Page 115 of The Devil's Advocate

From the pocket of her yellow jacket, Banbury drew out a pair of fine wire reading glasses, perched them on her nose and turned to her report, which she held in a plastic folder. She flicked through a couple of pages, and then found the paragraph and began to read.

‘I examined the fingernail clippings provided in a sealed evidence bag marked CL12, and found the following:

‘Blood, skin, general detritus, powder residue.

‘The powder residue tested as particles of Anticholinergic (four parts), Sertraline (one part), Morphine Sulphate (four parts), Phenothiazine (most likely prochlorperazine) (one part).’

‘Sertraline is a drug, isn’t it, Doctor? It’s an anti-anxiety drug, commonly referred to as Zoloft?’

‘Yes, that’s correct.’

‘The three other compounds that you found, let’s look at each one. Anticholinergic is also a drug, isn’t it? It’s used in Benadryl, a muscle relaxant that helps with stomach cramps?’

‘Yes.’

‘Morphine sulphate can be taken in tablet form to ease pain?’

‘Yes.’

‘And the last substance, prochlorperazine, is an anti-emetic. It can help control nausea?’

‘I guess, I’m not a pharmacist.’

‘Neither was the victim. She was studying Chemistry, not pharmacology. That’s an unusual combination of substances to find beneath someone’s fingernails, wouldn’t you say?’

‘In my experience, you find a lot of unusual things under fingernails,’ said Banbury.

I had to be tighter. More pins.

‘Let me rephrase, have you ever found that combination of substances beneath any other fingernail clippings that you have examined?’

Doc Banbury nodded, very slightly. She knew we were in a battle of words, and this was one point to me. Although she had no idea where I was going with it. No one did. Apart from Kate, Harry and Bloch.

‘No,’ said Banbury, ‘I don’t believe I have found that combination of substances from fingernail clippings, but then again, all samples have their own individual characteristics.’

The doc thought she was parrying another blow. That’s what I wanted her to think.

‘And the substances found beneath those nail clippings can give us vital evidence, correct?’

She was more wary now, but she had no choice but to confirm.

‘Yes, they can tell a story. Like who scratched someone on the back.’

The doc was getting her shots in any way she could. I had to ignore that one for now. I was working on the bigger picture, but I made a mental note of her answer. I was going to ball it up and throw it right back at her.

‘Just to be clear, you were testing the substances found on the nails, not the nails themselves?’

‘Correct, there was no need to examine the DNA of the nails themselves. Their origin was clear and already established by the chain of evidence from the sheriff. Plus, DNA extraction from a human fingernail is a much more difficult process.’

Time to tighten my finger on the trigger.

‘The defendant in this case, who denies any kind of altercation with the victim, has no memory of being scratched. He doesn’t know how the scratches got on his skin.’

‘Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? To my mind, it’s clear.’

‘Doctor, I’d like to show you a photograph of the victim. It’s the prosecution’s photograph number two.’

The clerk reached behind her desk and lifted clear a blown-up photograph of the victim, lying on the dirt floor behind Hogg’s car.