"I can. Pathology, the larger field, is one of the medical specialties, and it has basically two subcategories; anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. Anatomic pathology deals with the study of disease, that's really what the word means, from actual anatomic inspection. So it involves areas such as performing autopsies, looking at surgical specimens under a microscope, those sorts of things where there is an actual naked eye or microscopic examination for the most part.

"Clinical pathology is the laboratory area, and clinical pathologists usually head a hospital laboratory and serve as consultant to hospital physicians in ordering and interpretation of tests. Forensic pathology is a special area in pathology. The word "forensic" comes from the Latin word "forum", which was the Roman courtroom. The term is applied because forensic pathologists are often involved in clarifying medical or scientific questions that come up in the courtroom. Most forensic pathologists work in a coroner's office or medical examiner's office and investigate sudden or unexpected deaths."

"How many autopsies have you done in your career, doctor?"

"Too many to count. I would say many hundreds, maybe in the thousands."

To eliminate questions of bias, Brent asked Dr. Orozco to point out that he, like any medical expert, worked for money, what his hourly rate was, and the fact that he had worked on both criminal and civil cases, for both the plaintiff and the defendant.

"Dr. Orozco, please tell the jury what materials and reports you viewed in preparation for today's testimony."

"I reviewed the autopsy report of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, the medical records of the decedent, Ahmed Khury, from his regular medical doctor, the medical records of the decedent from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, my own report, which was based on my own autopsy of the decedent, and, of course, I listened to the testimony of all the witnesses up to this point."

Dr. Orozco was very comfortable with a jury. He had done this many times, and knew how to put the story to them in layman's terms. Brent identified all of the exhibits that Dr. Orozco had mentioned.

"Dr. Orozco, as a result of your review, and your examination of the body, do you have an opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty what caused Ahmed's death?

"Yes, I do."

"Would you please tell the jury your opinion?"

"As a result of my autopsy, which concurred with the NCIS autopsy report, there were traces of olive oil in his nostrils and lungs. The use of olive oil in enteral feeding is, in my opinion, gross negligent medical care in reckless disregard of standard medical practices."

"Why, Doctor?"

"Since olive oil is not water soluble, once this fatty type oil gets into the lungs, it can cause a serious disease called lipoid pneumonia. I ran a check on his pulmonary tissues and confirmed that he had this pathology."

"Was that the cause of Ahmed's death?"

"No. His lungs were weakened by the lipoid pneumonia, which made him more susceptible to further injury, but, in this case, the cause of Mr. Khury's death was aspiration of the liquid nutrients. This is supported by the findings of the nutrients in his lungs. He simply drowned due to an improper insertion of the feeding tube."

Brent put up some graphic photographs from Orozco's autopsy, and the doctor used them to illustrate his testimony further, using a pointer.

I also examined Mr. Khury's neck and head to eliminate asphyxiation by hanging as a cause of death. I found lack of ligature marks consistent with death by hanging. In other words, I found no abrasions or hemorrhages in the skin and indeed no hemorrhages in the eyes that one would expect to occur if he had been alive when he was hanged."

"Are you saying that Mr. Khury was hanged after he was already dead?"

"That's how it appears from the forensic evidence. When I do an autopsy, the body "talks" to me. It leaves physical signs, which communicate the cause of death. In this case, I examined the tissue around the ligature, and there was no traces of any reaction to the hanging that you would expect from a live subject."

"Doctor, do you have an opinion within a reasonable medical certainty what injuries Mr. Khury suffered as a result of his aspirating the liquid nutrients?"

"Yes. As I stated, Mr. Khury literally drowned from the presence of fluid in his lungs. This drowning occurred slowly, as he was able to speak and even cough while it was in process. Aside from the obvious pain that this procedure done without anesthesia caused before he aspirated the fluid, after the fluid had been completely assumed by the lungs, I would say that he suffered great pain for approximately 8 minutes before losing consciousness."

"Do you have an opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether the pain and suffering endured by Mr. Khury was a result of his aspirating the liquid nutrients?"

"Mr. Khury's pain and suffering was, in fact, from the enteral feeding procedure and aspirating the liquid nutrients."

"As a result of your examination and all of the evidence you observed doctor, do you have an opinion as to the standard of care exercised in this enteral feeding procedure?"

