Chapter 1.4 - In the Dark of the Night
Constantine made a quick circuit of Gibs' property, taking stock before delving into a deeper investigation.
His home was a shack on the outskirts of town, half a mile beyond that lay his modest fields. He worked an acre of barley and an acre of turnips, plus a small animal pen that was empty at the moment. There was alfalfa in the feed trough and water in the drinking trough though, all indications were that there had been livestock penned there until very recently.
The house was a small one story structure, built sturdily like most Ravengro homes without ornament or ostentation. The door was ajar and swung ominously in the wind as Constantine approached.
It was a two room structure; a front sitting room with a hearth, shelves, and scrubbed dining table; and a bedroom with simple furnishings, a bed and washstand. The shaving kit was open and conspicuously missing the straight razor.
An examination of the house showed little more than the modest possessions and tools of an elderly farmer living on his own.
When Constantine circled the house he found the door to a root cellar set against the back wall. It swung open with a creak and as he descended the musty smell of decay met his nostrils. The cellar was small, he had to stoop to enter, but there was ample evidence of Gibs' nighttime forays. There were no bodies, but splashes of blood stained the walls crimson and the earth floor black-brown. There were no bodies, human or otherwise, but a pile of bloody rags--discarded clothing--had been tossed haphazardly into one corner.