The Case of the Demure Defendant

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In writing forewords to my mystery stories, I have from time to time stressed the importance of legal medicine.

Legal medicine in the field of homicide investigation is daily becoming more and more recognized as a means by which murders can be detected and the culprits apprehended on the one hand, and on the other hand, innocent victims who have become unjustly enmeshed in a chain of circumstantial evidence can be acquitted.

I first met Dr. Daniel J. Condon, Medical Examiner of Maricopa County, Arizona, on a blistering hot day, or perhaps I should say on a blistering hot night. I went to Phoenix, Arizona, to investigate a case and, because I had had some correspondence with Dr. Condon, wrote him that I would like to consult with him. My train arrived sometime around four o’clock in the morning, so I had planned to go to a hotel until eight or nine o’clock when I could decently call Dr. Condon. As I looked around for a taxicab, I noticed a big man, informally dressed in khakis and a short-sleeved shirt, pushing his way toward me with outstretched hand and that unmistakable air of cordiality which is so much a part of Arizona.

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