The witness bit his lip with anger at having made this slip.
"I live near, and I thought it would do no harm to call."
"Now when you called, you have stated that you were with her for half an hour before she died. Did she die a half hour after you entered her room?"
"In about half an hour."
"How soon after you saw her, did you suspect that she had been poisoned?"
"Immediately."
"Oh! Immediately! Then of course you made some effort to save her life, did you not? You used some antidotes?"
"It was difficult. At first of course there was merely a suspicion in my mind. I tried to have her drink some strong coffee, but deglutition was almost impossible. This is another evidence of the poison."
"Now, Doctor, be careful. You say that impaired deglutition was due to poisoning. But do you not know that deglutition is most difficult in cases of diphtheria?"
"The patient swallowed very well in the afternoon."