A Trick of the Light

An exhausted Clara confronts Denis Fortin at her home. Fortin asks for forgiveness and hopes she will reconsider their professional relationship.

Gamache goes with Beauvoir to the B&B, as the younger agent explains he has discovered another interview they can conduct. They ask the other guests to give them space to speak with Suzanne, who did not report she was working as a waitress during Clara’s party. Suzanne insists she had no idea Lilian was also there, adding, “I knew I had to tell you the truth. I was just getting my courage up” (258). Gamache asks Suzanne about her beginner’s AA chip and becomes more suspicious of her when she claims not to know who has it.

Beauvoir now believes Suzanne told Lillian about the party and lured her there to kill her. Gamache agrees it is possible, especially if the two met in the garden, but he struggles to imagine what would motivate Suzanne to kill. Gamache and Beauvoir overhear Clara talking, and she explains that the Dysons furiously accused her of murder.

Gamache returns to Montréal to speak with a colleague, a member of the force who is an art expert. Thérèse Brunel, who first appeared in The Brutal Telling, is a former museum curator and art expert. Gamache hopes she can assess Lillian’s art.

Thérèse Brunel tells Gamache she suspected the artist was a murder victim, as “whoever painted these would not kill […] whoever painted this was content’” (266). Thérèse notes that Fortin is ambitious and would be eager to sign a new artist to make up for his failure with Clara. Castonguay’s standing is also precarious. Brunel finds a surprising similarity between Lillian’s art and Clara’s—both are fundamentally optimistic. Thérèse does not recall who wrote the scathing review, though she teases Gamache that perhaps he has mistaken the gender of the artist.

Gamache then asks Brunel about Pineault, and she says he is respected but there are rumors about his alcohol dependency after the death of a grandchild. The convivial atmosphere turns cold when Gamache tells Brunel he wants to know who she believes leaked the video of the warehouse shooting.

Gamache decides to confide in the Brunels, knowing that he can trust them and wanting to protect his younger colleagues. Jérôme Brunel is also a close friend who enjoys helping with cases. The Brunels reluctantly agree that the investigation was shoddy, likely meant to conceal that the leaker was another agent. Gamache suspects his longtime rival, Chief Superintendent Sylvain Francoeur. Thérèse’s husband points out that the video makes Gamache look heroic, so he asks Jérôme what would pain him more, “being falsely accused or falsely praised? Especially when there was so much pain and so little to praise’” (272).

Elsewhere in the city, Isabelle Lacoste and a small team of agents are combing the microfiche archives of La Presse looking at Lillian’s reviews. An investigator finds the review in question, and Lacoste returns to Three Pines, “certain that in her car she carried a conviction” (224).

Peter, despondent, reads the Bible after Clara goes to find Myrna, seeking her comfort rather than his. He is reminded that he is named for an apostle and the founder of the early Christian church, but that Peter also sometimes lacked faith.

Lacoste goes to bring in Suzanne for questioning: She is the subject of the infamous review. Pineault and Brian arrive to support her. Gamache takes Pineault aside and says he must choose whether to be there as an AA member or as a lawyer. Pineault chooses his AA role, and when he senses Gamache’s surprise, says, “I’m here to guard against her addiction. You can guard her rights” (279).

Brian tells them that Suzanne had already planned to tell the truth. Gamache finds his apparent closeness to Pineault disturbing, as if it implies a danger to his career. Suzanne explains that she was only furious with Lillian while she still had an active alcohol dependency. When they met again, she found herself able to accept Lillian’s contrition. Suzanne suspects Lillian was apologizing to other artists she targeted.

Gamache tells a dismayed Lacoste that she needs to return to the archives. Someone else they know, or the Morrows do, may have been the subject of a review. Gamache is not sure Suzanne is innocent, but points out that she is actively working on her flaws in recovery and still struggles with Lillian’s legacy. He imagines others without this background are also potential killers.

Beauvoir, alone in the bathroom of his room at the B&B, takes in his gray hair and tired face. He feels increasingly unworthy of Annie and takes another pill. Alone in the old train station, he watches the video and notices that after he is shot, Gamache leaves him. This turns his guilt to furious resentment.

That same night, Gamache has trouble sleeping and sees a light on in the old railway station. There, he finds Beauvoir watching the video and confronts him. Beauvoir is angry, arguing that Gamache likes appearing heroic, declaring spitefully, “you’re no better than the hacker. You don’t care about us, about any of us” (289).

Gamache confronts the unwelcome realization he nearly struck his protege, knowing that only Beauvoir could have broken his usual calm. He fears telling Beauvoir he is looking for the hacker, wanting to keep him safe. He grieves how much Beauvoir is still suffering.

Gamache stays awake and tries to research Chief Justice Pineault, to find out more about his personal history, especially his alcohol dependency and his grandchild’s death.

Lacoste continues her search in the archives, increasingly certain the motive for Lillian’s death is deep in the past. She finds another brutal review Lillian Dyson wrote, and feels that she is “watching someone die. For that’s what the review was meant to do. Kill a career. Kill the artist inside the person” (296). She prepares to bring the evidence back to Gamache.

Gamache knocks on Beauvoir’s door and finds him still asleep. Nearby, Gamache finds the evidence that Beauvoir is taking OxyContin regularly. Gamache manages to wake Beauvoir, who remembers nothing of their confrontation. Beauvoir protests that his doctor is monitoring his narcotic use. Gamache orders him back to counseling, and possibly more intervention. He says gently, “I know how smart and brave you are. And you need to be brave now […] you need to get help to get better” (300). Beauvoir agrees but still remembers the images of Gamache leaving him in the factory. He secretly takes another pill.

Gamache has breakfast with his team and reads the review Lacoste brought him. He goes to confront Olivier, who tells him that his contrition does not erase his suffering. He asks Olivier if the guest list for the party was distributed in advance, and Olivier explains that it was, which proves the killer had some time to infiltrate the event. Turning back to their history, Gamache asks Olivier, “do you think we’ve ended up in the same cell?” (303).

Clara finds Gamache and invites him, Lacoste, and Beauvoir to dinner, using the French phrase “en famille” to signal that it will be for close associates and informal.

Later that evening, Gamache finds the visiting artists and gallery owners are also present. Brian and Thierry Pineault are deep in conversation with Castonguay, who is insulting them. The group briefly discusses how everyone has come in threes—three art buyers, three detectives, and three members of AA. Castonguay grows increasingly surly, dampening the conviviality.