The Cruelest Month

Clara cannot stop thinking about the dead robin. They had all known there was a bird trapped in the house, and yet had let their imaginations run away and had not helped the bird escape. After she, Myrna, and Lacoste leave the house, she goes to Myrna’s house for breakfast, and Peter joins them. He shows them the newspaper containing an article that implies that Gamache is corrupt.

Jeanne has returned to the bed-and-breakfast, and Gabri phones Gamache to tell him. Gamache asks Gabri to make sure she does not check out before he can talk to her. Gabri stations himself at the front desk to make sure she does not leave and notices a browser window open on his computer with information about ephedra.

Clara, Peter, and Myrna reflect on what they remember of the Arnot case five years ago. It was before they knew Gamache personally, and they remember how he and Brébeuf had been singled out as traitors and torn apart by Arnot’s defense team. Myrna, a retired psychologist, asserts that Arnot is a psychopath and reminds them of his crimes. Olivier calls Clara, and she asks Peter and Myrna if they have ever heard of ephedra.

Beauvoir assigns Nichol to investigate ephedra further, while Lemieux will go with Gamache and Beauvoir. She is upset about the change, but when left alone at headquarters finally answers her phone, which has been ringing all morning. She tells her father that she is not with Gamache. He assumes she has done something wrong and reminds her that there is too much at stake for her to make a mistake.

Gamache, Lemieux, and Beauvoir are at the bistro when they overhear people talking about ephedra. Lemieux admits that he had done his research on Gabri’s computer and may have forgotten to close the browser window when he was done. Beauvoir and Gamache are angry, but he sees that Gamache will forgive him and realizes that Brébeuf’s plan had been a good one. By purposely leaking the information and then apologizing, he has gotten closer to Gamache by making himself one of Gamache’s causes, like Nichol. He begins dreaming of promotions from Brébeuf.

When Gamache reveals his intention to interview Jeanne, Beauvoir wants to come with him. He believes that Gamache’s openness and his spiritual beliefs will make him susceptible to Jeanne. Gamache refuses, and Beauvoir thinks that Gamache’s pride will be his downfall.

Gamache interviews Jeanne, who confirms that she is Wiccan. She asks if they could talk while on a walk, maybe to the chapel, as the spring day is warm. She explains that Wiccans use séances to heal, not contact the dead, and that they are usually a quiet, gentle experience. She is distracted by the sight of Ruth, walking on the village green, quacking.

Beauvoir goes to St-Rémy to interview Odile at her organic shop. When he tells her that Madeleine was given ephedra, she is more surprised by the method than the fact of the murder itself. Beauvoir wonders why. She shows him the furniture they have for sale, made from wood that Gilles finds in the forest.

Lemieux interviews Monsieur Béliveau at his grocery store in Three Pines. Béliveau is in love with Madeleine, which surprises Lemieux, as the man is at least 20 years older. He wonders if Madeleine returned the love, or if the man killed her due to rejection.

Lemieux remembers the advice that Gamache had given him about listening when he interviews. Gamache had offered Lemieux “four statements that lead to wisdom” (130), and when Lemieux shows them to Brébeuf later, the other man is shaken. The advice had been given to them when they first joined the Sûreté, and Brébeuf had forgotten. Now, while interviewing Béliveau, Lemieux remembers Gamache’s advice, but part of his mind is preoccupied with his career. Myrna interrupts their interview to buy a newspaper and shows them the article about Gamache.

Beauvoir is interviewing Gilles in the woods near Three Pines. He is surprised that Madeleine’s death was murder but blames Jeanne. Gilles tells Beauvoir that he can hear trees speaking but, when Beauvoir asks, will not tell him what they say. Gilles also admits that he is in love with Madeleine. Beauvoir realizes that Odile could have a motive for murder if she is aware of Gilles’s love for Madeleine.

Gamache, Jeanne, and others watch Ruth lead her two hatched ducklings around the village green. Jeanne is astonished when Gamache tells her that Ruth is Ruth Zardo, a famous poet. She is thrilled, as Ruth is well-respected in her Wiccan community. She and Gamache sit in the chapel, where he tells her that the three pines in the village green were a sign to people fleeing the Revolutionary War that they were safe. She tells him about the first séance and the tension she had felt between Gilles and Monsieur Béliveau. She also believes that Monsieur Béliveau is hiding something.

Gilles describes Madeleine’s death for Beauvoir, and then he and Beauvoir talk about his work crafting furniture. Gilles was formerly a lumberjack until he started hearing the trees speaking, so he quit his job and began making furniture from deadfall that he salvaged from the forest. Then Gilles shocks Beauvoir by showing him the newspaper article about Gamache.

Beauvoir finds Gamache and Jeanne in the chapel, and when she asks if he believes in spirits, he is contemptuous until Gamache reprimands him. After Jeanne leaves, he shows Gamache the newspaper. When Gamache sees the article, he has a new understanding of the mystery surrounding his relationship with the Sûreté. However, he brushes it aside and asks Beauvoir about his interview with Gilles.

In the incident room, Gamache watches his team eating lunch and worries about whether Nichol can contribute to the case. Then he reflects that she is there for another reason, which he must keep secret. He addresses and dismisses the article with his team. They, however, are worried about who placed the article and whether it will hurt their investigation.

While they discuss the case, Nichol disagrees with Gamache again, and he pulls her aside. The team watches through the window as Gamache dismisses her, but he then tells Beauvoir she will be accompanying them that day. Beauvoir still does not understand why Nichol is there. They discuss Lacoste’s investigation into Madeleine, who was well-liked everywhere and successful at everything she attempted. She married, then divorced after her cancer diagnosis before she moved to Three Pines. During the conversation, Beauvoir thinks that Nichol must have been planted by Sûreté officers loyal to Arnot and that Gamache has decided to keep her on to observe her and to protect the rest of them.

Clara has been working on her painting but still does not feel right. She is irritated when Peter interrupts her, but he pulls her to their front window, which looks out on the village green. Ruth is walking home with her groceries, followed by her two ducklings. Clara also sees Beauvoir confronting Gamache about the newspaper article. He doesn’t understand why Gamache is not upset until Gamache tells him that he expected this. He believes that the articles are from someone bent on revenge. He thinks it is Arnot, or someone loyal to him, but only has suspicions. Beauvoir voices his own suspicions that Nichol is working for Arnot, but Gamache says nothing.

Beauvoir and Nichol return to Hazel’s house. She makes tea for them, and Beauvoir takes a tray upstairs to Sophie, who has hurt her ankle, in order to question her again. She admits that she had gone to Queens University because Madeleine had gone to Queens and that she loved Madeleine. However, she soon comes to believe that Madeleine had arranged it purposely, to prevent her from coming home often and to have Hazel to herself.

Gamache, Lacoste, and Lemieux return to the Hadley house to examine the crime scene. The only thing that has changed in the room is the dead robin, and Gamache cannot understand why someone has broken in.

While Beauvoir is interviewing Sophie, Nichol is downstairs with Hazel. She finds an open yearbook, which Hazel takes away from her. When Beauvoir asks her why she did not attend the first séance, she says that it felt wrong to do it on Good Friday. In the end, she agrees to let them take the yearbook.