Death in Paris
Sir: Nicholas Farrell's extraordinary maun- derings (`Blood confusions', 6 June) do not reach the habitual level of thoughtfulness of The Spectator. The enigmas which appear to baffle him have all too banal explanations.
When a big, heavy, powerful petrol engine is turning at racing speed it pro- duces enormous quantities of carbon monoxide (CO). These are abstracted from each cylinder by the exhaust manifold, passed through a pipe under the car and thence to the atmosphere behind. Even in the most ferocious impact the solid engine block is rarely fractured, allowing the cylin- ders to rise and fall by their own momen- tum before ceasing to move. This action vents the cylinders. With the exhaust mani- fold torn away in a fraction of a second this Hs the engine bay (or what is left of it) with the gas.
In the case of the Paris crash that killed the late Princess of Wales the impact was so fierce that engine bay and front seats had become virtually one space. Dodi Al Fayed was killed instantaneously, unable to take a single breath. Mr Rees-Jones was still breathing, but no one bothered to test his blood because they were too busy trying to save his life. It is more than possible that Henri Paul, his body broken despite the airbag (which burst), took one or two last faltering breaths before dying. There is nothing uncommon in this, as motorway crash crews will confirm; even in the most horrible wrecks there are often a few last seconds of life before death.
Two or three inhalations of air with a high CO saturation from the dead engine inches away from the face would be enough to raise blood CO levels to about 15 per cent. A couple of cigarettes ten minutes earlier will add the other five. Even two inhalations would justify the phrase 'died instantly'.
When Mr Farrell turns to his fantasies of blood sample substitution one cries for mercy. There were three such samples taken. The first was routine, the second due to the disbelief of the Ritz management, the third to appease the Paul family. They were taken by different doctors from differ- ent parts of the body over the course of sev- eral days. Because of the looming contro- versy the French authorities insisted that tests two and three be taken in conditions of strict security and analysed in the same way.
All the tests came up with much the same findings: far too much alcohol, traces of antidepressant drugs and CO, which cannot be inserted into blood after death but only ingested during life. Thus there would have to have been not one substitution but three. How many French doctors and technicians would Mr Farrell suggest were suborned to achieve this? A dozen at least, one pre- sumes.
And just how many spooks are we sup- posed to employ to moon about Paris clutching phials of doctored blood of (amazingly) just the right blood group and the right age since death? And why has it taken ten months for these fantasies to emerge? M. Paul would now have to be exhumed for DNA tests to prove beyond doubt that the blood was his each time, but it is doubtful the French will dignify the allegations with such action.
Mr Farrell admits he was part of the far- rago of lies, distortions, innuendos, errors, stupidities and hypocrisy that made up the offering we had last week, which he calls `excellent television'. Yes, and I'm afraid it shows.
I am sometimes asked why I decline to employ modern journalists to assist my own questings and insist on doing my own research. Now you know.
Frederick Forsyth
Hertford
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