The Trial of Dr. Kate

by Michael E. Glasscock III

  “So the depression got progressively worse?”

  “Yes. Some days she found it hard to get out of bed.”

  “The coroner stated that Lillie Johnson had cancer. Can you tell us about that?”

  “Lillie turned over in bed one morning and was hit with an excruciating pain in her lower back. I sent her to Vanderbilt, and their workup discovered that she had advanced cancer of the colon that had spread to her abdominal cavity, liver, and spine.”

  “Had she had any previous symptoms?”

  “No. Colon cancer is often insidious. If the patient doesn’t bleed or develop an obstruction of the bowel, it can go undetected for quite some time.”

  “Until it has spread?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was the malignancy treatable?”

  “No. The doctors at Vanderbilt had nothing to offer her. Basically, she was told to go home and die.”

  “How long did they give her?”

  “Two, three months. Perhaps less.”

  “And by the time of this diagnosis, she was in constant pain?”

  “Yes.”

  “Her husband was aware of her condition?”

  “No. Army didn’t know anything about the cancer until Lillie was terminal.”

  “Her sister?”

  “No. Lillie didn’t want to worry either of them.”

  “The pain and terminal nature of her cancer added to her already despondent state. Correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “It must have been very difficult for you to see your good friend in this condition. Did the two of you discuss her feelings about being so ill?”

  Dr. Kate took a deep breath. Her hands were in her lap, and Shenandoah could see that she was twisting the class ring she wore on her right hand. Finally, she said, “Lillie asked me to help her.”

  “How?”

  “She asked me to kill her.”

  A collective gasp floated across the courtroom, and Thelonious sat bolt upright in his chair. Baxter Hargrove stared at Dr. Kate with disbelief in his eyes.

  “What was your answer?”

  “I told her that as a physician, I couldn’t intentionally take another person’s life, even if she wanted me to.”

  “So, you don’t believe in euthanasia?”

  “No. There’s too much risk of abuse. A doctor shouldn’t play God.”

  “What did Lillie say when you told her this?”

  “She cried and wouldn’t talk to me for a week—didn’t answer my phone calls. Finally, I went to see her, and she told me again that she wanted me to help her commit suicide.”

  “What did you say to that?”

  “I told her that I just couldn’t.”

  “Did Army Johnson know of your discussion?”

  “No, not at that time. Lillie made me promise not to tell Army or Trudy.”

  “How do you account for the syringe and the large amount of Seconal in her blood?”

  Dr. Kate had been looking directly at Jake during this exchange. As she answered his question, she turned to face the jury. “Lillie had trouble sleeping at night, or at least she led me to believe she did. Over a period of two or three years, I gave her prescriptions for Seconal. Never more than four or five pills at a time because I was afraid she might overdose on purpose.”

  “In other words, take enough to kill herself.”

  “Yes.”

  “There was a lethal dose of Seconal in her blood. How do you account for that?”

  “I believe Lillie saved a large number of capsules, hoarded them.”

  “With the idea of using them to commit suicide?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why not swallow them? Wouldn’t that work?”

  “Yes, but if anyone found her, whatever doctor was called to the scene would have her stomach pumped. That would remove some of the drug and thus save her life. I believe she dissolved the capsules in water and injected the drug into her vein. That way it would work very quickly, and the chances of saving her would be nonexistent.”

  “If she lost consciousness quickly, that would account for the syringe being on the floor beside her.”

  “Yes.”

  “Trudy Underwood stated that you were to make a house call the morning of March twenty-third. Did you?”

  Dr. Kate looked as if she was caught completely off guard. She frowned and said, “I don’t remember.”

  Shenandoah wondered what Jake was thinking. Did he just want to get the problem out in the open and have done with it, or did he have some other plan?

  “Could you explain why?”

  “I had a blackout spell and don’t remember anything I did that day.”

  “Had you been drinking?”

  “At that time, I drank every day.”

  “Did you have blackouts often?”

