A World of Curiosities

Gamache immediately alerts prison officials and orders them to search the prison for Fleming. Confusion breaks out, as no one initially believes him. The head guard has been in charge for more than two years; he started the job when the previous guard left abruptly. He agrees to help Gamache because he is aware of how heinous Fleming’s crimes were. The investigation is further complicated by the fact that Fleming’s file has been replaced with a fake file containing photos and prints for the man impersonating him.

The warden refuses to cooperate, claiming there is no way Fleming could have gotten out, and Gamache eventually becomes enraged and physically threatens the warden: during this confrontation, Gamache is “practically screaming. Shaking with fury and on the verge of tears” (274). Jean-Guy drags him off, and the warden is arrested for conspiring in Fleming’s escape. Gamache heads back to Three Pines, frantically trying to reach Reine-Marie. Knowing that Fleming has been free for years leaves him terrified that his wife could be in danger.

In England, Reine-Marie and Amelia have arrived at the Norwich Castle Museum, where The Paston Treasure is kept. A museum volunteer named Cecil Clarke shows Reine-Marie and Amelia a list of the people who attended the art exhibition for which a ticket was found in Godin’s home. It includes someone named Lillian Mountweazel, who, according to Clarke, had returned to the museum a few months ago. After the second visit, she told museum staff that she had lost an old letter that was a family heirloom and asked if they could mail it to her if they found it. Sure enough, the letter was located in the museum lost and found, and mailed back.

In Three Pines, Gamache has summoned Agent Hardye Moel. He confides that Fleming has escaped from prison and reveals what led him to rush to the prison: He noticed that within the painting, there were seven individuals, each painted with the face of one of Fleming’s victims. Gamache also explains why he thinks Fleming is targeting him: Years ago, Gamache had urgently needed Fleming’s help with another case involving plans for weapons of mass destruction, so he lied and told Fleming he would let him go in exchange for his help. At the last minute, Gamache reneged on the agreement, and Fleming was enraged to realize that he was not going to be released. Thinking back to that moment, Gamache “could still hear the screams, unholy shrieks, like some wraith being burned alive, as Fleming was dragged back into the hellhole” (281).

Gamache confides to Agent Moel that he is terrified that Fleming will hurt his family. Moel points out that if Fleming is trying to torment Gamache, he is likely hiding somewhere nearby. She wonders whether Fleming could also be working in partnership with someone, and she and Gamache both wonder about Fiona and Sam. Moel also agrees with Gamache that Sam is dangerous and unstable. Gamache reaches Reine-Marie, and as he tells her that Fleming is on the loose and describes him, Reine-Marie realizes that Cecil Clarke matches this description. Gamache tells Reine-Marie and Amelia to return to Canada immediately. (Later, he realizes that Clarke is not Fleming.)

As Gamache and Jean-Guy decide to move their families to a cabin in a secluded location, where they can be kept safe, Gamache gets an update that the shorthand has been decoded and that the symbols reveal the same phrase in multiple different languages: I’m coming for you.

Gamache and Jean-Guy discuss individuals who might be Fleming in disguise; it seems likely that he is lurking somewhere nearby. The woman who has gone by the name Lilllian Mountweazel and is involved in his plan poses an additional threat. Gamache also notices that the caretaker of the local church, Claude Boisfranc, resembles Fleming and questions him. Other members of the community break the news to Gamache that Sylvie, the wife of the minister, Robert Mongeau, died the previous night.

Meanwhile, Sam and Harriet go on a hike together and end up at an isolated lookout point in the woods near Three Pines. Reine-Marie hears from Cecil Clarke that strange markings have been noticed on the clockface depicted in The Paston Treasure; someone has meddled with the painting.

Gamache meets with a grief-stricken Mongeau, who explains that Sylvie passed away unexpectedly in her sleep. Gamache is startled when Mongeau mentions that Claude Boisfranc sometimes helps out at his home, as well as the church; he asks more questions about the man. Mongeau explains that he hired Claude several years earlier, on the suggestion of the Mountweazel woman staying at the local inn, who had overheard him mentioning that he needed a caretaker.

