"Mr Wilder - yes, I've seen him around town." William nodded. "I presume he will be made interim Sheriff. A strange business, and I quite agree that at least some effort at searching would not go amiss --"
He should immediately volunteer, of course - but scouring wide open spaces for bodies is still a little too familiar, a little too recent.
"-- though if Mr Wilder knew the Sheriff well, perhaps he would have better idea where the man might be. That is, well..."
He tried to think of a delicate way of putting.
"Sometimes men have reasons of their own to leave places in a hurry and without notice; a woman, perhaps, or debts."