Cloutier and Cameron take Homer to the hospital. Judge Pelletier declines to press charges against him. Lacoste arrives, and the three Sûreté officers walk outside to process what happened.

They meet with Prosecutor Zalmanowitz, who will appeal but doubts they will win. Judge Pelletier consulted colleagues nationwide before issuing her decision, and her ruling on social media is likely to become case law. They review what little untainted evidence remains: Vivienne’s call to her father, Cameron’s 911 responses, and phone records showing calls to Gerald Bertrand. They discuss Tracey’s financial motive and theorize about how Vivienne got to the bridge.

Zalmanowitz finds Tracey’s supposed method overly complex. They consider alternatives, including that Vivienne went to meet a lover who panicked upon learning of her pregnancy. Gamache notes that they discovered boot prints under Vivienne’s car, but they are from a common boot sold throughout the province. Zalmanowitz wishes Vivienne had called her father for help. Gamache explains that Tracey isolated Vivienne from her father.

Beauvoir confirms that an agent is protecting Tracey and requests a restraining order to keep him from Three Pines, as Tracey threatened Reine-Marie. Gamache invites Homer to stay at his home. Zalmanowitz says that Tracey has filed a complaint that Gamache stole his dog. Gamache affirms that he paid for Fred and firmly refuses to return him.

While driving back to Three Pines, Gamache speaks with Reine-Marie. Cloutier calls to report that Homer refuses to return to the Gamache home. Understanding that Homer feels betrayed, Gamache has Cloutier hold the phone to Homer’s ear and says only the dog’s name, Fred. Homer agrees to come for one night to retrieve him.

Ahead of Gamache, Beauvoir suddenly swerves onto a dirt road. Gamache follows, and when they stop, Beauvoir tells him that the agent tailing Tracey reported that he went to a local bar to celebrate his release. Beauvoir enters to find Tracey and four friends drinking. Tracey mocks Beauvoir and offers him a beer.

Gamache watches from outside, conflicted about intervening. Inside, Beauvoir stands perfectly still, silently staring at Tracey. As Tracey crowds him and threatens to file harassment charges, his friends grow uneasy at Beauvoir’s unyielding silence. Tracey finally stumbles backward, falls, and vomits. Beauvoir leaves without a word.

Outside, Beauvoir instructs that one officer will remain in the police car while the other stands outside the bar, visible through the window—a constant, external conscience for a man who lacks one. The female agent will serve as a reminder of Vivienne. Gamache tells Beauvoir he did well and says he will miss him.

The team spends the day reviewing evidence in the incident room. Homer arrives at the Gamache home, walks Fred, declines food, and retreats to his room. Lacoste joins the team at the incident room to help review files.

Gamache and Beauvoir re-interview Gerald Bertrand but remain convinced he is telling the truth about not knowing Vivienne. They visit Pauline Vachon, who admits she wanted Vivienne dead for financial reasons, believing there would be an inheritance. She says her lawyer assures her she cannot be prosecuted. When confronted about bruises from Tracey, she claims she likes rough treatment. Gamache expresses concern; she rejects it and slams the door.

At the Gamache home, Ruth speaks to Homer through his closed door. Later, Lacoste brings boots from Monsieur Béliveau’s store—the same common model and size as those that made the prints under Vivienne’s car. She demonstrates that, even with smaller feet, she can make identical prints, due to the boot’s rigid construction. This means anyone, including Pauline Vachon, could have made those prints.

That evening, Gamache follows Homer outside. They walk the village green, and Homer confronts Gamache, accusing him of seeking forgiveness for failure. He asks if Gamache could forgive the murder of his own child. Gamache admits he is unsure and urges Homer to abandon his quest for revenge. Homer reveals that Ruth visited and shared a line she attributed to St. Francis: “Clare, Clare, do not despair, between the bridge and the water, I was there” (333).

Beauvoir phones Gamache to report no progress. They agree to pause and meet at Clara’s for dinner. Gamache questions Cloutier about Vivienne’s character and upbringing. Cloutier explains that Vivienne’s mother, Kathy, was jealous of the strong bond between Homer and Vivienne, which pushed Kathy away from her daughter. Vivienne left home as soon as possible. Cloutier doubts Vivienne was having an affair, describing her as a loner. When asked why Vivienne married Tracey, Cloutier suggests limited options in a small community.

