Gory Dew (Mrs. Bradley) by Mitchell Gladys

Author:Mitchell, Gladys [Mitchell, Gladys]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2014-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Remanded In Custody

“ ‘They have something to conceal, sir.’

‘Well, I rather agree with you. But what are we going to do about it?’

His smile was a thing of infinite sweetness—Rose Maylie rather than Dora Copperfield. He said, with a finicking articulation:

‘Skin them alive, sir’,”

Charles Mitchell—Harp on the Willow

“On March the second this year you were called to examine the body of a man who has been identified as Reuben Gorinsky?” began Mapp, when Doctor Pillage had been sworn.

“That is so.”

“Did you form an opinion as to the cause of death?”

“The deceased had been struck on the back of the head with or by some comparatively heavy object and with some suggestion of force, with the result that . . .” He went into considerable medical detail to which everybody in court listened with attention and great respect, but without much comprehension.

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Mapp. “And did you form any opinion as to the nature of the comparatively heavy object to which you refer?”

“I cannot be specific. The nature of the wound suggests a rounded object with, possibly, a reinforced base.”

“Could it have been a boot?”

“Not unless it was of a very heavy type—an Army boot, say, or the kind worn by mountaineers, but, even so . . .”

“It couldn’t have been inflicted by a kick from someone wearing boxing boots, then?” put in Lestrange.

“Hardly. In fact, I would definitely say that it could not.”

“Have you ever seen and handled boxing boots, Doctor?” asked Mapp.

“Good heavens, yes! They are extremely light and very pliable footwear. Unless the victim had a congenital aneurysm before he was attacked, a kick, however violent, from a boxing boot, could hardly kill him.”

“It would be of great help, then, Doctor, if you could in any way suggest the nature of the instrument by which the deceased met his death. Could it have been the result of a fall? He was found, as you know, in a stone-quarry.”

“It was not, in my opinion, the result of a fall. In such a case I should have expected a significantly shaped depressed fracture of the vault of the skull, indicating the nature of the object on which he struck his head when he fell. I should also have expected, considering the position of the wound, that he would have broken an outflung arm, as well as fracturing his skull, and this was not the case.”

“But you are not prepared to hazard an opinion as to the nature of the object which struck him or by which he was attacked?”

“An opinion—no.”

“Then could I suggest—it is, of course, clearly understood that you commit yourself to nothing—could I suggest a bottle, probably a full one?”

“A bottle?”

“A bottle, Doctor. It is, as I said, merely a suggestion, and such a tentative one that I have been careful not to mention it sooner.”

“I suppose it could have been a bottle, yes, but—”

“Thank you, Doctor. You are satisfied as to the time of death, of course?”

“When I examined the body, it had been dead for approximately forty-eight hours, possibly a little more.

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