“Locard’s exchange principle,” Dan said. “At a crime scene, a perpetrator will take something and leave something behind.”

“Eventually he will. Anyway, my dense, handsome friend, you need to get on it. And to watch over Miss Delaney like a hawk. You shouldn’t be sitting here with me.”

“I needed you.”

“I hope so! I hope I can help. And as for Miss Delaney, well, I look forward to meeting her.”

Dan glanced at the time on his phone. He needed to get back to Jackson Square. He didn’t believe anything would happen to anyone by day, but he was still worried Katie was alone.

Well, she wasn’t on her own, but she wasn’t with him.

“Go!” Mabel told him. “Somehow, the answers lie with her. And thank you. I believe I could almost taste that delicious meal.”

She drifted to her feet. He watched as she left the restaurant, passing close by a man in a business suit.

The man shivered. But he didn’t see Mabel.

Dan paid the bill and hurried out, anxious then to get back to Katie. As he walked, he called Axel and quickly filled him in on his meeting with Mabel.

“Allan Pierce?” Axel said. “Well, he didn’t come down the line in legend like Marie Laveau or Madame Delphine LaLaurie. But we have people who can dig to the bottom of anything. I’ll get on it.”

“If possible, I’ll head to the library later,” Dan told him. “I’m not with Katie right now, and I’m anxious to get back to her.”

“This guy strikes in darkness,” Axel said. “And away from the public eye.”

“I know. That’s why I dared chase down my ghost. Anyway, get back to me. Anything yet on the blood on the axe or anything else?”

“Not yet,” Axel told him.

“Thanks.” He hesitated. “Axel, what are the possibilities this whole thing started in New Orleans? What if the murderer is from here, if something about the legend brought him down to Florida? Maybe to Lou Delaney’s boat, and Lou Delaney?”

“That’s a stretch.”

“Anything on this is a stretch.”

“Did Delaney have any ties to New Orleans?” Axel asked.

“Well, his cousin lives here. That’s why Katie moved here. I’ll have to find out more.”

“Back at my headquarters, Jackson Crow’s wife, Angela Hawkins, is researching anything she can find on Allan Pierce, his so-called power of six and anyone who followed in his footsteps. I’ll also have her search out anything she can find on an association with Louis Delaney.”

Dan and Axel ended their call, and Dan strode urgently down the street. He’d been on Royal Street just a few blocks from the square, but it seemed a great distance to him suddenly.