A Modern Wizard. Ottolengui Rodrigues

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СКАЧАТЬ did you do with these tablets?"

      "At first I placed them on the mantel. Afterwards, when Dr. Meredith said that Miss Sloane was dying from morphine, I put them in a phial and slipped that into my pocket."

      "Was that the same phial which you brought to me?"

      "Yes, sir."

      "Is this it?" He handed up a phial containing four pellets, which was admitted in evidence, and identified by Miss Conlin.

      "Did you tell Dr. Medjora that you had seen him administer the morphine?"

      "No, sir. At the time I thought it must be all right, as he was her friend, and a physician."

      "Did he know that you had seen him?"

      "No, sir. I think not."

      The witness was then given to Mr. Bliss for cross-examination.

      "Miss Conlin," he began, "who engaged you to attend Miss Sloane?"

      "Dr. Medjora."

      "What did he say to you at that time?"

      "That a very dear friend of his was ill, and that he would pay me well for skilful services."

      "Did he pay you?"

      "Yes, sir."

      "During her illness what was the general behavior of Dr. Medjora towards her. That is, was he kind, or was he indifferent?"

      "Oh! very kind. It was plain that he was in love with her."

      "I move, your Honor," said Mr. Munson, "that the latter part of that answer be stricken out, as incompetent."

      "The motion is granted," said the Recorder.

      "You said that the Doctor was always kind," said Mr. Bliss, resuming. "So much so that you would not have suspected that he wished her any harm, would you?"

      "I object!" said Mr. Munson.

      "Objection sustained!" said the Recorder.

      "Now, then, we will come down to the administration of the hypodermic," said Mr. Bliss. "You testified that you saw Dr. Medjora administer the hypodermic. Are we to understand that you saw Dr. Medjora dissolve the tablets, fill the syringe, push the needle under the skin, press the piston so that the contents were discharged, and then remove the instrument?"

      "No, sir. I did not see all that."

      "Well, what did you see?"

      "I saw him taking the syringe out of Miss Sloane's arm. Then he cleaned it and put it in his pocket, after putting it in a case."

      "Oh! You did not see him push the syringe in, you only saw him take it out. Then how do you know that he did make the injection, if one was made at all?"

      "Why, he must have. I saw him take out the syringe, and there was no one else who could have done it."

      "Then you saw him put the syringe in a case, and place the case in his pocket, I think you said?"

      "Yes, sir."

      "What sort of case was it?"

      "A metal case!"

      "Was it a case like this?" Mr. Bliss handed her an aluminum hypodermic case, which she examined, and then said:

      "It looked like this." The case was then marked as an exhibit for the defence.

      "In what position was Miss Sloane when you saw the Doctor leaning over her?"

      "She was lying across the bed, with her head in a pillow. She was crying softly!"

      "I think you said that this occurred at half-past eight o'clock?"

      "Yes, sir. About that time."

      "At what hour did Miss Sloane die?"

      "At eleven thirty!"

      "That is to say, three hours after you supposed that you saw Dr.

      Medjora make the injection."

      "Yes, sir!"

      "Did you leave the room again during that time?"

      "No, sir."

      "Not even to get the coffee which Dr. Meredith had ordered?"

      "No, sir. I made that on the gas-stove in the room."

      "Well, then, during that last three hours did you, or any one else, in your presence, inject, or administer morphine in any form to Miss Sloane?"

      "No, sir; positively not."

      "Such a thing could not have occurred without your knowledge?"

      "No, sir."

      "Now, your Honor," said Mr. Bliss, "I would like to ask the prosecution whether this is the only witness upon whom they depend to prove the hypothesis that morphine was administered within three hours prior to the death of Miss Sloane?"

      "That is our evidence on that point," replied Mr. Munson.

      "Then, if it please the court, I move that all that testimony of Professor Orton's following and dependent upon the hypothetical question, shall be stricken from the records."

      "State your grounds," said the Recorder.

      "Your Honor admitted the question upon the express understanding, that the hypothesis that morphine had been administered within the specified time should be proven. The prosecution's own witness tells us that no such administration occurred during the last three hours of the life of the deceased. The proposition then hinges upon what this witness claims to have seen as she entered the room. She admits that she only saw Dr. Medjora remove a syringe. She did not see him insert it, and she could not possibly know what the contents of that syringe were."

      "I think," said the Recorder, "that the question whether or not her testimony shows that Dr. Medjora administered a hypodermic of morphine is a question for the jury. The evidence may stand."

      "We take exception," said Mr. Bliss. After a few moments consultation with Mr. Dudley he said to the witness: "That is all," and she was allowed to leave the stand. This ended the day's proceedings.

      CHAPTER VII.

      THE PROSECUTION RESTS

      The first witness called, on the resumption of the trial, was a druggist, named Newton, who qualified as an expert pharmacist and chemist. He examined the pellets contained in the bottle identified by the professional nurse as the one which she had given to Mr. Munson. These he dissolved in water, and then submitted to chemical tests, from the results of which he pronounced them to be morphine. He testified that he recognized them as the usual pellets carried by physicians for hypodermic use. He was not cross-examined.

      The next witness was Prof. Hawley, an expert pathologist. He swore that he had assisted at the autopsy, and in the main substantiated the evidence of Dr. McDougal, the Coroner's physician, agreeing with him, that from the physical appearances, the probable cause СКАЧАТЬ