"You people think you can just barge in and expect immediate results. You think we have nothing else to do? You know how many corpses we have in there waiting for examination?"
"How many?" Kling asked.
"Don't get factual with me," Soames advised. "I'm trying to tell you this is an imposition. If I weren't a gentleman and a doctor, I'd tell you this is a big pain in the ass."
"Well, I'm sorry to trouble you, really. But…"
"If you were really sorry, you wouldn't trouble me. Listen, don't you think I'd love to forget typing up the report? I type with two fingers, and no one on my staff can do any better. Do you know how understaffed I am here? Do you think I can afford to give each case the special attention you're asking for? We've got to process these things like an assembly line. Any break in the routine, and the whole shop goes to pieces. So why don't you wait for the report?"
"Because…"
"All right, all right, all right," Soames said testily. "All this fuss over a drug addict." He shook his head. "Does Carella think this was a suicide?"
"He's… I think he's waiting to hear from you people on it. That's why he…"
"Do you mean to tell me there's a doubt in his mind?"
"Well, from… from outward appearances… that is, he's not sure the boy was… was asphyxiated."
"And what do you think, Mr. Kling?"
"Me?"
"Yes." Soames smiled tightly. "You."
"I… I don't know what to think. This is the first time I… I ever saw anybody hanging."
"Are you familiar with strangulation?"
"No, sir," Kling said.
"Am I supposed to give you a course in medicine? Am I supposed to run a seminar for every uninvited, uninformed detective on the force?"
"No, sir," Kling said. "I didn't want…"
"We're not talking about a technical hanging now," Soames said. "We're not talking about hanging with a hangman's noose, where the bulky knot and the sudden drop break the neck. We're talking about death by strangulation, death by asphyxia. Do you know anything at all about asphyxia, Mr. Kling?"
"No, sir. Choking is something I…"
"We are not talking about choking, Mr. Kling," Soames said, gaining momentum, annoyed by strangers, equally annoyed by ignorance. "Choking, in police work, presupposes hands. It is impossible to choke yourself to death. We are now discussing asphyxia induced by pressure on the neck arteries and veins through the use of ropes, wires, towels handkerchiefs, suspenders, belts, garters, bandages, stockings, or what have you. In the case of Anнbal Hernandez, I understand the alleged means of strangulation was a rope."
"Yes," Kling said. "Yes, a rope."
"If this were a case of strangulation, pressure from the rope on the neck arteries…" Soames paused. "The neck arteries, Mr. Kling, carry blood to the brain. When they are pressed upon, the blood supply is terminated, resulting in anemia of the brain and loss of consciousness."
"I see," Kling said.
"Do you indeed? The pressure on the brain is increased and further aggravated because the veins in the neck are also under pressure from the rope, and there is interference of the return flow of blood through those veins. Eventually, strangulation proper-or asphyxia-will set in and cause the death of the unconscious person."
"Yes," Kling said, swallowing.
"Asphyxia, Mr. Kling, is defined as the extreme condition caused by lack of oxygen and excess of carbon dioxide in the blood."
"This is… is very interesting," Kling said weakly.
"Yes, I'm sure it is. The knowledge cost my parents something like twenty thousand dollars. Your own medical education is coming at a much cheaper rate. It's only costing you time, and
"Well, I'm sorry if I…"
"Cyanosis in asphyxia is not uncommon. However…'"
"Cyanosis?"
"The blue coloration. However, as I was about to say, there are other examinations to be made in determining whether or not death was due to asphyxiation. The mucous membranes, for example, and the throat… Let it suffice to say, there are many tests. And, of course, cyanosis is present in many types of poisoning."
"Oh?"
"Yes. We have, considering this poisoning possibility, conducted tests on the urine, the stomach contents, the intestinal contents, the blood, the brain, the liver, the kidneys, the bones, the lungs, the hair and nails, and the muscle tissue." Soames paused. Drily, he added, "We
"Yes, I…"
"Our concern, despite popular misconception, is not chiefly with necrophilism."
"No, I didn't think it was," Kling said, not at all sure what the word meant.
"So?" Soames demanded. "Add it all up, and what do you get? Do you get asphyxia?"
"Do you?" Kling asked.
"You should wait for the report," Soames said. "You should really wait for the report. I like to discourage these special requests."
"Is it asphyxia?"
"No. It is not asphyxia."
"What then?"
"Alkaloidal poisoning."
"What's alka-?"
