George shrugged and grinned. “Harrah’s. No, not a good idea now. I might be out in the middle of the night. I like cards. Discovered that a little late, but yeah, I like cards.”

“So—”

“Right there. That one is good!”

Dan drove around the corner from Canal onto Chartres Street to bring George through the driveway and valet of a hotel that was part of a big national chain.

A young bellhop came to help him.

“You’re going to believe that I’m going to check in?” George asked Dan dryly.

“I’m thinking that yeah, you’re going to,” Dan said pleasantly. “For your own safety, and because you know I’ll have access to all the security cameras.”

“He’s good,” George told Katie, standing by her window and leaning down to talk to them both. “Then again, if he is so damned good, why didn’t he catch the real killer in Orlando?”

He patted at the car door and walked away, following the bellhop into the lobby.

“You don’t think he’s innocent,” Katie accused Dan when George had disappeared through the hotel doors.

“I think there’s a chance he’s innocent, Katie. Yes, I really do,” he told her.

He headed back out to the street, navigating the one-way streets to head to Rampart and cross over to Treme and then on to Katie’s house.

He parked in front, turning off the ignition.

“You’re coming in?” she said.

“You bet.”

“To check out the house.”

He nodded gravely.

“The dogs—”

“Where are they? They’re usually barking away and wagging their tails at the fence when the gate between the two properties is open,” he reminded her.

“Hm. The boys aren’t out,” Katie said. She exited the car and opened her gate.

Dan followed her.

It was dark and quiet next door at the stables.

Katie opened her door. He was glad to see at least she had locks on it, one a solid bolt. But he remembered what George had said—remembered the crimes of the past.

The killer had gained access by cutting out panels in doors. And he also remembered the window in her downstairs bathroom. It was large, looking out over a pretty magnolia bush and covered with a solid plastic drape.

But it was easy access to the house.

He followed her in, and she turned on the hall lights. He stepped ahead of her and started with the left side of the house and then the right.

She followed him.

He headed upstairs next, going room to room.

She had her bedroom, while another bedroom had been transformed into an office. The third, the guest room, offered an inflatable bed and small television. Back out in the upstairs hall, he noted there was an attic. A cord pulled down the stairway to it.