Dr. Gillies

Dr. Gillies is the physician whose role in the novel bridges treatment and legal evidence. After Emery Staines is found with a shoulder wound, Dr. Gillies is to remove the bullet; later, he attends Anna Wetherell and Staines in custody, prescribes them laudanum, and confirms that the bullet came from a woman’s pistol. His medical work therefore helps both restore the pair’s health and expose evidence against Anna.

Medical Care After Staines Is Found

When Pritchard finds Staines, he says the young man must be taken to Hokitika so Dr. Gillies can remove the bullet from his shoulder. Staines is weak after being missing for eight weeks, and Pritchard plans to give him medicine for the journey. The episode establishes Dr. Gillies as the doctor expected to provide treatment once Staines is brought back to town.

Treatment in Custody

After Anna and Staines reunite, both remain held at the Police Camp. Anna cannot afford her eight-pound bail, while Staines remains in custody on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and dereliction. Dr. Gillies visits the gaol-house nearly every day and observes Anna’s recovery: her limbs and face regain fullness, and colour returns to her cheeks.

Dr. Gillies warns Anna about the danger of opium and treats her recent collapse as a warning not to return to it. He prescribes decreasing doses of laudanum to wean her gradually. Staines receives the same prescription—five drams daily, reduced by one dram every fortnight until his shoulder has healed. His health improves, though his shoulder remains stiff. The treatment is administered under supervision: Cowell Devlin brings the laudanum each night, mixes it with sugar and sometimes sweet sherry, and watches as the two prisoners take their doses.

Medical Evidence and Its Consequences

Dr. Gillies’s findings also become evidence in the case against Anna. After learning that a lady’s pistol had caused Staines’s wound, he lets that information slip in the company of the Gridiron valet. The valet recalls the shots fired in Anna’s room in January, prompting officials to retrieve her pistol from Edgar Clinch. Investigators confirm that its cartridge matches the bullet.

The medical finding links an earlier unexplained incident to Staines’s later injury and leads to new charges against Anna, including grievous assault. Dr. Gillies is not identified as the person who brings the charge, but his observation supplies the connection that moves the investigation forward. His role is consequently double-edged: he provides care to both prisoners while his professional testimony helps place Anna under renewed legal suspicion.