He turned to the fire-arms expert.
How about it, Captain? Anything special?
Hagedorn raised his head slowly, and gave Heath a myopic frown. Then after a few awkward movements, he answered with unhurried precision:
A forty-five army bulletColt automatic.
Any idea how close to Benson the gun was held? asked Markham.
Yes, sir, I have, Hagedorn replied, in his ponderous monotone. Between five and six feetprobably.
Heath snorted.
Probably, he repeated to Markham with good natured contempt. You can bank on it if the Captain says so. You see, sir, nothing smaller than a forty-four or forty-five will stop a man, and these steel-capped army bullets go through a human skull like it was cheese. But in order to carry straight to the woodwork the gun had to be held pretty close; and as there arent any powder marks on the face, its a safe bet to take the Captains figures as to distance.
At this point we heard the front door open and close, and Dr. Doremus, the Chief Medical Examiner, accompanied by his assistant, bustled in. He shook hands with Markham and Inspector OBrien, and gave Heath a friendly salutation.
Sorry I couldnt get here sooner, he apologized.
He was a nervous man with a heavily seamed face and the manner of a real-estate salesman.
What have we got here? he asked, in the same breath, making a wry face at the body in the chair.
You tell us, Doc, retorted Heath.
Dr. Doremus approached the murdered man with a callous indifference indicative of a long process of hardening. He first inspected the face closely,he was, I imagine, looking for powder marks. Then he glanced at the bullet hole in the forehead and at the ragged wound in the back of the head. Next he moved the dead mans arm, bent the fingers, and pushed the head a little to the side. Having satisfied himself as to the state of rigor mortis[30], he turned to Heath.
Can we get him on the settee there?
Heath looked at Markham inquiringly.
All through, sir?
Markham nodded, and Heath beckoned to the two men at the front windows and ordered the body placed on the davenport. It retained its sitting posture, due to the hardening of the muscles after death, until the doctor and his assistant straightened out the limbs. The body was then undressed, and Dr. Doremus examined it carefully for other wounds. He paid particular attention to the arms; and he opened both hands wide and scrutinized the palms. At length he straightened up and wiped his hands on a large colored silk handkerchief.
Shot through the left frontal, he announced. Direct angle of fire. Bullet passed completely through the skull. Exit wound in the left occipital regionbase of skull,you found the bullet, didnt you? He was awake when shot, and death was immediateprobably never knew what hit him. Hes been dead aboutwell, I should judge, eight hours; maybe longer.
How about twelve-thirty for the exact time? asked Heath.
The doctor looked at his watch.
Fits O. K. Anything else?
No one answered, and after a slight pause the Chief Inspector spoke.
Wed like a post-mortem report to-day, doctor.
Thatll be all right, Dr. Doremus answered, snapping shut his medical case and handing it to his assistant. But get the body to the Mortuary as soon as you can.
After a brief hand-shaking ceremony, he went out hurriedly.
Heath turned to the detective who had been standing by the table when we entered.
Burke, you phone Headquarters to call for the bodyand tell em to get a move on. Then go back to the office and wait for me.
Burke saluted and disappeared.
Heath then addressed one of the two men who had been inspecting the grilles of the front windows.
How about that ironwork, Snitkin?
No chance, Sergeant, was the answer. Strong as a jailboth of em. Nobody never got in through those windows.
Very good, Heath told him. Now you two fellows chase along with Burke.
When they had gone the dapper man in the blue serge suit and derby, whose sphere of activity had seemed to be the fireplace, laid two cigarette butts on the table.
I found these under the gas-logs, Sergeant, he explained unenthusiastically. Not much; but theres nothing else laying around.
All right, Emery. Heath gave the butts a disgruntled look. You neednt wait, either. Ill see you at the office later.
Hagedorn came ponderously forward.
I guess Ill be getting along, too, he rumbled. But Im going to keep this bullet a while. Its got some peculiar rifling marks on it. You dont want it specially, do you, Sergeant?
Heath smiled tolerantly.
Whatll I do with it, Captain? You keep it. But dont you dare lose it.
I wont lose it, Hagedorn assured him, with stodgy seriousness; and, without so much as a glance at either the District Attorney or the Chief Inspector, he waddled from the room with a slightly rolling movement which suggested that of some huge amphibious mammal.
Vance, who was standing beside me near the door, turned and followed Hagedorn into the hall. The two stood talking in low tones for several minutes. Vance appeared to be asking questions, and although I was not close enough to hear their conversation, I caught several words and phrasestrajectory, muzzle velocity, angle of fire, impetus, impact, deflection, and the likeand wondered what on earth had prompted this strange interrogation.
As Vance was thanking Hagedorn for his information Inspector OBrien entered the hall.
Learning fast? he asked, smiling patronizingly at Vance. Then, without waiting for a reply: Come along, Captain; Ill drive you down town.
Markham heard him.
Have you got room for Dinwiddie, too, Inspector?
Plenty, Mr. Markham.
The three of them went out.
Vance and I were now left alone in the room with Heath and the District Attorney, and, as if by common impulse, we all settled ourselves in chairs, Vance taking one near the dining-room door directly facing the chair in which Benson had been murdered.
I had been keenly interested in Vances manner and actions from the moment of his arrival at the house. When he had first entered the room he had adjusted his monocle carefullyan act which, despite his air of passivity, I recognized as an indication of interest. When his mind was alert and he wished to take on external impressions quickly, he invariably brought out his monocle. He could see adequately enough without it, and his use of it, I had observed, was largely the result of an intellectual dictate. The added clarity of vision it gave him seemed subtly to affect his clarity of mind.[31]
At first he had looked over the room incuriously and watched the proceedings with bored apathy; but during Heaths brief questioning of his subordinates, an expression of cynical amusement had appeared on his face. Following a few general queries to Assistant District Attorney Dinwiddie, he had sauntered, with apparent aimlessness, about the room, looking at the various articles and occasionally shifting his gaze back and forth between different pieces of furniture. At length he had stooped down and inspected the mark made by the bullet on the wainscot; and once he had gone to the door and looked up and down the hall.
The only thing that had seemed to hold his attention to any extent was the body itself. He had stood before it for several minutes, studying its position, and had even bent over the outstretched arm on the table as if to see just how the dead mans hand was holding the book. The crossed position of the legs, however, had attracted him most, and he had stood studying them for a considerable time. Finally, he had returned his monocle to his waistcoat pocket, and joined Dinwiddie and me near the door, where he had stood, watching Heath and the other detectives with lazy indifference, until the departure of Captain Hagedorn.