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IRIS STEPPED INSIDE and closed the door behind Gordon. “I told the listing agent we’d be here. She has access to the house’s smart thermostat. I guess she wanted to make sure the house had cooled down.”
Gordon took in the spacious tiled entryway, illuminated by a skylight. A little formal for his taste, but not a true negative.
Iris opened a door to his right. “Coat closet.”
Gordon snapped pictures. Angie would want an inch-by-inch description.
“Plenty of storage,” Iris said. She continued, pointing out the hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms, as well as a room she touted as having potential as a den, or TV room, or a study. “Here’s the kitchen, which Angie will love.”
Gordon let her ramble on, wondering why she felt the need to point out the obvious. Even he knew what a kitchen was.
They finished the downstairs, and Gordon took one last look around the space. Would Angie be satisfied with the furniture from his house, or would she want to buy all new? Too soon to think about those details.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Iris said.
He followed her up the staircase, the same hardwood as the living area, but with a rust-colored runner down the center.
At the head of the stairs, Iris pointed to the right. “These are the two smaller bedrooms. All the carpeting up here is new. Berber.”
Whatever that was.
Iris showed off the rooms and a decent-sized bathroom between them. “A guest room, or offices for you and Angie. Or a nursery.”
Gordon wasn’t going there.
She guided him down the hall. “And now for the master bedroom. I think you’ll love it.”
Loving it was better directed at Angie. If it had room for a bed and their clothes, it would work for him, especially given there were two other bedrooms. He dutifully recorded the room and walk-in closet.
There would certainly be plenty of room for a bed, plus a sitting area tucked near a large bay window.
“The master bath was remodeled two years ago,” Iris said, moving toward the door at the far side of the room. “All new fixtures, new flooring—heated. A real luxury on our cold winter nights.”
She opened the door, stepped inside. Her scream pulled Gordon from his picture-taking. He ran to her side.
She stood in the middle of the room, one hand over her mouth, the other pointing to the tub.
What the—? “Go to your car,” Gordon said. “Wait for me there.”
She stood, transfixed, as if frozen to the floor.
Gordon repeated his command, turning her around and nudging her out of the room. “I’ll be down soon.”
He punched the direct line to Dispatch into his cell. “Send two patrol officers, Solomon, the county lab geeks, and an ambulance”—a mere formality, but part of procedure—and gave the address. “Code one is fine. Notify the coroner. We have a body. Seems fresh.”
He snapped more pictures. Aside from the dead man floating in the bathtub, the room was pristine. Of course, the response team with their fancy equipment might prove otherwise. Once Gordon was satisfied he’d documented the scene, he went downstairs. As soon as he hit the front porch, Iris was out of her car, rushing toward him.
Gordon hurried along the path to intercept her. “I’ve called for additional officers, and I have a few questions for you. We can talk in my car.”
Visibly shaken, Iris allowed herself to be guided to the vehicle. Gordon unlocked the passenger side door and helped her onto the seat. He crouched beside her.
“Questions?” she said. “You can’t think I had anything to do with a dead body? I mean, why would I invite you to look at the house?”
“No, you’re not a suspect. I need information about the owners, the people who had made the first offer on the house, and anyone else who had access. The listing company. Other Realtors. When the previous showings were.”
She exhaled a shaky breath, then sat up straight. “Of course. I have all that in my office.”
“If you’ll go there and wait for me, I’ll get there as soon as my backup arrives. Shouldn’t be more than an hour. Please don’t mention this to anyone yet.”
“I’m going to have to tell Judy. It’s her listing. She needs to know so she doesn’t let anyone else in.”
Gordon agreed, but stressed the importance of making sure the other Realtor didn’t spread the word. Iris was driving away when Solomon pulled up. He got out of his SUV and carrying his kit, joined Gordon.
“Might have known you’d beat patrol and the ambulance,” Gordon said.
Solomon pointed to the house. “Dead body.” He tapped his chest. “Detective. My wheelhouse. Did you recognize the victim?”
“Facedown in the tub, so no. Curtain was drawn back. I’ll have to check with the Realtor and ask if it was that way when she went in, or if she moved it.”
“Tub empty?” Solomon asked. “Except for the body, of course.”
“Little over half full. Water was ambient temperature, but the air conditioning was cranked to mid-winter, which slowed decomp. My guess is the body hasn’t been there more than a day or so—but that’s the coroner’s call, not mine.”
“Look like the victim was killed in the house, or moved from somewhere else?” Solomon asked.
“Upstairs bathroom seems a strange choice to dump a body, but that’s something else the coroner can look at. No visible signs of trauma, but they’ll see more when they turn him over. No blood in the water. Not much we can do until the coroner gets here.”
“We can go through the house,” Solomon said.
“I was doing that until I discovered the body. What we have is an empty house, one that’s been vacant for a while. I’m going to head over to the Realtor’s office, get as much background as I can. When the patrol officers get here, have them knock on doors, although it’s a long shot anyone would remember seeing anything out of the ordinary. Once the coroner can estimate time and cause of death, we’ll have a better approach. If you want to search for clues while you’re waiting, feel free.”
Solomon snorted. “Search for clues. You’re engaging in banter again, aren’t you? You going to tell me not to compromise the scene, too?”
Gordon huffed a breath. “Knock yourself out. I’ll be at the real estate office gathering information. Keep me informed.”
Trusting Solomon to keep things under control, Gordon drove into town to the real estate office where Iris was working at her desk. She gazed up as he walked over, gesturing to the vacant chairs across from her.
“I’m getting everything you asked for,” she said. “Is it easier if I make copies of the paperwork?”
“That would be great.”
Iris tapped some keys, and the printer behind her desk whirred to life. Gordon pulled out his notebook, recorded time and place.
Iris swiveled in her chair, grabbed the printouts, and laid them on her desk. “The listing isn’t mine, as you probably noticed from the sign. I’ve called Judy, and she’s emailing me what she has.”
“Did you ask her when she turned the air conditioning on?”
“I did, and she said it’s always set at a steady seventy-three degrees.”
That didn’t match the current temperature of the house. “One other question. Was the curtain around the tub pulled back when you went into the bathroom, or did you do it?”
“It was closed, which is unusual. I opened it, and that’s when I saw the body.”
Gordon excused himself and called Solomon, explaining what Iris said. “Check for prints on the thermostat and the shower curtain.” To Iris, he said, “Can you explain the timeline for me? When the contract was offered, and when it fell through, and when people started looking at the house again?”
Iris leafed through the pages on her desk. “The offer was made and accepted on July twenty-sixth. The owners moved out early June, as I recall. Relocated to Portland, Oregon.”
“When did the deal fall through?”
“Last Friday. One of the prospective buyers died in a traffic accident. His wife was severely injured, and will have to move to an assisted living facility. Judy is a good friend of mine, and she passed on the information. Technically, the house hasn’t been re-listed. I immediately thought of you.”
“So nobody else has seen the house since July twenty-sixth? Would your friend have gone in to make sure everything was suitable for showing?”
She said she was there early Saturday morning. I’m sure she would have called the police if she’d found the body.”
Gordon gathered the pages. “I won’t keep you any longer. If I have more questions, I’ll call. Same goes for you—if you remember anything potentially helpful.”
Iris agreed. She tilted her head. “You know, it’s quite likely the owners will be dropping the price on the house yet again. You being a cop and all, the fact there was a body discovered shouldn’t bother you as much.”