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I could use the houseboat anytime I wanted. So I took them up on it. As far as I know, nobody else ever comes out here.”
    Nancy said, “Oh, I love the Bayou Blue . Especially the Cajun Grill up on the second deck.”
    Not wanting to go any further into her connection with the LeFevres family, Claire changed the subject. “How long do you think she’s been dead, Nancy?”
    â€œI’d say several days, maybe less. It’s hard to tell. I’ll have to do the autopsy to get you anything definitive. There’s no obvious cause of death. It could be strangulation. Or, she could have a fatal wound hidden under that creepy robe she’s got on.”
    â€œZee, get more officers out here ASAP. I want this entire property grid searched, all the way out to the road.”
    â€œYou got it.” Zee quickly dialed up another detective and told him to bring out his team and a retrieval unit.
    As soon as he hung up, Claire said, “Zee, I don’t know anything about voodoo rituals, but this looks to me like some kind of sacrifice.”
    â€œCould be. I’ve seen pictures kinda like this.”
    Claire jumped on that. “You’ve seen altars like this? With dead bodies?”
    â€œNo, just the altars. No dead bodies.”
    â€œGive us a little bit of background on voodoo so we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”
    â€œOkay, but Mama Lulu can tell you more. It’s kinda a mixture of African religions and Christianity. See the crucifix there? And the pictures of the Holy Mother? And those bottles probably have spells and potions in them. I doubt it’s a real voodoo priest or priestess who did this. Might be somebody who wants us to think it is, though.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause of the way the face is painted up. That’s meant to create fear. Some voodoo priests paint themselves up to look like skeletons for their ceremonies. Some do it to look like zombies. That’s a big part of voodoo, or it used to be. I dunno. Like I said, I’m no expert on this kinda stuff. I stay away from it.”
    â€œSo things like this aren’t prevalent around here anymore?”
    â€œNot dead bodies on altars. But people still practice voodoo, and they take it serious, too. It’s a religion to them, and nothin’ to joke about. There’s a bunch of voodoo shops over in the French Quarter, too. Not too far from where you and Nick live. Haven’t you been in any?”
    â€œNo, I haven’t. Guess I’ll check them out now, though.”
    â€œMama Lulu’s the one we need to talk to,” Zee said again.
    â€œAnd we will, but right now we need to figure out who this woman is.” She looked at Dionne again. “Has anybody called in a missing person?”
    â€œNot since I came on this morning. If she’s from out here on this bayou, we’ll hear about it soon enough.”
    â€œNancy, do you have a portable fingerprinter?”
    â€œYep, right here. Got it into the budget last year. Let me finish with my shots, and we’ll see if we can get us a good one. Her skin looks pretty rough in some places. We’ll see.”
    A short time later, they heard a car approaching. Zee said, “Here comes Saucy and the guys. They made good time.”
    That would be Ron Saucier. Everybody at the office called him Saucy. But in her opinion, nobody on God’s green earth was less saucy than he was. In fact, she bet ten words hadn’t come out of his mouth since she’d been in the parish. According to Zee, Sheriff Russ Friedewald had brought him into the office about eighteen months ago, without telling anybody much about him, but had tacitly let everybody know that the where, what, and why of his hiring was nobody’s business. Claire decided they must have been old friends. She did figure Saucier had been a sailor because he usually wore short sleeves, and she’d seen the anchor tattoo on the inside