“I’m doing it.” Benny said. “Hell, I’m going to be Satchmo. I’m not taking any chances! Of course, the man was amazing with the many instruments he could play, but I can play a sax. I’m not the best, but I’m not the worst. If there’s any chance the killer is a crazy guy reenacting the Axeman and he wants jazz, I’m going to give him jazz.”

CHAPTER TEN

“Well, hello, handsome.”

Mabel stopped and waited, grinning when she saw Dan coming.

“So,” she added, “it seems you now want my help.”

They were in the middle of a sidewalk, and while Bourbon wasn’t as busy as it might be at night, people were walking around.

He smiled as he took his phone out of his pocket and pretended to speak on it.

“Mabel, forgive me. Yes, I have come for your help, and I’m praying you can give me something.”

The superior amusement she had shown when she’d seen him approaching her seemed to fade. “I wish I had more,” she said quietly.

“I’m grateful for anything,” he said.

She studied him for a minute. “I suppose you are a decent sort, and perhaps you were a bit thrown when I approached you at Lafayette Cemetery. I saw you there, and I knew who you were, and I thought that... Well, I suppose I expected you knew you might see me or, rather, that you might have even been hoping for a chat with a relative.”

“Could I have a chat with one of my relatives?”

“I’m so sorry; I haven’t met any of the Oliver family. Not from before.” She smiled again. “Let’s wander a bit. You’re welcome to still pretend you’re on the phone. Better yet, there’s a lovely place on Royal that makes the best shrimp and grits ever.”

“You can...you can eat shrimp and grits?” he asked.

“No, but I believe I can smell them and enjoy them vicariously through you.”

“All right,” he said. “Lead the way.”

“They play nice soft jazz, too,” she murmured, heading down the block to Royal Street and the restaurant she’d referred to.

He was a single person, but he was led to a table for two. Mabel sat across from him.

“If you wouldn’t mind, please tell me what you know and what you’re seeking. Just set your phone down and speak softly. People will believe you’re conducting business on Speaker.”

She’d really been pretty in life, he thought.

She set her chin in her hand, leaning forward on the table, attention on him as he told her about the crime scene Ryder had called him to. He told her about the crimes in Florida. He told her about the strange recurrence of the number six, and how Katie had believed she’d seen Jennie and they’d found a long dark wig.