Part Ninety-Three
On the Monday morning, George and Kay drove to court, both of them knowing that today was going to be a very long day. George was continuously running over the questions she would ask, combined with trying to work out what line Brian would take for the prosecution. She wasn't stupid, and was well aware that at least some of Kay's bad publicity was going to be used. Brian might have made a very bad decision with regards to Sylvia Hollamby, but he certainly wouldn't be making any mistakes with a witness like Kay, whose very suspect press would be his only ally. "I suspect that the prosecution is going to give you a pretty bad ride," George said as they turned into the car park at the Old Bailey. "And I'll try to object to as much of it as possible, but I can't make any promises." "Oh, don't worry," Kay told her dismissively. "It won't be the first time I've been hauled over the coals so to speak. I should imagine I can give your prosecuting counsel as rough a ride as he's going to give me." Jo was already there waiting for them, as were Karen and Yvonne. "I didn't want to miss the performance of your star witness," Karen told George as they approached. "I'll do my best," Kay said with a smile.
When court reconvened at ten o'clock, Kay took the bible in her right hand and read the oath. As George rose to her feet, Kay's eyes made a sweep of the court, taking in the prosecuting counsel, the judges sat above her, and the couple of faces she knew in the public gallery. "Dr. Scarpetta," George began. "Please would you explain to the court what your usual occupation is?" "I am the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia," Kay replied, having answered this particular question a thousand times before. "On a day to day basis, this involves investigating suspicious or unexplained deaths. Forensic pathology is often the only way that answers to a question can be found. When a crime is being committed, the perpetrator will regularly make the mistake of assuming that if the victim can't talk, he or she won't eventually be discovered. My job is to assist the police in apprehending such criminals, with the forensic evidence I can compile from examining a dead body." "Dr. Scarpetta," John broke in, receiving a roll of George's eyes for his trouble. "Is your position a political appointment?" "Partly, Your Honour, yes," She answered him. "The Governor of Virginia is my immediate boss, and I also have to abide by the policies that filter down to me via the department for Health and Human Services." "And how long have you held this post?" "For the last twenty-three years, Your Honour." "My Lord, if I might continue?" George asked a little testily. "My apologies, Ms Channing."
"Dr. Scarpetta, please would you explain to the court what type of technology you will be using to present your evidence?" "When I perform any autopsy, it is part of the routine procedure to excise various tissue samples, which are then fixed in a chemical preservative such as formalin, and which are then made into histological slides that can be examined under a microscope. When I examined Henry Mills body back in October, I took various tissue samples away with me, so that I could have them made into slides back in my office in Virginia, to enable me to examine the samples in the usual way. What I will be doing at some point this morning, is showing various slides in order to explain what I discovered." "Before the prosecuting counsel beats me to it," George continued, flashing a smirk over at Brian. "Would you please attempt to explain why the pathologist who originally examined Henry Mills, did not take advantage of such technological procedures." "I can only hazard a guess on this point," Kay replied carefully. "And that is that the type of investigative technology that is available to me in Virginia, far exceeds what is available to any practicing pathologist in this country. Once or twice a year, I come over here to deliver a lecture programme to the medical students who are taught at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. I can certainly say that the autopsy facilities they have there, are not what I am used to finding back in Virginia."
"What did you discover on initially examining Henry Mills' body?" "Henry Mills had been suffering from terminal lung cancer," Kay began. "His lungs and lymphatic system were in considerably bad shape, as were his liver and kidneys. It may assist the court to be made aware, that as the liver and kidneys make up the body's filtration system, if they are not in full working order, various toxins and chemicals cannot be filtered out in the usual manner. This means that various substances can build up in the body, to highly dangerous levels. When I examined Henry Mills' liver and kidneys, I found significant levels of morphine metabolites, showing that the morphine he had been prescribed, had built up in these organs, leaving him susceptible to a morphine overdose at any time." "Please could you explain to the court, what samples you did take from Henry Mills' body and why?" After asking this, George walked over to the slide projector that stood against the far wall and switched it on, giving it time to warm up.
