Read Online Games of the Hangman by Victor O'Reilly - Free Book Online Page B

layman."
    Buckley
chuckled apologetically.   He selected a
pipe from a rack on his desk and began to fill it with tobacco.   There was the flare of a match followed by
the sounds of heavy puffing.   "Rudolf died from asphyxia," continued Buckley.   "He strangled himself to death, thought
I doubt that was his intention.   The tree
he chose and the branch he jumped from gave him a drop of about one meter
eighty.   We can't be quite sure because
he may have jumped up and off the branch, thus increasing the drop.
    "To use
layman's terminology, I expect he intended to break his neck.   He would have wanted the cervical segments to
fracture, as happens, or is supposed to happen, in a judicial hanging.   In reality, outside official executions,
where the hangman has the advantage of training and practice, the neck rarely
breaks.   Rudolf was a strong, fit young
man.   His neck did not break.
    "You will
recall, of course, that I stated during the inquest that death was
instantaneous.   That was not the truth,
merely a convention we tend to adhere to for the relatives' sake.   The true facts are always in the written
report given to the coroner."
    "What
about the marks on his hands?" asked Fitzduane.   "There are scratches on the fingertips
as well.   They look like the signs of a
struggle."
    "Perhaps
they do," said Buckley, "but if there was a
struggle that resulted in the victim being hanged by another, it's virtually
certain there would be some sign on the victim's body.   In this case I examined the body with
particular care for the very good reason that I was working in another man's
territory and didn't want to leave any possibilities unchecked — and I had
rather more time than I tend to have with the work load here.   Be that as it may, there were no signs of the
bruising you might expect if another party were involved.   The marks on the hands and fingers are
entirely consistent with two things:   first, the victim's ascent of the tree, which marked the palms of his
hands and the insides of his fingers."   He paused to puff at his pipe.
    "And
second?" prompted Fitzduane.
    "Second,
the convulsing of the victim as he hung there and slowly asphyxiated.   The distance between the trunk of the tree
and the body, based now upon my observation of these slides, but originally on
the sergeant's measurements, indicates that the body would indeed have brushed
against the tree as it spasmed or, more specifically, that the fingertips would
have rubbed against the bark of the trunk.   Such convulsions can be quite violent."
    "I'm
sorry I asked," said Fitzduane.
    Buckley smiled
slightly.   "In addition, I took samples
from under the deceased's fingernails and subjected them to various tests and microscopic
examinations.   The findings were
consistent with what I have just said.   Also, I should point out that in the event of a struggle it is not
uncommon to find traces of the assailant's skin, tissue, and blood in the nail
scrapings.   No such traces were found in
this case."   He looked toward
Fitzduane.   Half glasses glinted through
the smoke.
    Fitzduane
marshaled his thoughts.   "Very well.   If
we accept that there is no evidence of strangulation, forcible hanging, or
indeed any sort of physical pressure, how about the possibility that he killed
himself while drugged or even while under hypnosis?"
    Buckley
grinned.   "Great stuff," he
said.   "I mentioned earlier that I
had taken particular care with this fellow.   The fact is that I did a number of things I wouldn't normally do on the
basis of the evidence available, and it wasn't only because I was off my
patch.   It was also because the fellow was
a foreigner and, as like as not, there would be another autopsy when the body
arrived home.   There would be hell to pay
if our verdicts differed, as has happened before — to a colleague, in fact.   Very embarrassing."
    "So in
this case," continued Buckley, "although there was no evidence of
foul play