Chapter 61Doctor Blaine Adelman, M.E. sat uneasily in the witness chair. He had taken the stand so often during his career that it had become a routine appointment in his calendar. He had learned from long experience to confine his answers to the simplest description of the victim, the time of death, and its cause. In his fifties now, he had developed a permanent scowl on his brow that made him look more sombre, even menacing, than he really was. His brown eyes, droopy eyelids and greying hair gave him the ominous look of a surly graveyard digger. Yet, the man was gentle, loving and kind. To anyone who knew him well enough, he was a joker at heart. He loved to entertain his staff with dry humour and wit while listening to opera as he was dissecting the victims of sometimes-atrocious crimes
