Chapter 34:
Passengers gasped, screamed and some turned whiter than a sheet. What now remained to be clarified was: who was the man? A stranger or a passenger. Julia looked up at the crowd and tried to discern who was here and who was not, but she soon lost patience. She pushed the body with dexterity, and he turned, his face visible to all.
A scream was heard, and she raised her head quickly. Alecia Champagne had just screamed in terror when she saw Lazare Lamoureux's face reveal itself. She almost burst into tears in the arms of her husband who was totally livid that a passenger had died on his train. She heard Mildred Savard moaning as Nathaniel tried to calm her down, just as livid as most of the passengers. She could see the Novak brothers giving each other worried looks and she saw Amandine Wang crying on Gildas Godin's shoulder.
"When can you estimate the time of death at first sight?" William asked as he bent down beside her making the sign of the cross.
Julia was taken aback by the religious sign he had just made. They never talked about religion. In reality, she was not very interested in such things, and, for her, William could only be a Christian. Like everyone else, right? But seeing him make the sign of the cross made her wonder if religion was an extremely important part of his life.
"I… at first sight he would have died less than 24 hours ago."
William nodded, skeptical. He got up and while a hand to the young woman for her to do the same.
"Well done on that conclusion, doctor." Miss Colleen Forbes suddenly spoke wryly. "I remind you that we boarded this train barely ten hours ago… If he is there, he must have boarded." she sneered; her arms crossed.
She noticed Mathias Rojas mocking in a corner.
"Excellent remark Miss Forbes. In addition, all possibilities are to be taken. He could very well have been dead before the train left. Someone could have brought him here after murdering him." Julia spoke firmly, no expression crossing her face.
She was pleased to see Colleen shut her mouth.
"You mean it's a murder?!" Suddenly exclaimed Mathias, who had stopped laughing stupidly.
"Yes. He was strangled." concluded Julia under the shocked looks of the passengers.
"I ran into Mr. Lamoureux in a hallway around 8:00 p.m. yesterday. When the train had already started." declared the young Bastien Novak. "I don't know if it's very useful…"
"It's perfect, Mr. Novak, it means he was still alive when the train started." William spoke.
"But that also means…" began Walid Champagne, who was speaking for the first time.
"…that the killer is among us." finished Inspector Brackenreid.
Suddenly there was dead silence in the entire car. Such a chilling silence… Each passenger stared at each other as if they all suddenly suspected each other.
Note: Worrying, isn't it? Thank you for the last comment, your quotes made me laugh! Magnus is weird huh?