When the jury returned from their mid-afternoon break, Granny called Dr. Lawrence Tobias, the county coroner, to the stand.
Probably a decision made based more on time and strategy than anything else, Ben reasoned. There was only about an hour and a half of court time left before Pickens would likely recess for the day. If Granny called a more important witness, one who would take longer, the testimony would be split over two days-which would give Ben all night to prepare for cross after having heard at least part of the testimony. Granny preferred to call a witness she could get on and off before closing time, so Ben wouldn’t be able to think about what he’d heard at great length before crossing.
Dr. Tobias, Ben recalled, was almost the complete opposite of Dr. Koregai, the Tulsa County medical examiner to whom Ben was accustomed. Tobias lacked Koregai’s implacable ease, his bearing. The sense that everything he said was unquestionably, inarguably true. At the same time, he had a common touch that Koregai never even approached. He seemed like one of the gang, not a demigod towering over their heads. And he knew how to talk to people, to communicate. Koregai might be a medical genius, but Ben wondered if Tobias might not be the better witness.
After about twenty minutes, Granny brought the witness to the case in question. “Did you perform an autopsy on Dwayne Gardiner?”
“Oh yes, yes,” he said. He had a nervous twitch involving his upper lip somewhat reminiscent of a bunny rabbit.
“And when would that have taken place?”
“On the morning of July thirteenth. I wasn’t present when the body was first brought to the morgue, earlier that morning. I came in about seven-thirty and started work.”
A lovely way to start the day, Ben thought. Hope he hadn’t had a big breakfast.
“Did you perform a standard autopsy?”
“Well …” Tobias appeared to be struggling for words, which struck Ben as unusual, since Granny had probably rehearsed this testimony a dozen times. “… standard would probably not be the correct word.”
“And why is that?”
“That is because of the … uh”-he glanced at the jury, then looked away-”the condition of the remains.”
“What was the condition of the remains, Dr. Tobias?”
“Severely burned. Third degree and then some, covering almost his entire body. There was little skin remaining, and what there was had hardened into eschar. Bones and skull were exposed, all blackened by fire. I don’t think his best friends could have recognized him.” Tobias paused, his expression serious but sad. “Using the Rule of Nines, which assigns a numerical value to each part of the body and rates the severity of body burns on a scale from one to one hundred-one hundred being the worst-I’d say Gardiner was a ninety-seven. At least.”
“Did this create any complications for your autopsy?”
“Oh, yes. Yes indeed.” He looked earnestly at the jury. “Everything becomes more complicated when a body has been burned that severely. You can throw the manual out the window. Most of the standard techniques don’t work anymore. Most of the tests are invalid.”
“Nonetheless, were you able to perform the autopsy?”
“Oh yes. Took me almost seven hours. But I did it.”
“Dr. Tobias, we’ve heard testimony regarding a gunshot wound. Did you see any evidence of a gunshot wound?”
“I extracted a bullet from the upper right torso. Just below the clavicle.”
“What did you do with the bullet?”
“I sent it to the ballistics office for testing.”
Now why had Granny established that? Ben wondered. There was no ballistics expert on the prosecution witness list. Did she have an ace tucked up her sneaky little sleeve? Or was she laying a foundation, just in case the gun turned up?
“Did you notice anything else out of the ordinary, Dr. Tobias?”
“Well, as I said, the burns were extensive.”
“Other than that.”
“On the whole, there was very little to examine. As I said, most of the skin was gone, either as a result of fire, or the forest creatures that found the body before the sheriff did. Even his internal organs were burned, in whole or part.” He paused. “I did manage to find faint traces of a bite mark on his left arm, however.”
“A bite mark?” Granny’s eyes widened, giving the jury a dramatic reaction Ben knew was more stagecraft than surprise.
“Yes. Indentations left by teeth were clearly visible.”
“Do you know when this bite occurred?”
“In terms of what time of day, it’s impossible for me to say with much accuracy. But I do know that the bite occurred before the burning.”
Granny straightened. “Dr. Tobias, are there tests that can be run on bite marks? Say, to determine their origin?”
“That’s outside my realm of expertise, but yes, there are such tests. And I understand they can be quite accurate.”
Ben frowned. Granny was using one witness to prop up another-establishing an expert’s credentials before he even took the stand. It was objectionable, but not worth annoying the jury.
“I must be losing my grip,” Granny said abruptly. “Dr. Tobias, I haven’t even asked you what the cause of death was. Were you able to make that determination?”
“I was,” Tobias said. He turned somberly toward the jury. “The first instant I saw him. Mr. Gardiner burned to death.”
“But,” Granny said gently, “you mentioned a gunshot wound.”
“It was not a fatal wound,” Tobias said flatly. “Any gunshot wound is serious, but this one would not have been fatal, assuming he obtained medical attention within a reasonable time period. At any rate, it’s not what killed him. It didn’t have a chance.”
