“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Be creative.”
***
“Defense calls Dr. Robert Ahrens,” David declared when court resumed the following morning.
Clare’s longtime physician lumbered into the witness box, took the oath, stated his name, and presented his credentials.
“Arsenic poisoning is subtle and can be deadly,” he confirmed when asked. “Because it’s colorless, tasteless, and odorless, it’s often not readily detected. If administered by someone knowledgeable, it can be a very effective -- and undetectable -- way of killing.”
“Will you please explain the specifics to the jury,” David invited.
“Gradually increasing amounts of arsenic are introduced into the system with the result that the victim begins to feel ill, but not horribly ill, with symptoms usually in the form of headaches, confusion, and drowsiness,” the doctor explained. “As the poisoning becomes acute, and real damage to the body begins to occur, the victim’s symptoms grow worse, and can often include diarrhea, vomiting, blood in the urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach pain, and convulsions. The organs of the body that are usually affected by arsenic poisoning are the lungs, the kidneys, and the liver. The final result of arsenic poisoning is coma or death.”
“Is arsenic poisoning easy to identify?”
“If the right tests are conducted,” Ahrens replied. “But often, the symptoms of arsenic poisoning can be associated with, and therefore treated for, other, more common, illnesses. It’s only when the medications prescribed for those other issues have no effect that poisoning is even considered. In some cases, it can be identified too late. In Clare Durant’s case, we were very fortunate that we were able not only to identify it, but to catch it in time, and reverse the deleterious effects.”
“Have you had much experience with arsenic poisoning, Doctor?” David inquired.
“As it happens, my brother died at the age of six from eating rat poison,” Ahrens told the jury. “So toxic contamination has always been of special interest to me. In 1998, I took a leave of absence from my practice to go to Bangladesh, where I spent the better part of a year working with doctors and scientists who were trying to find remedies for the arsenic poisoning of that country’s drinking water.”
“In your opinion then, Dr. Ahrens, given your personal experience and your professional expertise,” David asked, concluding his direct examination, “could the levels of arsenic found in Clare Durant’s body have led to her death?”
“Most certainly,” the physician confirmed. “She was already well on her way.”
***
“Was there anything in your analysis, Dr. Ahrens, that conclusively established that the arsenic found in Clare Durant’s body, and attributed to the bottled water she drank, was deliberately put in that water by her husband -- or by anyone else, for that matter?” Sundstrom inquired on cross.
“No,” Ahrens replied, “there was nothing in my analysis to indicate how the poison got into the water, only that it was there, in quantities far exceeding normal.”
“Did you analyze the bottle itself, for any sign of tampering, or any indication of how the arsenic might have gotten into it?”
“I’m afraid not,” the physician admitted. “At the time, we had no idea there was going to be a murder investigation. We were concerned only with getting to the bottom of the problem and resolving it.”
“Well then, let me ask you this -- could this contamination have been self-inflicted?”
“What are you asking?” Ahrens countered.
“Come now, I’m sure you’ve known instances where people have purposely made themselves sick, haven’t you, Doctor?”
“Yes, I’ve known such instances. But if you’re asking me whether I think Clare poisoned herself, the answer is no.”
“But we know Richard Durant was about to divorce his wife,” Sundstrom pressed. “Is it not possible that this whole episode was nothing more than a wounded woman’s cry for help?”
“I’ve known Clare her entire life,” Ahrens declared. “The answer is emphatically no.”
“It’s not even possible?”
“Not in my opinion.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Sundstrom said. “Mrs. Durant is fortunate to have such a strong supporter.”
***
“I can’t believe the prosecutor thinks I would have poisoned myself just to save my marriage,” Clare said, shaking her head. “Would anyone really do that sort of thing?”
“I don’t know,” David told her. “But I guess there must be some in Mark Sundstrom’s life that would.”
They were eating lunch in the little room adjacent to the courtroom that was theirs for the duration of the trial.
“How much longer do you think this is going to go on?” Clare wanted to know.
“Probably not much longer,” David replied.
“I’ve been thinking about asking Elaine to take the children,” she told him.
“You mean until the end of the trial?”
“No,” she told him. “I’ve been thinking about asking her to take custody of them.”
David was genuinely surprised. “Now why would you do that?” he asked. “The case isn’t over yet. It’s way too soon to give up hope. And besides, such a move wouldn’t say very much for your confidence in me, now would it?”
Clare shrugged. “If the prosecutor thinks I could poison myself because my husband was going to divorce me, and then blame my husband for it, the jury could think it, too. I don’t want my children to have to live with that one minute longer than necessary. If they’re with Elaine, they can start over, with a different life.”
David was about to say something, but then decided against it. “Let’s not worry about that just yet,” he said instead.
***
“You live right,” Eddie Ridenour informed Erin when he met her outside the courthouse during the lunch recess.
“Oh my God, what did you find?” the detective asked, holding her breath.
“A partial, under the driver’s seat, on the adjustment lever. They’re running it as we speak.”
The detective threw a bear hug around the analyst. “Eddie, I love you,” she cried.
“Yeah, well don’t tell my wife, or there could be hell to pay,” he said with a grin. “You know -- a divorce, or a murder, or who knows what else.”
***
David rose slowly from his seat when court resumed. “Defense
