Dan was quiet. Mr. and Mrs. Rodenberry might have been killed around midnight—or up to two hours after. But he had promised to have an open mind. George was staring into space, as if he could see back in time. He shook his head. “I don’t really blame you for connecting me when the second murders happened. I lived two blocks from the house where they occurred, and there are many more people than you, Dan Oliver, who figured everything about me was a sham. Please understand. I thought about taking a handful of pills several times. Then... I found out I like working long hours. Don’t ever want to be in front of a camera, but I love being a grunt when pictures are being made. I was almost...happy. And now this. But what is so bizarre now is after what happened, with everyone talking, I looked up the old Axeman of New Orleans. Witnesses saw a dark figure. It couldn’t have been. But whoever was behind me, they weren’t in a black dive skin or suit of any kind. They were wearing black, enough to appear to be a giant shadow sweeping down.”

“Here’s my suggestion, George. I’m going to inform the team you are living here. If I don’t, they’ll find out, and they’ll want to know why you didn’t come forward. Now I can say you did,” Dan told him.

“There goes my job,” George said.

“Why?” Dan asked him.

“People will associate me with—”

“No. Law enforcement needs to know, not the general public. Do you have any money?”

George frowned, and swinging around to look at him, Katie frowned, too.

“I, uh, yeah... I’m comfortable. Not rich, comfortable.”

“Here’s my suggestion. You check into a hotel that uses key cards. You get yourself into bed as early as possible, and you don’t open your door again. That way, if someone wants to bring you to court, you have technical proof that you weren’t out killing people in the middle of the night.”

“Because this killer will kill again...here?” George asked.

“I think so. I think New Orleans and the similarity to the old Axeman were always in the killer’s mind. Where else to go into a final frenzy?” Dan asked softly.

“All right. I’ll get some things. I’ll head over to one of the big chain hotels on Canal Street. That will work, right? I can leave my car here and grab the trolley when I need to get somewhere,” George said.

Dan was afraid Katie was going to suggest that George should stay with her.

“I’d have you with one of us, George, except our hours on this might be ragged, and it’s best if you’re covered.”

He wasn’t sure if Katie bought it or not. She was just staring at him.