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"Distinctly, there were three. Perhaps five. I could not rule them out as having been used to cause other injuries, but there was not enough detail to tell you definitively that this was the weapon used."

"What about the poker?"

"I could only find one injury across the forearm that definitively appeared consistent with the poker or something very like it. But all of the injuries to the top and side of the head were consistent with a blow from a hard, cylindrical object that could have been this poker. Further, I understand from the lab that the victim's blood and tissue was removed from the poker, which also supports the suggestion that this was the weapon used."

"As to the injuries you've discussed so far, were they consistent with having been inflicted with a man's fist?"

"No. I don't think so. The injuries I've attributed to the poker and brass knuckles were far too extensive typically to have resulted from a simple blow from the fist."

"But that leaves, Doctor, does it not, many other bruises on Mr. Nolan's body?"

"Yes, it does."

"Could they have been inflicted by a man's fists?"

"Well, yes they could, although they are very nonspecific and might have been inflicted by any blunt object, including a glancing blow by the poker or brass knuckles, or even by the impact of Mr. Nolan having hit the ground or a table or anything else as a result of one of the other blows."

"Doctor, could you describe the gunshot wound in any greater detail?"

"Yes, it was what is called a close contact wound, meaning the gun was fired right up against the skin of the forehead."

"Doctor, are you able to tell us the order in which the injuries were inflicted?"

"Not really. Logically, it would seem likely the gunshot wound would have to be last because it would have been immediately lethal. As to the blunt force trauma, it appeared that some had actually started to heal slightly, and therefore might have been inflicted before some of the others which showed less signs of healing. But the body heals more or less quickly at different times and at different places on the body. This isn't a very reliable way to sequence injuries. All I can say is that all of these injuries were perimortem, meaning that they were inflicted around the time of death."

"Thank you, Doctor. No further questions." Mills, apparently shaken by the photos and the testimony in spite of herself, had gone nearly as pale as the medical examiner. She turned back to the defense table. "Your witness."

WASHBURN HAD THE IMPRESSION that Mills had cut her questions short because she was getting sick. Beyond that, he'd barely heard the testimony of the witness from back where he sat, and he doubted that the jurors, intent on the photographs, had heard too much of it either. He normally didn't like to spend too much time with this more or less pro forma witness, the medical examiner, since typically all his testimony served to do was prove that a murder had been committed, and that wasn't at issue here. But this time, he thought he might pry a nugget loose from this normally unpromising vein.

And if he was going to go to that trouble, he wanted the jury to hear what the man had to say. So when he got to the middle of the room, he pitched his own volume down to the nearly inaudible. "Doctor," he said, "can you tell how old a bruise is?"

"I'm sorry," the witness replied, cupping his ear. "I didn't hear the question."

Washburn barely heard the response, but came back with his question just a few decibels louder than the first time.

Barnsdale leaned forward, his face scrunched in concentration. "Can I what?" he asked. "I'm sorry."

Behind Washburn, the gallery was getting restive. Tollson brought his gavel down one time firmly. "I want it quiet in this courtroom!" He brought his focus back inside the guardrail that separated the gallery from the bullpen of the court. "And I need you two gentlemen both to speak up, is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Washburn straightened up and nearly shouted.

Shaking his head-this was rank theatrics, circus behavior-Tollson looked down at the witness. "Doctor?"

Barnsdale looked around and up at him. "Sir?" A whisper.

"Louder, please. The jury needs to hear you."

Back to Washburn. "Go ahead, Counselor."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Doctor." A smile meant they were friends. "You've talked about these bruises on the body of the victim, that we've seen now in these photographs. My question is can you tell the age of a bruise?"

"As I just said, only within very broad limits."

"Please humor me, Doctor. Explain in some detail how you can tell that one bruise is older than another."