Gamache is growing increasingly suspicious of Claude, and his questions prompt Mongeau to realize that Gamache thinks that Sylvie’s death may be suspicious. Mongeau is insistent that Sylvie simply died of the cancer she was battling, but Gamache explains that he is going to order an examination of her body: “I am deeply, deeply sorry, but if someone did something to Sylvie, we need to know” (306). He also wants to see the clock that was delivered to their house the previous day, a few hours before Sylvie died.

Gamache by now has become suspicious even of Mongeau himself; he contacts the local bishop to ask questions about how Robert and Sylvie Mongeau ended up in Three Pines. The bishop explains that Sylvie, who was already ill, requested they be assigned to a church in a small, quiet community and mentioned that a woman she knew had suggested Three Pines.

Gamache and Jean-Guy discuss any clues they can find about Fleming. Jean-Guy has obtained a list from the prison, dictated by Fleming, of all the places Fleming had lived and how long he lived there. They include a brief stint in the same town as Clotilde Arsenault at the time she was murdered. Gamache is shocked, because this chronology differs the one he has in his own files; he wonders if Fleming fabricated this timeline in order to taunt or mislead them. However, if this timeline is accurate, based on Fiona’s age, Fleming could potentially be Fiona’s biological father. Gamache fears that, as many people have warned him, he has been overlooking Fiona’s true, evil, nature.

As they continue to speak, Gamache suddenly has a flash of insight about the iron ring he found in his basement: One of the people Fleming murdered, Connor McNee, may have been an engineer. If so, Fleming could have taken Connor’s iron ring after murdering him and could have been the one to leave it in the basement. Gamache puts in a request to confirm if the ring was awarded to Connor; he also hears back about the symbols found on the clock in the real Paston Treasure: they are also shorthand and spell out “Time’s Up.”

Gamache receives confirmation that Connor McNee was an engineer and that the iron ring had been awarded to him. Gamache is now more panicked than ever: Fleming “could go anywhere. Do anything. He could get deep in Gamache’s home, into his life, and Armand could not stop him” (315). Gamache decides that they should arrest Monsieur Godin in case he is Fleming. Godin, however, is not at the house, and they initiate search for him. Gamache heads back to the church intending to arrest Claude for the same reason; when he arrives, he finds Mongeau slumped in a pew, bleeding from a head wound. Gamache and other members of the community rush him to the hospital for treatment; Gamache then goes to the forensics team and asks them to check DNA samples from Fiona, Godin, and Boisfranc. It seems clear to him and Jean-Guy that either Godin or Claude must be Fleming in disguise, but neither man can be located. Gamache also wants to confirm if Fiona is Fleming’s biological daughter.

The preliminary DNA results indicate that Fiona is likely not related to Godin; however, the sample of Claude’s DNA that Gamache provided is cross-contaminated with multiple different DNA sources. Gamache learns that Robert Mongeau’s wound contained fragments of brick. Mongeau has no memory of who struck him. Knowing that whoever struck him might try again, Gamache brings Mongeau back to Gamache’s own home. He also ensures that as soon as Reine-Marie’s plane lands in Canada, she and Agent Amelia Choquet go directly to the cabin for protection along with the rest of the family.

Myrna has not heard from Harriet for some time, and given the tense atmosphere in the village, she is growing worried, but Fiona tells her that Harriet and Sam were seen returning to the inn where Sam is staying, reassuring her. In fact, Harriet has been struck on the head and knocked unconscious in the woods. She comes to consciousness tied to a tree.

Gamache and Jean-Guy are surprised and angry when Agent Amelia Choquet turns up the Gamache household; Gamache explicitly told her to accompany Reine-Marie to the cabin and focus on keeping her safe. However, Reine-Marie told Amelia to go back to Three Pines to keep Gamache safe. Gamache is angry with her, but is distracted when he sees Sam and Fiona heading toward the town restaurant. He leaves Jean-Guy in the house with Mongeau while he and Amelia head to the restaurant. They arrive just in time to see Myrna confront Sam, demanding to know where Harriet is. Sam responds calmly that Harriet is safely back at the inn and still angry with her aunt. To reassure Myrna, Gamache offers to run a location trace on Harriet’s phone.

