Sheltered under the porch of the Le Moulin restaurant, two men in navy blue camp with their arms crossed. It's raining downpours this last evening in March. They order two coffees then quickly leave to keep watch. The news broke just a few hours ago: the bones found the day before, not far from the hamlet of Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) by a walker, belong to little Émile, 2 and a half years old, disappeared last July. A skull and teeth could be analyzed. The rest is to be found. And the night, like surely others, promises to be long.
The next day, the first day of April, the blue is everywhere around Le Vernet. At each intersection, one, two, sometimes three gendarmerie cars are parked. Blue, although invisible, is scattered throughout the Auches valley, this vast wooded area adjoining the hamlet of Haut-Vernet in which the bones were found on Saturday. Located on the southern slope, the area is in the heart of the cordoned off area. Around sixty gendarmes are, in total, mobilized on the site.
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