Chapter 7-Voodoo Curses

"Sally, you know I have been home a whole two weeks now and things aren't getting any better with Renee. I swear all that man talks about is having babies." Evangeline sat primly on a gold brocade French provincial sofa in the large parlor of her best friend. "I'm so glad I have a friend like you to confide in. "Evangeline took another sip of her coffee from a delicate blue and white china cup.

"Oh, you poor dear, "Sally said joking. "My Harvey hardly ever wants sex and when he does it's just the same old boring stuff." Sally wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Now, if I had a cutie like you, oh baby, could I do some damage." Sally laughed.

"We have sex at least once a week. Renee just insists on it. And some of the things he wants to do, why, it makes me blush to even mention it." Evangeline shook her head and then changed the subject abruptly. "How do you like my new hat? You didn't say a word about it and I was sure it would just make you green with envy. Daddy bought it for me in New York. "

Sally put her cup down and leaned into Evie. "Wait a minute...you were just getting to the juicy part, don't stop now. What kind of stuff does he like to do?" Sally whispered.

"Sally, you have been my friend since high school but you don't have to know everything about me. Now forget about Renee. Do you like my new hat or not?"

"Oh, I just love it. I was going to say something right off the bat but then we got so busy talking and I forgot. You are going to have to invite me along on your next trip. Harvey would probably love to have me leave for two months, that way he could spend more time with his mistress." Sally rolled her eyes.

"A mistress, oh no, not Harvey?" Evangeline gasped.

"Oh, I don't care. Let him have his fun; as long as he gives me his money and keeps it quiet. I don't really care what he does. He'd better NOT bring home any of those nasty old diseases that I have heard about. You know I make him wear one of those rubber things, a condom, yes, that's what they call them. They're supposed to keep all the nasties away and prevent pregnancy, too. At least that's what I've heard. The good Lord knows I don't want any brats."

Sally took a sip of her coffee and placed it back on a silver tray. "I tell you what, Evie; let's get George my driver to take us up to Baton Rouge today. We can go shopping and maybe find some mischief to get into." Sally winked.

"Great, that should cheer me up a little. You know I love to shop. I'll call Renee and let him know we might just stay the night. I hear there are a few nice clubs in Baton Rouge. We'll do our civic duty and entertain a few of the troops." Evangeline laughed heartily.

**********

Renee walked into the station and looked up at the clock." Geez, it's already eleven. "He had been gone on a stray dog call most of the morning. Neighbors arguing about a dog running loose in the neighborhood had turned violent, Renee knew that hunting dogs in this part of the country sometimes meant more to a man than his wife and kids. The confrontation had escalated when the complaining neighbors' wife stepped in and threatened to shoot the dog. Then the guns and knives were brought out. The neighbor's wife got punched in the nose by the dog owner's wife and the fight was on. Aunts, uncles, cousins all coming to the rescue of their relatives. It took the Sheriff and his deputy over two hours to get things calmed down and a truce between the neighbors. No one was taken to jail but Renee wasn't certain things might not flair up later in the evening.

"Sheriff, your wife called and left a message." Mary handed Renee a neatly handwritten note as Renee passed her desk. "She said she'd be gone a few days to Baton Rouge with Sally. "

Glancing at the note. "Did she say where she would be staying?"

"No sir, only that she'd see you in a few days."

He wasn't fond of Sally; he had always thought she was a little too loose with her morals but Evangeline had known her a long time and thought the world of her.

Renee's stomach rumbled. "Mary, I'm going to lunch, be back in a while."

Before he could get out the door, Mary's nasal operator's voice picked up the switchboard call. "Sheriff's department. Wait, just a moment. I'll see if he's here."

"Sheriff, this sounds important. Do you want to take this call?"

"Well might as well." Renee frowned.

"Is this the sheriff?" The caller asked.

"Yes, I'm Sheriff Renee. What can I do for you?"

"There's some funny business going on up in 'Gator Bayou. Witchy stuff, I've seen lights at night in the sky and heard some weird sounds. I think you need to come see."

