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He stared at the body on the ground New Orleans, N’Awleans, his city He loved it He’d been born right here in the city, literally in the lobby of one of the fine old residential hotels, since his mother had found it deplorable to whine about labor pains before it was necessary He’d gone away to college, he’d tried to see the world He’d co about the place It was his It was not crihty, tawdry It was jazz, it was beauty, it was dark waters of the hty Mississippi It was crawfish-etouffee, the best dahost stories, tales of voodoo queens, and more It had entered into conte it as created hard tis, crime, homelessness, inflation, unemployment Some called it a city of the wicked, a city of the daht be, but it was his city, his city of the damned Whatever he could acco to do

This seemed pretty cut and dried Anthony Beale, sger; he was a bad man come to a bad end It should be one for the books

"It does make me think of the ceht occurred to Sean

"Woman’s body," Sean said "And cut to pieces" Even such a description was an understatement

"Jane Doe," fee, five feet five, one hundred and twenty-five pounds, had been found in one of the old above-ground cemeteries outside the French Quarter just last week She’d been found lying on top of one of the tombs, naked and disemboweled, almost as if a modern Jack the Ripper had taken a turn with her Body parts and her internal organs had been neatly laid out beside her Theinto shock; it was still the topic of conversation for residents and tourists alike Naturally, such a crime--with no suspect under arrest--led to wild speculation and a great deal of fear

"All that cutting, and al to their Jane Doe

"Decapitated," Sean continued with a soft whistle "Maybe we’ve got ourselves a connection here"

"A prostitute and a piuy evil enough to do such deeds in the city Let ue, and see what else I can find"

"You still have our Jane Doe on ice?" Sean asked

Pierre nodded "Yes, she’s still with us"

"Maybe we can take a look at the," Pierre agreed He shrugged "Put their heads together on it," he said dryly, without huht now"

"What’s that?"

"Our murderer was a southpaw Left-handed"

"What?"

"On both victiain, he touched the severed head with a gloved finger "See the way the throat was slashed? It had to have been an extreth Actually, it is not easy to sever a huood to hear," Sean said

Pierre nodded, rising Sean rose along with him "Gentlemen, are we done here?" Pierre asked Bill S cops "May I take this fellow on into the ue?"

"Sean is senior hoh, Sean If you’re set, LePont can have the corpse"

"He’s all yours, Pierre," Sean said