CHAPTER 82

BERNARDO GARCIA SAT next to a smiling lady of happy age, who was throwing bread crumbs to some pigeons that were around her.

— How barbaric these murders — he said, trying to bring up some subject with her — don't you think?

The lady showed him a smile that made him imagine that she must have been very pretty in her teens.

— He must be some crazy person — she said amicably — I never imagined I would see that again, in this city everything has always been very quiet, I have lived here since I was twenty years old, I got married here, I had children, but what world will I leave for my grandchildren? Sometimes I think it's better to go back to Paris.

Bernardo immediately remembered his daughter, Vitória, who was spending a few days at Henrique and Ana's house, until they returned from their honeymoon.

I think this is going to be the longest, craziest honeymoon anyone has ever had...

— I hope to leave a better world for my daughter too - he said hopefully - it's all the best I have in this life.

— Feel blessed, children is the only way for God to make us immortal on this earth.

IN A WAY, Bernardo felt frustrated, nobody knew anything about the Sons of the Sun, for everyone who asked, they just said they were some lunatic wanting to get attention, but the question didn't want to shut up inside him:

Why did that lady say she never imagined she'd see that again?

BERNARDO LAY DOWN next to Camila, completely frustrated for the first time in his life.

— Did you get something, love? — She said gently.

Bernardo didn't answer right away, he just stared at the starry ceiling of his room.

— I think you'll like some of the information I've got.

— I told you.

— The person who is doing this is a person disturbed in his soul and in his spirit, he thinks he is a judge of the Creator, and he is following a logic.

— Logic? There is nothing that connects the facts.

— There is only a single clue, for each murder, she writes a word with the blood of the victims, this case of the priest from Barcelona and the teacher's car accident, there are six concrete cases interconnected, and there will be eight more by the end if not to stop.

— According to what you're reporting, there is a logic, but all logic starts from a basic principle, and we have no idea of ​​that principle.

— The murderess follows a biblical sequence of the fruits of the flesh, described by the Apostle Paul of Tarsus in the Letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verses 19 to 21;

— Now the works of the flesh are manifest: sexual immorality, impurity and licentiousness; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before: Those who practice these things will not inherit the Kingdom of God...

— Still, it doesn't make any sense.

— Not to us — said a well-known voice — but to her, it must make perfect sense.

Bernardo looked at his friend happily and wondered how welcome that man was.

— Sandro, I can't believe it's you.

They hugged.

— Camila called me about her interest in the case, and said she had something addressed to me.

Bernardo looked at his beautiful wife and imagined what her life would be like if it weren't for her and her always welcome interventions.

Sandro took the bundle of papers and analyzed it quickly.

— It all makes sense now, I know where to start.

— So you're the one who came up with the idea?

— In life, we need partners, alone we are nothing, even the most brilliant minds in the world, like mine, need help.

The three laughed.

— Do you think the matter has a religious nature? Today a lady said something interesting, she said over and over that something similar had happened before.

— Carvalho, I don't know if it goes that far, probably yes, I haven't studied the methods used by these Children of the Sun, if they really are called that, but all crimes leave a kind of fingerprint, a unique signature, if they match. , we are simply on the right path, after that, just follow the logic.

— We're becoming experts in cases with religious freaks.

Sandro felt a guttural chill creep up his spine.

Finally, we'll meet again...