A Great Reckoning

Gamache and Reine-Marie sit in the chapel, and Gamache reminisces about the loss of his parents. He reflects on how Brébeuf supported him during this experience: “Brébeuf never left me. Never went to find more fun friends” (292). Reine-Marie tentatively brings up a question about why Gamache is so protective of Amelia, but before they can discuss it, Olivier comes to interrupt him. He is concerned because he thinks Gélinas is determined to find Gamache guilty of Leduc’s murder. Jean-Guy and Lacoste arrive soon afterward. Jean-Guy shares that the interview with Amelia revealed little other than that she rejected Leduc’s advances. He and Lacoste also bring up the confusion around Elizabeth Coldbrook Clairton’s surname. The investigation seems to be stalling.

Jean-Guy and Lacoste return to the academy, but Gélinas asks to spend the night with Gamache and Reine-Marie. Reine-Marie is shocked that her husband would agree, given how Gélinas has recently behaved. Before dinner, Gamache and Gélinas take a walk, and Gélinas shares his reflections on why he thinks Gamache might have killed Leduc and felt justified in doing so, suggesting that Gamache found “a fortunate opportunity. You saw a chance and you took it” (300). Gélinas also hints that he knows about some secret connection between Gamache and Amelia. Later, Reine-Marie and Gamache ask Ruth to identify the spot on the map where Roof Trusses/Notre-Dame-de-Doleur used to be; Nathaniel also watches and makes note of the spot Ruth identifies.

The next day, the cadets go to the spot Ruth has indicated, but it is simply a barren field, and they quickly become frustrated and leave. However, after speaking with Ruth and thinking more, Amelia and Nathaniel return. Bergeron has also confirmed the coordinates for this spot as the location of the former village. After wandering around the site, they locate the cemetery associated with the village.

Meanwhile, Reine-Marie has become curious about why the local historical society and archives do not seem to have any material related to World War I. She begins to investigate, learning that these materials were relocated for an exhibit and then misplaced. With Myrna and Clara’s help, she tries to track them down.

Back at the academy, Jean-Guy is becoming increasingly confused and feeling shut out by Gamache. He wants to know why Gamache has a connection to Amelia and made a special effort to get her admitted to the academy. He is worried that Gamache will be arrested if they don’t find the true killer soon. Gamache is calm and will only say that he has a suspect in mind and that the fingerprints on the revolver are key. Gamache reassures Jean-Guy that “I’m not panicked. [Gélinas] has his plans and I have mine” (315). Gamache also shares that Gélinas will be coming back to Three Pines with him again that night.

Reine-Marie has located the World War I materials and begins to pore through them with the help of Clara, Myrna, Ruth, and Gabri. She is struck by one photo of a proud mother with her two young sons in uniform, clearly taken in Three Pines. They have been identified as Joe and Norm Valois; both are named in the stained-glass window, along with another man named Pierre. All three of the woman’s sons (two in the photo and one not pictured) were killed.

Gamache and Gélinas reunite with the cadets, who are eager to tell them about their visit to the site of the lost village. Nathaniel and Amelia confirm that there is no grave for Turcotte in the cemetery, even though he is supposed to have been buried there.

At his home, Jean-Guy confides to his wife Annie his worries about Gamache (her father). He even asks if it is possible that Amelia could be Gamache’s illegitimate daughter, which Annie flatly denies. She insists that “my father is as human as the next man, and he has his weaknesses […]. He would never, ever betray my mother” (323). She is, however, concerned about Gélinas’s seeming belief in her father’s guilt and urges Jean-Guy to go to Three Pines and join them.

As Jean-Guy drives toward Three Pines, he ponders Gamache’s comments that the key to the case lay in the prints. It dawns on him that while very few people would have the skill to deliberately place partial prints on a weapon, the academy is home to those who would, home to people who possess “patience, and timing and nerve” (328). Professor Charpentier immediately comes to mind.

After dinner at the Gamache household, the cadets, villagers, and officers gather to watch a movie together. Olivier slips off to watch something else alone; the discussion of Elizabeth Coldbrook-Clairton reminded him of the film The Deer Hunter, which is set in the town of Clairton, Pennsylvania, and he begins to rewatch it. Gamache catches a glimpse of Olivier’s screen during the scene in which Robert De Niro plays Russian roulette with a loaded revolver and suddenly gains a new understanding of the case.