Gamache is also still wondering about DNA; he has a theory that Fleming may have deliberately constructed the chronology of his locations in order to imply that he is Fiona’s father, when he is actually the father of Sam. Gamache arranges to get DNA samples from both Fiona and Sam. While he waits on the results, Gamache confronts Amelia about her choice to disobey his orders and return to Three Pines. He rebukes her and tells her to “leave here immediately. You will stay away until recalled” (334).

Meanwhile, Harriet has freed herself and is trying to find her way through the woods back to the village. At the same time, while Jean-Guy is distracted caring for Mongeau, Fiona sneaks Sam into the Gamache house.

Gamache comes home and reunites with Jean-Guy; the men are aware that Fiona is back, but not that Sam is also in the house. They are suspicious of her. Gamache also receives word confirming that Harriet’s phone is at the inn, which reassures both him and Myrna. Unbeknownst to them, Sam is lurking in the basement, plotting his attack on Gamache before returning to the woods to kill Harriet. Sam looks forward eagerly to “remov[ing] the knife and strik[ing] again. And again. Feeling the breath, the life, leave” (341). Amelia has also followed the orders that Gamache secretly conveyed to her via code while they seemed to be arguing: She has brought samples from Fiona, Sam, and Claude Boisfranc to the forensics team for analysis.

As the night gets later, Gamache realizes that one of his dogs has gone to the basement and goes down to get him. Sam hides, but also plans to attack if Gamache sees him. However, Gamache goes back upstairs with the dog without catching sight of Sam. He receives a message confirming DNA results: Fiona is clearly the biological daughter of Claude Boisfranc, which seems to confirm that Boisfranc is Fleming. (Sam’s DNA is unrelated to either Godin or Boisfranc.) Gamache goes back to the investigation headquarters to look at the painting one more time.

Agent Amelia Choquet is making her way back to the village when she hears a cry from the woods; she goes to investigate and runs into Harriet, who has been running in terror through the dark. Nearby, Amelia and Harriet discover that the mutilated body of Claude Boisfranc is hanging from a tree. Amelia realizes that Gamache is wrong about Fleming’s identity, and in great danger. However, deep in the woods, Amelia has no cell signal, so she and Harriet hurry together on foot.

Alone at the investigation headquarters, Gamache has surmised that something eventful is going to happen at 11:30; he has noticed that all the clocks in the painting are shown set to that time, as is the clock that was sent to the Mongeau household. As the time draws closer, Robert Mongeau shows up, holding Reine-Marie at knife point; Mongeau has now removed his disguise, and now Fleming’s “manic energy, the hatred, filled the space, threatening to blow out the windows” (347).

Gamache is able to send one text to his team; however, he knows that in order for Mongeau to escape from the Gamache house (where he had been resting from his head injury), he must have hurt or even killed Jean-Guy. Fleming boasts about his plan to Gamache, explaining that he was able to conceal his identity because Gamache would not be suspicious of a man who loved his wife. When Fleming arranged to have Sam strike him on the head, he further won Gamache’s trust, since Gamache would show compassion to someone injured. Fleming also talks about how, in prison, he spent years meticulously crafting the painting and planning his revenge. Fleming orders Gamache to walk back to his house, while he follows, still holding Reine-Marie at knifepoint.

Back at the house, Jean-Guy is tied up; he has been struck in the head. Sam is holding him at gunpoint, and Fiona is there as well. Fleming confirms that Fiona is his daughter, and while Sam is not his son, he’s also been a part of Fleming’s plans. Fleming also alludes to how he intends to track down and harm Gamache’s children and grandchildren (thus including Jean-Guy’s wife and children). Sylvie has been part of Fleming’s plans for years; she visited him in prison and posed as Lillian Mountweazel. Fleming killed her when he began to suspect that she might be going to confide the truth to Myrna. Gamache knows that Fleming will not begin the killing until precisely 11:30 (commemorating the time when Fleming was forced back into prison), so he tries desperately to think about how to get free and save his wife.

Amelia is still rushing through the woods: She has deduced that Mongeau/Fleming tricked them all in order to conceal his identity. To obtain a DNA sample for Boisfranc, they took a cup from his bedroom; however, Mongeau/Fleming had replaced the cup with one containing his own DNA. This resulted in tests that seemed to confirm the relationship between Boisfranc and Fiona, but really revealed the relationship between Mongeau/Fleming and Fiona. Getting closer to the village, Amelia is able to call Gamache. No one answers, so she calls police headquarters. They confirm that Gamache has figured out that Mongeau is Fleming; he sent a brief text to report this, but no one has heard from him since.

