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want to find out some things about your snake. It’s for a project. Can we come and see it?’
    â€˜OK.’
    Declan led the way upstairs. ‘Is this for school?’ he asked.
    â€˜Sort of,’ I said.
    Declan opened the door to his bedroom. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I thought there might be a giant python (or boa constrictor) coiled around his bed. But theonly things on his bed were a duvet, a pillow, and a special display case with his best Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
    Then I saw the fish tank. Well, I suppose you’d have to call it a snake tank, because that’s what was in it.
    â€˜Come over to my vivarium.’
    â€˜Is it safe?’ I asked.
    I was worried in case Jennifer had a panic attack.
    â€˜Of course it’s safe,’ said Jennifer.
    We gathered round the snake tank – I mean, vivarium. It contained a dried-upbranch from a tree, and there was a little wooden house in one corner. Oh, and there was a snake in there.
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    The snake had green and brown and white blotches in a complicated wiggly pattern on its back. And it kept putting out its tongue, flicker, flicker, flicker.
    â€˜Want to touch it?’
    â€˜No!’ I answered, maybe a bit too quickly. I was speaking on behalf of Jennifer and Noah. I didn’t want them to run out screaming.
    â€˜I’d love to,’ said Jennifer.
    Declan reached into the tank and put his hand under Ray Quasar. The snake began to coil around his wrist. He lifted it out. It raised its head and looked me right in the eye – trying to work out if I would taste nice, I expect.
    Jennifer stretched out her hand, and Declan touched her fingers and the snake wriggled from him to her.
    â€˜It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘Can I stroke it?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    â€˜Hey, it’s lovely and dry. Not even a bit slimy.’
    I was getting annoyed about all this. We’d come here to ask serious questions, not to get all kissy-kissy, lovey-dovey over a dangerous predator who might be busy digesting dogs, cats and parrots even as we spoke.
    â€˜What kind of snake is it?’ I asked. ‘A python?’
    â€˜A boa constrictor.’
    â€˜I thought so. And what does it eat, eh? Warm-blooded animals, I expect. Little furrycreatures? Big furry creatures? And other creatures with feathers? Isn’t that right?’
    Before Declan could answer Jennifer dragged me to one side, using the hand that wasn’t holding Ray Quasar.
    â€˜You don’t still believe that this cute little snake ate all those other animals?’ she whispered.
    â€˜Yes, well, it might have. Look, I drew some drawings – I meant to show you earlier on.’
    I took out the pictures I’d done of the elephant, pig and dog inside the snake.
    The one with the elephant fell on the floor. Declan picked it up. He’d been quite well behaved up till then, not acting at all loony, but he made up for that now by running around the room laughing like a maniac.
    â€˜Snakes don’t eat elephants, you idiot,’ he shouted.
    â€˜I know they don’t. And anyway, no elephants have disappeared, not lately. That was just the first picture. But look at these.Snakes eat pigs and dogs, see? And it so happens that some dogs and cats – although not, so far, pigs –
have
disappeared. And I think we both know where.’
    Then I pointed in a dramatic way at Ray Quasar’s tummy.
    The dramatic pointing business didn’t have exactly the effect I’d been counting on. I’d been hoping that Declan would break down, sobbing, and admit that Ray Quasar was the murderer and that he was the accomplice.
    What happened was more or less the exact opposite of that.
    The earlier bout of running around and laughing was nothing compared with this. And when he got bored with running, he tried some jumping up and down on the bed, and then some rolling around on the floor.
    It was time I took charge again.
    â€˜Just