Glass Houses

Chief Inspector Lacoste enters the Three Pines bistro, posing as off-duty officer. She chats casually with Olivier while observing St. Thomas’s chapel, where Katie Evans was murdered. Olivier tells her two unfamiliar men are passing through and that Lea Roux and Matheo Bissonette have arrived at the bed-and-breakfast, seeming tense about the trial.

The narrative shifts to a flashback to the previous November. Gamache, prompted by the story about Prohibition-era bootlegging, theorizes there must be a hidden exit from the root cellar to explain how the murder weapon disappeared and reappeared. Jean-Guy discovers a camouflaged door behind a shelf that opens to the woods. When they show Lacoste the door, Gamache realizes the recently oiled hinges suggest ongoing use. The team speculates that the old smuggling routes are being exploited for drug trafficking.

Lab results show the bat contains Katie’s DNA, the killer’s DNA, and a small additional sample deemed incidental. The team speculates that the bat was removed and returned to plant false evidence. Gamache makes a controversial decision: to leave the hidden door unsealed and keep its existence secret even from most of their own team, reasoning that appearing incompetent will make criminals overconfident. During this time, Anton confesses to Jean-Guy that he knew the victims from university and sold Edouard the drugs that led to his death.

That evening, as Gamache walks the dogs with Lacoste, they encounter Jacqueline approaching the Gamache house. She tells them she has come to confess her role in the cobrador plot.

In the present, Lacoste watches Lea and Matheo enter the bistro and sit near the two American men, who watch her intently. She raises her glass in a friendly gesture while only pretending to drink. Excusing herself to the bathroom, she discreetly palms the cordless phone from behind the bar.

Driving toward Three Pines, Gamache receives a text from Toussaint: The assault team is ready. He calls home but reaches voicemail, leaving a cheerful message despite growing concern.

From the bistro bathroom, Lacoste phones Gamache with alarming news: the head of the American cartel is in the bistro with a bodyguard, and Reine-Marie, Annie, and Honoré are also present. Gamache concludes his family must stay, as removing them would alert the cartel. He orders Lacoste to invite Ruth to the bistro to reinforce the appearance of incompetence. Lacoste exits using a menstruation-related excuse that sends the waiting bodyguard retreating. Gamache calls Toussaint and instructs her to stick to the original plan at the border crossing. Lacoste warns Anton in the kitchen that Lea and Matheo are present and then summons Ruth by phone.

A flashback begins, showing the late-night confrontation at the bed-and-breakfast. Gamache, Jean-Guy, and Lacoste arrive with Jacqueline to face Patrick, Lea, and Matheo. Lacoste announces that Jacqueline has confessed to orchestrating the cobrador plot. Lea and Matheo explain that after a private investigator found Anton, Jacqueline contacted them for help getting a job as a nanny with his employers, and they provided references. When Anton got a job in Three Pines, they seized the opportunity, moving the reunion to late October, when shorter daylight hours would make the cobrador’s vigil possible. Matheo reveals that the four friends took turns wearing the costume to scare Anton and extract an apology for his role in Edouard Valcourt’s suicide.

Gamache points out the flaw: Anton had already confessed to Beauvoir that afternoon, making murder illogical. He then stuns everyone by arresting Jacqueline, Edouard’s sister, for Katie’s murder. Outside, Jacqueline realizes Gamache is using her as bait to make Anton believe he has gotten away with the crime. She agrees to play her part.

In the present, Lacoste understands that if violence erupts in this border village, the cartels will make a brutal example of Three Pines and Gamache’s family.

As they enter Three Pines, Gamache removes his gun, locks it in the glove compartment with the bullets, and takes out a hunter’s Swiss Army knife instead, explaining that Reine-Marie and Annie would notice a gun.

They enter the bistro to Ruth’s loud insults, which Jean-Guy recognizes as part of the performance. The American cartel members watch them openly. Gamache approaches their table with disarming friendliness, borrows two empty chairs, and recommends a dish, playing the oblivious local official. He removes his jacket, clearly displaying that he is unarmed.

Watching children play on the village green, Gamache sees the young American cartel head’s reflection superimposed on a boy riding a bicycle in the window glass. Annie, Reine-Marie, and the other women leave to prepare dinner. Lacoste drives away. Gamache and Jean-Guy exchange tense goodbyes with their families, unable to warn them of the danger.

Ruth announces that Lea visited earlier to inform her she is being made a chevalier of the ordre du Québec. Anton emerges from the kitchen and gives the Americans a recipe he wrote down for them before reluctantly sitting at their table under pressure. Lea stares at Gamache with hostility; he holds her gaze and smiles.

Jean-Guy senses an extreme calm radiating from Gamache and realizes the long war against the cartel will end that night.

In the woods, Lacoste equips herself with assault gear and calls her family to say goodnight. She receives a text with news that jolts her: The package has left the church and is heading to the village, contradicting their intelligence that the exchange would happen at the border. She abandons her post and sprints back toward Three Pines.

