'We have black-and-white blowups of photographs of Tosok skin that we could introduce for comparison purposes,' said Ziegler.
'Would that be acceptable?' asked Piingle, looking at Dale.
Dale considered. 'All right,' he said at last—'as long as the photos are presented as generic Tosok skin, and not Hask’s in particular.'
'Stand back.'
Dale moved back to the defense table, and Ziegler moved to the lectern to resume her direct. She made a gesture at one of her assistants, and he held up the black-and-white photo, measuring about two feet by 1 foot and a half. 'This is an enlargement of a picture of Tosok hide,' said Ziegler to Feinstein, who was still on the stand. She turned to Dale. 'I’ll point out that this is a black-and- white photo so the gray color of the image is not to be taken as significant. Mr. Feinstein, you’ll note that a ruler has been drawn in on the bottom of the photo, marked off in with inches and centimeters — this should give you some idea of the scale of the scales, so to speak.' Feinstein made a toothy grin at the word play. 'Can you tell the Court if there are any similarities in shape between those objects and the Tosok scales?'
'Yes indeed,' said Feinstein. 'They’re very similar.'
'And, again, noting the ruler, can you tell the Court if there is any comparison to the size of the Tosok scales?'
'They in fact seem to be very similar in size to the Tosok scales.'
'Thank you, Mr. Feinstein. Now, in addition to the object resembling Tosok scales and the pink crystals on the sternum, what, if any, other evidence did you find at the crime scene?'
'We found what appears to be a mark made of blood.'
'Can you be more specific?'
'Yes. If I can rise, Your Honor? Thank you. It’s visible here in photo eleven, and again in photo fourteen. See? Here, and here?'
'Would you please describe what you’re seeing?' asked Ziegler.
'It’s a U-shaped or horseshoe-like mark, measuring about five inches across.'
'What could have made such a mark, Mr. Feinstein?'
'Well, I’d never seen anything like it myself, but Detective Schmitter—'
'Objection! Hearsay.'
'Goes to effect on the listener,' said Ziegler.
'Overruled,' said Pringle.
'Detective Schmitter’s comment’s led directly to me checking this matter out for myself,' said Feinstein, glaring at Dale and carefully measuring his words. 'I have since with my own eyes seen a similar impression.'
'Where?' asked Ziegler.
'At the suggestion of Detective Burt Schmitter, I went to 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.'
'Which is what building?'
'Mann’s Chinese Theatre.'
'Go on.'
'Outside the theater, I saw a pair of similar impressions. They were Tosok footprints made in the cement.'
'Thank you. One final thing: the amount of blood spilled at the crime scene. Was it copious?'
'Objection. Leading.'
'The jury has already seen the crime-scene photos, Mr. Rice,' said Pringle. 'No harm, no foul, in stating the obvious.'
'Yes,' said Feinstein. ' ‘Copious’ is a suitable word.'
'In your estimation, what would have likely happened to the cleanliness of the person or persons who performed this dissection?'
'Objection. Speculation.'
'Overruled.'
'Given the rough nature of the work — the rib cage was spread by hand, remember, and the heart had a deep vertical gash in it made as part of the initial slicing of the torso — the person or persons doing this would have likely ended up covered in Dr. Calhoun’s blood.'
'Thank you. Your witness, Mr. Rice.'
'Mr. Feinstein,' said Dale, rising slowly to his feet and moving over to the lectern, 'you say the perpetrator would likely have ended up covered in blood?'
'Yes.'
'Do you know the previous witness, Dr. Anne Flemingdon?'
'Yes.'
'She’s chief medical examiner for the county, isn’t she?'
'Yes.'
'Have you ever had cause to visit her at work?'
'From time to time.'
'When she greets you at the door to her lab, is she covered with blood?'
Feinstein snorted. 'No.'
'Not some monster-movie apparition, is she? Dripping crimson all over the carpet?'
'No.'
'So, in point of fact, it’s entirely possible to dissect a human body and not end up bloodstained from head to toe.'
'Under controlled, laboratory condi—'
'Just answer the question, Mr. Feinstein. It is possible in your experience to perform a dissection even as extensive as the one apparently performed on Dr. Calhoun without getting covered in blood.'
'It’s possible, I suppose.'
'Thank you. Turning now to the diamond-shaped objects — you think those might be Tosok scales?'
'Yes, sir, I do.'
'What do you base that on?'
'The fact that they’re the same shape and size as the Tosok scales in the photograph.'
'But you’ve never seen loose Tosok scales before, have you?'
'Well, no.'
'In fact, you don’t know for sure that Tosok skin is composed of scales, do you? The diamond pattern might simply be made of crisscrossing lines, mightn’t it?'
'I— I suppose.'
Dale picked up an object from his desk. 'This is a cardboard chess-board. It looks like it’s made up of discrete red and black squares, doesn’t it?' He flexed it. 'But it’s really all one piece, isn’t it? The squares can’t be separated, except by deliberate cutting with a saw, isn’t that right?'
'I suppose so.'
'And what was it you said? The putative scales are the same size as the objects shown in the photograph?'
'That’s right.'
'What do you mean by ‘the same size’?'
'The same size — you know, the same dimensions.'
'But the photograph only shows you the length and width of the diamond-shaped markings. This is real life, Mr. Feinstein, not a Saturday-morning cartoon. We live in a three-dimensional world. Yes, objects have length and width, but they also have thickness. How thick are the objects you recovered from the crime scene?'
'Approximately three one-hundredths of an inch.'
'And how thick are the diamond-shaped objects that compose the Tosok hide, as seen in the photograph?'
'I— I have no idea.'
'That’s right, Mr. Feinstein. You have no idea at all. Further, I draw your attention to photo number eight. Isn’t that one of the putative scales you recovered?'
'Yes,' said Feinstein.
'And — speaking again in terms of our three-dimensional universe' — Dale’s deep voice was rich with sarcasm—'the scale is covered with blood here, isn’t it?'
'Yes.'
'When you recovered the putative scale, was it bloodstained on both sides?'
'No.'
'Which surface was free of blood?'
'The one that was on the bottom.'
'In other words, fresh blood had flowed over the top of a scale that was already on the low-pile carpet, is that right?'
'That’s the way it appears, yes.'
'So the putative scale was already present before Dr. Calhoun started to bleed, correct?'
'That seems likely, yes.'
'In fact, the putative scale could have been dropped well in advance of Dr. Calhoun’s unfortunate demise, isn’t that right?'
'No, sir.'
'I beg your pardon?'
'The USC janitorial staff clean the rooms once a week. Dr. Calhoun’s room was cleaned the morning of the day he died.'
'Still the scale could have been lying there for a full day.' Dale was flustered; he realized after a moment he’d forgotten to say 'putative scale.' He’d assumed, stupidly, that dorm rooms got no cleaning service — which was doubtless true when they were being used as dorm rooms.
'Actually, sir,' said Feinstein, 'Dr. Calhoun’s room was cleaned just ten hours or so before he died, so, no, the scale could not have been lying there for a full day.'
'I see. But it could have been there for one hour?'
'Possibly.'
