The only reason Santiago felt remotely satisfied with his decision not to arrest Edgar at the parking lot brawl last night was because it allowed the man to be here and grieve with his family.
It didn’t matter if Edgar’s eyes were red, watery, and swollen from crying or his alcohol and drug use, he’d just lost his mama, and the Willoby clan may be spread all over Tennessee and West Virginia, but they were committed to their family.
“Doc Cleveland has your mama now and he’ll let us know cause of death. In the meanwhile, I’m gonna have to ask you all to clear the house now. We’ll let you know what we find upon the conclusion of our investigation. Roan?”
When he didn’t get a response, he turned to see his deputy still standing outside the front door.
“Roan,” he called out again, demanding her attention.
“Sheriff?”
“You wanna escort the family out so we can finish up in here?”
Most of the family, the superstitious part, were outside in the yard or on the porch with Roan. Three of Mrs. Willoby’s siblings were in the back of the house talking low.
“Ya’ll come on out,” Roan called, waving Sherry Lynn, Edgar, and their uncle and two aunts toward her.
Everyone left dutifully except Sherry Lynn and baby Anna, who watched Santiago from where her head rested on her mother’s shoulder.
“I’ll leave you to your work Sheriff, but whether my mama’s death is due to a heart attack or an accident, I saw what I saw. There was a shadowy spirit standing near Mama’s body when I came into the house. It disappeared into thin air right before my eyes. This house, it needs to be torn down before another innocent person dies in it.”
Ms. Willoby was far from innocent. That old woman had been raising hell since his grandparent’s time.
“What happens with the house is you all’s business, Sherry Lynn. I’ll let you know when you’re able to return. Roan!’’ He snapped out before turning back to the grieving daughter. “I’m sorry about your mama, she was a hell of a woman and a good neighbor.”
A fresh set of tears spilled down Sherry Lynn’s face.
Kissing the crown of her baby girl’s head, Sherry Lynn mumbled a tearful “thank you, Sheriff” and left the house.
“Be careful,” he heard her warn Roan as she stepped beyond the threshold of the front door.
Santiago walked toward the back of the house to the area where the body was found.
“Don’t you find it strange that she’d die the day all her family had come up the mountain to visit her.”
“Mrs. Sadie, Mrs. Willoby’s older sister, is up here from Natchez, Mississippi. She said the family came up for Mrs. Willoby’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration. Her deathday may be the same as her birthday. If that ain’t the creepiest thing.”
Walking toward what he knew to have been a mirror due to the fragments of reflective shards on the stairs, Santiago pulled back black silken material draped over a mirror mounted on the wall opposite the stairwell landing.
He heard Roan’s sharp intake of breath.
A concave, spider-web fracture with traces of blood dripping down onto the bottom of the brushed-gold frame had dried before falling onto the floor.
“The whole scene has been compromised.”
“The family says Mrs. Willoby had been getting sicker and sicker for the last two weeks but refused to go to the hospital. Her cousin Bigalow says she’s been nearly bedridden for the last week, too weak to walk much farther than her bedroom and back. The fact that she got out of bed and made it all the way down here means she must’ve been too terrified of something in her room to stay there.”
“Or too terrified ofsomeone. Given that we investigate crimes of humanity, Roan, let’s look for concrete evidence and leave the ghost hunting to second-rate reality show hosts.”
Something crashed upstairs and there was a sudden putrid smell that floated down from the upper floor. Santiago unholstered his weapon and crept up the steps, shoulder against the wall. It took a few seconds for Roan to shake the wide-eyed terror that seized her, then her years of military training kicked in, and she took up position against the banister and two steps below him pointing left as he pointed right.
The upstairs area had been cleared once they’d gotten here. Besides them, there shouldn’t be another living person in this house.
When they neared the top of the stairs, Santiago crouched low and Roan knew to hold. No one was in the hall toward the right, and he shook his head. Roan took another step and peeked around the wall to the left. She shook her head.
The hallway was clear. Nothing but deep shadows and whisps of midmorning light.
Turning, Santiago indicated he’d take the rooms to the left and Roan take the rooms to the right.
