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People called him "the doctor," a gentle, avuncular figure of 67, a voracious newspaper reader and keen gardener often seen walking his two Italian greyhounds around Toronto's Annex neighbourhood, sometimes with the aid of a cane.

As word spread that retired dentist Gerald Robert Brown had been found slain in his one-bedroom basement apartment Wednesday afternoon, the shock was evident up and down Bedford Road.

"Everybody thought he was a very passive individual, never had an enemy, always had a kind word for everybody," Toronto police Detective Paul Worden said.

Investigators are eager to interview Mr. Brown's live-in companion, a garrulous man half his age named James.

Homicide investigators stopped short of calling James a suspect, preferring the term "witness."

"We know where James is - we haven't been able to get to him yet but we will - and as far as a risk to the public, there is no cause for concern," Det. Worden said.

One of Mr. Brown's immediate neighbours had been wary of James. "It was a very uncomfortable situation," said Jesse, a 29-year-old architectural graduate student who lives on the top floor of 114 Bedford Rd., and asked that his full name not be used.

An autopsy was under way yesterday, but another police officer familiar with the investigation said Mr. Brown's bloodied body showed signs of having been either beaten or stabbed.

It was discovered Wednesday afternoon by a female friend who stopped by to check on Mr. Brown, found his door unlocked and called 911. There was no sign of a forced entry or a robbery in the untidy, newspaper-strewn apartment.

A couple of blocks north, on Davenport Road, is the site of the notorious 1994 Just Desserts murder, a brazen restaurant killing that felled an innocent bystander and became a metaphor for gun violence in Toronto.

But homicides are rare in and around the expensive homes on Bedford Road, north of Bloor Street and west of Avenue Road.

So it was with shock that Mr. Brown's neighbours awoke yesterday morning to find a police forensic truck parked on the street and yellow tape sectioning off the crime scene.

"Something like this hardly happens around here at all, this is a very good neighbourhood," said Bob McAndrew, a 60-ish homeowner whose house is two doors down and who saw paramedics remove Mr. Brown's body on a stretcher.

Mr. Brown, a neatly dressed retiree who wore a leg brace, had not drawn much attention in the 12 years he occupied the basement of 114 Bedford, a handsome, semi-detached Victorian structure designated a historic building, subdivided into three units and purchased in 1996 for just over $500,000.

"The doctor appeared to be a really nice guy, he would keep to himself, he was out with his dogs quite a bit, but really, really quiet," Jesse said.

Ever since Jesse and his girlfriend took the top-floor apartment in August, however, they had been uneasy about James, a tall, loud figure with no apparent job, whose empty bottles of Wild Turkey bourbon crammed the shared recycling bin.

"He seemed to have a lot of issues, there was a lot of very bizarre behaviour and he seemed to be an erratic, scary person," Jesse said. "There was a lot of drinking and a lot of drug abuse going on down there, lots of anger problems and lots of doors slamming.

It was unclear whether Mr. Brown and James were in a relationship. Det. Worden said James first moved in with Mr. Brown five years ago, and police were called soon after to calm a loud argument that erupted between the two.

After that James stayed intermittently, Det. Worden said.

James slept in the bedroom and Mr. Brown in the small living room, according to information Jesse received from the always talkative James.

"He introduced himself to me on about 14 different occasions when we moved in, and I kept saying, 'Yes, James, we've met,' " he said.

Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the time of Mr. Brown's death, Toronto's 48th homicide of 2009.

Police said they are confident they'll make an arrest soon.

"Not today, but I'm confident it shouldn't be too long, the investigation is going in a certain direction," Det. Worden said.

With a report from Celia Donnelly