"After obtaining Barbara Mills' permission, I gathered various samples from her husband's body, in order to transport them back to my office in Virginia. These were samples from his liver, kidneys, spleen, heart and lungs, in order to determine just how static his body was at the time of death, and to look for any underlying conditions that were not immediately as evident as his cancer was. This was also why I took several samples of blood to use for toxicology screens and for examination of the general levels of chemicals in his blood stream. Perhaps the most significant sample I took with me, was the excised skin and surrounding muscle from the injection site on his left thigh." "Precisely how did you do this?" John yet again broke in on George's questioning. "How did I excise the injection site, Your Honour, or how did I transport everything back to America?" Kay asked, wanting to be absolutely sure of what he wanted from her. "Both," John told her with a slight smile. "I first of all marked out the area that I wanted to excise on his thigh, and then measured it to make sure that I didn't lose any of the muscle tension during the excision. To ensure that the area of skin and muscle remained at its exact measurement, I pinned it on a corkboard, remeasuring it after excision. In this manner, the excised tissue remained exactly as it had been at the time of death. To transport everything I had removed from Henry Mills' body to America, I packed them in dry ice in a sealed box, which I carried with me as hand luggage at all times." "Did you have any problems walking through customs with something like that?" John asked, now infinitely curious. "It happens every time I do it, Your Honour," Kay said with a rueful smile. "Some officials are even stupid enough to attempt to unpack whatever I'm carrying." "I don't doubt," John replied, thinking that this was certainly an extremely resourceful woman. "Oh, please continue, Ms Channing," He added, seeing the fire of irritation burning in George's eyes.
"What did you do with the various samples on your return to Virginia?" George asked, feeling that it was John acting as defence counsel, not her. "They rested in the refrigerator in my Richmond office until I was ready to begin examining them, at which point I fixed slivers of the organ samples in formalin, which were then made up into histological slides for me." Kay now moved over to the slide projector, and adjusted its focus, the slides having been loaded before hand. "When I examined the tissue sample from Henry Mills' lungs," She said, bringing the image into greater focus. "I obviously found unbreakable evidence of his cancer, both of the primary tumour and the secondary spread of disease. You can see where the spread of secondary cancer had taken over virtually the entire surface of the alveoli, the air sacks, making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe as the end approached." Moving onto the next slide, she continued. "If you look at the sample I took of Henry Mills' right kidney, you can see that the tissue is liberally scarred. His kidneys were also shrunken, meaning that if he hadn't been in the final stages of terminal cancer, he would definitely have been in need of dialysis, the artificial cleaning of the blood. His kidneys were not in any condition to properly filter chemicals and waste products from the body, leaving his blood full of toxins and unfiltered drugs, such as the morphine he had been prescribed." The members of the court were treated to the vastly magnified section of renal tissue, whose surface was unevenly scarred. "If we next look at the histological appearance of Henry Mills' liver, we can see that the surface is grainy, puckered, and in some places slightly nodular. This was undoubtedly caused by the build up of morphine metabolites, meaning that the liver also was unable to work at its usual rate. The decrease in both kidney and liver function, was partly to do with the progress of the cancer itself, and partly due to the increasingly static response that the body would have inevitably lapsed into as he became weaker. If the human body is not moving about, performing the day to day activities that most of us take for granted, various systems will begin to shut down, purely and simply because the body thinks they are no longer required. If Henry Mills hadn't died from the morphine overdose, as I believe he did, he would very soon have died from either the progression of the cancer, or kidney or liver failure. The very last slide that I would like to show you is of the tissue section that I excised from Henry Mills' thigh. This area of skin and muscle was of particular interest to me, as it contained the injection site of the very last dose of morphine that he received. The area that I chose to focus on for obvious reasons was the point at which the hypodermic needle pierced the skin." As she brought this into greater focus, the court was given a view of a hole in the skin that had been magnified to the size of a saucer. "At this magnification," Kay continued. "It is possible to prove, by closely examining the surface of the skin around the edge of the puncture mark, that the needle could only have pierced the skin at a particular angle. Taking this evidence into account, I can categorically state that this injection could not have been given by any hand other than that of Henry Mills himself. If it had been, the needle would have punctured the skin at quite a different angle entirely. Henry Mills gave himself that final injection, not his wife."
There was a stunned, thought-filled silence. Brian was inwardly cursing all the yanks and their abundance of technology, and both Karen and Yvonne were staring in awe at this incredible expert. "In your considered opinion," George continued quietly, feeling the charge in the air around her, and thinking that Kay hadn't really needed her at all. "How did Henry Mills die?" "I can say, beyond all reasonable doubt," Kay replied, glancing for the first time over at the jury. "That Henry Mills died as a result of a significantly high overdose of morphine, which he undoubtedly administered to himself." "Thank you," George said wholeheartedly, but knowing that Brian's cross-examination was yet to come.
