Illegal Alien

Flemingdon unclipped a slim black laser pointer from her inside jacket pocket. "Certainly," she said. "Death was caused by severe hemorrhagic shock. Dr. Calhoun suffered almost complete exsanguination — that is, his body was almost completely drained of blood. As you can see here in photo number four" — her laser pointer danced, a bright red dot amid all the dark-red blood—"Dr. Calhoun’s right leg was severed from his body, by a diagonal cut that began just below his hip. The cut was incredibly clean, resulting in all the blood vessels in the leg, including the femoral artery, being sliced open. The femoral is the principal artery of the thigh, responsible for supplying blood to the leg, and because it was a diagonal cut, the opening was large. It was through this opening that most of Dr. Calhoun’s blood drained out."

"Drained out?" said Ziegler, her eyebrows rising. "Surely it was more dramatic than that?"

"Well, yes. Until the loss of blood killed him, his heart would have been pumping, causing the blood to spurt out, actually."

Dale looked at Katayama and shook his head. But — then again — maybe the Sam Peckinpah quality of all this would numb the jury… and a numb jury wouldn’t cry out for vengeance.

"How was this cut made?" asked Ziegler.

Flemingdon’s laser dot danced again. "It started on the outside of the right hip, just below the groin line, and proceeded diagonally, at about a forty-degree angle, in toward the inner thigh."

"Actually, my question was meant to elicit what sort of implement was used to make the cut."

Dale rolled his eyes. Flemingdon knew damn well what Ziegler had meant; they’d doubtless rehearsed her testimony. But that little show was for the jury’s benefit, to make it look as though they hadn’t planned it all out.

"Oh," said Flemingdon. "Well, that’s a tough one. I can make a clean cut through flesh with a scalpel, but Dr. Calhoun was wearing pants — Levi’s blue jeans, to be precise." A couple of jurors smiled — who could picture Calhoun in anything else? "The cutting implement passed cleanly through the denim fabric, through the skin, through the muscles, through the femoral artery, and right on through the femur — the thigh-bone. I’d normally need a bone saw to go through the femur, and would never use a scalpel on denim — it would dull the blade. But this cut was made absolutely cleanly, without any snagging even on the bone."

"Are you sure it was a single cut?"

"Oh, yes. It aligns absolutely perfectly. One single slice was made through the pants and Dr. Calhoun’s leg."

"What was the maximum diameter of Dr. Calhoun’s upper thigh?"

"A little over eight inches."

"So if a knife was used, it had to have a blade at least eight inches long, correct?"

"Yes."

"The sharpest knives made are surgical scalpels, yes?"

"Yes," said Flemingdon.

"Do any scalpels have blades eight inches long?"

"No standard one does. Of course, medical-supply companies can custom-make surgical tools."

"But in all your experience, you’ve never seen a scalpel with an eight-inch blade?"

"Objection," said Dale. "Leading."

"Sustained," said Pringle. "Rephrase."

Ziegler nodded at the judge. "What’s the largest scalpel you’ve ever seen?"

"I’ve seen one with a five-inch blade."

"Nothing bigger?"

"No."

"I’m sure the jury has noticed your fancy laser pointer, Doctor. Could the cut have been made by a laser beam?"

"No. A laser is a burning tool — it uses high temperatures to cut. It would have singed the denim, as well as Dr. Calhoun’s skin, and the hairs on his thigh. And a laser — well, a laser doesn’t leave arteries and veins open. Rather, it cauterizes them — sears them shut. That’s why we use laser scalpels for delicate surgery: they sever and seal blood vessels simultaneously. No, this cut was not made with a burning implement."

"Thank you. Let’s leave the leg cut for the moment. What about the rest of the injuries?"

Flemingdon turned to the photos, pointing with her laser. "The corpse had been severely — well, mutilated is probably the right word. The chest cavity had been carved open, and the ribs spread wide. Organs had been removed and scattered about, and the head was severed from the body."

"You said a moment ago that ‘mutilated’ is probably the right word. Why the hesitation in word choice?"

"Well, it was mutilation, by the dictionary definition: ‘depriving of limbs or other essential parts, and/or irreparably disfiguring or damaging.’ But, well, whether the goal was to mutilate or not, I can’t be sure."

"What do you mean by the ‘goal,’ Dr. Flemingdon?"

"The purpose. This could have just as easily been a deliberate medical dissection, rather than an attempt to disfigure."

"Objection," said Dale. "Speculation. Move to strike."

"Dr. Flemingdon is certainly qualified to offer an expert opinion in this area," said Ziegler, looking up at the judge.

"Overruled," said Pringle.

"What makes you say it might have been a dissection, Doctor?"