“You mean that Mr. Giles might have committed suicide?”
“From the medical point of view, yes.”
“Might it also have been administered by some other person?”
“Unquestionably.”
“With what object, Dr. Lingard?”
“It is not easy to say. Possibly in ignorance or through error or with a mistaken desire to give the patient ease, or possibly with the object of causing his death.”
“You mean that the action might have been wilful murder?”
“Yes, that is what I mean.”
Again a movement ran through the tense audience. The coroner frowned and paused for a moment, then resumed:—
“Do you know of any legitimate object—any legitimate object whatever—for which the cocaine might have been administered? Could it, for example, have been intended as a medicine or restorative?”
“I do not think so. In my opinion the drug could only have been administered in error, or with intent to kill.”
“Do you consider that the deadly nature of cocaine is known to the public? I mean, is that knowledge not confined to those with some medical training?”
“I think the danger to a weak or diseased heart is pretty generally known. Most people are aware that deaths have occurred by its use, for example, by dentists, and that for this reason it is now seldom employed as an anesthetic.”
The coroner slowly blotted his manuscript.
“Now, Dr. Lingard, injections are administered with a hypodermic syringe, are they not?”
“That is so.”
“Is there any other way in which they can be given?”
“No.”
“Was such a syringe found in the present instance?”
Dr. Lingard did not know. He had examined the body only, not the house in which the death had occurred. The coroner turned to another point.
“Did the body show any sign of the injection having been forcibly administered?”
“No, but force sufficient to leave traces would not have been necessary.”
“Would death from this cause leave traces other than those ascertainable from a postmortem?”
Dr. Lingard hesitated very slightly.
“I do not think so,” he answered. “If it did they would be very faint and it would be easy to overlook them.”
“Was Dr. Emerson at the postmortem?”
“He was.”
“Have you anything else to tell us, anything which you think might throw further light on this extraordinary affair?”
No, Dr. Lingard had nothing, and Dr. Emerson was recalled. He declared emphatically that he had never had any suspicion that the deceased might have been addicted to the cocaine habit.
“You have heard the evidence the previous witness gave as to the cause of the deceased’s death. Do you from your present knowledge agree with his conclusions?”
“Completely,” Dr. Emerson answered. The man looked harassed and careworn, but his bearing remained dignified.
“Then how do you account for your certificate that death occurred from natural causes?”
Dr. Emerson made a gesture of helplessness.
“How can I account for it except in the one way?” he replied. “I was misled by the facts. I admit being in error, but I do not think that under the circumstances any doctor in the world would have acted otherwise than as I did.”
“Now, Dr. Emerson,” the coroner leaned forward and looked keenly at his witness, “tell me this. Did you really examine the body at all after death?”
“I certainly examined it. And I examined it with reasonable care, and neither then nor at any time since until I heard of this extraordinary development had I the slightest doubt that my certificate was incorrect.” He paused, then, as the coroner did not speak, went on again. “You will admit that under the circumstances the idea of murder was the last that would occur to anyone. Five days earlier Dr. Philpot had seen the man: he was then at the point of death. He told me he expected to hear of his death at any moment. When I heard of it I went out and examined the body. It had all the appearance of death from myocarditis. Only a postmortem could have told the difference: only a postmortem did tell the difference. As you know a postmortem is seldom held unless there is suspicion of foul play. In this case there was none. I deeply regret that I was misled, but I believe in all honesty that there is no one who would not have acted as I did under similar circumstances.”
The coroner bowed and turned to the jury.
“As Dr. Emerson has spoken so fully and frankly on this matter, I do not think that I am called upon to refer to it further. He no doubt realises how regrettable it was, for if suspicion had been aroused at the time instead of nine weeks later it might have made all the difference in capturing the criminal. In saying this I am not suggesting that blame attaches to him. Would anyone like to ask Dr. Emerson any further question before he stands down?”
No one responded to the invitation, and Dr. Philpot was recalled. He deposed that he had never seen any indications of the cocaine habit about deceased, and he did not believe that considering the state of his heart he could have used it.
Sergeant Kent was then sworn. He said that on learning the result of the postmortem he had proceeded to the deceased’s cottage and had there made a detailed search for cocaine or a hypodermic syringe, but without finding traces of either. The undertaker’s men, recalled, also declared that they had seen nothing of the kind while attending to the body.
There being no further witnesses the coroner made a short businesslike statement summing up the evidence. As to the cause of death, he said, there could be no doubt. The medical evidence was complete and undisputed. Deceased had died as the result of an injection of cocaine, which his diseased heart was unable to stand. That injection might or might not have been self-administered. The evidence of both doctors was that in their opinion