"I'll get right on it. Thank you. I'm sorry but I didn't get your name?"

"No need..." and the caller hung up.

Sheriff Renee motioned to his deputy in one of the back offices. "Pat, come with me, I think I just got a prank call. I need to take the skiff out to Gator Bayou and check things out."

"What's going on, Sheriff?" Deputy Pat got up quickly from his lunch.

"Oh ,something about weird lights and sounds out in Gator Bayou. Most likely just swamp gases or poachers if anything." Renee replied.

"Man, I don't know...that is a real scary bayou. They don't call it Gator Bayou for nothing. Lots of old abandoned boats and swamp grasses so thick it will tangle your motor. Alligators big as our boat and creatures no one knows what they are. Lots of strange things out that way." Pat said.

"Why Pat, if I didn't know better I'd think you're afraid to go out that way." Renee smiled.

"Sometimes it pays to be scared. Some Voodoo priestess put a Gris Gris on you if you not careful just because you come into her territory."

"I'll take my chances, I don't believe in that mumbo jumbo. Get your gear and let's go before it gets any later." Renee walked out the door toward his truck.

**********

Launching the police boat went off without any problems. Pat and Renee were soon on their way to Gator Bayou. They had not seen anything or anyone suspicious all the way out. That is until they crossed the old rusty fence post with the sagging moss covered sign broadcasting that they were now in ' Gator Bayou and to STAY OUT.'

"Man this place is creepy." Pat whispered.

"I won't argue with you about that, but just a swamp, a very old swamp." Renee said.

"Look at that..." Pat pointed to several abandoned wrecked boats covered with swamp slime and mosses. "Man, I mean this place gives me the chills."

At that very moment the boat motor stalled in the thick water lilies. Renee raised the motor out of the water and cleared the debris. "Everything's okay just clogged with these lilies." Renee tugged on the rope to crank the motor but nothing happened. "Damn!"

One more tug and the motor cranked. Both Renee and Pat let out a sigh of relief.

"Look up yonder; a fish camp" Pat pointed.

They pulled the boat up to the shore and tied it off on an old cypress stump. Chicken feathers littered the ground and bushes. Dark red blood had oozed down the side of a stump and dried. A trail of the feathers led to the steps of a ramshackle vine covered fish cabin. Inside the dark cabin, a putrid smell of rotting flesh hit them like a wall. Flies buzzing and the stench of something definitely dead was overpowering.

Pat ran back out the door and started vomiting. Renee proceeded cautiously into the room looking around. On the wall hung a plucked dead chicken with no head and various other occult symbols. Definitely someone had practiced the black arts of Voodoo in this cabin very recently.

"Are you okay Pat?" Sheriff Renee yelled out the open door.

"I'm okay; you need to get out of that place. NOW!" Pat yelled.

"What the HELL?" Sheriff Renee stumbled. "Geez, Pat I found the smell. You won't believe it."
"It's a pig. It's been disemboweled. Guts rotting all over this floor."

Pat stood in the doorway. "Someone has painted his face and it ain't made up for a fais do do."

"Get out of there man this is a house of curses! We mess with this and we'll have a Gris Gris on us!" Pat yelled as he backed towards the police boat.

Sheriff Renee came dragging the fly infested stinking pig out the front door of the shack. "We can't leave this thing. I'm going to throw it in the bayou, the gators will eat it."

"Hurry up" Pat pleaded. "We need to get the hell away from here." Pat was making the sign of the cross as he motioned for Renee to get in the boat.

Once Sheriff Renee disposed of the pig he climbed back into the police boat. "When we get back to the station I'll find out who owns this property and have them clean up the rest of that mess."

"Just get me back to dry land." Deputy Pat was visibly shaken and pale.

**********

Two days later, Deputy Pat did not show up for duty.

"Marcel, drive out to Pat's house and see why he didn't come to work this morning. Damn him I don't know why he won't get a telephone."

"Right Sheriff, I'll get right on it." Marcel got up and headed out the door. Deputy Pat lived far out on Bayou Blue Road but Marcel didn't mind the drive. It was a nice day and the scenery was pleasant.

