“We found on investigation of the gastric contents that death was due to prussic acid, the most active of poisons,” Fisher replied, with blunt directness. “There was no other cause of death, as from the condition of her body, we found Miss Baird, in spite of her age, did not suffer from any organic disease.”
The silence lengthened in the court room. Penfield did not seem in haste to put the next question and the suspense deepened.
“Can you estimate how long a time must have elapsed between Miss Baird taking the poison and her death?” he asked finally.
“Between two and five minutes, judging from the amount of poison in her system,” responded Fisher.
“Can you tell us how the poison was administered, Doctor?” questioned Penfield. “Did you analyze the contents of the tea pot and cup?”
“Yes. No trace of poison was in either the cup or the teapot.” Fisher spoke with deliberation, conscious that his words were listened to with breathless interest. “There was on her plate a half-eaten peach on which still remained enough poison to kill several persons.”
Penfield broke the tense pause.
“Have you any idea, Doctor, how the poison got on the peach?”
“On examination we found that drops of prussic acid still remained on the fruit knife used to cut the peach.” Fisher hesitated a brief instant, then continued, “The poison had been put on one side of the knife-blade only.”
“You mean—”