Reine-Marie interrupts the interview and offers Lacoste and Cloutier the study for privacy. Beauvoir goes outside to search for Gamache. Walking toward the bridge, he sees Gamache and Cameron on the ridge and notices the dogs’ tense posture. Cameron shoves Gamache, and Beauvoir shouts and runs toward them.

After the confrontation, Gamache and Beauvoir step away from Cameron to confer. Beauvoir shows Gamache a printout of Vivienne’s bank statements: Homer had transferred $2,000 monthly into her account since last July, totaling $18,000 that remained untouched. When questioned, Homer confirms that he sent the money, saying Vivienne told him it was for the mortgage. Beauvoir theorizes that she was saving it to leave Tracey.

Lacoste asks Homer about his relationship with Cloutier. His story contradicts hers: He claims he saw her only as a friend and that she wanted more. In the incident room, the officers debate who is lying. Cloutier calls with a new report from forensic accountants: Homer took out a $20,000 mortgage loan in cash the Friday before Vivienne’s death. The team theorizes that Vivienne’s demand for more money was the final straw for Cloutier, who may have arranged to meet her. After reviewing all the evidence one last time and finding nothing new against Tracey, the officers go to question Homer.

At Gamache’s home, Reine-Marie tells them Homer went to his room over an hour ago, but Beauvoir finds it empty. They confirm that Homer is on foot since Reine-Marie has her car keys. Gamache calculates that Homer would be arriving at Tracey’s farm soon and discovers that his carving knife is missing. When Lacoste reports no answer at Tracey’s house, the team rushes out.

The team arrives at Tracey’s farm, where the two Sûreté agents on duty report no activity and no answer at the door. Beauvoir decides to break in and take Tracey into protective custody. Lacoste and the agents accompany him, while Cloutier and Cameron stay by the road. Gamache remains outside, warning an agent not to underestimate Homer.

Gamache sends Cameron to one side of the property while he walks to the other. Near the studio, he discovers boot prints leading to and from the door. Realizing Homer has already been there and Tracey is likely dead or gone, he shouts for Cloutier to tell Beauvoir to get inside and begins running toward the bridge. Cameron arrives and uses his shoulder to break down the front door. In the studio, they find footprints and a small amount of blood but no body. The deeper return prints indicate Homer carried Tracey away.

Cloutier realizes that she missed part of Gamache’s message, and he will be expecting backup at the bridge. Beauvoir deduces that Homer is taking Tracey to the bridge and sends Lacoste with Cameron and Cloutier in the car, while he and the other agents follow on foot through the woods.

Gamache follows the boot prints into the forest and finds Homer on the bridge with an unconscious Tracey slung over his shoulder. Homer backs toward the gap in the railing, clearly planning to throw Tracey into the river and follow him. Gamache sets his phone on the ground to record, though it cannot transmit from that location.

To stall Homer, Gamache asks why Vivienne did not take Fred with her or leave earlier that day. Gasping for breath, Homer says he must make amends for the pain he caused Vivienne. Gamache argues that following one terrible act with another will not balance the books, but Homer insists it is the one decent thing he can do.

Lacoste arrives by car; Beauvoir and agents arrive on foot. To stop Homer, Gamache bluffs that Tracey did not kill Vivienne. Homer stops, asking who did. Before Gamache can fabricate an answer, Cloutier steps forward and falsely confesses. She claims she arranged to meet Vivienne on the bridge to give her money, but they argued about Vivienne’s treatment of her mother, and Cloutier pushed her. As Cloutier speaks, Homer loosens his grip. Tracey regains consciousness, struggles, and kicks Homer in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.

Beauvoir lunges to grab Homer’s coat but is pulled over the edge with him. Gamache leaps after them, catching a wooden post with one hand and Beauvoir’s hand with the other. Realizing Gamache cannot hold him, Beauvoir tries to release his grip, but Gamache refuses and heaves him toward the riverbank, sending him splashing into the water near the shore. Gamache begins to fall, and Cameron catches Gamache’s arm, suspending him between the bridge and the water.

Later, at the Gamache home, Gamache and Reine-Marie embrace. Beauvoir is safe but shaken, wrapped in a blanket by the fire. It is revealed that Tracey pulled Beauvoir from the water. Lacoste reports that Homer’s body was found at the bend in the river, the same place as Vivienne's.

