The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-10-16
CHAPTER TX

 CT goes to see Sidney Gritf.
 CHAPTER TX
 Blocker spoke slowly. "Yp, understand" he said, that Nor den was Investigating Cathay's life Cathay isn't what he's cracked uI to be-"
 "How do you know that?" Grif asked.
 .I3ecause," said Blocker, "I'vs been in the newspaper business toG long to accept any small town ce lebrtty at his face value"
 sRiverview isn't exactly a smal town" Griff pointed out.
 "The same principal applies, Blocker said. Its suburb, an6 as far as that's concerned I won't accept any man at his face value Not unless he's gangster, or a crook. That's one thing you find < out from being in the f1ewspap pel business. You're a criminologist Grtff, you know crooks. am a newspaper man. I know people And this man Cathay is simply too good to be true. The president of the luncheon club, the president of the chamber of commerce, director of the bank, candidate for city councilmah on reform ticket. And his wife had fear in her eyes"
 1Fear?" asked Griff.
 Fear" repeated Blocker. "She was afraid of something"
 "Afraid of the newspaper?" ask ed Griff.
 "Perhaps," Blocker said. But it looked to me as though she was too adept at covering up the fear to have recently acquired it. l would say it was something she had been living with for weeks or months"
 tCathny's death being due to poi
 Apparently there was" Blocker said, but it's being hushed up. Cathay was an influential man in Riverview. The family have in- fiuential friends. There were two doctors on the case. One of the doctors thought there were cir cumstances surrounding the death that made it resemble poisoning. The other doctor attributed 1t to natural causes. He's signing a death certificate"
 fThere'll be no autopsy asked Gilff.
 t"There's going to be an au- topsy." Blocker said grimly. I'm going up to interview Beckley, the editor of The Riverview Chron- icle. That was the newspaper that wis on the opposite side of the political fence from the Cathay side. Beckley and have exchang- ed favors in the past. He started in investigating the Cathay death and then telephoned me that he was going to have to lay off be- capse of pressure that was being brought to bear on him by mem bers of the chamber of commerce, of the luncheon club and various banking influences"
 "In Sother words" Griff said. "Cathay's friends are trying to stop q scandal"
 Blocker nodded.
 "Subject, of course" Griff went on, ito the fact that there's a strong probability that this was due to natural causes, and that the younger doctor simply made a mis- take in diagnosis"
 That, of course is a possibility" y," Blocker said.
 "Getting back to this woman angle," Griff told him, 1T takc 1t you feel Morden was murdered be- cause he was on the trail of sonfe woman who had been having an affair with Cathay. Is that right ?"
 That's right"
 "Then obviously" Griff went on, x,,A,,1d v,Z% t,n nx,a hnnn guilty of the murder"
 Blocker stared at him. How do y0u figure that out? ?" he asked.
 "Quite simple. A woman's good name is, of course, an important possession to her. But a woman of the type who could carry on a affair with a man of the social prominence of Frank B. Cathay is probably the type of woman who does very much as she pleases. She's probably a woman who has an apartment of her own. Who comes and goes as she pleases and doesn't have to account to any man."
 "That's reasonable" Blocker agreed.
 "Therefore," Griff went on, "such woman would hardly commit murder to protect her so-called good name On the other hand, Cathay's good name involves polit- ical prestige, social prestige and rich financial returns"
 TT see what you're getting at,' Blocker remarked.
 I'm not certain that you do," Grin told him. Here's the point had in mind. Let us suppose that Morden was about to contact or had contacted some woman who offered him an opportunity to gel some information concerning Ca thay. And we'll further suppose that that information was of a nature which would be derogatcry to Cathay's character.
 ''Obviously, if Morden was to contact a woman, he expected tc get some information from the woman. If he was murdered be- cause of that contact. he was mur- aered by someone who was anx- ious to keep Morden from getting