Pulling up in the gravel driveway Marcel felt a strange chill pass over him. His mother had always told him when you get that feeling "someone's walking over your grave." He shrugged it off as just superstition. Once he had gotten out of the patrol car he still couldn't shake the eerie feeling. A strange stillness surrounded him. The usual cacophony of birds and animals in the dense swamp beyond Pat's house seemed oddly quiet.

"Pat! Pat!" Deputy Marcel yelled as he knocked loudly on the front door. "Wake up man!" The door opened slightly. "Hey Pat, you didn't lock your door, I'm coming in."

The house was deadly silent. Marcel could see a cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen table. "Pat, if you're here answer me." Marcel drew his gun from the holster and walked slowly into the only bedroom. "Shit! Pat! What?"

Pat was lying in his bed in only his boxers with a ham sandwich partially sticking out of his mouth. His body was stiff and fingers blue. Deputy Marcel knew he was dead and had been that way for a while.

Marcel radioed the office. "Tell the sheriff to get out here at Pat's fast. Send Jake Smith, too!"

Sheriff Renee and Jake Smith, the coroner arrived at the same time at Pat's house. Deputy Marcel met them at the front door. "Sheriff it's not a pretty sight. He's been dead a while. It looks like he might have choked on his sandwich."

***********

The local Houma newspaper only mentioned that Deputy Pat had been 'found at home dead from an accidental choking incident.' He had choked to death that was a fact, but Sheriff Renee knew it had not been an accident. He hid the facts from the press. Leaking all the clues to the public would only hinder the investigation. Renee found beside Pat's bed an ashtray with a red lipstick smeared Lucky Strike butt stubbed out. On the floor lay a crumbled black, gold, and red Lucky Strike pack. The kitchen counter also had a half full cup with black coffee. Pat drank his coffee with lots of milk and sugar. No lipstick smudges on the cup. A strange tiny burlap doll with a white face and dark charcoal circles around the eyes was also found in Pat's right hand. Had it been ripped off the killer's neck or placed in Pat's hand? Renee didn't know but he was determined to find out.

It had been a full week and still the coroners' report hadn't come back. Renee was at a loss as to where to begin his investigation. Pat had been a well-liked young man with no known enemies that anyone interviewed could think of.

Renee looked up from his paperwork and found Jake Smith standing in the doorway.

"Hey Jake, come on in. I sure hope you have the report I've been waiting on."

"Yep Sheriff, I do. It's pretty much as we both figured. It seems he was indeed choked to death. The method is called a 'shime-wasa'; it's a blood choke hold very commonly used in Judo. You're probably familiar with it. It's taught in police academy. Strangulation occurs by compressing one or both carotid arteries and/or the jugular veins without compressing the airway. The person being strangled becomes hypoxic and unconscious in a matter of seconds. Properly applied blood chokes require little physical strength. Even a woman can strangle someone with this method. Once the person is unconscious then it becomes easy to perform an air choke or tracheal choke compressing the upper airway and causing asphyxiation and death without any marks left externally on the neck. "

"That probably explains why there wasn't much of a ruckus in the house. Nothing seemed out of place like a struggle had taken place." Renee mulled.

"That's right, first quickly subdue the victim then kill them. Whoever did this is most likely a trained professional in Judo, a military person, or law enforcement. That's the types of people who would know this kind of stuff. Oh, and my secretary said the lipstick on the Lucky Strike was called 'Red Dice' from Revlon. It seems it's a new line out and advertising is in all the glamour magazines. It comes with a matching nail polish, too. I guess she would be the one to know. I don't get much work out of her. She's always got her nose stuck in those damn magazines." Jake laughed. "I filed the death certificate as 'strangulation by unknown cause."

"Thanks Jake. I appreciate your help." Had Pat been right? Were they cursed because they disturbed the fish cabin? He didn't think so. Someone had killed him, this he was certain. The question was "Why?" He didn't believe in Voodoo curses.