Behind the secret door in the charred farmhouse in the Swiss village of Cheiry, men wore suits and ties; some sported red, white or black capes.
Inside the temple, a caped, Christ-like figure holding a rose stared down from walls of velvet, mirrors and symbols.
Among the 23 bodies with bullets in the brain and plastic bags around their heads were women wearing gold dresses.
An empty champagne bottle lay on the floor. The hands of some bodies were bound.
"The impression I had was that we were entering a wax museum," says investigator Andre Piller. An audio tape and literature about the cult were found at the site, but nothing explained the deaths.
Firefighters at three separate blazes in Switzerland and Canada found 50 bodies in all.
And once again, people are left with more questions than answers about the mysterious and private life inside cults.
Some see worrisome similarities to the fiery end to the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco, Texas, that killed 80.
"That may have been the start of a millennialist fervor that we will see more of as we approach . . . 2000," says Larry Trachte, religion professor at Iowa's Wartburg College. "We will see more right-wing survivalist groups springing up."
Luc Jouret, the leader of the Swiss sect called the Order of the Solar Temple, or The Cross of the Rose, told followers doomsday was coming. He moved his cult from Canada after being convicted of illegal weapons possession in 1993.
But officials found no weapons on the Swiss farm.
Neighbors say sect members were quiet and peaceful.
"They were very ordinary people, very nice people," remembered Erna Leschaire. "They took part in our village assemblies and they even helped pay for our social events. I'm totally shocked."
Ex-mayor Edmond Thierrin described the sect members as "just normal people, always polite, always well-dressed."
"We often thought something wasn't quite right, but since there was never any scandal, never any excess noise, we never thought to interfere with them," he says.
It was unclear whether Jouret, a charismatic doctor about 46, was among the dead.
Mike Kropveld of the Canadian-based Info-Cult says mass murder/suicides occur when "at one point, the leader and group become one."
"Groups of this nature always have enemies, real or perceived. That's what brings them together," he says.
But he says "you can't get people to commit an act of this type without preparation. There has to be a denigration of the ego and sense of self" of the group's members.
Little is known about Jouret.
"I only spoke to him once," says Canadian neighbor Martin Goulet. "He was a very closed person and seemed . . . a `Me, Myself and I' type of person."
Jouret's lectures ranged from "the meaning of life and its realization" to a "reign of fire" and world doom.
The handsome, dark-haired homeopath called himself a "new Christ." His portrait was found in a burned-out barn.
Piller says some bodies found on the farm were lying on the floor with the heads pointing to the walls in a circle, possibly representing the sun.
About 100 miles south, in Granges, investigators found 25 bodies in smoldering chalets owned by Jouret. They may have died sleeping.
And in Canada, a man and woman found dead in a burned house 48 miles north of Montreal wore medallions with the initials "TS," for Temple Solaire, around their necks.
At all of the fires, a system of wires, timers and flammables ignited by timer or phone call.
On the farm, firefighters followed a trail of blood to a hidden door that led to bodies.
"To see . . . people lying dead like that, at first it was like a film," says Serge Thierrin, a firefighter. "It was horrible."