  “Yes. As Dr. Compton said, I was a functioning alcoholic. I couldn’t always remember where I’d been or what I’d done. And every once in a while, I’d pass out or fall asleep.”

  “So you can’t account for your whereabouts on that day?”

  “No.”

  “Have you quit drinking?”

  “Yes. I’ve been able to wean myself off alcohol while in custody. I’m totally free of that curse at this point.”

  “This next question is critical. I want you to think carefully before answering. How do you think that Lillian Johnson was able to acquire the syringe?”

  After a moment, Dr. Kate spoke. “I often made house calls to see Lillie because it was difficult for her to come to the clinic. My medical bag always contains needles and syringes. I’d guess that after I’d given her a shot on a previous occasion, she took the syringe while my attention was diverted and hid it from me.”

  “Do you have any proof of your suspicions?”

  “No. I don’t count the number of syringes I place in my bag.”

  “So that could account for the fact that there were two sets of prints on the syringe.”

  “Yes.”

  “There’s no question in your mind that Lillian Johnson committed suicide?”

  “I’m sure of it.”

  Jake moved closer to the witness box and placed his hand on the rail. “Mr. Flatt has made reference to the fact that Lillie was right-handed, and yet the barbiturate was given in the right vein. Do you have an explanation for that?”

  “Lillie had suffered a thrombophlebitis in the main vein of her left arm. That’s an inflammation of the vein that causes it to clot and scar down. There was no way to get a needle in that vein, so she would have had to use the right one.”

  “What caused the thrombophlebitis?”

  “Lillie was bitten by a spider in February. An infection invaded the site, causing her whole arm to swell. I had to give her a penicillin shot.”

  “You think she could have injected the barbiturate with her left hand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why wasn’t there a fingerprint on the plunger of the syringe?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps in order to steady the syringe, she used the side of her middle finger. There wouldn’t be a fingerprint.”

  Jake nodded, looked quickly at the jury, and walked back to stand in front of Kate. “Are you now having or have you ever had an affair with Lillian Johnson’s husband?”

  “Absolutely not!”

  “Yet you’ve heard Trudy Underwood state that Lillian Johnson suspected you of an affair and that she was going to confront you the day she died.”

  Dr. Kate’s eyes flashed in anger, and her lips formed a thin, tense line. She said nothing, just stared across the courtroom. Several seconds passed.

  “Army, Lillie, and I have been friends since high school,” she said finally. “But Army and I started the first grade together. We’ve been good friends all that time, never sweethearts.”

  “Miss Underwood stated that Mr. Johnson frequented your clinic and that from time to time he brought you things from Nashville. Is she correct?”

  “Technically, y
es. Everyone knows that Army makes frequent trips to Nashville and other cities; it’s his business. I seldom leave the county—almost never, as a matter of fact. Army—Mr. John-son—runs errands for me. He might take a blood sample to the lab at Vanderbilt Hospital, or he might bring me a surgical instrument from one of the medical supply houses. Occasionally, he’ll even do some personal shopping for me. Pick up a kitchen utensil at Harvey’s Department Store, something like that.”

  “Trudy said that she saw you crying and that Army embraced you. Is that true?”

  “I was crying because I couldn’t do more for Lillie. Army was comforting me.”

  “How do you account for Miss Underwood’s testimony?”

  “Trudy Underwood has had a crush on Army Johnson since she was in grade school. Trudy was jealous of her own sister, and of me as well. Lillie and I talked about it. I think she’d lie simply to get me out of the way.”

  “So she’d have no competition for Mr. Johnson’s attention?”

  “Exactly.”

  Jake stroked his chin as if in deep thought. He looked at the judge and then back to Kate. “Could there be an additional motive for Trudy’s accusations?”

  She turned toward the jury, and in a strong voice she began to speak. “Three years ago I was driving directly behind Trudy’s parents when their car went through a guard rail, rolled down a hill, and hit a tree. Mrs. Underwood died instantly, but Mr. Underwood was still alive when I got to him. He had a flailed chest and a fractured larynx.”

