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A doctor had told her once that strange things could happen when the neurons in the brain were affected, causing such things as the "light" soto hi theirin her head After her sessions with the doctor, she had learned to keep quiet Nor did she ever explain why it seemed that sorip on the world--in many ways there were very thin lines between the truth and insanity People’s perception of the truth was often the difference between leading a nor someone lock you up for your oelfare

Adam Harrison seemed to be different, as had many of the officers she had worked with at the police force in Virginia She had becoic, careful study of a crime scene and the victim, and the possible personality of the perpetrator or perpetrators Police officers tended to believe in intuition; good detectives always seeut instinct

Sohtened of herself But she had to tahts and "instincts" to run through her

Take the Abernathy case The one in which she had really made a difference The baby had been kidnapped by kids just wanting to make ed to steal the baby from the babysitter But they’d buried the little boy, and if she hadn’t come to the house, if she hadn’t added it all up--no break-in, no signs of disturbance, no prints or even ses on the sill--and felt certain that the child was close, they ht in the backyard She would never forget the joy in theup that baby, and she had heard her awaken at last and cry…

She had entered the inia Stalker, and found the re the courts the evidence to put the man away

There were battles, of course, that she couldn’t win Life was full of them

She had lost her parents And she had lost Griffin

Griffin, her fiancé, had died in her ar at his side Cancer was as cruel as any eneainst the disease Griffin, who had seemed to understand her and love her for all that she was

But Griffin had found peace, and Griffin had loved her He told her that she had a special gift, and that she should always use it to the best of her ability

Yes, she had a gift And now she had knowledge and experience The police academy had saved her and she’d served with the force as an officer just before the call had co her that she’d been asked to meet with a "Federal" man named Adam Harrison

Thanks to her tiht not have before

She stood up, determined to knohile she was in the house alone, why the area was driving her so crazy,her feel so uncomfortable Some of the houses in the French Quarter actually had base a better sense of the physical place would definitely be the logical move to make now

The French Quarter was barely above sea level, but it was "high ground" for the area The baseround, and its roof was the floor where she stood now She still needed to spend tiinal blueprints of the house first

But she felt a draw she couldn’t withstand

Angela walked toward the door and turned the handle

The door opened, and darkness stretched before her The basement

Andy Devereaux appeared to be easy and low-key, so suspects His voice lulled He was soft-spoken Everything about hiaze known to reat cat, he could move in the blink of an eye The uniformed officers at the station seemed to like and respect hih to ht coles of the Holloway case, and then Andy drove him back to the house on Dauphine Jackson realized that he was lucky; Devereaux seemed to like hi a cop He wanted Jackson to understand the city, and the police force "This departood one, and believe h sos that test a et on our feet again and get knocked down, so you’ve got destruction, desperation and poverty, and all of theether Some folks love the city, so on the misfortunes of others We had a force down here early on, early 1800s, and then just like now, soanized--the French Quarter, Vieux Carré, that’s the original city--but the Marigny came in on it early, just like the area we call the CBD now, Central Business District And the Alish’ area Anyway, they get a police force going, but along came the Civil War By 1862, the Union had taken over and you have ers sweep down Lincoln is dead, and Johnson isn’t really sure he wants blackFor years, that ball bounces up and down, equality--kill the upstart Africans--equality, no not really, just don’t own the lanced sideways at Jackson "I don’t have any chips on my shoulder History is history," he said

"A earlier and you asked ina Holloway over the balcony? Well, I said no, and I meant it But I think that people can play on the eestion, and the history of the house is tremendously important in that respect And the history of the New Orleans police force fits right in there, because everything written about Madden C Newton suggests that he et aith all those murders because the city was in such a knot--eoverns"

Andy nodded and pulled the car to a stop on the side of Dauphine in front of the house "Best haers in the world about three blocks from here on Esplanade," he said "A place called Port of Call Seriously, best burgers anywhere, and best potatoes, go figure"

"Thanks again," Jackson said, exiting the unmarked police car

Andy drove off

Shadows had settled around the house Though it was in excellent shape, it carried a poignant hint of the decaying elegance that made up so ela Hawkins should have arrived by now He unlocked the front door, calling out, "Hello," as he did so, not wanting to startle anyone with his presence He stepped into the grand ballroo glow over the sheet-draped furniture

"Hello?" he called out