The likely murder weapon, a wooden bat or club, presumed to be a baseball bat and marked with the badge of the sporting club Waller Alman played for, was in the room close to the body. There were abundant traces of blood and flesh tissue on the club which matched Waller Alman’s own. These traces were consistent with a massive impact wound to the back of his head.

There were no witnesses to the killing, but there were extensive interviews with Waller Alman’s neighbours, his manorial landlord in Dearth City, and his non-manorial landlady on Hames. Attempts to trace his brother remained unsuccessful. Telephone calls and text messages made and sent by Waller Alman had been logged, and the names verified. His internet activity was examined and found to be unexceptional. None of the interviews produced any hint of the possible identity of the killer.

Door-to-door enquiries elicited several mentions of a homeless man seen sleeping rough in the area. Few people knew who he was, but he was believed to be known as Stud. He was often seen in the streets, and when drunk he could be aggressive.

The local police rounded up Stud and he was taken in for questioning. At first he denied all knowledge of the murder, but the interviewing officer noticed flaws and contradictions in his story. Questioning was intensified. After two days Stud suddenly surrendered resistance and confessed that he had done it. He said that he had broken into the house in search of alcohol or money, but he was discovered by Waller Alman. He said he panicked, seized the baseball bat and beat Waller Alman to death. Afterwards he fled the scene. At the time he was arrested he was trying to find some way of moving on to another part of the island.

Stud was in custody, awaiting a court date for the evidence to be confirmed, and for dates to be set for trial and sentencing.

Waller Alman’s body was in the mortuary. All witnesses and pieces of evidence would be available to me. My job was to satisfy myself that the local investigation had been thorough, that the dead man was indeed who they said he was, and that the man held in custody was the likely perpetrator. Because this was a case of murder the forensic evidence had to be of the highest standard. With that done, Waller Alman’s body could be released to his family.

From the information on file it appeared to be an open and shut case.