Chapter 9

Less than fifty minutes later, Jamilla Hughes and I were inside the morgue at San Francisco’s famed Hall of Justice. We had joined the chief medical examiner, Walter Lee, and the dental expert, Dr fang¹.
Dr Alien Pang² took his time examining both bodies. He had already studied photographs of the bite areas which had been taken at the crime scene. He was a small man, completely bald, with very thick black-rimmed glasses. At one point during his examination, I noticed Inspector³ Hughes give a wink⁴ to the ME. I think they found Dr Pang just a little strange. So did I, but he was very thorough, and obviously serious about the job he had taken on.  ‘Okay, okay. I’m ready to talk about the nature of the bites now.’ He finally turned to us and made his pronouncement. ‘I understand you’re making casts of the bite marks, Walter?’ ‘Yes, we lifted the marks with fingerprint⁵ powder. The casts should be ready in a day or two. We swabbed to gather saliva⁶, of course.’ ‘Well, good. That’s the right approach, I think. I’m ready to state my piece, my educated guess.’
“That’s excellent. Alien,’Lee said in a soft, very dignified⁷ voice. He wore a white coat with the nickname Dragon stitched on one pocket.  He was a tall man, probably six-two, and weighed at least two-fifty.  He carried himself with confidence. ‘Dr Pang is a friend I have used before,’ Lee continued. ‘He’s a veterinary dental expert from the Animal Medical Center in Berkeley. Alien is one of the best in the world, and we’re lucky to have him on this case.’
 
‘Thank you for your time, Dr Pang,’ Inspector Hughes said. ‘This is terrific of you to help.’
‘Thank you.’ I joined in with the hallelujah chorus of praise.  ‘It’s perfectly⁸ all right,’he said.’I’m not exactly sure where to start, other than to say that these two homicides are most interesting to me. The male was severely⁹ bitten, and I’m relatively¹⁰ sure the attacker was, well, it was a tiger. The bites on the female were inflicted¹¹ by two humans. It’s as if the humans and the large cat were running together. Like they were a pack. Extraordinary. And bizarre, to say the least.’
‘A tiger?’ Jamilla was the one to express the disbelief we were all feeling.’Are you sure? That doesn’t seem possible, Dr Pang.’ ‘Alien,’Walter Lee said.’Explain, please.’
‘Well, as you know, humans are heterodonts; that is, they have teeth of different sizes and shapes, which serve different functions.  Most important would be our canines¹², which are situated¹³ between the lateral¹⁴ and the first premolar on each side of each jaw¹⁵. The canines are used to tear food.’
Walter Lee nodded, and Dr Rang continued. He was speaking solely¹⁶ to the ME at this point. I caught Jamilla’s eye, and she gave me a wink. I liked that she had a sense of humor.  Dr Pang now seemed in his own world. ‘In contrast to humans, some animals are homodents. Their teeth are the same size and shape and perform essentially¹⁷ the same function. This is not true of large cats, however, especially tigers. The teeth of tigers have been adapted for their feeding habits. Each jaw contains six pointed¹⁸ cutting teeth; two very sharp, recurved canines; and molars that have evolved into cutting blades.’
‘Is that important in terms of these murders?’ Jamilla Hughes asked Dr Rang. I had a version of the same question.  The small man nodded enthusiastically. ‘Oh, of course. Certainly.  The jaw of a tiger is extremely strong, able to clamp down hard enough to crush bone. The jaw can only move up and down, not side to side. This means the tiger can only tear and crush food, not chew or gnaw¹⁹.’ He demonstrated with his own teeth and jaw.
I swallowed hard, and found my head shaking back and forth²⁰. A tiger was involved in these murders? How could that possibly be?  Dr Pang stopped talking. He reached up and scratched his bald pate²¹ rather vigorously. Then he said, ‘What completely baffles me is that someone commanded the tiger away from its prey²² after it struck - and the tiger obeyed. If that didn’t happen, the prey would have been eaten.’
‘Absolutely amazing/the medical examiner said, and gave Dr Pang a pat on the back. Then he looked at Jamilla and me. ‘What’s the saying -“catch a tiger, if you can”? A tiger shouldn’t be all that hard to find in San Francisco.’

1 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

2 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

3 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

4 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

5 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

6 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

7 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

12 canines   

n.犬齿( canine的名词复数 )；犬牙；犬科动物

参考例句：

• For example, the teeth are more primitive. There are large canines and unusually shaped incisors. 譬如，牙齿更为原始，有大的犬齿和非常合适的门齿。 来自辞典例句
• Well-to-canines can attend doggy daycare centers while their owners work. 富人家的狗在主人上班的时候可以去狗狗托管中心。 来自互联网

13 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

14 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

15 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

16 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

19 gnaw   

v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨

参考例句：

• Dogs like to gnaw on a bone.狗爱啃骨头。
• A rat can gnaw a hole through wood.老鼠能啃穿木头。

20 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

21 pate   

n.头顶；光顶

参考例句：

• The few strands of white hair at the back of his gourd-like pate also quivered.他那长在半个葫芦样的头上的白发，也随着笑声一齐抖动着。
• He removed his hat to reveal a glowing bald pate.他脱下帽子，露出了发亮的光头。

22 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。