The Cruelest Month

Gamache has been called into Sûreté du Québec headquarters by Superintendent Michel Brébeuf, his oldest friend. Brébeuf asks him, as head of homicide, to look into the death in Three Pines. Gamache is surprised, as the newspaper indicates that the death was caused by a heart attack. Brébeuf shows him the toxicology report, which indicates ephedra, a banned substance. Brébeuf wants Gamache to determine whether it was murder, which means that he will have to go to Three Pines and face the Hadley house again.

Brébeuf also asks if Agent Yvette Nichol, a difficult officer suspected to be sympathetic to Gamache’s enemy, Agent Arnot, will be on Gamache’s investigative team. Gamache is considering it, but Brébeuf tries to dissuade him. Gamache replies that it is time for the Arnot case of the previous two novels to be over. If Nichol is in league with Arnot, he would prefer to keep her close. After Gamache leaves, Brébeuf makes a phone call to an unknown person, revealing that Nichol is not betraying Gamache, but Brébeuf is.

Gamache directs his second in command, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, to drive to Three Pines, where they will investigate the Hadley-house death. Beauvoir, who was on Gamache’s previous investigations, is upset to have to return to the house.

The roads to Three Pines are treacherous because of the spring thaw, and Beauvoir has a difficult time navigating the potholes. When they arrive in Three Pines, Gamache reflects on the comfort and sense of belonging he feels there. He also fears entering the Hadley house and how the Arnot case may impact his work. Gamache feels the impulse to warn Beauvoir about these complications, but restrains himself.

Inside the house, another member of his team, Agent Isabelle Lacoste, is already waiting for them. She shows them the séance scene, with the chairs and candles still set up, characteristic of a Wiccan ritual.

Clara has taken her dog for a walk and returned to the Hadley house. She recalls the night of Madeleine Favreau’s death and the terrifying expression frozen onto the woman’s face. She remembers holding Madeleine’s hands and hearing the flapping of wings. Clara sees Gamache and is surprised, but relieved, to see him. He is happy to see her, too, because he trusts her observations and insights from previous cases. She realizes that if he is there it must mean that Madeleine was murdered. This surprises her, because Madeleine was well-liked in Three Pines.

Beauvoir and Lacoste secure the crime scene and eagerly leave the house. Another agent, Robert Lemieux, arrives. Beauvoir is surprised that he is on the team, but Lemieux was visiting his family nearby and heard about the investigation. They all leave the scene to find Gamache at the bistro.

In the bistro, Gamache is reunited with the community, which he has gotten close to during his previous investigations. Beauvoir and Lemieux join them, and the villagers report what happened the night of the murder. Their retelling is frightening, and they all recall hearing noises and footsteps before Jeanne clapped her hands suddenly and Madeleine fell out of her chair and died.

Gamache continues to question the villagers about Madeleine, this time in more general terms. Myrna tells him that although Hazel and Madeleine lived together, they were not romantically involved. Thinking of the ephedra, Gamache asks if Madeleine lost a lot of weight recently, but they are all surprised. Gamache wants to interview Jeanne Chauvet next, and Olivier tells him that she is a witch.

Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lemieux leave the bistro to seek out Jeanne, who is staying at the bed-and-breakfast. On the way, Gamache asks Lemieux why he is there, as he is not assigned to the case, and is amused by the young officer’s eagerness.

Jeanne is not in her room, and while Beauvoir and Lemieux search for her, Gamache takes a moment to sit and think. Upon returning, Lemieux observes him, wondering if what he has been told about Gamache is true. Gamache orders Lemieux to wait for Jeanne, and he and Beauvoir leave to interview Hazel Smyth. After they leave, Lemieux calls Brébeuf and reports everything he has observed. Brébeuf gives him instructions and reminds him not to be swayed by Gamache’s charm. After he hangs up, Lemieux reflects that he could rise in the ranks because of his work for Brébeuf.

Gamache is surprised by Hazel’s home, which is filled with furniture and clutter. Hazel tells him that she and Madeleine had been school friends and had met up again several years ago. Madeleine had lived with her for the past five years, and Gamache realizes that their friendship was deep and authentic. Hazel tells them about the Good Friday séance, which she did not attend and which no one else had mentioned. She blames Madeleine’s murder on Jeanne Chauvet and reaffirms Olivier’s comment that Jeanne is a witch.

While Gamache examines Madeleine’s bedroom, Beauvoir questions Sophie, Hazel’s daughter. She tells him that while Madeleine was nice at first, that had changed, and that Madeleine “took things” (86). Beauvoir at first thinks that she is talking about possessions, but she means other things. In Madeleine’s room, Gamache finds a book called Paul Hiebert’s Sarah Binks and is amused by it. He takes it with him, and as he is leaving her bedroom sees a picture of Madeleine for the first time.

After they leave, Beauvoir and Gamache discuss Sophie and their sense that Madeleine had replaced her in her own home. Gamache had searched Madeleine’s bedroom and bathroom for ephedra but found none. They decide that she must have been given the ephedra by someone else, which officially makes her case a murder investigation.

Gamache calls Lemieux, and when he finds out that Jeanne has not returned yet, he asks Gabri to give her room key to Lemieux. He instructs Lemieux not to search the room—he wants to make sure that she is not there. Her car is still parked nearby, so they know she has not left Three Pines.

That evening, Gamache calls Brébeuf to update him on the case. After they hang up, he reflects on a change in Brébeuf over recent months, a distance that he doesn’t understand. After the call, he is relieved that Brébeuf sounds like his old self. Brébeuf, on the other hand, is excited that he has finally found the means to destroy Gamache.

Yvette Nichol is getting ready to go to work on Gamache’s investigation. Gamache has asked if she is ready to put their plan, as yet undefined to the reader, into action.

Lacoste needs to go back inside the Hadley house but does not want to go alone and asks Clara and Myrna to go along. They are shocked when she tells them that Madeleine was murdered. Lacoste has asked them to accompany her for a ritual she performs during every murder investigation—she always takes the time to revisit the crime scene and assure the victim that they will find the killer. Gamache knows she does this; in fact, it is one of the reasons she is on his team. However, when they get to the room, the crime-scene tape has been destroyed; the room is open and a dead robin lies in the center of the circle of chairs.

Gamache and Beauvoir meet Nichol at the nearby morgue. Beauvoir does not understand why Gamache likes Nichol. For the first time, they view the body, and even the technician is shocked by the terrified expression frozen on Madeleine’s face.