Late that night, just as Gamache is locking up for the night, Jean-Guy arrives. Gamache explains that he thinks he has found the motive; he wants Jean-Guy to call Elizabeth back and press her for more information about the name Clairton. Gamache tells Jean-Guy to mention The Deer Hunter but won’t provide any context about why. He insists that “she has to come up with it on her own. I don’t want you to lead her more than that” (333). Jean-Guy shares his theory that Charpentier is skilled enough to have planted Gamache’s partial prints on the gun, and Gamache concedes that this is correct. They speculate about why Charpentier might have wanted to kill Leduc and then frame Gamache for the murder.

A few hours later, Jean-Guy speaks with Elizabeth on the phone; at first, she is evasive, but she refers to a specific scene when he mentions The Deer Hunter. Jean-Guy hasn’t seen the film, but he pretends to know what Elizabeth is talking about. She explains that she could be fired for saying or implying that a revolver had been used for this specific act, but given what Jean-Guy had shared, all the clues seemed to fit, and she wanted to warn him. As they speak, Jean-Guy realizes what she is referring to: the game of Russian roulette, in which a revolver with a single bullet placed in the chamber is fired; depending on how the cylinder was spun, the gun may or may not fire. A famous scene in The Deer Hunter features this game.

Jean-Guy finds Gamache and confirms what he has learned. The two men reflect on the horrifying reality that Leduc was forcing cadets to play Russian roulette; it seems that this was the motive for the crime and that whoever killed him then tried to frame Gamache by placing the prints on the gun.

The next morning, Gamache and Jean-Guy gather the cadets in the chapel. Gamache tells them that he knows what Leduc was forcing them to do. He also confides to them about the terrible experience of the factory raid, in which three agents were killed, and how therapy helped him to heal afterward. He admits that he thought that by keeping Leduc around, he was gathering evidence to eventually put him in prison and that he falsely believed he could keep Leduc under control. While the other three confess to how shameful and traumatic they found Leduc’s practices, Jacques stubbornly insists that the game strengthened him and was good for him. Jacques claims that Leduc “toughened me up. Got me ready for my job as a Sûreté agent […]. He chose the most promising agents and made them even tougher” (342).

Gélinas joins them, shocked by what has been revealed but still convinced that Gamache committed the crime out of vengeance. He tells Jean-Guy that he is going to arrest Gamache the next day.

Gamache meets Charpentier at the academy to speak with him. Charpentier shares what he has gradually deduced: one of Gamache’s key goals in coming to the academy was to secure proof of Leduc’s corruption, and Gamache made sure that Leduc knew he was on to him. Leduc became increasingly worried and contacted his partner in the corruption; flushing out this partner had been Gamache’s plan all along because he knew that Leduc could not have been acting alone. Gamache suspected that Gélinas was Leduc’s partner, so he requested him and hesitated to trust him with some key investigation details. However, Charpentier guesses that Gélinas could have been a distraction, designed to lure the true partner into thinking that Gamache was misled. Gamache insists that Leduc’s death is related to his sadistic torment of the cadets, arguing that “someone knew. And someone killed him for it” (353).

Meanwhile, Gélinas is trying to track down Gamache to arrest him. He asks Lacoste for Gamache’s whereabouts. Lacoste explains that she now knows that Gamache specifically requested Gélinas’s participation in the investigation; she also shows something to Gélinas that makes him very uncomfortable. Gélinas rushes off.

Immediately after leaving Charpentier, Gamache goes to Brébeuf’s rooms. He confronts him, and Brébeuf readily admits that he killed Leduc. Brébeuf offers his version of events: as soon as he arrived at the academy, Leduc tried to bond with him because he wrongly assumed that Brébeuf would hate Gamache for uncovering the corruption and ruining his career. Brébeuf encouraged the friendship, partly because he was lonely and liked the attention. Leduc showed Brébeuf the revolver and told Brébeuf what he had been doing to the cadets.

After learning about the horrible game, Brébeuf went to see Gamache, intending to tell him what he knew. However, Brébeuf misinterpreted Gamache’s comment about staying on his own side of the road and decided that Gamache already knew what was happening or was close to discovering it. Brébeuf concluded that when Gamache understood the full scope of Leduc’s abuse, Gamache would kill Leduc. Brébeuf wanted to atone for the betrayal of his beloved friend, so he decided to kill Leduc himself. As Brébeuf explains, “I did it for you. I owed you that” (361).

