A Great Reckoning

Amelia Choquet is an important secondary character with a key role in two major aspects of the plot: she is a significant suspect in Leduc’s murder, and the mysterious bond between her and Gamache leads to speculation and suspicion from other characters. Initially, Amelia was trapped in a cycle of poverty and isolation, forced to resort to “do[ing] the very things she’d sworn she’d never do. And worse. And with the money she’d bought cocaine. And heroin” (51). The position within the academy represented a moment of hope that “maybe she could get to the other side. And be the one with the nice suit and clean hair” (51), and reveals that Amelia is a hopeful and ambitious person despite the many obstacles she faces.

Amelia’s appearance is an important aspect of her character because it leads others to draw conclusions about her. Amelia has multiple tattoos and facial piercings: “Her ears were encased in rings. Her fingers looked like they’d been dipped in metal. It was as though this girl was encasing herself in armor” (174). Amelia’s unconventional appearance (especially for a police cadet) shows that she tries to present as someone who is tough, self-reliant, and unafraid to challenge authority. However, on the inside, Amelia is very fearful and often feels like an outcast: “She’d shown up at the Sûreté Academy the first day expecting to be turned away. Told that some mistake had been made and she didn’t belong” (47). Amelia’s feeling of not belonging leaves her vulnerable to being manipulated; she later reveals that Leduc “said [Gamache] never wanted me there, and he was the one fighting to keep me” (341). However, by the end of the novel, Amelia has become much more self-assured and confident about contributing to the police force in the future.

Serge Leduc is the villain and antagonist of the novel, although he is also the victim in the central murder mystery. Leduc is a cold and sadistic man who torments the cadets and is widely despised by other police officers and professors. He does possess a certain amount of charisma and is described as “both repellent and attractive” (62) and “radiat[ing] raw energy” (62). He is not intellectually well-regarded, with Charpentier commenting that Leduc “was a stupid man. […] better suited to be a shoe salesman” (184). Brébeuf later agrees but adds that “he was also a powerful man, I’ll give him that. A charismatic personality. Stupidity and power” (356). While Leduc’s murder is taken seriously and leads to a detailed investigation, the goal is to ensure the killer does not strike again, not to avenge his death. No one is sorry to see him gone.