In the novel he is a voice on the end of the phone. His name - Carl Santos - sets him apart from the community's predominantly WASPish population, and his brief conversation with Brody (with whom he is on first name terms) suggests that he is probably of the same generation as the chief. In the movie, he is an old man, clearly past retirement age but still clinging on to his office. In appearance - particularly the thick-framed glasses that conveniently mask his face - he resembles Henry Kissinger, but in his awkward body language he reminds us of a perspiring Richard Nixon. There's even a hint of Nixon in his line 'I was wrong. We'll have to amend our reports.'
When he climbs out of the car and stands behind Brody, he puts one foot defiantly on the ferry's kerb, but when pressed for a revised opinion ('Boat propeller?'), he folds his arms defensively and pushes his glasses back up his nose. As the mayor tries to persuade the police chief of the need to keep the beaches open, the medical examiner literally turns his back on the discussion and distances himself from it by walking to the end of the ferry. Later, when forced to confront his own duplicity ('This was no boat accident!'), he makes the same defensive arm gesture and looks down.