Gamache asks if Vivienne liked dogs. Cloutier confirms she loved them and had rescued Fred as a puppy years before meeting Carl, emphasizing her devotion to the dog.

At Clara’s dinner party, the investigators are formally introduced to art critic Dominica Oddly. Ruth and Oddly have a brisk exchange. Clara struggles to watch the woman whose review ruined her career eating her food and drinking her beer.

Beauvoir wants to confront Ruth about reposting the real video of the factory raid, but Gamache stops him. After dinner, Beauvoir asks Oddly about the pottery market and shows her photos of Tracey’s ceramics. She says his work shows promise.

Clara shows replicas of her paintings to friends, but their lukewarm responses confirm her fears. Ruth tells Gamache he did his best, and they discuss revenge versus forgiveness. Gamache says he looked up the St. Francis line Ruth gave Homer but could not find it. Ruth implies that its power lies in belief, not proof.

Walking home, the group tells Oddly that there was “malice” in her review of Clara’s work. Beauvoir reports that Oddly found Tracey’s pottery quite good, suggesting a new motive: Tracey killed Vivienne because he was on the verge of artistic success. Lacoste wonders if a scandal could be considered luck for an artist’s career. Oddly confirms that being a murder suspect could boost an artist’s sales. They theorize that Pauline Vachon orchestrated the murder to benefit from a convicted, famous artist.

In her room, Oddly posts a new article and then researches Gamache and Beauvoir online. She watches both the fake and real videos of the factory raid, shocked by the violence but more so by the tenderness between the officers. She feels revulsion at social media’s manipulation of truth and thinks of the article she just posted.

Later, Gamache shows the others Oddly’s new article, titled “All Truth with Malice in It,” about Tracey, the artist and alleged murderer. They realize they handed her the story and worry about Homer’s reaction. Gamache raises a new question: Why would Vivienne, who loved Fred, leave him behind with Tracey?

Late that night, Gamache hears Homer preparing to leave. He follows, expecting him to go to Tracey’s, but Homer instead enters St. Thomas’s chapel. Gamache sits in the back while Homer sits silently at the front. In the quiet, Gamache reflects on Oddly’s article title and suddenly sees the case in a completely new light.

At 5:20 am, Beauvoir finds Gamache awake in the living room, working. Gamache says he and Homer left the church an hour earlier, and Homer went to bed. He asks Beauvoir to call Lacoste. Across the village, another light burns in Clara’s studio, where she has had her own realization.

When Lacoste arrives, Gamache presents his theory: Suppose they were wrong, and Tracey was telling the truth. He argues their judgment was clouded by malice toward Tracey, causing them to miss the truth. He lists inconsistencies, starting with why Vivienne left Fred behind, and adding others: why she was on the bridge, why Tracey would kill her there instead of at home, and whom she was calling.

Beauvoir and Lacoste review Tracey’s statements. They notice Gamache seems uncharacteristically distracted, but he urges them to continue. If Tracey is truthful, Pauline Vachon becomes the prime suspect. They theorize Vivienne may have provoked Tracey while drunk but struggle to explain how Vachon could have lured the frightened Vivienne to the bridge.

Gamache pushes further, asking them to suppose that both Tracey and Vachon were telling the truth. He suggests that the incriminating Instagram messages were about pottery, not murder, noting that Tracey bought a new bag of clay that day. They re-evaluate the duffel bag, realizing Vivienne likely packed it months earlier as an escape bag, which explains the summer clothing. They theorize that she went to meet a lover, who killed her upon learning of her pregnancy.

Beauvoir asks why Cloutier and Cameron have not arrived. Gamache reveals that he never called them. He outlines a new theory: Cloutier wanted a relationship with Homer, but Vivienne’s close bond with her father stood in the way, giving Cloutier motive. Gamache shows them his notebook. After reading it, Beauvoir and Lacoste understand his distraction. Beauvoir says it is time to call Cloutier and Cameron.