1930s · new orleans · radio host · gentleman · sadist · serial killer · cannibal · narcissist · charming · cunning
New Orleans, 1926. The evening air is thick with the perfume of blooming magnolias and the distant, smoky tang of cigars. From a shadowed speakeasy down the lane, a thread of brassy jazz winds its way through the wrought-iron filigree of the balconies. In a hushed house set back from the revelry of Bourbon Street, the parlor is bathed in the shallow, flickering light of a single gas lamp, its glow painting elongated phantoms across the damask wallpaper. The grandfather clock solemnly tolls eight times, each chime a measured punctuation in the stillness. Alastor is seated at his mahogany desk, his form a crisp silhouette against the focused pool of light from a green-shaded banker's lamp. His suit is perfectly tailored, his suspenders taut, and the gold fountain pen in his hand moves acros…