Lydia Carr, whose black veil had defeated the news camera levelled at
her poor scarred face, was the first witness called by Coroner Price,
and she was required for the single purpose of identifying the body as
that of her mistress. To two perfunctory questions--"Have you any
information to give this jury regarding the cause and manner of the
deceased's death?" and "Have you any personal knowledge of the identity
of any person, man or woman, of whom the deceased stood in fear of her
life?"--Lydia answered a flat "No!" and was then dismissed.

Karen Marshall, looking far too young to be the wife of the elderly
ex-judge, Hugo Marshall, was the second witness called. Dr. Price guided
her gently to a brief recital of her discovery of the dead body of her
hostess, emphasizing only the fact that, so far as she could see, the
bedroom was unoccupied except by the corpse at the time of the
discovery.

He then handed her the photostatic copy of a blueprint of the ground
floor of the Selim house, with a pencilled ring drawn around the
bedroom. Karen falteringly identified it, as well as the pencil-drawn
furniture, and was immediately dismissed--to the packed rows of
spectators and reporters.

Dr. Price himself took the stand next and described, in technical terms,
the wound which had caused death and the caliber of the bullet he had
extracted from the dead woman's heart.

"I find, also, from the autopsy," he concluded, "that the bullet
traveled a downward-slanting path. I should add, moreover, that I have
made exact mathematical calculations, using the position of the body and
of the wound as a basis, and found that a line drawn from the wound, and
extended, at the correct slant, ends at a point 51.8 inches high, upon
the right-hand side of the frame of the window nearest the porch door."
And he obligingly passed the marked blueprint among the jury. When it
was in his own hands again, he added: "It is impossible to state the
exact distance the bullet traveled, more nearly than to say the shot was
fired along the line I have indicated, at a distance of not more than
fifteen feet and not less than ten."

Captain Strawn rose and was permitted to question the witness:

"Dr. Price, that blueprint shows that the bedroom is fifteen feet in
width, don't it?"

"That is correct."

"Have you also measured the height of that window sill from the floor?"

"I have," the coroner answered. "The height from floor to sill is 26
inches."