” He looked at me.
“Suspect,” I said.
“Interview of suspect. Please state your name.”
Ellie finished her tea and set the mug on the windowsill. “Eleanor Marie Carter. Twenty-five years old. I’m registered at this address.”
“I work as a machinist at the local plant.” “Explain what happened here.” Ellie lit a fifth cigarette.
She watched the smoke rise toward the ceiling. Then she began to speak. Calmly, evenly, like she was summarizing a movie.
“They came over last night around eight. Steve, Kyle, and Mike. They’re friends of my boyfriend, my… my Victor.”
“Victor and I have been living together about six months. He was supposed to come with them, but he got held up at work. He called and told me to let them in and they’d wait for him here.”
“So I let them in. They brought alcohol, three bottles. Sat down at the table. I put food out—pickles, potatoes, bacon.”
“They started drinking. Offered me some. I said no. Told them I wasn’t feeling well.”
“They laughed. Steve said, ‘Don’t be sick, Ellie. We need you healthy.’ The others laughed too.”
“I went into the kitchen and started washing dishes. I could hear them talking about me. About how Victor had done well for himself. About how quiet I was, how obedient. How they could do anything they wanted and I’d take it.”
“Kyle said, ‘Remember last week when Victor went to see his mom?’ Mike said, ‘Yeah. That was fun.’”
Ellie took a drag and exhaled. “I stood there in the kitchen and understood: tonight. It had to happen tonight, because by tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to take it anymore.”
“One more day and I would’ve killed myself.” Simmons looked at her carefully. “What do you mean by that?”
She shook her head. “Later. I’ll tell it in order. First the night itself.”
“All right. Go on.” “I went back into the room. Brought more food. Sat in the corner.”
“They finished the first bottle. Started the second. Got louder, looser.”
“Steve called me over. ‘Come here, Ellie. Why are you sitting all by yourself?’ I went over.”
“He grabbed my arm and pulled me onto his lap. I didn’t fight him. I knew I needed to play along.”
“They drank more. Kyle was the first to start nodding off, his head dropped onto the table. Then Mike started slurring.”
“Steve held out the longest. But after half an hour, he started nodding too. That’s when I got up.”
“I went into the bedroom. Took the cord and duct tape out of the closet. I’d hidden them there a week earlier.”
“You deliberately put the sedatives in the alcohol?”
