The man was half laughing and half crying as he declared, “I didn’t murder them!”
It didn’t matter. His denials were nothing.
Axel went on to add the murders of Anita Calabria and Lou and Virginia Delaney.
Dan noted the band had ceased to play. He glanced at Axel who nodded and led Katie out of the kitchen. The bar had emptied quickly. Police officers were blocking the front and the area around it.
“You okay?” he asked Katie.
She looked at him and nodded. “Thank God for gumbo.”
“What?”
“Gumbo. I got him with gumbo,” she said.
Dan smiled as he saw EMTs rush in, heading to take Browne, who would also have a police escort.
Axel came toward them. “There’s paperwork, and Ryder and I will be heading to the hospital with Browne, whoever he may really be, so we’ll get together in the morning. Another Krewe agent is here... His name is Andre Broussard, and he’ll take a report from you for now. You were a consultant on this, Dan, so...just make sure he knows you and Katie were out for a nice dinner when Katie recognized Browne, and he saw her, and law enforcement was immediately notified, and...well, whatever happened after.”
Dan nodded. “Right.” Apparently, it didn’t go on a report anywhere that a dead man gave you a tip.
Axel paused, staring at Dan.
“Amazing. You disarmed him. You didn’t kill him.”
“I wanted to kill him,” Dan admitted softly.
“But you didn’t.”
“No.” Dan took a breath. “Almost. But we need him alive. He’s not the mastermind behind all this. There are others involved, and we don’t know how many. I’m not so sure I was being moral or ethical at all. We need him alive.”
Axel nodded. “Well, I’m going to the hospital. He’s pretty badly burned, but... Hey, Katie. Quick thinking. Well done!”
She gave him a weak smile. “Thank you.” She was quiet a minute. “Others are involved, but that man killed my mom and dad. Brutally. He hacked them to pieces. I hope I hurt him badly. I hope he’s in pain for as long as he may live. They say that healing comes only through forgiveness, but he planned on killing me, too. I guess... I guess I’m glad we didn’t kill him. I never want to be as bad, but I hope he hurts. I can’t help it!” she whispered.
“That’s okay, Katie,” Axel said. He saw the EMTs were carrying the man out on a stretcher. Ryder was right next to it, nodding to them, but not about to leave the suspect—even burned and shot—without him making sure he wasn’t going to try to bolt and run.
“Get some rest,” he said softly. “Ah, here’s Andre.”
The man coming toward them looked to be about thirty-five, and Dan had the feeling that he’d probably been part of some branch of law enforcement or another for a while. He was about Dan’s height with dark hair and dark eyes in a lean, sharp face, and he had the look of a man who kept fit, as field agents tended to do.
He offered them a nod as Axel quickly introduced them, and then Axel took off after the stretcher carrying Neil Browne out of the restaurant.
“Shall we sit?” Andre asked Dan and Katie. “The kitchen employees and staff are all giving brief statements, but what they know is a man burst into the kitchen waving a gun at them.” He shrugged. “So... I just need you to start at the beginning.”
He had an official-looking pad out; he wasn’t using a smart phone.
“Wow. Pen and paper,” Dan said.
Andre Broussard grimaced. “Old-school. Yeah. I’ll need your signatures.”
Dan looked at Katie. “Well, we’ve learned through the investigation this man was in town and was with the murdered woman we found in the old cemetery. Katie knew both of them. They were the couple who disappeared off the boat the day her parents and a friend were murdered...axes and knives used on them,” he said quietly.
“We were just about to order dinner. New place in town, you know,” Katie said.
Andre Broussard grinned and said in a soft whisper, slightly accented with a bayou twang, “Ghost told you, eh?”
Dan and Katie glanced at each other. “Well, anyway, when he saw Katie and knew that she had seen him, he took off. She pointed him out to me immediately, and I went after him. This place was crowded, and it seemed as though he might try to hide among the patrons. I came in first, but Katie was closer to the kitchen.”
Katie continued the thread. “He had a gun. He forced me in and then terrified the entire staff in the kitchen. He forced us all to one side and then used me and a threat to kill everyone in there to try to force Dan to drop his weapon. I’d gone to help a girl who collapsed, and she happened to do so right by a stovetop. When he came to grab me, I noticed the bubbling gumbo on the stovetop and...” She faltered.
“You stopped him,” the agent said.
“Yes, Special Agent Broussard,” Katie said quietly.
“Andre, guys, please. Everyone just calls me Andre.”
Dan nodded.
“Okay... Read what I’ve written. If it’s what happened as you told it to me, just sign it please,” he said.
Dan read the rendition Andre had put down. It was exactly what they’d said.
He looked at the agent. “Uh...damn, you’re good.”
Andre grimaced. “I can write fast. I guess it’s a good ability.” He hesitated. “I’m from Louisiana. This is... Well, it can’t mean as much to Adam and me as it does to you, Katie, but it means a lot to us. So...any time I can help you, in any way, reach out. I do know the area well. I was raised in Lafayette, did a tour in the military after college, and when I found out about the Krewe of Hunters, I applied to the
