Wolfe's skill was a Class C skill, and it was more than just tracking people. He could also have a glimpse of the person's last moments, as witnessed by the colorful fog he recovered. The tragedy should have just happened recently, so he could still recover some images.
The longer the time between the event and the recovery, the less clear the information relayed back to him.
The one thing he was thankful for was that the smoke was unaffected by natural wind; otherwise, a bit of a breeze would've made it difficult to recover anything.
The person that Wolfe touched was a middle-aged level 14 Terran under the Lord, which was quite high for a village. He was not a bad bloke, and they could be said to be acquaintances. To say that Wolfe wasn't affected by his death would be a lie.
