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The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 45 из 146"Doctor," he said, "I have a problem. A house burns, a man's body is found. Apparently he has burned to death in his bed. There was no suggestion of anything sinister in that death. Now, then, witnesses appear who can testify that a man, who might have profited very materially by the death of this person, was in a garage, with a flexible tube running from the exhaust pipe of his automobile to a hole cut in the pipe of a hot air furnace which led to this man's room. The fire may well have been of incendiary origin. Is it possible that sufficient carbon monoxide gas could have been introduced into the room in this way to have brought about the man's death?"
"Quite readily possible," Dr. Jason admitted, his eyes shifting from Drake to Mason.
"The man would have died in his sleep?"
"It is very likely. Carbon monoxide is a very insidious poison. There are numerous instances of persons who have been working in closed garages where motor cars were running and who died without being able to reach the outer air."
"How could you tell if a person died of carbon monoxide poisoning?"
"There are several methods. One of the most usual is to notice the color of the blood. It is a bright, cherryred."
"And, if a person was burned to death, could you detect the presence of carbon monoxide?"
"Wait a minute," Dr. Jason said slowly. "You are overlooking something. If a person burnt to death, we would have every reason to expect that carbon monoxide would be present in his lungs. In fact, it might well be that the person had suffocated from monoxide incidental to the fire."
"In that case, Doctor, would it be possible to tell from an examination of the body whether the man had been murdered by this method before the house was fired?"
Dr. Jason's glittering eyes stared searchingly at Perry Mason. "How long before the fire was the monoxide introduced into this man's room by means of the automobile exhaust?"
"Probably two or three hours."
Dr. Jason nodded slowly. "I think," he said to Hamilton Burger, "that we could tell from an inspection of the body. It would, of course, depend somewhat upon the condition of the body after the fire. I would say that it would be quite possible to make this determination. Blisters, which are formed by heat when the tissues are able to react, usually vary greatly from evidences of heat applied after death."
"In other words, we should exhume the body?" Burger inquired.
Dr. Jason nodded.
Burger got to his feet with a peculiar lunging motion, as though about to charge some obstacle.
"Quite readily possible," Dr. Jason admitted, his eyes shifting from Drake to Mason.
"The man would have died in his sleep?"
"It is very likely. Carbon monoxide is a very insidious poison. There are numerous instances of persons who have been working in closed garages where motor cars were running and who died without being able to reach the outer air."
"How could you tell if a person died of carbon monoxide poisoning?"
"There are several methods. One of the most usual is to notice the color of the blood. It is a bright, cherryred."
"And, if a person was burned to death, could you detect the presence of carbon monoxide?"
"Wait a minute," Dr. Jason said slowly. "You are overlooking something. If a person burnt to death, we would have every reason to expect that carbon monoxide would be present in his lungs. In fact, it might well be that the person had suffocated from monoxide incidental to the fire."
"In that case, Doctor, would it be possible to tell from an examination of the body whether the man had been murdered by this method before the house was fired?"
Dr. Jason's glittering eyes stared searchingly at Perry Mason. "How long before the fire was the monoxide introduced into this man's room by means of the automobile exhaust?"
"Probably two or three hours."
Dr. Jason nodded slowly. "I think," he said to Hamilton Burger, "that we could tell from an inspection of the body. It would, of course, depend somewhat upon the condition of the body after the fire. I would say that it would be quite possible to make this determination. Blisters, which are formed by heat when the tissues are able to react, usually vary greatly from evidences of heat applied after death."
"In other words, we should exhume the body?" Burger inquired.
Dr. Jason nodded.
Burger got to his feet with a peculiar lunging motion, as though about to charge some obstacle.