After the lunchtime adjournment, Brian rose to his feet, with the nastiest expression Jo thought she had ever seen on him. "Tell me, Mrs. Scarpetta," He began silkily. "Why were you investigated by a Richmond special grand jury for the crime of murder?" There was a murmuring both from the public gallery and from the jury, as George rose hurriedly to her feet. "My Lord, is this really relevant?" She demanded, vowing to strangle Brian at the nearest opportunity. "You tell me, Ms Channing," John said thoughtfully. "I think we should hear the answer to such a question." "I was set up, by the brother of a serial killer, to take the blame for the death of Deputy Police Chief Diane Bray. The special grand jury investigated me to see if there was enough evidence to have me indicted for her murder. As I am standing here and not in a Richmond penitentiary, you may assume that I was not indicted." John regarded her with curiosity. He would have put money on the fact that she hadn't ever been in trouble for anything, but it seemed he was wrong. "How long did they take to investigate you?" John asked, now beginning to wonder just how much this woman had put up with over the years. "Just under two months, Your Honour," Kay told him. "Two months of very bad press, almost having to resign from my job, and having most of my closest friends subpoenaed against me." John winced. "But did you not, Mrs. Scarpetta," Cantwell broke in quickly before John could ask anything else. "Throw the preservative substance known as formalin, that you have yourself referred to this morning, into the eyes of a man whom you willingly let into your house?" "He was trying, to kill me," Kay said through slightly gritted teeth. "What did you expect, for me to just stand there and let him?" "She has a point, Mr. Cantwell," John said reasonably. "And I fail to see what relevance this bears to the case in hand." "My Lord, I am simply trying to establish for the benefit of the jury, that this woman is not what she claims to be, and that her testimony is at the very least suspect in its intent." "Don't be ridiculous," George retorted, yet again getting to her feet. "My Lord, you cannot allow this." "Would you not be doing the same if you were in his position?" John asked her silkily, realising too late that he was only adding to her cauldron of anger. "Please continue Mr. Cantwell, as I am forced to admit that you have for once thoroughly piqued my curiosity."
"Mrs. Scarpetta, could you give the court a satisfactory reason as to why you felt it necessary, to cart a box of body parts half way across the world?" "Before I answer Mr. Cantwell's question, which I did in fact answer this morning, I would like to inform the jury that I am Dr. Scarpetta, not Mrs. Scarpetta. Perhaps Mr. Cantwell would do me the courtesy of remembering that in future. I am entitled to such nomenclature by the following achievements: I am a medical doctor with a law degree. I have a specialty in pathology, with a subspecialty in forensic pathology. I have held the office of Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia for over twenty years, and I also have held the post of consulting forensic pathologist for the FBI. Therefore, I would appreciate being addressed as Dr. Scarpetta in future. As to Mr. Cantwell's question, I took samples of Henry Mills' body back to Virginia with me, purely and simply because the technology available at St. Mary's hospital was not up to the standard of investigation I required, in order to try and secure Barbara Mills' freedom." "Are you certain that it wasn't so that you could manufacture the evidence, out of plain sight of the resident pathologist at St. Mary's?" "My Lord!" Objected Jo and George in unison, both rising to their feet in abject fury. "My Lord, I will not put up with such deformation of my witness's character," Jo insisted vehemently. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you must disregard Mr. Cantwell's last question, as I will not allow it to stand. Mr. Cantwell, unless you have reason and proof to back up your insinuations, do not make them." "Very well, my lord," Brian said almost cheerfully. "As I have far more crushing occurrences to place before the jury concerning this woman." "I bet you do, you oily little bastard," George muttered none too quietly, though she hadn't quite intended John to hear her. "Ms Channing," John said firmly. "You will not use such language in my court. Is that understood?" "Perfectly, My Lord," George drawled back at him, sounding thoroughly unrepentant.
