The Night of the 12th (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The investigation uncovered multiple suspects, including several of Clara's former sexual partners who each had potential motives, but none could be definitively linked to the crime. Despite years of interrogations, anonymous tips like the lighter, and eventually a stakeout at Clara's grave that identified Mats, the case remained unsolved because there was never enough concrete evidence to charge any suspect with certainty.

• unsolved murder
• investigation
• evidence
• suspects
• Grenoble police

Clara's killer is never identified in the film. While detectives question multiple men from Clara's life, including ex-boyfriends Wesley Fontana and Gabi Lacazette, casual partner Jules Leroy, and later Mats, a man who became fixated on her after reading about the murder, no one is ever charged or proven to be the attacker.

• killer
• murderer
• Clara Royer
• attacker
• masked assailant

Senior detective Marceau was transferred from the case after he physically assaulted Vincent Caron, one of the suspects. After listening to tapped phone calls in which Vincent was verbally abusive toward his girlfriend Nathalie, Marceau went to Vincent's apartment and attacked him. Yohan Vivès intervened and Marceau was subsequently reassigned.

• Marceau
• detective
• transferred
• assault
• Vincent Caron

When Yohan persistently questioned Nanie about Clara's relationships with men, she became upset and tearfully suggested Clara was murdered simply for being a woman. This reflects the film's exploration of gendered violence, the possibility that Clara was targeted not by a specific jealous ex, but as a victim of misogyny.

• Nanie
• gender motive
• misogyny
• Clara
• women

Mats is a young man who created an online memorial for Clara and was later captured on camera visiting her grave at night. Police learned he had been admitted to Chambéry psychiatric hospital at the time of Clara's murder and became obsessed with her after reading about the crime. He claimed to have met Clara at the hospital, though this connection remains unverified.

• Mats
• psychiatric hospital
• Chambéry
• obsession
• grave

A disposable lighter was delivered anonymously to Yohan at the police station inside an envelope. Earlier, Denis Douet had told detectives he found the lighter near the crime scene and claimed to be one of Clara's exes. The lighter became a cryptic piece of evidence connecting the killer to the crime scene, but its anonymous delivery raised questions about who was trying to guide or taunt the investigation.

• lighter
• evidence
• crime scene
• Denis Douet
• anonymous

An investigating judge asked Yohan to reopen Clara's case nearly three years after the murder. With the third anniversary approaching, the judge proposed a new strategy: planting a hidden camera in a fake gravestone at Clara's grave to catch the killer visiting the site, hoping guilt would drive them to expose themselves.

• case reopened
• three years
• anniversary
• judge
• camera

The hidden camera planted in the fake gravestone captured footage of an unidentified young man visiting Clara's grave at night. He was shown taking off his shirt and singing next to her grave. This man was later identified as Mats, who had created an online memorial for Clara.

• camera
• grave
• footage
• Mats
• stakeout

Vincent Caron was never charged or proven to be Clara's killer. He was a suspect because a bloodied T-shirt found at Clara's memorial belonged to him and he had a history of domestic violence. He admitted to having an affair with Clara, and his girlfriend Nathalie provided his alibi. Detectives suspected him but lacked sufficient evidence to connect him to the murder.

• Vincent Caron
• T-shirt
• domestic violence
• alibi
• suspect

The film never reveals the attacker's identity or definitive motive. Clara was approached by a masked man who called her by name before dousing her with lighter fluid and setting her on fire. Investigators explored various theories involving her former partners, but the attack's precise motivation, whether personal, random, or driven by deeper misogyny, remains unclear.

• attack
• masked
• lighter fluid
• motive
• burner