Pauling paused again. ``So there it is,'' he said. ``Not your problem, of course, unless Johnston and the murderer are one and the same.''

They discussed this possibility. However likely it was, Pauling said, he couldn't limit himself to it. He had to look for other prospects, other motives until more conclusive evidence pointing to Johnston came to light. Madden, with his investigation centered on the fraud, said that tomorrow he would go to the Bronx bank through which Mrs. Meeker's checks to Johnston had cleared.

Arthur Williams had to be located, they agreed. He might have been in collusion with Johnston on the fraud; he might be Mrs. Meeker's murderer or have played some part in her death. This was Madden's suggestion; the police chief shook his head over it. If Arthur Williams was involved in the fraud or the murder, then he too had another identity. No one the Medfield police had questioned professed to know any more about him than about Johnston.

Scholarship applicant? Pauling looked doubtful. Madden explained that he was thinking of an application sent directly to Mrs. Meeker. Then he asked to use the phone and called Brian Thayer, who said that he was just leaving to keep a lunch date but would be home by two o' clock.

Madden said that he would see him at two and made another call, this one to Mrs. Meeker's lawyers. Mr. Hohlbein was out for the day, but Mr. Garth would be free at one-thirty. The secretary's tone indicated that an appointment at such short notice was a concession for which Madden should be duly grateful.