"Dr. Scarpetta," Cantwell continued almost maliciously. "What are your views on violent crime?" "I abhor violent crime," Kay told him succinctly. "Why else would I be working for state and federal law enforcement?" "An odd opinion," Cantwell said meditatively. "Coming from one who was directly responsible for the deaths of three people. Do you deny that you shot both Frank Aimes and Denesa Steiner, and that you pushed Temple Gault under a train?" There came a muttered Jesus from Yvonne in the gallery. "Mr. Cantwell," Kay replied thoughtfully. "Tell me, have you ever been faced by a serial killer, who is either pointing a gun at you, or holding a scalpel to your niece's throat, quite ready to kill her before your eyes?" "No, of course not," Stammered Cantwell. "But..." "...Then forgive me for dismissing your question with the contempt it deserves," Kay replied coldly. "However, Dr. Scarpetta," Cantwell continued, having regained some of his purpose. "Is it not true that you currently possess the permission to carry a gun in this country?" Jo stared at George. This was something she certainly hadn't been made aware of. "Yes, that is true," Kay replied clearly, trying to maintain the air of being unruffled. "Tell me," Brian said silkily, sounding almost gentle in his persuasion. "Do you have your gun on you now? Are you standing in a British courtroom, carrying the gun with which you have killed two people?" Kay didn't answer. She might have known this would get out somehow, though she cursed whoever had let such a sensitive piece of information out to a snivelling little barrister like this one. "Dr. Scarpetta," John quietly intervened, seeing the combined look of apprehension and resignation on her face. "Please would you come here, and stand before me?" Stepping down from the witness box, Kay approached the bench, standing where John could scrutinize her every inch. He did stare at her, his gaze moving very slowly down her immaculately dressed figure. There it was, the way her blazer wasn't entirely aligned, looking slightly fuller on the left-hand side. "Would you remove your jacket?" He asked her, wanting to prove his suspicion right. As the usher moved to relieve her of her jacket, Kay retrieved Senator Lord's letter from the pocket, knowing that this was something else the Judge would want to see, if she were to get out of this mess unscathed.
Unbuttoning her dark blue blazer, Kay handed it to the usher, standing in front of the bench in the matching skirt and white silk blouse. Fastened around her torso, was a black leather holster, with the gun hidden snugly along her side under her left arm. Removing the gun from the holster, Kay reached up and laid it before the judge, securing her letter of permission underneath it. John picked up the gun and examined it, briefly wondering what the world had come to, that a woman in his court had to carry such a weapon of destruction. Laying the gun back on the bench, he read the letter, his eyebrows rising almost to meet his hairline at its content. Well, one thing was for sure, this woman certainly did have friends in high places. Handing the letter to Monty, he asked, "Why were you given permission to carry a gun in the UK?" "That isn't a matter I should discuss in open court, Your Honour," Kay told him simply. "Both for my own safety, and that of others." At the end of the front bench, Jo furiously scribbled something on a scrap of paper and then shoved it under George's nose. It simply said: "You knew about this, didn't you!" Turning the piece of paper over, George wrote on the back: "Trust me. I would have told you had I thought it would be important. Shout at me all you like later on." Monty also having read the letter, John handed both it and the gun back to Kay. "This matter is not closed," He told her quietly, so that neither counsel should hear him. Taking her jacket back from the usher, Kay returned to the stand.
"Dr. Scarpetta," Cantwell continued, feeling a little lost for words. "I have only one more question for you. In your professional opinion, why should the jury take your interpretation of the facts, over that of the previous two experts who have appeared for the prosecution?" "The only answer I can give to your question," Kay said a little wearily. "Is that I have access to far more advanced investigative technology than either of your experts currently do. This has enabled me to conduct far more refined tests on the samples I took from Henry Mills' body. To give both Professor Ryan and Mrs. Beauchamp credit, they have arrived at the answers they were able to arrive at, taking their lack of up to date investigative instruments and procedures into account. I do not apologise for the advantages I have in my Richmond office, but I will acknowledge that I have taken the utmost advantage of the considerable funding that has been accorded by the department of justice, precisely to increase the investigative technology at our disposal."
"Would you like to come back, Ms Channing?" John asked, wanting to press onto the chat he planned to have with Kay Scarpetta after this. "Yes, My Lord, with your permission," George replied, getting to her feet, and trying to ignore the glare Jo was training on her. "Dr. Scarpetta, when you are presented with a suspicious or an unexplained death, what weight do you give to the possible theories the police may give you?" "I approach every new investigation with an open mind," Kay said firmly. "Whilst the theories of the police should be taken into account, they should definitely not be considered fact, until such fact can be thoroughly proved." "And last but not least," George said, her voice taking on a calm, quiet, utterly entranced tone. "How did one of your closest friends once describe you?" Slightly smiling at her, Kay replied. "Someone whom I have known for many years, once described me as being the doctor who hears the dead, the doctor who sits at the bedside of the dead." "Thank you," George said, trying to put some apology for what had happened into her voice.
John sat for a moment, just watching this complete enigma before him. Those last words, that sentiment was so pure, so simple, that he could not begin to put that description with the woman who carried a gun, and who had clearly used it to end not one but two lives. "Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning," He said, sounding utterly preoccupied. But as the court rose and voices began murmuring in response to the day's session, he added a little louder, "Dr. Scarpetta, I would appreciate it if you would join me in chambers, immediately." "Without a chaperone, My Lord?" George couldn't help but ask. "Yes, Ms Channing. Any objections?" John replied, always wanting the last word. "Plenty, My Lord, but I think the court has had quite enough shocks for one day."