Dead in the Water

witness box.
    “Take the book,” the bailiff said, offering a Bible and a card, “and read from the card.”
    Stendahl grasped the Bible and read, “I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give in this court will be the truth.”
    The bailiff relieved him of the Bible and the card.
    Sir Winston turned to the witness box. “State your name, address, and occupation for the record,” he said.
    “Frank Stendahl, 1202 Old Brook Road, Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.A. I am the chief claims investigator for the Boston Mutual insurance company.”
    “Oh, Christ,” Stone whispered to himself, earning a rebuking glance from Sir Leslie. He hadn’t seen this coming.
    “Mr. Stendahl, did your company, Boston Mutual, insure the life of Paul Manning?”
    “Yes, we did.”
    “In what amount?”
    “In the amount of twelve million dollars.”
    There was a stir in the jury box and raised eyebrows among the men who sat there.
    “Is this, in your experience, a large sum of life insurance?”
    “Indeed it is,” Stendahl replied. “In fact, it is the largest policy my company has ever written on an individual life.”
    “And how old is your company? Was it recently formed?”
    “Boston Mutual was founded in 1798.”
    “And in the nearly two hundred years since its founding, it has never written a policy as large as this?”
    “Not on an individual life, when the individual was himself paying the premiums. We have had corporate policies that were larger, when a company was insuring the life of, say, its chief executive.”
    “What steps did your company take before insuring the life of a person for such a large sum?”
    “We did what we do for any large policy, that is, we investigate the background, the reputation, and the net worth of the applicant, and we have him examined by adoctor of our choosing. I personally conducted the background investigation of Mr. Manning.”
    “And what did you learn about Paul Manning during your investigations?”
    “I learned that Mr. Manning was an important author with a large income; that he had an excellent credit record; and that he was known to be a person of good reputation in his community.”
    “And what did the medical evaluation of Mr. Manning reveal about his health?”
    “May I consult notes?”
    “Yes.”
    Stendahl took a sheet of paper from his inside pocket and read from it. “I quote from the report: ‘Paul Manning is a forty-year-old writer who is in excellent health and who does not have any history of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or any other serious illness. Neither is there any history of serious disease in either of his parents, both of whom died accidentally in their sixties, in an automobile accident.”
    “What was Mr. Manning’s height and weight?”
    He consulted his notes. “Six feet, two inches, two hundred and nineteen pounds.”
    “Did the examination include a test for serum blood cholesterol and triglycerides?”
    “Yes, it did.”
    “What was the result?”
    Stendahl checked his notes again. “His cholesterol count was one hundred ninety-nine, and his triglycerides were one hundred forty-seven.”
    “Did your company consider these to be within the normal range for a man of Mr. Manning’s size?”
    “Yes. We would expect the cholesterol count to beunder two hundred and twenty, and the triglycerides to be under one hundred and fifty, in order to be insurable. Mr. Manning qualified on both counts.”
    “Did your company’s medical examiner think of Mr. Manning as a heart attack waiting to happen?”
    “Certainly not. If he had thought that, we would never have insured him.”
    “Mr. Stendahl, has your company paid the death benefit of the insurance policy?”
    “Yes, we have.”
    “In full?”
    “Yes.”
    “Without investigation?”
    “Oh, we investigated, all right; we’d never pay a sum that large without an investigation. We sent a man down here to talk to Mrs. Manning last week.”
    “And he found all was in order?”
    “He did, but there was something he didn’t know until later.”
    “What was that?”
    “That Mrs. Manning was about to be tried for the murder of her husband.”
    “She didn’t tell your investigator that?”
    “No. He learned about it from the newspapers, but by that time we had already paid the money into Mrs. Manning’s bank account.”
    “And is that money still in her account?”
    “I am advised that it is not.”
    “Where is that money now?”
    “I am advised that it was