time talking to the de Carvilles,’ Vatelier said.
‘Well, mainly Léonce de Carville. They only know what their
granddaughter looks like through some vague descriptions they
were given over the telephone. Although they do possess a photograph of Lyse-Rose, taken at her birth, along with the letter they
received containing the announcement . . .’
‘What does this photograph show?’
‘Not much,’ Vatelier scowled. ‘It’s a picture of the mother breastfeeding the child, so you can only see Lyse-Rose from behind – her
neck, one ear, that’s all.’
Judge Le Drian pulled nervously on the right-hand side of his
scarf. Clearly, things were not looking good for the de Carvilles.
I apologise for skipping ahead, but I just wanted to mention here
that in the weeks that followed, Léonce de Carville summoned
several highly regarded experts who attested that the ear of the
miracle child was identical to that of Lyse-Rose on her birth photograph. I have looked closely at the picture and the analyses,
and my conclusion is that it would require a considerable dose
of wilful blindness to have any kind of certainty on the matter,
whether for or against this supposition. Judge Le Drian clearly did
not share the experts’ bias and he continued to explore the baby’s
genealogy.
‘What about Lyse-Rose’s maternal grandparents?’ he asked.
Vatelier, the police superintendent from Montbéliard, consulted
his notes.
‘Véronique, Lyse-Rose’s mother, is the fourth of seven children.
The parents, the Berniers, are from Quebec and they have eleven
grandchildren. Véronique was already quite distant from her family
when she met Alexandre in Toronto at a seminar on molecular
chemistry. The Berniers seem to be supporting the de Carvilles,
albeit not very loudly.’
‘OK. Let’s keep digging on that side,’ said Le Drian. ‘In the
meantime, shall we move on to Emilie Vitral. Apparently, she left
more clues behind . . .’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ Vatelier sighed, ‘although her medical card, her
suitcase, her feeding bottles and her bibs also went up in smoke
with the plane. But here are the details: in the first two months of
her life, her grandparents saw her five times, two of which were
at the hospital in Dieppe in the week following her birth. They
also saw her on the day the family left for Turkey, when Pascal and
Stéphanie brought Marc to stay with the grandparents. The baby
was fast asleep at the time.’
The superintendent turned to Dr Morange, who spoke for the
first time: ‘I was present when the Vitrals saw the baby in the hospital at Belfort-Montbéliard. They recognised their granddaughter
immediately.’
‘Of course,’ said Le Drian. ‘Of course. They were hardly going to
say the opposite . . .’
The judge sighed wearily, and pulled on the left-hand side of his
scarf.
‘Well, we weren’t about to put four babies in a line-up and make
the grandparents pick out the right one, were we?’ said Vatelier.
‘Maybe you should have done,’ Le Drian replied. ‘It would have
saved us a lot of time.’
With a shrug, the superintendent continued: ‘Just to make
things even more confusing, the Vitrals do not possess a single photograph of their granddaughter. From what they tell me, Stéphanie
had made a little photo album of her daughter, containing twelve
pictures, and she took it everywhere with her. Presumably, that too
was destroyed in the fire.’
‘And the negatives?’ the judge asked.
‘The police force in Dieppe did a thorough search of the parents’
apartment, but for the moment, they have not found anything. I
imagine Stéphanie must have taken them with her.’
Perhaps . . .
*
I too searched for those damned negatives. Can you believe it? Not
one single picture of the baby! Anyway, there’s no point in me prolonging the suspense, at least not in this particular instance. We
never found them. Other than the theory that they had disappeared
along with the plane,
‘Well, mainly Léonce de Carville. They only know what their
granddaughter looks like through some vague descriptions they
were given over the telephone. Although they do possess a photograph of Lyse-Rose, taken at her birth, along with the letter they
received containing the announcement . . .’
‘What does this photograph show?’
‘Not much,’ Vatelier scowled. ‘It’s a picture of the mother breastfeeding the child, so you can only see Lyse-Rose from behind – her
neck, one ear, that’s all.’
Judge Le Drian pulled nervously on the right-hand side of his
scarf. Clearly, things were not looking good for the de Carvilles.
I apologise for skipping ahead, but I just wanted to mention here
that in the weeks that followed, Léonce de Carville summoned
several highly regarded experts who attested that the ear of the
miracle child was identical to that of Lyse-Rose on her birth photograph. I have looked closely at the picture and the analyses,
and my conclusion is that it would require a considerable dose
of wilful blindness to have any kind of certainty on the matter,
whether for or against this supposition. Judge Le Drian clearly did
not share the experts’ bias and he continued to explore the baby’s
genealogy.
‘What about Lyse-Rose’s maternal grandparents?’ he asked.
Vatelier, the police superintendent from Montbéliard, consulted
his notes.
‘Véronique, Lyse-Rose’s mother, is the fourth of seven children.
The parents, the Berniers, are from Quebec and they have eleven
grandchildren. Véronique was already quite distant from her family
when she met Alexandre in Toronto at a seminar on molecular
chemistry. The Berniers seem to be supporting the de Carvilles,
albeit not very loudly.’
‘OK. Let’s keep digging on that side,’ said Le Drian. ‘In the
meantime, shall we move on to Emilie Vitral. Apparently, she left
more clues behind . . .’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ Vatelier sighed, ‘although her medical card, her
suitcase, her feeding bottles and her bibs also went up in smoke
with the plane. But here are the details: in the first two months of
her life, her grandparents saw her five times, two of which were
at the hospital in Dieppe in the week following her birth. They
also saw her on the day the family left for Turkey, when Pascal and
Stéphanie brought Marc to stay with the grandparents. The baby
was fast asleep at the time.’
The superintendent turned to Dr Morange, who spoke for the
first time: ‘I was present when the Vitrals saw the baby in the hospital at Belfort-Montbéliard. They recognised their granddaughter
immediately.’
‘Of course,’ said Le Drian. ‘Of course. They were hardly going to
say the opposite . . .’
The judge sighed wearily, and pulled on the left-hand side of his
scarf.
‘Well, we weren’t about to put four babies in a line-up and make
the grandparents pick out the right one, were we?’ said Vatelier.
‘Maybe you should have done,’ Le Drian replied. ‘It would have
saved us a lot of time.’
With a shrug, the superintendent continued: ‘Just to make
things even more confusing, the Vitrals do not possess a single photograph of their granddaughter. From what they tell me, Stéphanie
had made a little photo album of her daughter, containing twelve
pictures, and she took it everywhere with her. Presumably, that too
was destroyed in the fire.’
‘And the negatives?’ the judge asked.
‘The police force in Dieppe did a thorough search of the parents’
apartment, but for the moment, they have not found anything. I
imagine Stéphanie must have taken them with her.’
Perhaps . . .
*
I too searched for those damned negatives. Can you believe it? Not
one single picture of the baby! Anyway, there’s no point in me prolonging the suspense, at least not in this particular instance. We
never found them. Other than the theory that they had disappeared
along with the plane,
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