He wasn't startled; he only grumbled: "I agree. The adversary system
stinks. But working inside of it, my own position has logic enough to
satisfy me. I get it out of a hypothesis, Red--not abstract truth, but
working hypothesis. I say a human being once born has a right to live,
if the word 'right' is going to mean anything--or let's say, a right not
to be murdered, judicially or any other way. In other words, I'd defend
Cal if I thought she was guilty as hell."
Crew-cut gray hair and dignity marched to the stand, the face under the
gray brush unknown to Edith but carrying a nearly unmistakable
professional stamp. This would be bad. _Look towards me, Cal! I'll wear
this old green suit tomorrow, too._ "Arthur J. Devens, M.D." _Look
toward me!_ But telepathy is like other kinds of magic, she knew: fun to
play with as a notion; if it worked, we'd run screaming. "A.B. Columbia,
1930, M.D. from College of Physicians and Surgeons." And maybe soon,
another century or so, there'll be no such thing as privacy on earth
except in the dark center of a few minds not quite overwhelmed. The
desert shall blossom like the rose: distilled sea water, atomic-power
pumps, sure, nothing to it, but no room for roses, and no hiding
place--"active as Coroner's physician for Winchester County, New Essex,
since 1952." _But friend, if something happens inside the mind I don't
know, to make you remember me, to turn your head toward me, I will
smile. I'll say with my lips: "We're going to win."_
"--preliminary examination made on the scene. The body was that of a
young white woman in the middle twenties, of slight build, height five
feet two. Rigor was complete, a light reddish post-mortem lividity
noticeable, the face not markedly cyanotic. A moderate quantity of white
cohesive foam adhered to nose and mouth. The hands, though stiffened in
rigor, were not clenched as one often finds them in drowning cases. The
conjunctivae were congested. Cutis anserina--gooseflesh--was pronounced
on the thighs and upper arms. Gooseflesh," said Dr. Devens politely and
patiently to the jury, "is frequently evident after death by drowning,
if the water is far enough below body temperature, as it ordinarily is
even in the tropics. To sum up that preliminary, superficial
examination: it suggested, but did not prove, that death had occurred
with less struggle than is usual in a drowning. It did prove that life
was not extinct when the body entered the water. There was at least some
breathing, possibly the shallow breathing of unconsciousness, but enough
inhaling and exhaling and choking reflex to cause that foam."
"Doctor, a hypothetical question: if a person were stunned, I mean
knocked entirely unconscious, before falling or being thrown into the
water, and then perished by drowning, would you expect to find the body,
after twelve to thirteen hours of submersion, more or less in the
condition of Mrs. Doherty's at the time you made that first
examination?"
Edith saw Callista start as if struck in the face. Her dark brows
gathered in that quick frown of hers, and she was leaning to Cecil
Warner, whispering. She looked, Edith thought, more disgusted than
angry. Cecil's poker face remained in control. He only listened, shook
his head, patted her hand.
"Oh, hypothetical--well.... I dare say the findings wouldn't be
inconsistent. Of course, Mr. Hunter, I looked for any sign of head
injury, a matter of routine, and found nothing of the kind."
"Isn't it possible, Doctor, to receive a head injury, perhaps from a
padded thing like a sandbag, that won't leave any marks?"
"No superficial marks, maybe. I think you'd find post-mortem evidence,
likely subdural hemorrhage."
"Even from a blow that merely stunned?"
With some acid and faraway amusement Dr. Devens remarked: "Even as
Coroner's physician, I'm not too versed in the lore of sandbags. But I
think that a blow heavy enough to stun, followed very soon by death from
another cause, would leave some internal evidence."
"Did you look for such evidence?"
"I did."
"Is that standard procedure, by the way, when there's convincing
evidence of drowning?"
"I can't say that I lean very much on standard procedure. So far as I'm
concerned, any case that reaches the Coroner's office is unique. When
there's any possibility of homicide, I try to think of everything,
including the apparently far-fetched. Yes, I examined the head: cranial
section--well, I don't suppose you want those details. Head, neck
vertebrae, all perfectly normal, uninjured. In fact the one and only
injury on the entire body surface was a trifling abrasion on the right
anklebone, which could have been caused in any number of ways--a fall,
or the anklebone scraping against something: impossible to say. I also
examined the palms for earth marks, such as she might have got if she'd
fallen forward and tried to break the fall with her hands. There weren't
any, but I dare say several hours' immersion would have removed them if
they were ever there. The skin of the palms was perfectly clear."
"I see. Go on, please."
"The body was placed in the mortuary wagon from Shanesville, and at my
suggestion was taken to the Winchester morgue. I accompanied it there;
it was at no time out of my sight. I began the post-mortem at about 1:30
P.M., assisted by Dr. Miles Dennison and with the authorization of Mr.
District Attorney Lamson. I think I should say at this point that
shortly before I began the post-mortem, I was notified by Winchester
Chief of Police Morgan Collins that there was a possibility Mrs. Doherty
had drunk poison, thought to be aconitine. I therefore had this in mind
before beginning the examination, and I consulted by telephone with the
toxicologist Dr. Walter Ginsberg, and prepared the organs, blood samples
and so on, that he told me he would need for his study. The body weight
was one hundred and ten pounds, slightly undernourished. There was an
appendectomy scar, old; no other scars, no evidence of chronic illness
or disorder, no marks of violence; the subject had never given birth.
