The victim's sky-blue Twingo is still parked on the doorstep of the building, a few meters from the closed shutters of his apartment.
Soon six days after the murder of an 85-year-old octogenarian, stabbed by his neighbor in Noisy-le-Roi for complaining about the noise, the place seems frozen.
A car passes nearby.
In slow motion, the driver glances towards the hall, proof that news of the tragedy has circulated around the residence.
It must be said that the police, who came in large numbers when the corpse was discovered on Tuesday morning, did not really go unnoticed.
At the sight of the impressive deployment, some, in this vast complex of rather opulent buildings, initially believed "in an anti-terrorist operation".
This is the case of this resident of the neighboring building, surprised to see the perimeter cordoned off.
But the young woman would "never have imagined" that a drama of this nature "could happen here", just a few meters from her apartment.
L'Orée de Marly is a vast residence of opulent buildings.
LP / SB
On the other hand, this mother watching her daughter riding a scooter is not really surprised that the noise could have been the source of a quarrel.
"It's simple, we hear everything," she says.
In the evening, I sometimes can't wait to put the children to bed for fear that they will make noise and disturb the neighbors.
"
"A calm and amiable old man"
"Unknown" to the city services and local associations, the 85-year-old retiree is described by all his neighborhood as a person "without history".
"He was a good neighbor from what I was told," sums up a lady, adding: "there are a lot of buildings here, we don't know everyone.
We especially meet people who live in the same building.
"
A man walks through the door of the building where this sordid story took place.
He is the next-door neighbor of the octogenarian.
He saw the police vehicles, but visibly discovers the end of the story, completely dumbfounded.
The man of Brazilian origin who confessed to stabbing his neighbor, now imprisoned, he has "never seen".
Evoking the victim, he speaks of a "calm and amiable old man" whom he finally knew little.
"I only moved here a year ago", he explains, glancing quickly towards the window: "it freezes my blood to think that it happened right there".
"We can't imagine that"
A few meters away, a resident of a neighboring building takes a breath of fresh air.
She is still "turned over" by this story.
Living in the residence since 1982, she knew the victim "a little".
"I especially met his wife, who died of cancer a few years ago," she says.
She had done fine art and made beautiful watercolors.
"
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On the other hand, she never saw the neighbor upstairs either.
“It's a large residence, there have always been neighborhood stories, that's normal,” she continues.
But to get there… ”The very evocation of the drama also provokes in her a feeling of unease.
“We can't imagine that,” she continues.
It feels weird.
I was thinking to my husband: suddenly you feel less serene, less secure ”.