That wound had been sewed up and was opened again with this needle." He held up the slim, steel darning needle to the light.
"But why--why should he do this ?" broke in the coroner.

"It must have been torture!" "It was," Britz agreed.
"But the loaded pistol on his desk--how do you explain that ?" "I repeat, Whitmore was shot the night before," replied Britz.

"It was a mortal wound.

The spleen had been penetrated and he was beyond the aid of medical science.
"The doctor that was summoned undoubtedly told him he was doomed.

There was no way to stop the internal bleeding, but the patient might live anywhere from twenty-four to seventy-two hours.