“We’re leaving the club now,” he said. “Is he still out there?”
“No. He just...disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“He was there one minute, Quinn, and then I blinked and he was gone. Quinn, we need to go over there and see if we can figure out how he’s disappearing.”
“I’ll be there in just a few minutes. Don’t go out there, Danni. Please don’t go out there.”
“Just hurry, okay?” she said then hung up.
By then they were in the car.
“I think our guy has a new costume,” he said.
“Did something happen?” Brad asked.
“Danni saw someone watching the house from across the street again. This time he was dressed up in a Carnevale-style costume.”
“Oh my God! What are they going to do?” Jenny asked. “Outlaw every street performer? In New Orleans?”
Quinn didn’t answer. He knew that Jenny really was terrified. He wasn’t sure he could blame her. She had nearly been a victim of the killer.
“Did they go after him?” Brad asked.
“No. They’re waiting,” he said. Or so he hoped.
While he was pretty sure it was going to be a fruitless effort, Quinn called Larue. He was grateful his old partner was equally determined to get the killer off the streets.
Larue agreed to direct people out to look for the killer right away. By the time Quinn reached Royal Street, there were police everywhere.
He ran inside to find Danni, who was looking thoughtful.
“This is wrong,” she told him quietly. Once again, though it was the wee hours of the morning, everyone was awake, gathering in the kitchen or moving quietly out to the store to look through the windows to the street.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her softly.
“Police everywhere—he’ll see them. He’ll know we’re onto him. He’ll hide. He’ll slip into another alley. Or he’ll just disappear completely.”
Quinn shook his head. “He didn’t just disappear. He’s using the alleys and the courtyards of the French Quarter. He knows this city the way only someone from here can know it. Come on, let’s go out and take a look ourselves.”
Wolf went with them. Woodrow assured them that he would stay at the kitchen table, shotgun at the ready, until they got back. Jenny sat at the kitchen table with him, while Brad paced. Amy and Bo Ray stayed in the shop to keep an eye on the street and wait for Billie to come home.
“Show me where you saw him—as exactly as you can,” Quinn told Danni.
She headed straight for a streetlight and said, “He was here. Right here. And then he was just gone—in a blink.”
“Through that gate,” Quinn said, looking behind him. He knew the street, knew there were several gates that led to private courtyards much like their own.
By day, this gate opened to a narrow alley that led to a courtyard surrounded by a few small boutiques and a café.
“It’s always locked at night,” she said.
He tried the gate, which opened easily. Wolf barked and started into the alley. Quinn had him on leash, but now he unclipped the lead to give the dog freedom to move ahead on his own then followed closely behind him.
It was dark; only a few small lights glowed inside the shops. Danni stayed close behind Quinn as they moved in. When they reached the center of the courtyard and stopped to look around, Wolf began to bark excitedly.
He ran for the door to the café. Quinn tried that door, too.
It was open.
He didn’t stop to call for police backup. He went in, glad that Danni was staying close. Inside the café, chairs were piled on tables. He looked around, seeking a rear door.
He didn’t need to look for long. Wolf whined and led him behind a counter and through the kitchen. Spotless stainless-steel sinks and counters and workstations were illuminated by a half dozen night-lights.
Wolf barked and ran through. Quinn hurried to catch up, relieved to hear Danni’s footsteps behind him.
There was a back door leading out to Chartres Street.
Like the front door, it was unlocked.
Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of a man in a bird mask. In fact, the street appeared to be completely empty.
He turned to look at Danni. “He could be anywhere by now,” he told Danni.
“Yes, he could be. But here’s my question. Why wasn’t that gate locked—and why was the coffee shop unlocked, too?”
“We’ll get Larue on that.”
Danni looked down Chartres Street toward Jackson Square then turned to look in the direction of Canal. She could see cars moving on Canal, as they just about always were.
She let out a sigh. “Why does he come and just watch the house?” she asked.
“He’s waiting,” Quinn said.
“For?”
“His chance. And we’re not going to give it to him.”
He pulled out his cell and called Larue then told him where they were and what they had found. Larue promised that within the next few hours he would contact every shop owner and find out how and why the gate and the café doors had been left unlocked.
“Go to bed,” Larue told him. “I’ll get on this. But...”