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 be under 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 wire-transferred into an account in the Cayman Islands, so by now it could be in any bank in the world.”

“I have no further questions for this witness, Your Lordship,” Sir Winston said, then sat down.

The judge turned to the defense table. “You may cross-examine.”

Stone stood up. “Your Lordship, may I have a recess for a few minutes in order to consult with my client?”

The judge stifled a yawn. “You may not.”

Stone looked at Allison, who sent him a sympathetic glance. He was going to have to wing it with this witness.

Chapter
51

Stone took some papers from a file folder and rose to address the witness. “Mr. Stendahl, how long ago did Paul Manning undergo the physical examination for his insurance policy?”

Stendahl consulted his notes. “Two years ago last week.”