When Cloutier and Cameron arrive, Reine-Marie thanks Cameron for saving Gamache. Beauvoir questions Cloutier’s false confession, noting there is no record of her calling Vivienne, and states plainly that she did not kill Vivienne. Cameron assumes it was Tracey, but Gamache confirms that Tracey is innocent.

Gamache explains that Vivienne’s not taking Fred and not leaving earlier that day were crucial clues: She was planning to meet someone, get money, then return home. They realize that Homer lied about her planning to come to him. Beauvoir, who now understands, reveals the key evidence: Vivienne called only one person that day—her father.

They turn to Cloutier and ask if she “suspected,” without offering specifics. Cloutier says that she did and explains that her suspicions began just before Kathy died; her friend begged her to protect Vivienne. Since Kathy died before Tracey entered Vivienne’s life, she must’ve been referring to something else. When she saw the monthly payments from Homer to Vivienne, she realized that the money was not a gift—it was restitution.

Homer had abused Vivienne as a child. He broke up with Cloutier when the payments started in order to keep her from learning the truth. Gamache notes that on the bridge, Homer never accused Tracey of killing Vivienne, only of abusing her. Homer had convinced himself that Tracey was indirectly responsible, but the truth was that Homer himself had killed his daughter.

Vivienne confronted her father on the bridge to free herself from her abuser before her own daughter was born. Something went wrong during that confrontation, and Homer pushed or threw her from the bridge. Gamache believes Homer was genuinely sorry and asked for forgiveness that night.

In the bistro, villagers discuss the revelation that Homer killed Vivienne. That evening in Clara’s studio, Myrna, a retired psychologist, theorizes that Homer’s grief and guilt were real. She suggests that he projected his self-loathing onto Tracey, deciding that they both needed punishment, and she suggests that perhaps Homer genuinely wanted reconciliation when he agreed to meet Vivienne.

Clara struggles to reconcile Homer’s abuse with the possibility that he changed or loved his daughter. Myrna looks at Clara’s smashed miniatures, nailed to the wall as a reminder, and asks if Clara will paint a portrait of Dominica Oddly, the critic whose review derailed her career. Clara does not answer, staring at her blank canvas instead.

Gamache and Beauvoir visit Tracey. Beauvoir thanks him for saving his life, and Gamache apologizes for wrongly arresting him. Tracey is suspicious but seems to soften slightly as they watch him feed his donkeys.

A week later, Lacoste meets with Chief Superintendent Toussaint, who admonishes her for publicly supporting Gamache and tries to force her into retirement on medical grounds. Lacoste accuses Toussaint of leaking the doctored video and getting her job by agreeing not to defend Gamache.

Toussaint privately reflects that Gamache had instructed her not to defend him in order to protect her career, but she has grown to see him as a threat. Lacoste plays the video of the bridge rescue, recovered from Gamache’s phone. Toussaint is chastened by this perspective on the events of that night. Lacoste gives Toussaint an envelope containing her demand. Toussaint reacts with disbelief.

At the airport, Gamache and Reine-Marie say goodbye to Beauvoir, Annie, and Honoré as they leave for Paris. Beauvoir gives Gamache an envelope containing his recommendation for second-in-command, saying the choice was inspired by a lesson about sometimes doing something “stupid.” Armand suspects it is Bob Cameron and puts the envelope in his pocket. The two men share a heartfelt goodbye.

The next morning, villagers dismantle the sandbag wall. Led by Myrna, they walk to the bend in the river and hold a cleansing ceremony with sage and candles. In the bistro afterward, Gamache quietly confronts Ruth, showing her the social media handle that includes the word “dumbass” and accusing her of being the anonymous defender who posted the real raid video. Ruth admits that she defended him online in the past, but she denies owning that account, and Gamache believes her.

In her office, Madeleine Toussaint deletes her social media posts from the account labeled “@dumbass.” It is revealed she posted the doctored video but then posted the real video under this account as an act of contrition, defying the Premier’s orders. She now feels she and Gamache are even. She looks at a poster Gamache left behind that reads “Noli timere.”

At the bistro, Gamache shows Reine-Marie Beauvoir’s recommendation for Gamache’s second-in-command. She reads the recommended name: Isabelle Lacoste. Reine-Marie feels a sense of relief, thinking everything might be all right after all.