“True, sir; but in this case the police have reasonable grounds to suspect a crime has been committed,” protested Mitchell. “Take Miss Preston’s testimony for example; she heard the library bell ring, went upstairs, and found a dead man sitting in the library.”
“Well, he could have rung the bell before drinking the poison,” retorted Maynard.
“Be reasonable, Mr. Maynard.” The detective’s irritation at Maynard’s continued questioning showed in his heightened color. “Coroner Penfield’s testimony proved the man had been dead at least twelve hours.”
“There you go again with your testimony,” Maynard laughed shortly. “Come, doctor, at what moment does rigor mortis appear?”
“In a general way, I should say——” Hayden considered before continuing, “rigor mortis appears from the third to the sixth hour, and it affects the muscles of the jaw first.” Evelyn shuddered as sudden unbidden memory of the dead man’s features returned to her.
“And how long does rigidity continue?” demanded Maynard.
“Oh, its duration may average twenty-four to forty-eight hours; it may, however, last for a few hours only, in other cases it persists for five, six, or seven days,” answered Hayden.
“And you physicians are prepared to swear from rigor mortis as to the exact hour the man died?” persisted Maynard.
“We are prepared to swear to nothing of the sort.” Hayden was commencing to share Mitchell’s irritation at Maynard’s slightly contemptuous manner. “We can say if rigidity is complete, that death is recent. Personally, I believe that rigor mortis can teach us nothing of scientific value in cases of poisoning.”
“But there are other tests to establish the time of death,” broke in the detective. “There’s the cooling of the body.”