“And?” Dan asked.

“I poured us both a cup of coffee and brought them out here and asked what she was bitching about now,” Rene said.

“Rene didn’t see him at first,” Mona said.

“Him who?” Axel persisted gently.

“The Axeman,” Mona said. “Well, of course, I didn’t know it was the Axeman. I thought it was some weirdo who thought he was in Chicago or something. I mean, we’re not into the dead heat of summer or anything like that yet, but it’s not cold around here, either.”

“Temperature has been darned great,” her husband said.

“Yes, yes, and that’s why I was muttering about all the crazies we manage to get in New Orleans. And I was wondering why he wasn’t running around Bourbon Street or a party area if he was going to be all dressed up.”

“Dressed up how?” Katie asked.

“Big slouchy hat! And a trench coat or an old railway frock coat or something of the like,” Mona explained. “Everything he wore was black. He looked kind of like a giant in a full-length black coat, with a hat that dipped low over his face. Now, I didn’t think Axeman when I saw him. I just thought another crazy guy was running around New Orleans.”

“And he didn’t come anywhere near the house,” Rene said.

“What was he doing?” Dan asked.

“When I saw him, he was just leaning against a tree. It looked like he was resting or waiting for someone,” Mona said.

“Later, when we heard about what happened to the old couple—” Rene began.

“And so very near us!” Mona said with a shiver.

“Well, I still didn’t think of it at first,” Rene said.

“But then there was another body found, hacked up, and the news came out someone seems to think that he’s the Axeman returned,” Mona said.

“Well, we knew the legend, but I looked up information on the Axeman,” Rene told them. “And the few eyewitness descriptions that there are... Well, they coincided on describing him as a dark figure in a dark something and a slouch hat. So, you see, I started thinking the guy who had been leaning on the tree hadn’t been resting or waiting for a friend.”

“No! What he’d been doing was watching the neighborhood, watching for whoever came and went. Trying to see who did and who didn’t have dogs and alarms,” Mona said.

“Quite possibly,” Dan said gravely. “And thank you. If you see such a man again—”

“He strikes in different places!” Rene said. “The Axeman strikes in different places.”