the dog sniffed gerald 's face , but it did not just sniff ; it allowed its nose to go on a kind of olfactory vacation there , first sampling the faint floor-polishy aroma of brown wax buried deep in the dead master 's left ear , then the intermingled odors of sweat and prell at the hairline , then the sharp , entrancingly bitter smell of clotted blood on the crown of gerald 's head .