The doctor thought again. “I can’t be positive from memory, but I don’t recall such a case.”

“Doctor, the trooper has testified that it is his belief that Mr. Stone laid his head on the desk, then fired the fatal shot. On reflection, do you believe that the trajectory of the gunshot is consistent with his theory?”

“Perhaps not,” the doctor said.

“Your Honor, may I use the blackboard?” Stone pointed to the board at one side of the courtroom.

“Go ahead,” the coroner said.

Stone walked to the blackboard and quickly sketched a man’s head lying on a desktop, then he drew a line through the head and into the desktop.

“Doctor, is this approximately the path that the trooper described in his report, with the bullet lodging in the desktop?”

“Yes,” the doctor replied.

Stone drew another line through the head, approximating the trajectory of the bullet described by the doctor. “Doctor, is this the approximate path of the bullet, given the trajectory in your report?”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Do you see that the bullet would have lodged in an entirely different place in the desk, if fired in this manner?”

“Yes, I do.”

“It would then appear that the only way to reconcile the trajectory of the bullet with the place where it struck the desk would be with Mr. Stone sitting in an upright position?”

“It would seem so.”

“With the gun held so?” Stone again assumed the awkward position he had demonstrated earlier.

“Yes.”

“Would this trajectory also be consistent with the gun being fired by a person unknown standing next to and above Mr. Stone’s position?”

The doctor took a deep breath. “Yes, it would be.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Your Honor, I suggest that the preponderance of the evidence suggests that this was murder, not suicide, that it was likely that the shooter first shot Mr. Stone, then went upstairs and shot his wife and daughter.”

“What about the noise of the gunshot?” the coroner asked.

Stone went to the evidence table and picked up the Keltec .380 in its plastic bag. “The pistol was silenced, Your Honor.”

The coroner turned to Trooper Young. “Sergeant, do you have anything further to add?”

“No, sir,” the trooper said.

The coroner faced his small audience again. “The verdict of this court is declared to be open, that the victims could have been killed by either Mr. Stone or by an unknown party, and that the police investigation should continue. This court is adjourned until such time that there is further evidence to hear in this case. The bodies of the victims are released for burial.”

The coroner rapped once with his gavel, then gathered his papers, got up and left the room.

Outside the courtroom Stone was met by the television crew and the young woman from the press, but he declined to speak further, referring them to the testimony in the courtroom.