Snow Falling on Cedars Chapter 19

Alvin Hooks brings Sterling Whitman to the witness stand. Mr. Whitman is a hematologist whose job it is to perform blood tests. He tells the court that he tested the blood on the gaff and found that it matched Carl Heine's blood--and NOT Miyamoto's. Nels Gudmundsson asks the witness whether if the blood had come from a head wound, there would also not be some bone or hair or brain matter on the gaff. After some hesitation, Dr. Whitman agrees that this seems reasonable, and that the blood might have come from a cut found on Carl's hand--or from another man altogether.

Another witness is called: Sergeant Maples. Maples trained Miyamoto during the war, but when he learned that Miyamoto was an expert at kendo, he began to take lessons from him and saw that he was ruthless and highly skilled. "No, it would not surprise Sergeant Maples to hear that Kabuo Miyamoto had killed a man with a fishing gaff." Chapter 19, pg. 285

Topic Tracking: Small Town Life 7