The medical witnesses were introduced next. The police surgeon had
reached the apartment at 10.30. The deceased had come to his death, in
his judgment, from the effect of a bullet out of a .38 caliber revolver
fired into his brain. He had been struck a blow on the head by some
heavy instrument, but this in itself would probably not have proved
fatal.

"How long do you think he had been dead when you first saw him?"

"Less than an hour." Answering questions, the police surgeon gave the
technical medical reasons upon which he based this opinion. He
described the wound.

The coroner washed the backs of his hands with his palms. Observing
reporters noticed that he did this whenever he intended taking the
examination into his own hands.

"Did anything peculiar about the wound impress you?" he asked.

"Yes. The forehead of the deceased was powder-marked."

"Showing that the weapon had been fired close to him?"

"Yes."

"Anything else?"

"One thing. The bullet slanted into the head toward the right."