specialists downstairs, we haven’t even got a corpse. Robbery there may have been, and it’s your precinct—so go to it. I’ll find out from the medical examiner when he gets back how the operation turned out, and if there’s going to be an autopsy. If poisoning is proved and you haven’t pinned it on anyone by then, I’ll get on the job again. I suppose you’ll see that the people in the house are given the once-over?”
“Certainly, Chief.”
“I’ll run along then. Good luck, Valcour.”
“Thank you, Chief.”
Andrews left the room and closed the door.
“I bet he’s got a date,” said Cassidy.
“He’d stay here if he had twenty dates, if he thought it was necessary,” said Lieutenant Valcour.
“Well, I wish I had a date.”
“You’ll have a whole vacation if you don’t brace up. I’m going to take a look in that cupboard, now that Endicott’s no longer in it.”
Even a cupboard seemed preferable to Cassidy to being in the room. “Can’t I help you, sir?” he said with almost fervent politeness.
“No, Cassidy, you can’t. You can stay just where you are.”
“Oh, very well, sir.”
Lieutenant Valcour picked up a straight-backed chair and took it into the cupboard with him. He held a sincere respect for the Central Office men, but at the same time felt that their work was too methodically routine to permit their darting along interesting tangents or wasting their time in