“Did you determine the cause of death?” Irvine asked listlessly.
“I did.”
“What was it?”
“Death was caused primarily by burns,” Dr. Dixon said.
“By burns?” Irvine echoed in surprise.
“That’s right.”
“What about the bullets?” the lawyer blurted in surprise.
“Well,” Dr. Dixon said, “I didn’t have an opportunity to see the bullets in place, but nevertheless, I believe that the cause of death was not from gunshot wounds but from burns.”
Staunton Irvine turned the sheet of paper. The second page was blank, there were no more questions.
Irvine hitched forward in his chair.
“That’s all,” Rob Trenton whispered.
“But now we’re just getting started,” Irvine said.
“Then stop,” Rob told him.
“But why? We may stand a chance now.”
“I don’t know why. That’s the way Dr. Dixon planned it.”
“The district attorney will rip him to pieces on cross-examination,” Irvine whispered.
“Come, come, gentlemen,” the judge said, “let’s get on with the trial.”
“That’s all, Your Honor.”
The judge looked at the district attorney.
Norton Berkeley, with something of a sneer, arose and said, “Well, Doctor, you have presumed to testify that Harvey Richmond died because of the fire. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Yet you didn’t see the location of the fatal bullets?”
“I presume,” Dr. Dixon said, “by the fatal bullets you are referring to People’s exhibits one and two?”
“That’s right.”
“No sir, I didn’t see the location of the bullets.”
“You didn’t see the X-ray pictures?”
“No, sir. I haven’t seen them.”
“Take a look at them now, then,” Berkeley invited. “I will show you People’s exhibits four and five. Do you see what these are? That is, can you get yourself oriented, Doctor? Can you determine the anatomical structure from these photographs?”
“I can do so very well, thank you.”
“And do you see the bullets as shown in these photographs?”
“I do.”
“Do you believe those bullets could have been discharged into the body of a living, breathing human being without causing death?”
“No, sir.”
“Almost instantaneous death?”
“That’s right.”
“And yet you say that your examination of this body led you to believe that the man died as the result of the fire?”
“I am certain of it,” Dr. Dixon said slowly. “And now if you will let me explain that answer, I will add that I am certain that Harvey Richmond was engaged in a fight, a physical struggle, shortly before death took place, that he received several blows about the body, that thereafter he was clubbed over the head and that his skull was possibly fractured, that he became unconscious, and while he was unconscious the houseboat was set afire, and that Harvey Richmond lived, although he was unconscious, for some time after that fire started, long enough for the fire to cause his death.”
“And do you mean to tell us that you can deduce all of that from an examination of the charred remains of a body?” Berkeley asked with heavy sarcasm, “or did you use a crystal ball, Doctor?”
“I deduced it solely from the pathological data I found when I examined the body.”
“Well, then, by all means just tell us how you know all that.”
“To begin with,” Dr. Dixon said, “I was acquainted with Harvey Richmond in his lifetime. I know that he was of stocky build and that he was fleshy. What is not generally realized is that almost everyone has a layer of subcutaneous fat, that this varies with the individual. In the case of Harvey Richmond, there was a very well defined layer of subcutaneous fat.”
“And what does that have to do with it?” Berkeley asked.
“Simply this. In the event of a person receiving violent blows on his body, some of the subcutaneous fat cells are broken loose from the general fat structure and enter the bloodstream in the form of globules. Once these fatty globules have entered the bloodstream, they are carried to the lungs by the natural circulation. But in the lungs some of the blood vessels are so small that the fat globules clog the small vessels. By examining the lung tissue under a microscope these fat globules can readily be identified.”
Berkeley said, “Doctor, that sounds incredible to me.”
“It is, nevertheless, a fact.”
“And you found such fat globules in the capillaries of the lungs?”
“I did.”
“Doctor, could you produce any competent authority that would sustain that position?”
“Certainly,” Dr. Dixon said. “It’s generally understood among the best pathologists. However, if you wish authority, I can give you authority.”
He opened a briefcase, reached in, took out a book and said, “Here is a book entitled Homicide Investigation by Dr. LeMoyne Snyder. Dr. Snyder says on page 170, ‘Everyone has a certain amount of fat deposited underneath the skin in the abdominal cavity and in the bone marrow. If he is struck a violent blow some of this fat will be dislodged and it will be taken up by the bloodstream and carried back to the heart. From there it goes to the lungs, but here the blood passes through blood vessels so small that these fat globules are strained out. When the pathologist examines the lung tissue under the microscope, these fat globules can readily be identified by means of a special stain. The skin and underlying fat where the deceased suffered the blow may have been entirely destroyed by the subsequent fire, but if the fat globules are found in the lungs, it means two things: — One. That the deceased suffered direct violence to some portion of his body. Two. He was alive when the wound was inflicted.’”
The district attorney endeavored to dispose of the testimony casually. “I see,” he said, smiling, “and simply because you found a few fat cells in this man’s lungs, you came to the conclusion that he had suffered violence before death.”
“That’s right.”
“And therefore the fatal bullets had no particular significance?”
“There were other reasons which entered into my opinion,” Dr. Dixon said. “For instance, when a body is exposed to fire, there are certain means of determining whether a person was alive or dead at the time the fire started. If the person was alive, he was breathing. If he was breathing, certain particles of soot are necessarily inhaled, and they can be found by a careful examination in the air passages. I made such an examination and found many of these particles in the air passages of the deceased. Therefore, I know that he was alive and breathing during the time the fire was raging aboard the houseboat.”
“But you don’t know whether he was conscious or not?”
“I am virtually certain he was unconscious.”
“Unconscious because he was dying from bullet wounds, which, perhaps due to some freak, were not immediately fatal,” the district attorney said as though finally disposing of the doctor’s testimony.
“You’ll pardon me,” Dr. Dixon said, “but I know that the man had received a blow on the head prior to the outset of the fire and was undoubtedly unconscious at the time the fire was started.”
“Some more of your clairvoyant medicine, I suppose,” Berkeley said, trying by sarcasm to destroy the damaging effect of the doctor’s testimony.
“There is nothing clairvoyant about it at all. It is a matter of scientific determination. When...”
“Well, I don’t think we’re interested in all this so-called scientific prattle,” the district attorney interrupted. “It’s been established by competent and unchallenged medical testimony that this man was shot, that he was shot with bullets fired from a certain gun, and that those bullets would cause almost instant death. I don’t think we need to waste the Court’s time with any further dissertations on abstract science.”