Aftermath of the Crime

The officer accompanied by late visitors of a crime scene strolled towards the back exit of the hospital, where another police car was residing. There were not any people inside the car, just three other people, Garland, Vera and Douglas who were interrogated by the officer. As well as another two individuals who were sitting on the hood of the police car and having hot drinks. Their steam was glooming in the spotlight. One person was unfamiliar to Eugene, but the other one… was his brother, Christopher.

As soon as they appeared in each other's sight, Christopher hopped off the car and Eugene sped up his pace. When the two were at an armful length from each other, they performed a loud as a gunshot handshake and afterwards a hug.

"Holy shit, thank god, you are fine!" Christopher was the first one to loudly express his relief. Then Eugene followed.

"Those were my words! We all for sure grew some grey hair, because of you!"

And as the two were figuring out who made one another suffer more, Sylvia finally got to the people that were interrogated. Suddenly, her butler who had some bruises on his face blocked the pathway and expressed his worry.

"Madam! I heard everything you did from these people and our agents, your behaviour was way too reckless for the one who bears the blood of the la Avise. You should have gone back home right away!"

However, Sylvia ignored him and passed through towards people who were visually annoyed by the questioning. Douglas stood at the back with his arms crossed, Vera was yawning from time to time as well as glancing over her husband with a soft smile, and the one who explained the situation, while aggressively gesticulating with his hands, was Garland. Even though the old café owner had the least relation to the case, he was the one forced to deal with its aftermath.

The first one to notice Sylvia, appeared to be Vera. She came closer to the noble lady and reached her hand. Vera's palm squeezed Sylvia's with sigil inside it. Then she whispered, barely holding in the tears, "Thank you…"

The woman only nodded, hid the sigil in her fluffy dress, and appealed to the officer. His round glasses hid the expression of his eyes as he was writing down everything Garland said to him. From time to time, the officer grunted and asked more questions to Garland, "Are you absolutely sure about that?", "Do you have any evidence?", "Monsieur, I do not understand how the coffee is the evidence, can you give real evidence?" and so on.

"What is the matter," Sylvia decided to indulge herself in the back and forth. Both reacted with clear disrespect towards each other.

First, cried out Garland, "This muffin head does not believe me! He does not believe the story and coffee! Can you believe it!?"

Then the officer retaliated, "Is your grandfather senile? I do not get what he is trying to say, and the other two does not want to talk to me!"

Sylvia sighed and first faced Garland, "Were you trying to explain the innocence of Christopher?"

"That's right!"

"Take it easy, Monsieur barista. I will handle it from here on."

Sylvia indeed took his place in the interrogation, which immediately improved the officer's mood. Garland backed down, only to be met with condemning words from previously quiet Douglas.

"I told you to just let that woman explain everything."

"All I wanted, young man, is to help!" cried out Garland, but everyone ignored the old fellow. And thus concluded the story of Christopher's abduction, as well as his notoriety as "The Death Surgeon". For some time, people will still treat him with either caution or disapproval, but over time his reputation will be restored as a doctor who saves lives and not take them.

****************************

After the judgment night, everything went back to normal. Or so it seems, but of course there are problems echoed from the whole incident. Marco, a great doctor, beloved colleague and just a close friend of many, ended up in prison. In near future a court will be held regarding his case. It might seem like the evidence provided by Sylvia la Avise would not be enough, but there already were found letters addressed to suspicious places not only in France, but also Italy, Spain and Switzerland. For sure more evidences will be found over time, but even now there were found encrypted messages. Solid proof of his guilt and following it, execution is just a matter of time.

Christopher did not take this betrayal particularly well, he lapped stages of grief several times and remained sleepless for a few nights. Indeed, a solid part of his life appeared to be fake that attempted at ruining the rest of it. He was disgusted by Marco, burned down the photos taken with him and crossed out his name from all the papers at home with plans of doing the same at work.

Because of his unstable condition, Eugene stood in Paris for a few more days. Arnold was not happy to hear his plans, but could not press his heart into bringing his worker back by force. His pay cheque, though, would surely decrease this month, but it did not matter. Vera, of course, was also keen on taking care of her husband. She did not work, thus was able to devote herself entirely to cooking, cleaning and nursing those wounds that were left on Christopher from kidnappers.

Garland was busy until the end of the weak, but still was able to pay quick visits to check on them. The one to leave Paris, though, was Douglas. He did not want to bother Christopher, but also refused to stay any longer in Paris. He was done with the adventures and left on the first train on the day after the capture of their culprits.

And finally, Sylvia. Despite her butlers demands, she stood in Paris for a few more days. She was busy dealing with the police, giving them information regarding this case. Her sigil is a sign of the authority of the la Avise family, but it also meant she was the one to handle some of the paper work regarding the case. Because of that, Eugene did not have a chance to meet up with her, he did not even know whether she was still in Paris, due to this investigation being hidden from public eye. In the end, it was not only Christopher who was betrayed, but also the government, whose personnel was also involved with it.

However, one morning she decided to pay visit to their home. Her butler, Vincent, tagged along, clearly not trusting the ones who saved him. Eugene was irritated by his attitude, but still let them in. In the end, he was indebted for everything Sylvia had done for them.

"I see you are all alone, Monsieur buffoon. Hopefully, you are able to make decent coffee for your guests?"

Eugene immediately regretted his decision to invite this woman to his brother's house, but ultimately played along with her nasty attitude, "Why, of course, Sylvia la Avise! Though it sure must be humiliating to beg for coffee from some commoner as myself?"

"How dare you!" exclaimed Vincent and clenched his fists. He made a few steps towards Eugene, but was stopped by Sylvia, who pulled on his sleeve.

Her tone immediately cooled down, and she haughtily demanded as if her butler was a dog, "At ease, Vincent. Currently, Eugene Dagaz is my equal, thus you must behave with utmost respect towards him, or I will throw you out of here."

"Madam, but I can't-"

"Are you trying to disobey me?"

The butler shut his mouth and froze in place, just like Eugene, whose eyes were filled with confusion. He did not know how to react to this squirrel, but as soon as Sylvia coldly gazed over him, the tension dropped like moisture in the cold weather. Still, the man did not yet come to his senses, but the woman already moved past him right into the living room.

"What are you waiting for? The coffee will not prepare itself, or, perhaps, you are ready for a rematch in our little competition."

"Oh!" finally, Eugene snapped out of place and came towards the woman. He felt a keen gaze on his back, or rather neck, but tried to ignore it, "I would gladly, but there are not enough utensils for it. Soon, Vera and Chris will return home, and together we will go to the cemetery."

Sylvia lowered her head, "With the purpose being?"

"The tribute to our parents. Due to all this mess, we missed our mom's birthday."

Sylvia nodded and, to both men's confusion, swiftly came towards the exit, "I see, then it is not the best time for the visit."

But before she grabbed the door handle, Eugene called out to her, "It is fine, if you would like to come with us, there are still plenty of space in the car."