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"So, they have in common that they were all found by the river," Abby said "Plus they were from out of town"

He nodded

"And," she said slowly, "you think thatabout the murders or the murderer"

"Probably You found him in the tunnel The tunnel leads down to the river and a dock Well, not exactly There’s landfill now, but basically, when you follow the twists and turns of the tunnel, you coonslayer property--about a hundred yards from the embankment and another fifty fro around in the tunnel," Abby said

"No So he went down there for a reason," Malachi said He closed his notebook "I’ll pick you up tomorrow around ten We’ll have a talk with David and you can show ht"

He waited He thought she’d ask hi She didn’t

"Well, then, lock rates--at the entrance to the tunnel here and at the riverbank--were secured and bolted" He glanced around "There should be a better alarest that we’d harbor a nantly

He raised a brow "Hard to say, isn’t it--when you don’t knoho the ht be"

She didn’t respond to that but said, "Allow me to show you out"

As Malachi walked to the door, she followed "This is a big, ra place for you to stay alone, Ms Anderson"

She sht, Mr Gordon" She closed the door and he heard her lock it Be lot for his car He wasn’t particularly good with people anyain, that hy he’d worked on his own for the past four years

"Hey!" Abby said aloud when the door was closed "Blue Anderson! Why don’t you speak toat her watch, she saw that it had grown late Well, not that late It was only eight-thirty Still, she’d been up et so had been left unsecured--she decided she should pack it in for the night and go to bed

Jackson Crow had responded She should’ve been elated

But

He’d sent her a rookie!

She told herself she should be grateful that she received a reply at all--even if it came in the form of Malachi Gordon The man who claimed he’d spoken to Blue Well, Crow had told her on the phone that if she and Malachi found a situation in which the Krewe could be of real assistance, he’d co more associates Gordon also claimed to have an in with the police, which could help And, if she needed soe air of authority about hiedly attractive, which could be good with the right people

She hoped he didn’t usually walk around claihost

Abby cleaned up the mess she’d made when she’d broken the liquor to create a makeshift weapon Then she went upstairs, but rather than turning in, she walked back to Gus’s office She’d started to go through his papers and invoices during the past week, but had been continually interrupted by so an answer to a restaurant or bar question--or people anted to tell her how sorry they were about Gus and then tried toher that he’d led a good life

Now she sat back behind his desk and picked up a sheaf of papers

Invoices fro the silence of the tavern weigh down on her

"Blue?" she said again

But the ghost of her ancestor didn’t appear

She looked back at the papers in her hands She saw Gus’s handwriting on some of theone over ith his custo for a particular coan to leaf through them, another paper slipped down to the desk, smaller and different from the invoices It was a sheet ripped from a small notepad She quickly read the words he’d written, al out loud and had scribbled theht? Call Abby

Just as she read the words, she heard the loud ship’s buzzer that was the tavern’s doorbell

It startled her soflew into the air, wafting back down in disarray