not occur. You asked me whether morphine
taken prior to her illness, may have caused her death, and I said no,
to that. I did not say that she did not die from morphine, because I
do not know that. As I understand it, when morphine acts fatally by
accumulation, it is where it is administered continuously. Part of the
dose is eliminated, and the rest stored up. Finally this stored up
quantity amounts to a lethal dose. In this case, as far as we know,
there was a suspension of the administration. The accumulated
quantity, when the drug was stopped, could not have amounted to a
lethal dose, or death would have ensued. The dosing being
discontinued, the stored-up quantity must have grown less and less,
day by day, by gradual elimination."

This interested the jury very evidently. They could not but decide
that this man was honest, to offer such evidence as seemed against his
own interests. Mr. Bliss, still puzzled, ventured another question.

"You said that your wife may have died of this drug, or words to that
effect. How can you think that?"

"Whilst, as I have said, the accumulated drug was lessening in
quantity daily, by elimination, nevertheless death by poisoning would
have ensued at any time, if a dose of morphine had been administered,
of sufficient size, so that when added to that still in the system,
the whole would have amounted to a lethal quantity."

"Miss Conlin, the nurse, testified that she saw you administer a dose
of morphine. She afterwards admitted that she had only seen you remove
a syringe. Did you at that time administer a dose of morphine, a dose
large enough to have caused death in the manner you have described?"

"I did not."

"Then as far as you know, your wife did not take any morphine on the
day of her death?"

"On the contrary, she did take some!" This was a tremendous surprise.

"How did it occur?" asked Mr. Bliss, still following his notes and at
length seeing the point to which Dr. Medjora had been leading.

"She administered it to herself." The Doctor paused a moment as though
to allow his startling statement to be digested. Then he continued:
"As the nurse testified, I gave her permission to go out. I sat and
chatted with my wife a few moments, and then bade her be quiet, lest
talking should injure the throat. She obeyed, and after a time seemed
to be asleep. I sat over by the lamp reading, and, thinking that my
patient was asleep, became absorbed in my book, until I was attracte