The Ambrosia Project by Abi Silver

Author:Abi Silver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eye Books
Published: 2022-07-06T13:29:25+00:00

26

When Judith arrived at court, on the third day of the trial, she was surprised to see that the expert pathologist, Dr Leigh, was not with Andy or his team. She soon realised he was not in the building at all. As the minutes ticked by, Judith watched with mild amusement as the prosecution lawyers made hurried calls behind cupped hands, huddled together and waved their arms around, clearly concerned that the doctor would be late, but pretending to the outside world that they weren’t.

Eventually, they all shifted into the courtroom itself, and took their places, Andy drinking down two glasses of water in close succession and filling up for a third time. Judith avoided his eye. There was nothing she could say or do to assist and she would not gloat; a witness running late or failing to show was low down on her list of ‘things I love about my job’, especially when it was a key witness.

Then Dr Leigh arrived, one minute before his appointed slot. His relaxed demeanour suggested blissful unawareness of the furore caused by his ‘just in time’ approach. But Judith wondered if it was deliberate. That Dr Leigh wanted them to know that he had more important things to do with his day than come to court. After all, he wasn’t a forensic pathologist; one assigned to crime scenes, who might actively seek out expert witness work. He was one of the many hospital-based pathologists who carry out millions of vital biopsies and tests every year; autopsies were just one part. That also meant he was unlikely to have given evidence in court many times before.

‘Dr Leigh. You conducted the post-mortem on Mr Brett Ingram?’ Andy began, taking a deep breath, to calm himself.

‘I did, yes.’

‘Can you tell us what that showed you?’

‘Mr Ingram was aged forty-one when he died, a man who appeared to be in good health. His weight was around the mid-range for his height, but he had considerable muscle mass. In summary, he appeared to have been in good physical shape. There were no underlying health conditions either, from his medical records or from my examination.’

‘Then how did he die?’

‘The million-dollar question.’ Dr Leigh showed his teeth, in what Judith wasn’t entirely certain was a smile. ‘In my opinion, Mr Ingram suffered an allergic reaction termed anaphylaxis, after ingestion of an allergen, most likely shellfish, over the lunchtime period.’

‘What is anaphylaxis?’

‘It’s a reaction where different organs in the body react together, with the consequence that the body’s airways close and blood pressure drops. If it’s severe, it can cause death.’

Dr Leigh had surprised Judith so far with his lucid testimony. In her experience, it was difficult to explain medical issues to lay people in a succinct way, yet he appeared to be doing so, and with ease. As long as he continued, that would help when it came to her cross-examination.

‘Is the body attacking itself?’ Andy probed.

Dr Leigh gave that almost-smile again. ‘You would think that, wouldn’t you?’ he said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.