“How do you mean?”
“Judging from the wound itself and the extent of deterioration in the surrounding tissue, I determined that the gunshot wound occurred very shortly before the body caught on fire. Probably no more than a few minutes before.”
Granny paused, turning ever so slightly toward the jury. “You mean he caught on fire just after he was shot?”
“That’s about the size of it, I’m afraid.” Tobias seemed genuinely affected and regretful, expressing a sorrow that quickly infected the jury.
“Were you able to make any determinations regarding how the body might have been … ignited?”
“Not without resorting to external data.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been told that a piece of heavy machinery was exploded by a small bomb near where the body was found. That obviously could be a possible source of the fire.”
Granny tried to clarify. “You’re saying Gardiner may have been caught in the explosion.”
“I’m not saying that he was exploded, no. If he had caught the full brunt of the explosion, the damage to his body would have been different. We would have found his remains in pieces. Mr. Gardiner’s body was still intact, although horribly burned. All the evidence indicates that he moved under his own power, until of course the extent of the burning made that impossible.”
“So what conclusion do you reach, doctor?”
“Objection,” Ben said, rising. “She’s asking him to speculate.”
“I’m not asking him to speculate,” Granny shot back. “I’m asking him to draw a conclusion based upon the available evidence. He’s an expert; he’s allowed.”
“Overruled,” Judge Pickens said briskly. “Sit down, Mr. Kincaid.”
Ben did as he was told. He never expected the objection to succeed, anyway. What he wanted was to remind the jury that what they were about to hear was not a fact, but a guess. An expert’s best guess, maybe, but still just a guess.
“What I concluded,” Tobias answered, “was that at the time of the explosion, Gardiner, who had just been shot, was not so close to the bomb that he suffered the full brunt of the blast, but was close enough to catch fire once some part of the machinery, possibly the gas tank, ignited.”
Ben pushed himself to his feet. “Again I have to object, your honor. This is pure speculation.”
Pickens didn’t wait for Granny to respond. He whirled in his chair and pointed his gavel toward Ben’s head. “I’ve already ruled on your objection, Mr. Kincaid. Now sit down and shush.” He paused, then added, “And if you can’t keep that tongue still on your own, I can have you escorted to a tiny little room with barred windows where no one will be able to hear you. Savvy?”
Ben retook his seat. Pickens had probably been waiting all day for Ben to give him an excuse to chew him out in front of the jury. Just as well he did it now and got it over with.
“Dr. Tobias, the prosecution will show that the defendant was wandering in the forest about one in the morning. Do you have any thoughts regarding the time of death?”
“Well, I received independent reports from some of the loggers at a camp not too far away that they heard an explosion a few minutes after one A.M. Given that the explosion, and the resulting fire, appear to have played a role, the death likely occurred at or just after one.”
“How exactly would Gardiner catch on fire?”
“His clothes would probably ignite first. Cottons are somewhat more flame-retardant. Nylons and polyesters-which the victim was wearing-burn very quickly. Once the clothes caught fire, of course, unless the flames could be quenched, the body would soon begin to burn.”
“And how would that feel?”
“Objection!” Ben shouted. “She’s trying to inflame the jury.”
Pickens’s expression was grave. “I wasn’t kidding about that room with the barred windows, counsel. You’re overruled. Now sit down.” He nodded toward the witness. “You may answer.”
“Well,” Tobias started hesitantly, “I don’t think I have to tell anyone here that being burned is an … unpleasant experience. Most people who have been through it say it’s the most intense feeling of pain anyone can experience. And in a situation like this, when the entire body was consumed, when death was certain, when there was no help or relief in sight …” He shook his head. “Well, I’m sure the pain was just … unimaginable.”
“Would Mr. Gardiner have been likely to pass out?”
“We’d like to think so. But there’s no medical basis for that assumption. To the contrary, given that he apparently moved some distance away from the exploded machinery, I’d have to say he was probably conscious very close to the time of his death.”
Ben pressed his hand against his forehead. This testimony was grossly objectionable and prejudicial, but Pickens had already ruled, and if Ben stood up again, Zak would probably be representing himself for the rest of the trial.
He glanced over his shoulder, wondering what effect this hideous testimony was having on the bereaved widow. To his surprise, he spotted no widow in the gallery. Everyone appeared affected by the testimony; several people had tears in their eyes. But he saw no trace of Lu Ann Gardiner.
“And how long would it be, Dr. Tobias? Until death occurred.”
“I can’t say with precision.”
“Dr. Tobias, would it have been a quick death?”
Tobias’s chin fell. “Not particularly, no. It could have been eight, ten minutes from when he first caught on fire until he was actually dead. And I expect every one of those minutes seemed like days. Agonizing, unbearable days.”
“Thank you, Dr. Tobias.” Granny turned away from the podium, her face grim and set. “No more questions.”