Page 109 of One of Us Is Guilty

Before Tanner decided she would fine me again, I moved things on quickly.

‘Dr. Morrow, your original report stated that the cause of Molly Green’s death was inconclusive, but may have been caused by decapitation. Again, that’s ayesornoanswer.’

He hesitated, looked to Riley for assistance. Given how the last exchange went, Riley was warming the bench for a while and the judge didn’t have any wiggle room to hit me, not yet.

‘Yes,’ said Dr. Morrow, finally.

‘Let’s be clear for the jury, when you wrote your second report, your final report, you had not re-examined Molly Green’s body, correct?’

‘Correct.’

‘I just wanted to rule out any possibility that there was some other injury you might have found on a second examination, maybe something that you neglected or missed the first time?’

You can always tell when a professional witness feels insulted. They sit up straighter, or lean forward, or their expression hardens and their gaze focuses on you instead of the jury, who they’re trained to look at when they deliver their answers. Dr. Morrow chewed his lip, then leaned forward and looked at me when he said, ‘I don’t miss important details when carrying out postmortem examinations. I never have, and I never . . . I mean . . .’

He paused while giving his answer, but he wasn’t stumbling over his words – he was reading me. I’d raised an eyebrow, like I didn’t believe he could possibly carry out a competent examination. His neck flushed red, stark against the white collar of his shirt and the rest of his alabaster complexion. He was really pissed now.

‘I mean . . . I don’t make mistakes, Mr. Flynn.’

‘Really? Not once?’ I asked.

‘Not. Once,’ spat Dr. Morrow.

‘Your opinion on the victim’s cause of death changed. That’s because the district attorney gave you a jewelry box to examine, which supposedly had the victim’s blood on it, and told you it was the murder weapon. Isn’t that right?’

‘I am entitled to alter a preliminary opinion when I have taken all the relevant facts into consideration,’ he said, rather too grandly.

‘It is not a fact that the jewelry box is the murder weapon, though, is it?’

‘I was informed by the district attorney’s office that this was the murder weapon.’

I had a comeback for this, a real doozy, but it would take me off point and likely cost me a thousand dollars. I decided I would try and work this answer back into my last question.

‘Dr. Morrow, there is no point of fatal impact on the body you examined which would be consistent with a blow from this jewelry box, is there?’

He hesitated, said, ‘It’s obvious the victim’s head was removed to hide any such point of impact.’

‘So you’re a detective now as well? Are you psychic too?’

‘Objection,’ said Riley.

‘Sustained. Be careful, Mr. Flynn,’ said Judge Tanner.

‘You did not examine the victim’s skull, Dr. Morrow, did you?’

‘No, for obvious reasons.’

‘So you don’t know if the victim sustained thirty blows to the head with a long, pointed object, do you?’

The medical examiner opened his mouth, paused, then said, ‘No, but I can take other evidence into account.’

‘There was bruising on the victim’s neck. You don’t know if the victim was strangled, do you?’

‘That bruising is likely to have been caused during the amputation at the throat.’

‘But you don’t know that for sure, do you?’

‘No.’