The nasal cavities and bronchi contained some stiff foam and a few dark
brown and black specks identified by microscopic examination as
fragments of dead leaves. No algae were found. Some water was in the
lungs, but very little. The heart, not markedly distended, contained
fluid blood, but that is not diagnostic: clotted blood may appear in a
drowning case. The viscera were quite noticeably congested."
"That is diagnostic?--congestion of the viscera?"
"No, sir--may appear in many other conditions."
"Including some kinds of poisoning?"
"Yes, Mr. Hunter."
"For example poisoning by aconitine?"
"Yes."
"Did you employ the Gettler test?"
"Yes--inconclusive. The blood in the left side of the heart had a
slightly lower concentration of sodium chloride than the blood on the
right. If that difference had been pronounced, you could call it fair
evidence of inhalation of fresh water, but it was too slight. I don't
attach any significance to it."
"Could the _lack_ of a positive finding be significant?"
"I don't think so. It's a good test, but plenty of things may confuse
it. For instance, a drowning may occur from pharyngeal shock--a
spasmodic throat contraction that causes asphyxia before much water is
inhaled. Logically still a drowning death, but no water to speak of, so
there goes your Gettler test."
"You looked of course for evidence of aconitine poisoning?"
"Only in a limited sense, sir. Aconitine doesn't leave gross traces for
post-mortem, it's a job for the toxicologist, a chemical job. Since I
knew Dr. Ginsberg would be working on it, I simply bore it in mind,
prepared what he needed, and kept my eyes open. I can say under oath
that I found nothing inconsistent with aconite poisoning having occurred
shortly before the drowning. But the actual immediate cause of death
was, in my opinion, asphyxia due to immersion, in other words drowning."
"Doctor, will you give the jury a description of the effects of
aconitine in a lethal or near-lethal dose?"
"Frankly, sir, I'll be drawing on textbook knowledge, because this is
the only case I ever encountered. Homicide by aconite is decidedly rare.
So is suicide." Callista looked up, not to the doctor who dutifully
faced the jury and would not look at her, but searching the rows of
spectators. "Aconitine will cause numbness, tingling in the mouth, also
in the fingers, possibly cramps in arms and legs. There's marked
salivation, nausea, burning sensation in stomach and throat." Edith
moved in her seat, and smiled, and tried to call in silence: _I'm here._
But Callista's eyes, searching, immense, drowned, passed over her. "A
slow, irregular, weak pulse is characteristic, with rapid shallow
breathing, muscular weakness, a general collapse. Nausea and vomiting
are usual; sometimes there are convulsions. The poison depresses the
medullary centers of the brain, but the cerebrum is hardly affected,
which means the mind stays pretty clear until the coma that may
supervene at the end." Callista's eyes found what they were seeking. It
would not be her mother, Edith knew: Victoria Chalmers sat over at
Edith's left. "Those symptoms I've described begin soon after aconite is
taken. I believe death, when it occurs, usually comes in about four
hours--but it can happen in a matter of minutes."
Edith wished not to turn her head; she felt instead an unwillingness,
distaste, reluctance to learn what would be written in the face of Jim
Doherty. But she could not help it. Knowing where he was seated, she was
forced to turn until a sidelong look gave her the image of him,
completing at that instant the sign of the cross, his eyes lowered, his
lips moving. But the man beside him was watchful, interested, attentive,
probably missing none of the testimony.
"What is the minimum lethal dose, Dr. Devens?"
"About a milligram. Some individuals might take up to five or six, and
recover. More than six milligrams would likely finish anyone, unless
there was immediate medical attention--you understand, those figures
refer to a pure concentration of the drug."
Callista's lips were moving also. As Edith looked to her again, she saw
them shape unmistakable words: "_Go away!_" There would be no sound,
Edith thought, even for Cecil Warner, who had taken hold of her hand and
was showing the beginning of alarm. "_Go away!_"
"Is the drug readily soluble in alcohol?"
"Yes, Mr. Hunter."
_Callista, be quiet! He can't hear you. He can't hear anyone._
"Assuming a person had taken four to five milligrams of the poison, Dr.
Devens, he could still be saved by immediate medical attention?"
The girl said something to Cecil Warner, quick and possibly sharp; Edith
caught the faint note of her voice under the dry dominating noise of Dr.
Devens, the words indistinguishable, blotted out by his: "Certainly,
sir, the patient could probably be saved. Stomach pump. Tannic acid I
imagine, to render the poison inert. You'd give heart stimulants, say
digitalis. A healthy patient would have a pretty good chance."
"Thank you, Dr. Devens. Cross examination, Mr. Warner?"
"No cross examination." But Warner was up, for once urgently
quick-spoken. "Your Honor, in view of my client's exhaustion, may we
have adjournment at this time?"
In the abrupt hush that followed Warner's question, Callista's voice,
not loud, not really a cry, was surely heard by everyone, even by Jim
Doherty. "Go away, my love!"
The Judge winced, speaking hastily: "The Court stands adjourned until
ten A.M. tomorrow."
Edith also observed the press tables, and the jolly excited scramble for
the telephones.