Mrs. Jeffries Appeals the Verdict by Emily Brightwell (lightest ebook reader txt) 📕

that it

was a fairly large pistol. The entry wound was over half an

inch wide.”

“Did the doctor doing the autopsy measure the wound?”

She forced her gaze away from the jar and back to him.

“Are your methods becoming well known?”

Bosworth laughed. “I’d like to think so, but the truth is,

the postmortem was done by a friend of mine, and he’s quite

familiar with my theories. I don’t think he believes them to

the same extent that I do, but he was curious enough to measure the wound.” His smile faded. “The poor woman never had a hope of surviving. She was shot in the head and the

heart.”

“There were two shots?” Mrs. Jeffries prompted.

Bosworth nodded. “Whoever did it wanted to make sure

she was dead.”

“But surely a shot to the head would have done that,”

she pressed.

“Not necessarily,” Bosworth replied. “Quite a number of

people have survived head wounds. You can walk around

quite easily with one or even more bullets in your brain. I

once treated a gambler in San Francisco who had two bullets lodged in his head. I was treating him for the gout. No, whoever shot Mrs. Muran wanted to make sure she was dead,

and the only way to do that was to make sure you hit both the

brain and the heart. By the way, that sort of knowledge isn’t

generally known by the public.”

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“What are you saying, Dr. Bosworth?” she asked. She

wanted to make sure she understood precisely what this evidence might mean. “Are you implying the killer must have medical training?”

“Not exactly.” Bosworth leaned forward. “Anyone who’d

ever been on a battlefield or around a hospital could have

such knowledge, as could anyone who has studied anatomy

or physiology. It doesn’t mean your killer is a physician or

a nurse. But whoever the murderer is, he must have known

that the only way to be sure of certain death is to go after

both organs. Either that or he was just someone who liked

shooting and happened to hit just the right spots.” Bosworth

leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “I can’t prove any

of this, Mrs. Jeffries, but as you know, I’ve seen a number

of shootings in my time, and frankly, most people are such

awful shots that one is just as likely to be wounded or

maimed rather than killed. But Mrs. Muran was killed, and

from what the postmortem reveals, she was killed quickly

and cleanly.”

“Could it be a coincidence?” she asked. “I mean, could

it just be that the killer got lucky?”

“Anything is possible,” he replied. “I wish I knew more,

but I’m afraid that’s really all I was able to understand

from the report.”

“You’ve been very helpful, and we’re very grateful. I

know you’re busy, so I’ll not keep you further.” She rose to

her feet and he started to get up as well, but she waved him

back to his chair. “I can find my own way out.”

“But Mrs. Jeffries, I wasn’t finished.” He grinned. “I did

find out something else, something you might find quite

useful.”

She sank back down. “But you said there was nothing

else in the report.”

“That’s true, but I had a chat with the fellow who treated

Mr. Muran’s head wound.”

“How very clever of you.” She stared at him in genuine

admiration. “How did you manage that?”

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“London may be a large city, but the medical community isn’t that extensive,” he explained. “Mr. Muran was treated here.”

“Gracious, that’s a lucky coincidence.”

“Not really. The murder scene was just across the bridge.

We were the closest hospital, so the constables brought him

here. I found out who was on duty that night and made some

discreet inquiries. Keith Muran was seen by Dr. Matthew

McHenry. McHenry and I went to medical school in Edinburgh together.”

“What did you find out?” she asked eagerly.

“Muran’s injuries were genuine. He had a severe concussion and spent several days in hospital. Whoever hit him, hit him very hard. Unfortunately, Dr. McHenry isn’t

particularly interested in my theories, so he didn’t examine

the injury closely, he only treated the man. He’d not taken

any measurements nor had he paid attention to the actual

shape of the wound.”

Mrs. Jeffries wasn’t sure what he meant. “Is that important?”

Bosworth sighed. “I think so, but not everyone seems to

agree. McHenry looked at me as if I were quite mad when

I inquired about the particulars of the wound. But Mrs. Jeffries, if he had paid attention to the shape and specific size of the injury, it might give us some idea of what kind of

weapon was used on Keith Muran.”

“Knowing the weapon might make a difference,” she

murmured.

“Of course it would,” Bosworth insisted eagerly. “First

of all, it would give you some idea of whether or not your

assailant used the pistol handle, brought another weapon

with him, or whether he simply used a handy brick or a

stone to cosh Muran over the head.”

Mrs. Jeffries wasn’t certain how one could use this sort

of information, but she suspected it might mean a great

deal in the overall scope of an investigation. “Yes, I can see

how that might be helpful.”

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“Secondly,” Bosworth continued. “If the sides of the

wound were a nice, even shape with straight, square edges,

you’d know that the fellow was probably coshed with a brick

or a small paving stone, but if it were rounded and irregular,

you’d have to consider other possibilities.”

“But what if the victim had been hit more than once?”

she speculated. “Wouldn’t that change the shape of the

wound?”

“Of course, but Mr. Muran was only hit once or possibly twice, and even if he’d been struck multiple times, there would still be evidence on some of the wounds as to

the kind of weapon that had been used.” He smiled selfconsciously. “Don’t get me started, Mrs. Jeffries. I shall take advantage of you. You’re one of the few people I know

who actually appreciate my interest in this subject.”

“And your interest in this subject has been very instrumental on more than one occasion in catching the right killer,” she assured him. “Don’t doubt that for a minute,

Doctor. That’s one of the reasons we keep coming to you

for help.”

“You’re very kind. Let’s hope that one day people will

understand the importance of looking at every detail in a

murder. Mark my words, Mrs. Jeffries, in