“Did you think he was the Axeman?” Dan asked her.
“I didn’t think anything of it at the time. And no, I don’t think Allan Pierce was the Axeman. But I later found out he had convinced a lot of people—mainly poor immigrants—that he was something preternatural, maybe a demon, and they all did his bidding, down to stealing, striking others and starting fights.” She paused, drumming her fingers on the table. “The man did love jazz, too. I don’t know if he could have been the Axeman. I know the people arrested for being the Axeman were not. I don’t know...it might have been the fellow Mrs. Pepitone supposedly killed in Los Angeles, but how did they both just wind up in LA? I just don’t have the answers to all that.” She watched him eat for a couple bites, then continued. “But back to the number six. I know Pierce had a young apprentice, you might say. And the kid went on to say he could do all the same things... Convince people about the number, and you’d get them awed or scared enough to believe they were doing the right thing by doing the wrong thing. I’ve been all around the city, and I do believe someone is running around getting the rumor going that there is something in that number. I heard a lady down by the square recently claiming the Time of Six was coming again and that people needed to repent. There was a book written in the thirties, I believe. They might be able to help at the library. Anyway, it has chapters on the various strange beliefs embraced by people in this city at times. There is a chapter about Allan Pierce in it. You might find it interesting. Because, when I heard about the slain goats, I wondered if someone wasn’t taking Pierce’s concept to a new level. Then again, remember, Allan was doing it just for fun. He was a bitter man and liked to manipulate others.”
“I’ll look for the book,” he told her.
She smiled. “I’ll keep cruising different areas of the city by day. I may hang out at your friend’s place at night. Though... Well, you were rather dense when we met. I hope you’d hear me if I were to give you warning.”
He smiled, inclining his head. “Dense. Thanks.”
“But you’re handsome, darling. So cute.”
“Thank you for that, too, but you needn’t worry. Katie can see...um...”
“The dead, honey. Spit it out. I’ve been accustomed to it for a very long time. But you say she’d see me, too? Of course, like that charming friend of yours, the Native American boy.”
Dan didn’t think Axel Tiger often thought of himself as a boy.
“Yes, like him, too,” he said.
“Charming. Well, I’m delighted about Miss Delaney.” She paused. “Worried, as well. You are staying with her, and you’re taking care that she’s safe? I mean, this is a maniac or psychopath who has an agenda and doesn’t care who he hurts.”
“I’m staying at the house, and I don’t believe he wants to take chances with anyone who might hurt him instead. Like the old Axeman, he found vulnerable people.”
“Even you have to sleep, darling.”
“I wake easily. And cameras are being installed that send video straight to the police station. There will always be a cruiser within close range.”
“Isn’t she scared? Doesn’t she want to leave?”
He sighed. “If she wanted to leave, I’d encourage her. Except I don’t think she wants to live her life in fear. Mabel, her parents were killed twelve years ago. Now, a bloodied axe was left at her back door. She could leave—and if this guy wasn’t caught, a year from now, six years from now, twelve years from now—and the whole thing could start again. It has to end here.” He paused, frowning. “I wonder if it could have begun here?”
“You said it began in Florida.”
“Yes, but the infamous Axeman of New Orleans struck here first.”
“You think someone planned to go to Florida and kill people and then kill here twelve years later?” she asked, a frown creasing her forehead.
“I don’t know what I think. We must look at every angle. Our only clue so far is a strange woman named Jennie. Katie met her in Florida, and she’s finally seen her again on the streets here, in New Orleans.” He shook his head. “And while he may be imitating a killer from a hundred years ago, he’s learned modern forensic techniques. He wears gloves and leaves no fingerprints. The ground hasn’t been wet, but so far, no footprints. Not a hair, not a fiber.”
“But eventually he’ll leave something,” Mabel said. “It’s impossible... Someone had a theory on that.”
“Locard’s exchange principle,” Dan said. “At a crime scene, a perpetrator will take something and leave something behind.”
“Eventually he will. Anyway, my dense, handsome friend, you need to get on it. And to watch over Miss Delaney like a hawk. You shouldn’t be sitting here with me.”
“I needed you.”
“I hope so! I hope I can help. And as for Miss Delaney, well, I look forward to meeting her.”
Dan glanced at the time on his phone. He needed to get back to Jackson Square. He didn’t believe anything would happen to anyone by day, but he was still worried Katie was alone.
Well, she wasn’t on her own, but she wasn’t with him.
“Go!” Mabel told him. “Somehow, the answers lie with her. And thank you. I believe I could almost taste that delicious meal.”
She drifted to her feet. He watched as she