"Yes. It is my opinion that Mr. Khury's death was caused by gross negligent medical care in reckless disregard of standard medical practices by an improper insertion of the enteral feeding tube, and the failure to make adjustments to the position of the tube after he complained, which adjustments would have most certainly saved his life."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

"Cross?"

"Thank you, Your Honor," said Nagel.

"Dr. Orozco, you testified that the autopsy you performed on Mr. Khury was a second autopsy, correct?"

"Yes."

"And when you examined the body, the internal organs had already been dissected and examined, correct?"

"Yes, but there were tissue samples preserved in paraffin blocks."

"Nevertheless, there were limitations on the second autopsy, isn't that true?"

"Yes, but often a second autopsy looks at things that the pathologist in the first did not and it, along with the findings of the first autopsy, presents a more complete picture of the cause of death."

"Move to strike after "Yes," Your Honor."

"Granted. The jury will disregard everything after 'yes'."

"The stomach had been removed and dissected already, isn't that correct?"

"Yes."

"And the intestines were dissected already, correct?"

"That is correct."

"And the lungs had been dissected and examined already?"

"Yes."

"And body fluids that you would have liked to examine were already examined and removed, isn't that correct?"

"That is correct."

"So, Doctor, wouldn't you have been able to make a better evaluation of the cause of death if you had been the pathologist who performed the first autopsy?"

"Objection," interrupted Brent. "Calls for speculation."

"Overruled."

"I suppose so."

"Thank you, Doctor. No further questions, Your Honor."

"Nagel, pleased with himself, took his seat at the counsel table, his lips curling into a smile that Brent wanted to slap right off his face.

"Redirect?"

"Thank you, Your Honor." Brent stood up.

"Doctor Orozco, your opinion is not based solely on your autopsy, is it?"

"No, it is not."

"What else is it based on?"

"I based my opinion on the observations during the autopsy I performed, and the report of the autopsy performed by the NCIS pathologist."

"But you disagree with their conclusion?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because of the traces of enteral feeding liquid in the lungs in the NCIS report as well as my examination, as well as the lack of physical evidence of death by asphyxiation."

"And this evidence was apparent from your examination of the body?"

"Absolutely."

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE.

Brent found Rick sitting at a corner table at Sonny's, in front of a heaping pile of some kind of Chinese style appetizer. When he walked in, Rick held up a mug of beer in a toasting motion and smiled. Brent was not in a smiling mood.

"So what did you find out?" Brent asked.

"It's good to see you too, buddy."

"Come on!"

"I've got a surprise for you."

"Tell me about Reeding first."

"Okay, but my surprise is better. It seems that after our meeting with Reeding in Miami he went out and got drunk, and, well, some other things, and as he was staggering out of the strip club-slash-whorehouse, he was paid a visit by some masked men."

"Like me."

"Yes, amazingly similar. Anyway, they beat the living crap out of him. Put him in the hospital."

"Let me guess, he didn't press charges?"

"You got that right."

"You have to find those guys, Rick."

"And make gold from mercury: Okay boss, no problem."

"Seriously, we need them and we need them now."

"Okay, I'm on it. Can I finish my Chinese 'whatever-the-fuck-this-is' first?"

"Of course. Now, what's the surprise?"

"Ah, I see curiosity has finally conquered the 'too serious' beast."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"First you have to guess what number I'm thinking of."

"Fuck, man, do you ever take anything seriously?"

"Not during happy hour I don't."

"Okay, give it up."

"What number?"

"What? Five."

Rick smirked like a gambler who had just won a bet.

"It's not five."

"Oh, it's five," Brent said, brandishing his fist. "Because if you don't tell me now I'm gonna plant these five knuckles right between your eyes."

"You're really no fun today. Alright, are you ready for this?"

Brent regarded Rick with childish impatience, like he had just swallowed a bug. Rick grinned through it.

"The good Colonel Masters had a very interesting tour of duty before his assignment to Gitmo. Remember the Abu Ghraib scandal?"

"Yeah. With the pictures of naked prisoners being tortured by soldiers."

"And the CIA. But there was a huge cover up and they just sent the sacrificial lambs to court-martial as fall guys. The stink rose all the way to the top."

"I know. Rumsfeld offered to resign over it."