Page 58 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

Eddie

After the short recess, Detective Bill Sacks resumed his place on the witness stand and Bernice reminded the jury where they had left off – that Sacks had suspected that James and Harriet had been poisoned, and had ordered the water bottles and potential sources of poisoning to be seized for examination and treated as potentially hazardous material.

‘Did the forensics lab carry out tests on the items taken from the apartment immediately?’ asked Bernice.

‘No,’ said Sacks, ‘I wanted to get toxicology results and a full medical examiner’s report first. That would hopefully tell us what type of poisonous substance we were looking for and then we could test for it.

When they did eventually test the items, they found traces of tetrahydrozoline in both water bottles found in the bedroom. ’

‘Are these the water bottles?’

Bernice put a picture on screen, a close-up of two plastic bottles with some water remaining in both. The caps were screwed tight. The label on them was the same – Ethos Water.

This was the one part of the case that I couldn’t figure out.

With no traces of breaking and entering, how the hell did the man who called himself Logan get into Elly’s apartment and poison those bottles without anyone seeing him?

‘Your Honor,’ said Bernice, ‘I have already spoken to Mr. Flynn, and it has been agreed, subject to Your Honor’s view, that we take the detective’s testimony in stages.

We are dealing with three murders in this trial.

The first stage is his initial investigation into the deaths of James Parker and Harriet .

. . I would propose to pause there and let Mr. Flynn cross-examine on the testimony so far.

Then I would propose to call our expert toxicologist and the medical examiner who will testify and be cross-examined on their testimony regarding all victims. Then we can resume Detective Sacks’s testimony. ’

Judge Quaid nodded in agreement.

I stood up, said, ‘I have no questions for the detective so far.’

Bernice whipped off her glasses, put her pen down and looked at me as if I’d had a stroke. Asking police officers questions in a multiple murder trial is not only expected, it’s the job.

This case came down to one question. It wasn’t yet time to ask it.

Sacks was replaced on the stand by the toxicologist Dr. Curry, an acknowledged expert. A bookish type who wore tweed and highly polished shoes.

‘You examined bloods from the victims James Parker and Harriet Rothschild. What were your conclusions?’

‘Both victims had a high concentration of tetrahydrozoline in their bloodstream.’

‘And you examined and tested part of the liver from the first victim, the defendant’s father Stewart Yorke.’

‘I did, and again found traces of tetrahydrozoline.’

‘What is tetrahydrozoline?’

‘It’s found in eyedrops, mainly. But if it is ingested, even in relatively small quantities, it can prove fatal. It acts as a vasoconstrictor, restricting blood flow, which can result in fatal cardiac arrest.’

‘Thank you, Dr. Curry. Mr. Flynn will have some questions.’

I stood, said, ‘No questions for this witness,’ and sat down.

Bernice froze.

Then stood up and approached me, whispered, ‘Are you trying to throw this case? If you’re trying to build grounds for appeal for your client because of ineffective representation from counsel, it won’t work.’

‘I’m not up to anything shady. I’m choosing my moment, Bernice.’

‘You’re breathing – that means you’re up to something shady,’ she said.

‘Not this time. I’m playing this one straight. Shame your DA isn’t doing the same in the case against my wife.’

She turned, thanked Dr. Curry and called the medical examiner Dr. Sharpling, otherwise known as Dr. Death.

He was the only reason this case got on so quickly.

There was not a single pathologist on the eastern seaboard who had anywhere close to the level of experience of poisonings as Dr. Sharpling.

He was the leading expert, and he was retiring and moving to Costa Rica in two weeks, with the understanding that he would not be called upon to testify in any cases once he hung up his license and retired from his post.

As he took the Bible in his hand and swore his oath to tell the truth, I took a second to appraise him.

A tall, gray-skinned individual with silver hair and pale eyes.

I don’t know what it is about medical examiners, but the idea of working with the dead every day, cutting them open, and seeing what stories their bodies would tell, just made me uncomfortable.

I always got the impression medical examiners were cold people.

They had to work in morgues, which by their very nature were cold, but I thought Sharpling had ice in his veins anyway.

By all accounts, he was a decent man. Thorough and respectful.

Called the corpses he dealt with his ‘customers’ and would sometimes spend time with the bereaved families of those customers to reassure them or simply to tell them exactly how their loved ones had died – so they didn’t have to wait for a week on his report.

He was dressed in a steel-gray suit. The only strong color was in his dark navy tie.

‘Dr. Sharpling, you examined the bodies of all three victims in this case, did you not?’ asked Bernice.

‘I did, and without the benefit of having viewed Dr. Curry’s toxicology reports, which were prepared afterwards.’

Dr. Death was an old hand. He’d been cross-examined more times than most. He knew all the lawyers’ tricks.

He was cutting off potential lines of attack already.

If, for example, he’d had a toxicology screening before he’d conducted the autopsy, there was the potential for his findings to be biased because he had the benefit of knowing there was a lethal poison in the bodies.

Then, he would look for signs of that poisoning and the damage it had done to organs and arteries, which may have meant he missed some other vital clue showing an alternative cause of death for his customer.

Defense lawyers call it confirmation bias. And he was avoiding it.

Smart.

‘What were your findings in relation to James Parker?’

‘The same as those of Harriet Rothschild. Death was caused by fatal cardiac arrest. There was no evidence of chronic heart disease in either of these individuals. They were much too young. I concluded, given the relative findings in the heart and unobstructed arteries, that the heart attack was chemically induced.’

