"Then you use the same mark on all of your bullets?" Mason asked.
"That's right."
"Why?"
"So I can identify them. So that they are not to be confused with bullets that are recovered by some of the other autopsy surgeons. In that way I know my own work."
"I see," Mason said. "You use the same mark on all bullets you recover?"
"That's what I said, yes!" Dr. Calvert snapped.
"Then may I ask how many bullets you recover in the course of a year from bodies in connection with your own autopsies?"
"I don't know. It isn't a standard amount. It varies, depending on the number of autopsies, the number of homicides by shooting, and various other factors."
"Do you recover as many as fifty bullets a year?"
"Not on an average, no, sir."
"As many as twenty-five?"
"I think perhaps in some years I have recovered twenty-five. I wouldn't say that was an average."
"As many as twelve?"
"Yes, I would think so."
"And the only way you have of identifying these bullets is by your secret mark?"
"That is right. That is all the identification I need."
"It may be all the identification you need, Doctor, but as I understand it, these two bullets are now identified simply as being bullets which you recovered, not bullets which were recovered from the body of Nadine Ellis."
"Well, I know that those are the bullets."
"How do you know?"
"I can tell by looking at them, the shape of the bullets, the caliber."
"Then why was it necessary for you to put your secret mark on them?"
"So there would be no mistake."
"The same secret mark that you put on an average of a dozen bullets a year, that you have at times put on as many as twenty-five bullets in a year?"
"Oh, Your Honor," Fraser said. "This is argumentative. The question has been asked and answered. It's simply an attempt on the part of counsel to browbeat the witness."
Judge Keyser regarded Mason thoughtfully, then turned to the witness. "Isn't there anything that you use in the line of a label or identification on these bullets that shows they are the particular bullets that were recovered in this particular case?"
"I handed them to Alexander Redfield," Dr. Calvert said. "They were in a test tube when I handed them to him, and the test tube had a number; that is, there was a piece of paper pasted on the test tube, and that test tube had a number. It was the number of the case as it was listed in our files. If that number were on this test tube, it would definitely identify the bullets as having come from that particular body."
"But that number has been removed?" Judge Keyser asked.
"Apparently it has. I notice that the label that is on the test tube now bears the handwriting of Mr. Redfield."
"Very well," Judge Keyser said. "Go ahead and resume your inquiry, Mr. Mason. I will state to the prosecutor, however, that before these bullets can be introduced in evidence, they must be connected more directly with the particular case."
"That is what I intend to do," Fraser said, "if I am only given the chance."
"Well, you'll have every opportunity," Judge Keyser snapped. "Proceed, Mr. Mason."
"Now then," Mason said, "assuming that these bullets are the bullets which you took from the body of Nadine Ellis, which bullet was fired first?"
"I've told you I don't know."
"Well, I'll put it this way," Mason said. "We referred to the bullets as bullet number one and bullet number two. Now, which of these bullets is bullet number one, as far as your testimony is concerned, and which is bullet number two?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No."
"You didn't mark the bullets so you could distinguish them?"
"Certainly not. Both bullets came from the body. Both would have been fatal. I mean either would have been fatal. I put them in a test tube, put the code number of the case on it-which was, I believe, C- 122-and personally handed the test tube to Mr. Redfield."
Redfield, who was smiling, got to his feet, started to say something, then changed his mind and sat down.
Mason said, "In other words, Doctor, the gunshot wounds in the body of Nadine Ellis showed that one wound, where the bullet actually penetrated a portion of the heart, was probably almost instantly fatal. The other inflicted a wound which would have been fatal within a few minutes. Now, you can't tell which of these bullets inflicted which wound?"
"I made no attempt to keep the bullets separate. They are both the same caliber, they were both fired from the same gun. I will state, however, that the bullet which we have referred to as bullet number two-the one which hit a portion of the heart-lodged in the spine and was somewhat flattened by the vertebra. I notice that one of these bullets is somewhat flattened, and on the strength of that I would state that in all human probability that bullet is the bullet I referred to as bullet number two-the one that hit the heart."
"Was your autopsy such that you traced each bullet as to its course?" Mason asked. "All the way through the body?"
"I traced one bullet from the point of entrance through the heart and I traced the other bullet from the point of entrance through one of the major blood vessels. I may state, however, that I did not-or perhaps I should say that I was not able-to keep the paths of the bullets completely separate because they started to converge slightly, and the deterioration of the body due to decomposition and putrefaction was such that it was virtually impossible to segregate the course of the bullets all the way through the body."
"And you can't tell which of these bullets was fired first?"
"That's right," Dr. Calvert said. And then suddenly added, in indignation, "And that, Mr. Mason, is because I am a man of medicine and not a medicine man."
"And," Mason went on urbanely, "you don't know for certain that these were the bullets that you took from the body of Mrs. Ellis. You only know that they were two bullets which you recovered in the course of your autopsy work."
"I took these two bullets from the body of Mrs. Ellis and handed them to Alexander Redfield on the evening of the twelfth," Dr. Calvert said.
"Thank you," Mason said. "That's all."
"No further questions," Fraser said. "You may be excused, Doctor. I'll call Alexander Redfield as my next witness."
Redfield, smiling slightly, came to the stand.
"Your name is Alexander Redfield, you are employed by the county as a ballistics expert and scientific investigator?" Fraser asked.
"That's right."
"Are you acquainted with Dr. Andover Calvert, the witness who just testified?"
"I am."
"Did you see him in this county on or about the twelfth of this month?"
"I did."
"Did you have any conversation with Dr. Calvert on that date?"
"I did."
"Did Dr. Calvert give you any objects on that date?"
"He did."
"What objects did he give you?"
"Two bullets."
"And what did you do with those two bullets, Mr. Redfield?"
"I put them in a test tube, sealed the test tube and marked the test tube for identification. Then I locked the test tube in a special compartment in the safe in my office."
"You made no comparison of the bullets with any test bullets?"
"Not at that date."
"When was that done?"
"Later, when I was given a weapon and asked to tesi fire that weapon."
"And what weapon was that?"
"That was a Smith and Wesson revolver with a twoand-a-half-inch barrel."
"Do you know the number of that gun?"
"I do. It was 133347."
"Do you have that gun?"
"I do."
"Will you produce it, please?"
Redfield reached in his brief case and pulled out the gun.
"I ask that this be marked for identification," Fraser said.