Hunter said, “I know next to nothing about this, so any help you give will be appreciated.”
Young said, “Let me get some food, and we can begin.” While they ate, Hunter showed Young the images taken at Jean Claude Villard’s home.
“It is an altar to several deities.”
Andre said, “I thought it might be Petro, black magic.”
“It is. I can’t see enough from this photo to tell exactly whom he, or they, represent, but it is clear that there are both male and female figures. I’ve seen similar things before in Haiti, but not here, although I understand they are around.”
John said, “What about the human skull?”
Young said, “Owning human skulls is not illegal, so I doubt you can draw any inferences, other than it appears that potions are made in the skull. The adult skull appears to be old, too, and there is no evidence in these images to show origin, or if it was obtained legally.”
Hunter said, “So, it could be illegal if it was from a murder?”
“Yes, and if you could tie it to the crime. There is no way to tell from the photos. But I imagine it is a legal purchase. They are not prohibitively expensive, Miss Kincaid.”
“Would you call me Hunter, please?”
Young smiled, “I shall, Hunter. And I am Young.”
Hunter touched a photo of the alter and said, “Since I have no clue on this, could you give me a cram course?”
Young said, “A very short one. Each item represents something. Colors, items, beadwork, symbols, and in what color they are drawn. In this photo, there are several goat skulls, and they represent black magic. These white marks here”, he indicated thin white lines making a plus sign, with a small white filigreed circle around the juncture of the lines, “indicate a female loa, a spirit who is a sòsyè, a witch, and most probably a sorceress of vodou. I think it is Marinette Bois Sèch, a very powerful and evil sorceress, violent and unpredictable. The male is probably Agaou, sorcerer god of lightning, hurricanes, and earthquakes. One of the most violent, dangerous ones.”
John said, “Thing is, this isn’t illegal.”
Young said, “You are right. Still, this is alarming. There are also symbols of several Djab, devils of black magic, and other things I can’t make out.”
He glanced at the other three, “Bad things are being planned, I can tell you that. I have seen these in association with the Tonton Macoute,” he pronounced it as if one word and emphasized the last syllable so it was pronounced tontonmahCOOT.
Andre said, “They’ve been gone for years.”
“On the surface. The names changed several times to disguise them. First, under Papa Doc Duvalier they were the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale, the voluntary national security militia that Papa Doc formed after he disbanded the military and police after they failed in a coup attempt. It wasn’t long before the people gave them a different name: Tonton Macoute, the Bogeyman. They were set loose under Duvalier’s protection with orders to kill, torture and instill fear in every person in the country until there was total subservience to Duvalier. They could, and did, murder, rape, and steal, torturing anyone they chose and needed no provocation to do so. They acted with impunity.”
“I can’t imagine,” Hunter said.
Young continued, “Even their blue denim uniforms, straw hats and sunglasses, along with the machetes they carried caused dread when people saw them approaching. A conservative estimate is that the Tonton Macoute hacked to death over 60,000 people in the first year or so of their existence. The real numbers are probably double that, maybe even higher. Their names changed through the years and different regimes, but to the people, they were always, The Bogeyman.”
“And they’re here, too?” Hunter asked, indicating the photos.
“Many of them came to America, to Florida. Luckner Cambronne was one of the most brutal. He was their head until the early seventies, when he came to Miami. He was known as the Vampire of the Caribbean. He died in Miami in 2006.”
John said, “I heard he got that name because he drank the blood of his victims.”
Armand said, “That may be true, and he was also said to eat human flesh. The main reason, though, was that he sold so much Haitian blood and cadavers to the West.”
“Like for medical services?” Hunter asked.
“Yes. It is highly probable that he sent his men out to murder people so he could sell their corpses, and his men forced people to give blood. Cambronne’s company had terrible hygiene standards and was probably the conduit of AIDS into America through tainted plasma sent here.”
John said, “I didn’t know that.” Hunter and Andre looked somber.
“Did he practice vodou?” Andre asked.
Yes, and so did his men. Do not forget that vodou is the national religion of Haiti.”
Andre said, “Was he considered a bokor, a sorcerer?”