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"They never told Regina Holloway about the ghost?" Jackson asked

"She said that she didn’t believe in ghosts--the maids would not have told her that they had seen one," Ma at Jackson

"What about the alarm?" Jackson asked

"They heard her set the alarm She was always careful when she was alone" Mama Matisse hesitated "But…she didn’t like the basement She never went there when she was alone She locked the door that led down to the base at Mama Matisse

"Did she say why she was scared of the basement?" he asked

Mama Matisse shook her head "She just said that basee places They were like depositories for the past, and she just didn’t like them"

Jackson mulled that information over for a moment

"She did believe, I’m sure, that she and the senator lived with a certain aer and uncertainty because he was a politician"

"Yes"

Jackson then asked her, "Tell uard, Blake Conroy"

Ma Mrs Holloway, irls toldman," she added

"Was he mean, or rude?" Jackson asked

"It’s rude to ela smiled; she saw that Jackson did, too

"Did Mr Holloway have a bodyguard just because he was a politician?" Jackson asked

"Well, there are soroups--who don’t like the senator," Mama Matisse said

"Do you knoho? Can you tell ized "You see, we love New Orleans, but you know so much more than we do"

"Senator Holloway said all people did was fight hat they needed to do was figure out a solution To live in our world, we had to learn to coive speeches He says that he believes in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana--it’s a place for everyone to live, and to live together, and to remember the past so that we never repeat it," Mama Matisse said

"You don’t sound as if you believe all that," Jackson said

Angela was surprised; she hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary in Maed "He is a politician"

"So, who disliked him? Who would want to hurt him?" Jackson asked

"The Aryans, for one," she said

"Have they becoroup in this town?" Jackson asked

"They are bigots, that’s what they are," Jake Mallory, who had been leaned against the counter, said irritably

"They’re Louisiana based, but they’re an offshoot of a group that fornore them," Jake said "They could -heart liberal"

"Archie Bunker?" Whitney murmured

"Hey, don’t you ever watch TV?" Jake asked her "Archie Bunker, All in the Family, athe changing times"

"Hey, we can do television history at another tiht The Aryans do hate Senator Holloway," Whitney said She was next to Jake, and she lifted a hand dise Ridiculous" She made a face "I’d be a poster child for what not to do! They are convinced that we’ve diluted America, and that all ela said dryly

"There’s another group, too," Mama Matisse said "The Church of Christ Arisen"

Jackson waited, and Whitney explained, "They are like the Baptists, the Catholics and the Presbyterians all rolled into one"