Jeremy was staring hard at Dan, and Dan decided that telling the man the truth was the thing to do.

“We believe that there might be a connection.”

“A connection to what?” Jeremy asked.

“We believe Lou might have been targeted by someone who was here after the storm. Someone who found access to enough money to stage the whole thing down in Florida to kill him, who maybe even figured a way to frame George Calabria, at least through circumstantial evidence. Someone who is playing upon the old Axeman who terrorized Louisiana once, and using the concept of the immortal demon and a fixation on power and the number six that was started here about the same time by a man named Allan Pierce.”

Jeremy shook his head. He looked at Katie. “I am so lost. Katie, your father was never stupid...or blind. If the Dr. Browne who was on the boat the day they were murdered was the same man, your father would have recognized him.”

“He would have,” Katie agreed.

“But I don’t think that Dr. Browne was the man you were telling us about. I think he was one of the followers, maybe. If you saw this man again, Jeremy, would you recognize him?” Dan asked.

“The man who was going to slice up the llama?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes.”

Jeremy inhaled and exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “No. I was dealing with one of the women in the group. She was older and not doing well. Lou told me he’d deal with the most intense of the group while I got her to help. There were EMTs in the area, and she needed attention fast. Most of what I know about the incident was getting the cops to deal with the people and the llama. Turned out the man who owned one of the big carriage companies at the time owned a few exotic pets, and the llama was a beloved pet. The llama was returned and... Well, a llama in the middle of all that. But no. I would not recognize the man again because I really didn’t see him. Remember, too, there was no light. We had our flashlights. We had the moon on some nights. The world was dark and wet, and you could still stumble upon corpses of cats, dogs, human beings just about anywhere.” Jeremy paused, inhaling and exhaling again. “Trust me. If you weren’t here, you can only imagine.”

“I know it must have been hard,” Dan said. “Is there anything else you know about the man or any of the people with him?”