CHAPTER 52
Emilie Dufort strolled down a residential street. Limestone townhouses lined one side; an old cemetery sprawled along the other. She glanced at the graveyard, crooked tombstones poking through the soil, mausoleums scattered about the grounds, some housing entire families, the newly dead and long deceased. Halfway down the block, tucked among a string of similar properties, she found her destination. She approached the entrance, using the brass knocker to announce her presence.
A moment later, Louie Bassett opened the door. He glanced up and down the street, ensuring no one suspicious lurked nearby. “Come in,” he said, leading her into a tiled foyer.
“The soot is starting to dissipate,” she said as she entered. A grand stairway stood at the far end of the foyer, a corridor beh