‘Is an overdose of tetrahydrozoline one such possible cause of chemically induced heart failure?’

‘It most certainly is. It narrows the arteries, temporarily, and cuts off blood flow. With little to no blood flowing to the heart, the consequences are inevitably fatal.’

‘As a consequence of your findings, did you have cause to examine a third body?’

‘Yes, the defendant’s father. I have dealt with a large number of poisoning cases.

More than many of my colleagues. In my extensive expert experience, a poisoner will nearly always have multiple victims spread out over time.

Once the type of poison used has been identified, and in particular the cause of death related to that poisoning, then it is common to find multiple victims within the suspect’s personal circle.

It didn’t take long for me to search death records and find an identical cause of death in the case of the defendant’s father.

I informed Detective Sacks that, given my findings, the death of Stewart Yorke should now be considered a possible homicide. ’

‘What happened after you informed Detective Sacks about your suspicions?’

‘A court order for exhumation and examination was obtained. I instructed the detective to make a video recording of the exhumation to establish chain of evidence and custody of the body as it was delivered to my mortuary table. This was to ensure that there had been no disturbance or potential for contamination of the body from any outside source prior to my examination.’

‘What were your findings in relation to the body of the defendant’s father?’

‘The body had been through the usual embalming procedures, which meant there was no blood to test. However, if tetrahydrozoline had been administered in sufficient quantities before death, I would expect to find some trace to remain in the liver. I took a sample of the liver for testing. The tests returned with confirmation of the presence of tetrahydrozoline. This confirmed, in my mind, that there was a strong probability this victim had had a cardiac arrest due to tetrahydrozoline poisoning.’

‘Thank you, Doctor,’ said Bernice, and sat down.

Elly hung her head. She began to cry softly.

I whispered to her, ‘Your father loved you. And I know you loved him, and you didn’t do him any harm. We’re going to show that.’

I stood, with Elly still crying in the seat beside me.

Trials are brutal.

I had one important question, but not yet. I needed to do some prep work first.

In a trial, it’s not just about asking the right questions. It’s not even about asking the right questions in the right order. It’s really about making sure you get the right answer.

It’s a little like playing three-card monte.

A hustler bends three cards in the middle so that they stand up on their sides, like little roofs.

With two of the cards, it doesn’t matter what suit they are, or what number.

But there always has to be a queen. He places the three cards, face down on a little table, turns over the queen to show the mark where it is in the line-up, then returns it face down.

He then shuffles them around. The hustler will shuffle slowly enough to allow the mark to follow the queen.

Find the lady.

The mark points to the center card. He’s right. He wins five dollars.

Now he’s hooked.

Now he can be conned. Double or nothing. And the mark will play, and play, and play, and this time the dealer moves too fast for the mark to see. He will never find that queen again.

Now I had to start the game with Dr. Death.

First job, show him the queen.

‘Dr. Sharpling,’ I began, careful not to accidentally call him by his nickname, although it wouldn’t have been the first time an attorney had called him Dr. Death during his testimony. ‘Why did you ask Detective Sacks to make a video recording of the exhumation of Stewart Yorke?’

‘I thought I had made it plain. It was to ensure that there was no opportunity for anyone to tamper with the body. If, for example, the body was left alone in a morgue or funeral home overnight, then a smart defense attorney like yourself could argue that the poison found in his liver could have been placed there after his corpse had been exhumed. I wanted to rule out any interference.’

‘I see. So, hypothetically, it’s possible that someone could inject a poison into the liver of a deceased person to make it look as though they had been poisoned?’

‘It is not hypothetically possible in this case. We have the video evidence to prove that the casket seal was not opened from the moment it left the burial site to the time when I opened that lid in my facility and conducted my examination.’

‘But, just to be clear, if the body was not observed for any length of time, it would just be a matter of someone injecting tetrahydrozoline into the liver to give the appearance of poisoning?’

‘Correct, but impossible in this case.’

‘Impossible because you can prove that no one had a chance to interfere with the body from the moment it was exhumed to the moment it got to your lab?’

‘Correct.’

I looked at the clock. It was almost four.

I needed to ask my question now.

The court would soon be finishing, and I didn’t want to get into something complicated now and then break overnight. I needed the jury to be able to follow this point from start to finish. Also, I didn’t want to tip off Bernice.

‘Your Honor, I have one question for Dr. Sharpling, then I would like to get into a long and complex area. I think it would be better for the jury to begin hearing that portion of testimony tomorrow, to ensure that they follow it.’

‘It’s been a long day already,’ said the judge. ‘Ask one more question, then we’ll move into that more difficult area tomorrow.’

I thanked the judge, turned to Dr. Death, and casually asked the only question in this whole trial that mattered.

‘Dr. Sharpling, are you certain that all three victims were murdered by the same person?’

I phrased it as dryly as I could. Made it sound flat. Like a question that I had to ask because I was doing my job. It wasn’t sloppily phrased, but I didn’t give it any bite on purpose. I wasn’t throwing a softball here, but I wasn’t exactly unleashing my fastball either.

‘Mr. Flynn, given my extensive experience, and the fact that the same poison was used, I am one hundred per cent convinced that all three victims were poisoned by the same person. And that person is your client.’

Two jury members blinked when they heard that response. Whatever kind of ball I’d thrown with that question, Dr. Death had gotten all of it with his baseball bat of an answer, and it was now sailing clean out of the stadium.

Home run.

Or so he thought.