  Jake raised his hand. “Please explain the medical terms.”

  “A flailed chest means that several ribs are broken. The larynx is the voice box. He was having respiratory stridor—sorry. He was wheezing and having trouble breathing.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I performed an emergency tracheotomy. I made a hole in his trachea, or windpipe, below the voice box. You have to establish an airway immediately in these situations.”

  “So that he could breathe?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Another driver went to a nearby farmhouse and called for an ambulance. My uncle, Sheriff Jeb Marlow, came right out.”

  “The ambulance took Mr. Underwood to Cookeville or Nashville?”

  “Nashville.”

  “Did you go with him?”

  “Yes. When a person has a flailed chest, he can’t bring air into his lungs. I attached an instrument to his sternum; that’s the breastbone. By pulling up on the breastbone, the individual can breathe. I actually attached it to the ceiling of the ambulance with a cord.”

  “Did he make it to the hospital alive?”

  “No, he died on the way. He had a fractured liver. He bled to death.”

  “You couldn’t do anything about that?”

  “There was nothing anyone could do.”

  “Does Trudy blame you for her father’s death?”

  “Yes. Lillie understood, but Trudy never did. To be fair, Trudy was only fifteen at the time.”

  “Do you have anything else to say in your defense?”

  Dr. Kate seemed to weigh this question carefully. She looked out at the people in the courtroom before she finally answered. “I have made mistakes in my life, been headstrong, and haven’t always played by the rules. I loved Lillie Johnson as a sister. I would never have harmed her in any way. I did not kill Lillie Johnson.”

  “Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Dr. Kate looked directly at Thelonious as he stood and approached the witness chair. There was defiance in her eyes.

  Thelonious stopped a few feet short of the railing and stood with his arms over his chest. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, just stared at Dr. Kate the entire time. She never took her eyes off his.

  “Dr. Marlow,” the prosecutor said finally, “do you consider yourself an amateur sleuth, or a character out of an Agatha Christie novel?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “This ridiculous theory that you’ve set forth is nothing but fiction. There’s no basis for it. All the facts in this case point to your adulterous affair with Army Johnson and the murder of his wife. How did you feel, Dr. Marlow, as the plunger of that syringe rammed home? How did you feel as Lillian Johnson took her last breath?”

  Dr. Kate half rose from the witness chair as if she was going to leap at the prosecutor. Her fists were clenched. Her eyes were full of fire.

  “Objection! The prosecutor is badgering the witness,” Jake yelled. A second passed, and Dr. Kate sat back down.

  “Sustained. Tone down your rhetoric, Mr. Flatt,” Judge Grant said.

  For his part, Thelonious seemed unmoved. He turned his back to Dr. Kate and directed his gaze toward the jury. “Dr. Marlow, I think, deserves an Academy Award for her performance here today. Because that’s what it is, my friends, a performance—nothing more, nothing less.”

  Turning back to Dr. Kate, he said, “I believe you were the last person to see Lillian Johnson alive. Yet by your own admission, you were under the influence of alcohol that day and can’t remember where you were. Am I correct?”

  “I could have been.”

  “You were. Dr. Christopher saw your car parked at the curb in front of Lillian Johnson’s house. Moreover, you would have us believe that she was despondent—depressed. Yet Trudy Underwood, who should know her sister’s mood better than anyone, has stated under oath that her sister was not depressed. That she was nervous about confronting you, but that she was not depressed.”

  “That’s not true. She was terribly depressed—had been for months.”

  “Was it a mercy killing, Dr. Marlow?”

  “Objection! The prosecutor is badgering and leading the witness,” Jake said.

  “Sustained. The jury will disregard the question,” the judge said.

  All the color drained from Dr. Kate’s face, and her eyes widened. She started to say something but didn’t. Jake glared at Thelonious, and Shenandoah wondered if he was having second thoughts about putting Dr. Kate on the witness stand.