Since Amelia knows that Mongeau was inside Gamache’s house, she is very afraid of what might be happening. Amelia has also learned that Reine-Marie decided to come back to Three Pines; she interpreted a message from Gamache as an invitation to come back (Mongeau actually lured Gamache into sending the message). Police agents are deployed to Gamache’s house, but Amelia fears that they will arrive too late. Using phone tracking data, Amelia and Harriet see that Gamache’s phone is at the investigation headquarters, so they head there, unaware that the phone was left behind when Fleming abducted Gamache and forced him back to his home.

Back at the house, where Sam, Fleming, and Fiona have taken Jean-Guy’s phone, they see from messages on it that police agents are rushing to the house. This unsettles their plans; Fiona goes to the front of the house to keep an eye out for anyone approaching. Sam urges Fleming to kill Gamache, Reine-Marie, and Jean-Guy immediately, so that they can flee, but Fleming refuses to act until precisely 11:30. Gamache hints to Fleming that there is something Fleming is missing, and Fleming becomes nervous. Sam thinks Gamache could have some kind of incriminating information in his private files in the basement, so Fleming takes Gamache to the basement at knifepoint. Sam stays upstairs, with orders to shoot Reine-Marie and Jean-Guy if anything happens. Down in the basement, Gamache takes advantage of his one opportunity and lunges at Fleming.

Meanwhile, as Harriet and Amelia head in the wrong direction, Fiona waves them down and tells them to go to the Gamache house instead. Though suspicious, they listen to her: “Amelia Choquet, who’d seen terrible people do terrible things on the streets, had also seen acts of immense, immeasurable courage. But which one was this?” (367). As Amelia, Harriet, and Fiona burst in, Sam goes for his gun but Amelia is able to shoot him first. At the same time, Fleming and Gamache are struggling in the basement; Gamache is able to grab a loose brick and strike Fleming in the head, killing him.

Sam is seriously wounded, but survives; he is charged in the murders of Claude Boisfranc and Godin. Fleming is dead, and Gamache does not need to fear him any longer.

In the aftermath of the terrifying events, Gamache, Reine-Marie and Jean-Guy go to the secluded cabin to be with their families and recover. They treasure this time together, safe with their loved ones. Eventually, in early July, Gamache and Reine-Marie return to their home; even though such traumatic events took place there, they still feel safe and peaceful upon their return. The villagers of Three Pines are happy to have them back, but also very curious to have Gamache explain the strange events that took place.

Gamache explains what he has pieced together: In prison, Fleming became obsessed with building an elaborate plan to taunt and torment Gamache and eventually get revenge against him. He dispatched his wife, Sylvie, to look for evidence that could help him. Searching through a local archive, Sylvie found a collection of documents written by Pierre Stone revealing the existence of the hidden room in Myrna’s building. She also happened to show Fleming a photo of the original Paston Treasure, which inspired him to start creating his copy, filled with clues and threats to Gamache. Over time, and with Sylvie’s help, Fleming gradually enacted his terrible plan of escaping from prison, disguising himself as the minister and luring Gamache into finding the room and the painting hidden inside. Gamache also explains that the hidden room was initially bricked up to conceal the grimoire hidden inside; the other items were all added by Fleming much later.

Now that he has recovered from the terrible events, Gamache thanks Amelia again for saving his life and the lives of his family. The moment is especially poignant because Gamache and Amelia have an intertwined history: When Gamache was a small child, both of his parents were killed in a car accident with a drunk driver. The drunk driver would later father Amelia; when he was first deciding whether to help her become a police officer and turn her life around, Gamache was hesitant because he blamed Amelia for being the daughter of the man who killed his parents. He eventually chose forgiveness, which is part of what led to the close bond and loyalty between them.

Gamache also reflects on the role Fiona played in saving him: While she had colluded in the plan with Sam and Fleming, at the last minute, Fiona chose to get help from Harriet and Amelia; if she had not flagged them down, they would have gone to the wrong location, and it would have been too late. Reine-Marie visits Fiona in prison, with the implication that she expresses forgiveness to the troubled young woman.