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"I’m sorry," she izing to hi is true--we can’t undo the past We can only do our best in the present, and hope to find the answers in the future Dessert? Coffee?" he asked her

She shook her head "No, thank you"

"Want to split a bread pudding? It’s out of this world here"

She sat back, still uneasy, and totally baffled by his ability to rehout dinner, she realized

"I’lass of wine?" he asked

"Fine, why not?"

He ordered brandy and bread pudding, and she had another glass of wine His conversation turned casual He talked about his love for the city; he had worked here for nearly a year when he had first joined the bureau "Things are always just a little bit different in these parts Louisiana laws are still based on Napoleonic Code--French lahile the lish law It’s not major, but there are some differences You’ll note they have parishes instead of counties"

"I went to Tulane I know that," she told him Inane He had her dossier

"And majored in history and philosophy," he said

She nodded "And you?"

He shrugged "I spent six years in college I liked it I e student all ions, history and psychology"

Angela frowned "Psychology, of course You ith a Behavioral Science Unit So, telltoday that so that ho point for her husband wouldn’t have committed suicide And to be honest, suicide had sounded like an entirely rational explanation to me before"

"It’s hard to say I didn’t know her," Jackson said

Dessert and drinks arrived He was persuasive; she did try the bread pudding, and it was delicious And it felt oddly intimate to share a dessert She hadn’t done so in years Since Griffin had died

He sipped his brandy "It does seem as if she was devoted to her husband, and as if she had deterainst suicide But then again, the loss of a childover a balcony?" Regina asked

"That’s e’re here to find out," he told her

They left soon after The walk back down Chartres Street was quiet; they took St Peter’s up to Dauphine and crossed Bourbon once again They were at the ela had been walking a few steps ahead

"Hey, honey, wanna party?" someone asked

He was a blond frat boy He looked harmless He ith other blond frat boys

She could take care of herself, she knew But Jackson stepped forward easily, slipping an arood time, and take care," he said pleasantly

The frat boys waved and went on Jackson’s hold on her eased, but they walked next to each other

He didn’t say anything; neither did she He knew she could have ed on her own; she knew that he had quickly defused the situation

And then they were back They’d left lights on, and the house on Dauphine stood white and dignified in the low The s hosts of dozens of lost soulsat the world they had left behind The house wasn’t evil, but evil had lived behind the facade

Angela was suddenly certain that Regina Holloway had not coht, Jackson had done a survey of the house, studying the alars: everyin the house was properly wired; and though the gate to the courtyard ired as well, only the gate ired It would have been possible for someone to climb the wall into the courtyard However, once that happened, they’d have to have the code to get through the alarm

Even so, it was possible and probable--no ht be--that soht when Regina Holloway died A tiht have slipped over the wall A tiht have had the alarht have had the doors locked, but if she had opened her bedroo had been left open by one of the ht, however, was uneventful

Angela Hawkins was still asleep when he came down to the kitchen There was little there, but someone had seen to it that some basics had been stocked, so he was able to brew coffee and lish erator