  Thelonious said, “Let me rephrase the question. In your blacked out state, could you have helped Lillian Johnson put the Seconal in her veins and not remembered that you had done it?”

  Dr. Kate threw her shoulders back and looked past Thelonious directly at the jury. “I did not kill my best friend, Lillie Johnson.”

  “Another great performance, Dr. Marlow. I’m impressed. But your denials have a hollow ring.”

  “Mr. Flatt, I know Trudy Underwood, and you don’t. Unfortunately, you believe her lies. There’s nothing I can do about that. I believe the people of this county know I’m telling the truth when I say that I did not kill my friend Lillie Johnson.”

  Thelonious stared at Dr. Kate. It was obvious he was furious. For the first time, Shenandoah got the distinct impression that Austin was correct; Mr. Flatt didn’t like Katherine Marlow. What’s more, he’d let his personal feelings affect his prosecution.

  “You can’t even remember where you were that day, Dr. Marlow. How can you be so sure?”

  Kate stared at the prosecutor but said nothing.

  Thelonious looked up at the judge and said, “No further questions.”

  Jake stood. “The defense rests, Your Honor.”

  Chapter 16

  Dr. Kate followed Deputy Masterson back to her cell, and Jake waved Shenandoah over to where Rebecca and he were discussing the day’s events. Jake asked, “Well, Shenandoah, what do you think?”

  “I’m a little surprised you put Kate on the stand. What were you thinking?”

  “There’s no defense better than the truth.”

  Rebecca gathered notes and placed them in a leather briefcase. She came around the table and asked Shenandoah, “How’s your article coming?”

  “I’m a little behind schedule right now. I’ll get caught up tonight.” Turning to Jake, Shenandoah asked, “What happened to the alternates?”

  “Let’s go over to Dorothy
’s and I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. Judge Grant had to excuse them both. Unusual, but those things do happen.”

  “What was the problem?”

  “The salesman’s wife’s in Vanderbilt Hospital with an acute gall-bladder attack, and the dockhand came down with a terrible case of the flu.”

  “Is it going to cause a problem?”

  “All we need are twelve jurors. I don’t anticipate a problem.”

  As the two friends walked across the courthouse yard, the whittlers were sitting in their usual spot, huge piles of cedar shavings covering the ground.

  One yelled, “Going to get her off?”

  Jake waved. “Hope so. We’ll know tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.”

  Shenandoah held the door open for Jake, and they walked to the back of the café where they found an empty table. Mabel, smiling for a change, brought them mugs of steaming, freshly brewed coffee.

  “Do you remember me telling you about that Dodge pickup?” Shenandoah asked.

  “Yes. Something else happened?”

  “I found out who it was. Lisbeth Crouch from Celina. She blamed me for her brother’s death. He killed himself. We worked it out. I just felt so sorry for her.”

  “I’m glad that’s settled. I was worried there for a while.”

  “Are you actually feeling good about your defense?” Shenandoah asked.

  “I plan to make a special plea during my summary remarks.”

  “Think that it’ll be over by tomorrow afternoon?”

  “I’m hoping the jury won’t take more than an hour or so to make a decision. When will your article be finished?”

  “It should be ready by Saturday morning.”

  “Will you go back to Memphis? You seem awfully attached to Bobby Johnson.”

  Shenandoah shrugged. “My relationship with Bobby is a little shaky at this point. I’ve tried to keep my feelings at bay, but I seem to have fallen for the fellow. Probably pretty stupid of me.”

  Jake laughed. “To quote the Bard, ‘the course of true love never did run smooth.’”

  “Closest place for me to get a job would be Nashville.”

  “I’ve grown accustomed to having you around.”

  “At least I could drive up on weekends. That’s if Bobby wanted me to.”

  They finished their coffee, and Jake slipped a quarter under his saucer. Then they got up and walked over to the cash register. As Jake paid their bill, he said, “See you in the morning, Shenandoah.”