Circling the house, he noticed a disturbance in the fallen leaves, cutting a path toward the ravine. He continued his walk around the house checking for obvious signs of breaking and entering. He’d have Roan follow the tracks to the ravine when she got here.
As he rounded the house to the front, Derry and Roan had pulled up, and Derry instantly began to take statements of the three residents standing there. Roan walked directly to Santiago, pausing as a blue minivan pulled up across the street.
At fifty-five, Van was the youngest of Bailey Joe’s four siblings. She got out of her vehicle and nodded to Santiago, her arms wrapped around her chest, hugging herself as if she were bracing for the worst.
“Van’s got the keys to his place as well as his alarm code. She’s willing to let us in to do a wellness check,” Roan stated.
“There’s a path cutting from the back of the house toward the ravine, could be Bailey Joe used it regularly to take Dottie out, but I don’t think so.”
“I’ll check it out. Let me go get my camera out of the car.”
Santiago waved Ms. Vanessa over as Roan headed toward the back. Derry separated from the neighbors and headed over as well.
“Thanks for coming Van, makes things a lot easier.”
“Of course, Sheriff. Just wish I would’ve come by sooner. The whole texting thing, it didn’t sit right but…”
“We all know how Bailey Joe can be,” Derry said. “As much as he’s our family, all he ever wants is to be alone with his numbersand his dog, the rest of the world seems to irritate his soul.” He smiled, which had the intended effect of making his aunt smile.
“Does anyone besides you have a key and the code to his place?” Santiago asked.
“It was a miracle he letmehave them. But even he knew that at his age accidents could happen in a snap, and he’d need at least one person who could get to him.”
She gave him the keys and the alarm code and walked over to the small gathering of neighbors.
Santiago waited as Derry put a latex glove on his non-dominant hand, then they entered the house. Derry entered the alarm code on the wall panel because the alarm was still armed.
Santiago called out to Bailey Joe again, but only oppressive silence echoed back.
“Something’s wrong,” Derry said, hand moving to his gun. “Bailey Joe leaves a light on downstairs, night and day. That one,” he said pointing at the hallway lamp near the stairs.
“First floor sweep,” Santiago said. “You take right, I’ll take the left.”
Derry was just green enough that Santi didn’t want him taking a whole floor alone.
Making their way through, Santi heard Derry’s soft clears. Moving upstairs, it was almost the same outcome. Almost. Until Santiago opened the door to Bailey Joe’s study. The older man was splayed out, having fallen face forward onto his desk.
Papers littered the surface of the desk beneath him, some papers had fallen onto the floor. It looked like he’d been tackling a mountain of work.
“Is he...?”
Santi paused his approach to the large wooden desk and looked back to see Derry unwilling or unable to cross over the threshold into the room.
“I was waiting for you to say clear, but you never said clear, and...is he dead?”
Moving closer to the body, Santiago placed his hand on the side of the other man’s neck and confirmed what they both already knew.
“May the ancestors guide your soul to peace, Bailey Joe. Sorry for your family’s loss, Derry,” Santiago said, watching as his deputy wiped away a rogue tear.
“Sorry, I just thought Bailey Joe’s sheer grumpiness would have him outliving us all.”
“Cordon off the scene, then go be there for Van. When Roan returns, have her meet me inside,” Santiago directed. “I’ll contact Doc Cleveland.”
“Thanks, Sheriff.”
Not long after Derry left the house, Van’s high-pitched wail shredded through the heavy veils of silence, freeing what remained of Bailey Joe’s spirit now that the living could take care of his body.
Stepping out of the study, Santiago walked to Bailey Joe’s bedroom and immediately got on his hands and knees, flashing a light beneath the bed looking for a container of oil, herbs, and chicken hearts.