As they continue to talk, Brébeuf makes drinks for himself and Gamache. He also has a pistol, and Gamache tries to take it from him. Meanwhile, Lacoste arrests Gélinas for partnering with Leduc in contract fixing and other types of corruption. Gélinas admits that he panicked when he learned that Gamache was investigating Leduc; he even considered killing Leduc himself, but fortunately, someone else got there first.

Jean-Guy finds Jacques sitting alone in Leduc’s former rooms, holding a gun. The other cadets have noticed Jacques’s absence but have not been able to find him anywhere. Jacques confides about his deep love and admiration for Leduc, while Jean-Guy shares his own story about how he initially disliked and distrusted Gamache until he learned that Gamache offered a better version of what justice and service could mean. Jean-Guy urges Jacques to choose hope and believe in kindness, arguing that “the world is a cruel place but it’s also filled with more goodness than we ever realized” (367).

Brébeuf and Gamache continue their conversation. Gamache concludes that while he initially suspected Charpentier of placing the partial prints on the gun, he realized that since Brébeuf was Charpentier’s teacher, he also would have the skill to do so. However, Gamache wants to know why Brébeuf would implicate Gamache in the crime if he had been acting in service to him. He also wants to know about the map. Brébeuf explains further: when he first met Amelia Choquet, he wondered why she was at the academy. Finally, he figured out the connection between Amelia and Gamache and concluded that Gamache had brought her to the academy to finally execute justice. Brébeuf hatched a seemingly perfect plan: he would kill Leduc (achieving one of Gamache’s desires) and then frame Amelia for the murder (achieving another as well). Brébeuf put partial prints for both Gamache and Amelia on the gun to ensure she was only subtly implicated and placed her copy of the map in Leduc’s drawer. Gamache points out that Brébeuf got one key thing wrong: he didn’t want to make Amelia suffer, and he brought her to the academy in a gesture of generosity and grace.

Gamache tries to assure Brébeuf that he will help him as much as possible, but Brébeuf cannot face the idea of going to prison for Leduc’s murder. While Gamache pleads with him to stop, Brébeuf shoots and kills himself. Nearby, Jean-Guy and Jacques hear the gunshot, and Jean-Guy rushes to Brébeuf’s rooms.

The narrative resumes more than a year later. The Three Pines community has gathered in the chapel to celebrate the baptism of Jean-Guy and Annie’s son, Honoré, named after Gamache’s father. The four cadets also attend; they had celebrated a graduation ceremony at the academy the day before. Gamache had addressed the crowd, alluding to the tragic events at the academy but also celebrating a new era that has been ushered in.

Afterward, everyone gathers for a party on the village green. Gamache shares with Reine-Marie something he noticed during the ceremony: one of the soldiers in the stained-glass window is pointing towards another stained-glass window, this one a more traditional rose window. However, upon close inspection, the rose window is a compass, and it seems to be pointing toward something.

The next day, the cadets, along with Gamache, Reine-Marie, Clara, Myrna, Olivier, and Gabri, use a compass and the orienteering map to try to reach the landmarks. It leads them to the cemetery of the former Roof Truss/Notre-Dame-de-Doleur village, and on one of the tombstones, Nathaniel finds another compass rose. However, the tombstone marks the grave of a woman named Marie Valois, the mother of three sons. All three of her sons are listed on the window as fallen soldiers.

With this new information, the cadets return to the records office. A woman named Marie Turcotte married a man named Frederick Valois and had three sons. Frederick Valois was a mapmaker, but he died young. Marie Valois rented the bistro and lived there with her sons. During World War I, all three of them were killed on the same day, at the battle of the Somme. Afterward, Marie Valois fled to the nearby village of Roof Trusses, although she left many of her possessions at the bistro, intending to return. She left behind the map, and the elaborate orienteering set up of the map, stained glass window, and compass rose to guide her sons to Roof Trusses if they ever came back.

All along, Antony Turcotte has been a pseudonym adopted by Marie Valois so that she could work at a time when it was not encouraged for women to have professions. This explains why he is such a mysterious figure. It also explains why Three Pines is not featured on any maps: she could not bear to document the site of so much grief. Instead, she tried to “eras[e] the village, as though she could erase her grief” (385). Her relocation also explains why Roof Trusses was renamed in honor of her grief and pain.

The next day, accompanied by Reine-Marie, Gamache buries a box containing a police report. The report documents the accident that killed his parents more than 50 years ago: it names the drunk driver, who is Robert Choquet, Amelia’s father. Gamache has known this information about Amelia all along.