In the bistro, two large men enter carrying doll crates stained red, suggesting the couriers were killed. Lacoste enters through the bookstore’s connecting door and realizes Anton looks feral, not a victim but an equal player in what has become a hostile takeover. Gamache begins to usher Ruth toward the exit and asks for the bill, inadvertently repositioning people. From her concealed position, Lacoste aims her rifle but cannot get a clear shot. Jean-Guy rises with Ruth’s duck, Rosa, drawing laughter from the guards, as Ruth loudly insults him.

Marchand puts a gun to Lacoste’s head from behind and pushes her into the room. A gunfight erupts. Lacoste throws herself backward into Marchand as Gamache launches himself at the nearest American guard, stabbing him with his knife. Jean-Guy shoots the second guard. In the chaos, Anton viciously kicks a stunned Gamache, who manages to grab the dying guard’s weapon and shoot Marchand just as he aims Lacoste’s rifle. Anton escapes out the back door, pursued by the American cartel head and his lieutenant.

Ruth crawls to protect Rosa and only then realizes Lacoste is badly injured nearby. Outside, Reine-Marie, Myrna, and Clara arm themselves with fireplace tools and run toward the gunfire, herding terrified children to safety before continuing to the bistro.

Gamache and Jean-Guy pursue the three men into the woods, splitting up to herd them toward the border. Toussaint, hearing gunfire, diverts her team to the village but then realizes what Gamache intended and races back toward the border. Meanwhile, Anton realizes he is being driven into a trap and stops to fight, grazing Jean-Guy’s leg. As Anton focuses on the approaching Americans, Jean-Guy circles behind and puts a gun to his head.

At the border, rival cartel soldiers open fire on each other. The American cartel head breaks free and crosses into the United States. Gamache pursues him across the border. The American turns and fires as Gamache falls; Gamache drops to one knee and returns fire, killing him.

One week after the shootout, Gamache and Judge Corriveau meet with the premier of Québec. Gamache reports that Lacoste remains in a medically induced coma. The premier, who has reviewed Lacoste’s helmet-camera footage, asks Gamache to explain everything. When questioned about killing the American across the border, Gamache admits he believes he was in US territory and would have done it anyway. The premier remarks that it is a shame Anton survived.

A flashback reveals the full story. Days after the shootout, Judge Corriveau and Barry Zalmanowitz visit Gamache’s apartment. Gamache explains that Katie Evans’s murder originated with Edouard Valcourt’s death by suicide at university, caused by drugs supplied by Anton Boucher, nephew of Hell’s Angels leader Maurice Boucher. Anton consolidated power through connections with Antonio Ruiz to exploit the opioid crisis.

Gamache reveals his secret alliance with Zalmanowitz, begun at the meeting in Halifax, where he asked the chief crown prosecutor to suppress evidence so Anton would believe the Sûreté was incompetent. He then discloses something he kept from Zalmanowitz and the court: It was Jacqueline, not Anton, who killed Katie. Gamache explains he withheld this because he could not be certain the Crown’s office was not compromised. Gamache reveals that Jacqueline learned about the hidden smugglers’ door by spying on Anton and used it to remove and return the murder weapon. Her plan was to kill Katie and frame Anton, the two people she blamed for Edouard’s death.

In the present, Judge Corriveau initially denies knowledge of the scheme in an effort to protect Gamache but then admits she suspected perjury and allowed it to proceed because she trusted their motives. The premier suspends Gamache and Jean-Guy pending investigation and appoints Toussaint acting head of the Sûreté. He tells Judge Corriveau there will be no professional consequences for her. The premier expresses regret and promises a fair investigation.

Clara hangs her new portrait series in the repaired bistro to cover the bullet holes. The paintings appear unfinished, their details blurred. When the villagers gather, Ruth is the first to inspect them closely and kisses Clara on the cheek. One by one, the others discover the secret: In the eyes of each subject is a tiny, perfect reflection of someone they love. In Rosa’s “haughty eyes” is Ruth, offering her a “nest” of sheets. The portraits capture intimate moments of love and connection.

Gamache calls Jean-Guy with the outcome of the premier’s meeting, confirming their suspensions but expressing determination to find the missing fentanyl shipment. A flashback shows the aftermath: Jean-Guy and Gamache stumbling back to the village, finding Lacoste being loaded into an ambulance with Ruth beside her. Ruth quietly tells Gamache that Lacoste has always been like a child to him, insisting he go with her. In the ambulance, Gamache sits at Lacoste’s head and whispers to her throughout the journey that she is loved, brave, and strong, that she saved them all, and that her family loves her.

In the present, Gamache goes to the hospital and finds Lacoste’s husband, Robert, reading aloud. Robert reports improved brain activity and shows Gamache the book Lacoste had asked about that night: Pinocchio. Gamache takes over, sitting beside Lacoste’s bed. Holding her hand, he continues to whisper encouragement. He then picks up the book and begins reading the story of a wooden boy and the conscience that would make him human.