“Now Doctor,” began Mr. Bailey, representing the insurance company, “you were describing, yesterday, the nature of Mr. Craighead’s injuries. You mentioned fastening the haemostats yourself. Will you tell the coroner and the jury what you mean by that?”
“Why, yes,” answered Dr. Lawson, “to use layman language, haemostats are little clips which are applied to the ends of all the severed blood vessels when we amputate, thus closing them so tightly that no foreign or toxic substances can find their way in.”
Dr. Jarvis leaned over to the physician of the insurance company whispering, “Fulton, why doesn’t your lawyer ask him how the shock of the operation or blood poison could kill him, if the haemostats were properly applied?”
Dr. Fulton communicated this message to the lawyer who immediately shot this question at Dr. Lawson.
“Dr. Lawson, if the haemostats were properly applied, how do you suppose the poisonous substances got into the wound, if the wound was sterile, as we must assume it to have been after the operation at the hospital?”
“Well, one way, which I assume to have been the true way, is that the poisons made their way through the wall cells of the blood vessels—the arteries, veins and capillaries,” replied Dr. Lawson.
At this reply, Dr. Jarvis shut his lips very grimly. He was making progress at last. Very opportunely, at this moment, Inspector Craven slipped into the chair next to him.
“Doc,” he murmured, in a low tone, “we are on the track of something—Tessie visited Piggy Bill twice, the day before Craighead died. He’s a bad egg, but we never have caught him in anything red handed except this narcotic deal. He’s bad, though, bad enough for anything. Now, here’s another funny thing about Piggy. He’s an educated rogue, talks French and is a great student of toxicology. How does that fit in with your story now?”
“Inspector,” said the doctor, “I don’t know yet where we are heading, but that last remark of Doctor Lawson’s shows me that Jim did not die of the causes ascribed. Now we must find out what did cause his death. With a few more facts, I think I can clear this mystery. I’m half tempted to take a hand right now.”
“Wait until you have the whole story,” advised the inspector. “If we have to make any arrests, we don’t want to warn them in advance.”