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with a little cooperation,” Alex said.
    “I just don’t think Waterman should undertake it,” the mayor said.
    “Why not? He’s a qualified police officer.”
    “The qualifications to meet the needs of Hillside are scarcely … What I mean is, as long as the county stepped in, why not let them follow through on it?”
    “That would suit me fine,” said Alex. “But I just don’t think they look at it that way. So far they don’t think there’s anything to investigate.”
    “Alex,” the mayor said, pointing at him with a pencil, “it seems to me the townspeople have elected the men they intended to conduct the town business.”
    “I can see what you mean,” Alex said, “but you can’t blame me for being curious.”
    “Of course not, my boy. That’s a newspaperman’s job.”
    “I’m not a newspaperman,” Alex said. “I’m a printer.”
    “Of course, of course,” Altman said. He turned to the chief who had been trying to get his pipe to draw. “What do you think, Fred? Can we go ahead with the funeral arrangements? I might call the Addisons, since there aren’t any relatives we know of.”
    “I suppose we might as well,” Waterman said. “I ain’t exactly satisfied about how he died myself, but I don’t see how we can hold up the funeral.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Altman said. “The coroner’s report will cover you.”
    It was amazing how sure everyone was of the coroner’s verdict.
    “It ain’t me I’m worried about,” the chief said.
    The telephone rang. It was the coroner’s office.
    “No, Mark,” Waterman said. “We didn’t find much. Nothing to show any relatives alive. He had a hundred eighty-three dollars cash in the house. That’s about all …”
    Yes, Alex thought. That was about all. He could see Altman relaxing under Waterman’s monotone.
    “… I guess you’re right, Mark. He could have shut the cat in the other room and then collapsed. If you say so …”
    Alex shook his head. “What about fingerprints?” he prompted.
    “Anything show up in the fingerprints?” Waterman asked. He turned to Alex. “He’s checking. … No, none of us touched anything I know of. Wait a minute. Mabel Turnsby pussyfooted in after us. She might’ve leaned on the chair. I’ll check and be sure. A scar, index finger, left hand …”
    “There’s an example of what I mean,” the mayor said. “What competent investigator would let a thing like that happen?”
    Alex shrugged. “Did you ever try to keep Mabel Turnsby out of some place she was set on getting into?”
    Waterman hung up the phone. “They won’t have the results on the tests for a while, but Tobin’s pretty sure there’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
    “They can make short work of something up there if they want to, can’t they?” Alex said angrily.
    “Alex, you got to go deeper in thinking this thing out. It just don’t make sense that anyone’d try to kill the old man. He was bound to go out pretty soon. What’d be the use risking your neck when he was going to kick off any day?”
    “Chief Waterman’s right,” the mayor said. “It makes no sense at all.”
    “Suppose you’d waited years for him to go, and he just wouldn’t die?”
    “You’d still wait for a man in his nineties to go the regular way,” the chief said.
    There were a lot of things Alex wanted to say, but there was no use saying them now. “You’d better not forget Gilbert, Chief. He’ll be getting hungry. He’s a big boy now.”
    “I’ll stop by. I’d better put some sort of “no trespassing” sign on the house.”
    “Do you mind if I poke around a bit? For my own satisfaction?”
    “Nope. Go ahead, Alex. If you’d feel any better, I’ll give you an auxiliary badge.”
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Waterman,” the mayor said. Both Alex and the chief looked at him. His face showed that he regretted the words immediately.
    “I guess it’ll be all right,” Waterman said. “I got the authority to