the key she had noted. “Who knows why. I don’t think he was planning to go anywhere. His pockets were empty. Nothing else on him. Just the clothes on his back.”
Tracy touched the man’s arm as he started to move away. “I was over here knocking on his door yesterday. Do you think he, you know, suffered? That he was just lying here for hours, or maybe days, like…dying?”
“No. I think he probably got up yesterday, got dressed, then felt a little strange. The bed was made, so he’d been up at least that long. He probably lay back down, thinking he’d feel better in a minute, had a massive heart attack and went like that.” He snapped his fingers. “We should all go that easy. You saw him. He looked perfectly peaceful. No sign of a struggle.”
“I guess.”
“Call in that information once you get it, okay?” The deputy gave her a business card and left. Tracy was still staring at it when she heard the minivan from the funeral home head down the road with Herb’s body inside. Judging from the diminishing screech of the police radio, the deputy was right behind.
“Well, that’s one rent I won’t collect this month.” She stuffed the card in her pocket.
She didn’t feel as cavalier as she sounded. She had never seen a corpse, except on television, and these days you were more likely to see a decomposing body on the little screen than a commercial for something you really needed.
But the real thing? That was different. On a scale ranging from serene to terrified, Herb Krause might well have looked peaceful, but her first thought after the shock was that Herb looked lonely.
Were people supposed to die alone and undiscovered? Was that going to be her fate, too?
Tracy heard footsteps and turned to see Janya Kapur in the doorway.
“I saw them drive away,” Janya said.
“The deputy said he died fast and easily.”
“He was old. Perhaps he was prepared.”
“Is that possible?”
Janya wrinkled her arrow-straight nose. “I brought incense.”
“Incense?” Tracy wondered if this was a Hindu or Buddhist thing. Was Janya going to scare away evil spirits or send Herb’s soul to his next life on a puff of perfumed smoke?
The other woman seemed to read her mind. “I thought we should open the windows, then light some to make the house smell better.”
Tracy remembered what the paramedic had said. “That’s nice of you.”
“I’ll start with the windows in the living room.”
Once Janya was gone, Tracy crossed the bedroom, flipped the air conditioner to the fan setting and cranked open the only window that was still closed. Being in here, where Herb had so recently drawn his final breath, gave her the creeps, but the fresh air helped.
With distaste, she went into the kitchen and found extralarge plastic garbage bags. She stripped off the sheets and mattress cover, and using the bags like gloves, stuffed everything inside another one, triple-bagged it and fastened it tight. The mattress would have to go to the curb, too, but she was lucky this was the worst of it. Television had taught her that much.
Toting a square floor fan, Janya came back in, searched for and found a plug, and turned it on. The fan began to whir demurely.
“I really do appreciate your help,” Tracy said.
“I feel sad for him. I want to do something.”
Tracy sought out the bathroom, a cramped affair with 1950s tile in shades of pink and gray, and a matching gray sink. Everything was old, and funky enough to be trendy, and she wondered if Herb had found it so or merely outdated, a reminder that the house could not be remodeled to his tastes. She washed her hands, then washed them again for good measure.
The house was warming quickly, but now fresh air and Janya’s incense scented the air. Herb’s life was over, and by tomorrow, there would be no reminders he had died here.
“I guess I need to get the mattress out to the curb, too,” Tracy told Janya, who was waiting in the living room. “But I’m going to wait until tonight.”
“I think I’ll water his plants. He took such good care of them. I know he would not want them to die.”
“Just because he has.” Tracy immediately realized how the remark must have sounded. “Right. Thanks.” She was glad not to have to worry about them herself. In fact, she probably wouldn’t have thought of it.
“Then I’ll be going,” Janya said. “But first, will you mind if I turn on