Richard and Arno arrived at the hospital just before 8 p.m., where they had an appointment with the coroner to attend the autopsy on the new bodies. The coroner had asked them to come at 7 p.m. but they had spent more time than expected interviewing the victims' relatives. The interrogation of Sarah's mother had been particularly difficult, the poor woman had not stopped sobbing and rehashing the past. Richard had been particularly patient and understanding in the end to gather only little information; a few names of friends, places where she liked to hang out but nothing more...
Doctor Michel Ponchon was a man in his fifties, in charge for 15 years, he was the regional referent in terms of forensic medicine. Michel and Richard had worked together on countless investigations, yet their relationship remained strictly professional and the two men had no intention of that changing, they were like two magnets repelling each other. Michel was a rigid and cold person, He believed that the two greatest qualities were to be factual and punctual that is why the delay of the two inspectors irritated him to the highest point. For all these years he should have gotten used to the fact that Richard was never on time but it still pissed him off.
Upon their arrival, He gave them the definitive conclusions of the first autopsies, confirming to them what Sophia, the inspector of the SIS had predicted, the deaths so far inexplicable were linked to aneurysm ruptures. Despite this diagnosis, They still thought that they were indeed murders, yet it was not something that could be triggered at will, and yet it could not have been a coincidence. Then came the issue of tattoos, again Arno and Richard were flabbergasted when he told them that no victim had a tattoo even the last one. It was simply aberrant since they had seen it with their own eyes and it was certainly not a temporary mark, no, it was well embedded in the skin, it was not something that could disappear in such a short time... Tony Caron's half-shredded corpse had revealed nothing conclusive: He had been attacked by a tall aggressor with a long, tapered weapon pointed at his end but not sharp. The attacker had struck him several times with force so as to break his bones before impaling him. Based on the size of the hole, the weapon must have been at least 10 centimeters in diameter. No skin residue under the nails or other DNA traces to identify the attacker. Only a long blond hair, probably Sarah's.
Sarah's corpse was all that remained to study, Michel offered them to attend this last dissection, but the biggest surprise still awaited them, when they entered the autopsy room, they all remained frozen.
There before them was the young girl found dead that morning, sitting on the autopsy table, alive. Miracle? Witchcraft? They could not have said it, but seeing her alive, in front of them, left them speechless.
She stood still for a moment, looking out the window with melancholy and as if she had not noticed their presence, then turned towards them. She then picked up the sheet which covered her corpse a moment ago, she slowly wrapped it around her naked body and then got up without a word.
This scene froze their blood, her calm attitude regarding this situation was surreal.
Once back to their thoughts, they asked her to have the necessary medical examinations to check her state of health. It was incredible, except for a slight hypothermia, she was in perfect health. On the other hand, unfortunately for them, she did not seem to keep any memory of the events of these last days.
As he left, Richard made one last comment to Arno.
- It seems that your intuition was the right one; someone wants us to believe in a miracle... I think we should focus on sects for the rest of the investigation...
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