Though the biggest parade had taken place on Saturday in the Garden District, the St. Patrick’s Day festivities carried through to the actual feast day. Why celebrate on just one day when you could stretch the party out over a long weekend?
It should be easy to blend in with the drunken, green-garbed revelers in the French Quarter tonight.
The first blood-drenched murder scene had gotten some people talking about a hoodoo connection, and Friday night’s radio show had helped spread the word. But New Orleans wasn’t really buzzing yet about Muffuletta Mike’s death and its link to hoodoo. After tonight that would change. There would be no ignoring the Hoodoo Killer on the loose.
To make the hoodoo connection, the clues to Damballah, one of the most important loa, had to be there for all to see. A mound of flour crowned with an egg would be a sign of the simple offering to the spirit. White was Damballah’s color, and it would be well represented at the murder scene. But to make absolutely sure there would be no doubt, Damballah’s symbol, the serpent, had to be present. A snake had to be left beside the dead body.
With no desire to care for the reptile or take the chance that anyone else would see it, the visitor to the pet shop had left the actual purchase of the snake until now. A salesclerk in the pet store pointed the way to the reptile section. Glass tanks were stacked on the back wall, showcasing a wide selection of snakes.
So many different varieties, their skins in striking colors and patterns, their bodies slithering and coiling! Pythons, boas, king snakes, corn snakes, milk snakes. Striped snakes, spotted snakes, black snakes, orange snakes, green snakes. It was mesmerizing to see their undulating bodies and flicking tongues.
A salesclerk strolled over. “They’re amazing, aren’t they?” he asked.
The customer nodded. “Very.”
“Snakes are such popular pets,” the clerk continued. “They’re easy to care for, they have minimal odor, and they tend to be quite docile. They’re fascinating to learn about, too. I can spend hours watching them.”
The customer pointed at one of the tanks. Inside, an icy gray snake with white stripes was twisted in the corner. Beady red eyes protruded from the sides of its head.
“Tell me about that one.”
“That’s our albino California king snake,” said the salesclerk. “It’s a solitary snake and shouldn’t be housed with others. It usually sleeps during the day. You’ll see it move most during the night or twilight hours.”
“What does it eat?”
“It’s a carnivore. Strictly a meat eater. We recommend and sell frozen mice here.”
The customer browsed the adjoining tanks, looking at the other snakes before coming back to the gray one.
“We’re running a sale this week,” said the salesclerk. “This snake is twenty dollars less than it usually is.”
“Okay,” answered the customer. “I’ll take it.”
The clerk smiled. “Good. Is this your first snake? Or do you already have everything you need?”
“Tell me what you mean.”
“Well, you need a terrarium, of course. A water dish, lighting and heating elements, a thermometer. That snake likes to burrow, so I’d recommend some aspen bedding.”
The customer considered the information before agreeing to the extra purchases. It was better to seem like someone who was serious about maintaining the snake long-term. Not someone who was using it for one night only. If the details about tonight’s murder were reported in the news and the clerk saw or heard about the snake at the crime scene, he might recall the customer who had bought only the snake but nothing with which to sustain it.
The salesclerk gathered the paraphernalia and the frozen mice, packed it all up, and slid a brochure about proper handling of snakes into one of the bags. The customer paid for everything with cash.