Gamache sipped and chewed. But mostly he watched.
At ten to seven a light went on over at Ben Hadley's place. A few minutes later Daisy could be seen limping around the yard, her tail wagging. Gamache knew from experience the last earthly acts of most dogs was to lick their master and wag their tail. Through the window Gamache could just make out movement in Ben's home as he prepared breakfast.
Gamache waited.
The village stirred and by seven-thirty most homes had come to life. Lucy had been let out of the Morrow home and was wandering around, sniffing. She put her nose in the air, then slowly turned and walked then trotted and finally ran to the trail through the woods that would take her home. Back to her mother. Gamache watched the golden-feathered tail disappear into the maple and cherry forest, and felt his heart break. A few minutes later Clara came out and called Lucy. A single forlorn bark was heard and Gamache watched as Clara went into the woods and returned a moment later, followed slowly by Lucy, her head down and her tail still.
Clara had slept fitfully the night before, waking up every few hours with that sinking feeling that was becoming a companion. Loss. It wasn't the shriek it had been, more a moan in her marrow. She and Peter had spoken again over the dishes while the others sat in the living room, mulling over the possibility Jane had been murdered.
'I'm sorry,' Clara said, a dish towel in her hand, taking the warm, wet plates from Peter's hand. 'I should have told you about my conversation with Gamache.'
'Why didn't you?'
'I don't know.'
'That's not good enough, Clara. Can it be that you don't trust me?'
He searched her face, his icy-blue eyes keen and cold. She knew she should hold him, should tell him how much she loved him and trusted him and needed him. But something held her back. There it was again. A silence between them. Something else unsaid. Is this how it starts? Clara wondered. Those chasms between couples, filled not with comfort and familiarity, but with too much unsaid, and too much said.
Once again her lover closed up. Became stone. Still and cold.
Ben had walked in on them at that moment, and caught them in an act more intimate than sex. Their anger and pain was fully exposed. Ben stammered and stumbled and bumbled and finally left, looking like a child who had walked in on his parents.
That night, after everyone had left, Clara said the things she knew Peter had longed to hear. How much she trusted him and loved him. How sorry she was, and how grateful she was for his patience in the face of her own pain at Jane's death. And she asked for his forgiveness. And he gave it, and they'd held each other until their breathing became deep and even and in sync.
But still, something had been left unsaid.
The next morning Clara rose early, let Lucy out, and made Peter pancakes, maple syrup and bacon. The unexpected smell of cured Canadian bacon, fresh coffee and woodsmoke woke Peter. Lying in bed he resolved to try to move beyond the hard feelings of the day before. Still, it had confirmed for Peter that feelings were too dangerous to expose. He showered, put on clean clothes and his game face, and went downstairs.
'When do you think Yolande'll move in?' Clara asked Peter over breakfast.
'I guess after the will has been read. A few days, maybe a week.'
'I can't believe Jane would leave her home to Yolande, if for no other reason than she knew how much I hate her.'
'Maybe it wasn't about you, Clara.'
Zing. And maybe, thought Clara, he's still pissed off. 'I've been watching Yolande for the last couple of days. She keeps lugging stuff into Jane's place.'
Peter shrugged. He was getting tired of comforting Clara.
'Didn't Jane make a new will?' she tried again.
'I don't remember that.' Peter knew Clara enough to know this was a ruse, an attempt to take his mind off his hurt and to get him on her side. He refused to play.
'No, really,' said Clara. 'I seem to remember when Timmer was diagnosed and knew it was terminal that they both talked about revising their wills. I'm sure Jane and Timmer went off to that notary in Williamsburg. What was her name? You know. The one who just had the baby. She was in my exercise class.'
'If Jane made a new will, the police'll know about it. It's what they do.'
Gamache got up from the bench. He'd seen what he needed to. What he suspected. It was far from conclusive, but it was interesting. Lies always were. Now, before the day swept him up in its imperatives, he wanted to see the blind again. Maybe not climb it, though. He walked across the green, his duck boots leaving prints in the frost-soaked grass. Up the hill he walked, past the old schoolhouse, and then into the woods. Once again he found himself at the foot of the tree. It was pretty obvious from his first, and he hoped only, visit upwards that the blind hadn't been used by the killer. But still…
'Bang. You're dead.'
Gamache swung around, but had recognised the voice an instant after he'd begun to turn.
'You're a sneak, Jean Guy. I'm going to have to put a cow bell on you.'
'Not again.' It wasn't often he could get the drop on the chief. But Beauvoir had begun to worry. Suppose he snuck up on Gamache sometime and he had a heart attack? It would certainly take the fun out of it. But he worried about the Chief Inspector. His rational mind, which normally had the upper hand, knew it was stupid. The Chief Inspector was slightly overweight and he had crested fifty, but that described many people, and most did just fine without Beauvoir's help. But. But the Chief Inspector's job was stressful enough to fell an elephant. And he worked hard. But mostly Jean Guy Beauvoir's feelings couldn't be explained. He just didn't want to lose the Chief Inspector. Gamache clapped him on the shoulder and offered him the last of the cafe au lait from the thermos, but Beauvoir had had breakfast at the B. & B.
'Brunch, you mean.'
'Humm. Eggs Benedict, croissants, homemade jams.' Beauvoir looked at the crumpled paper bag in Gamache's fist. 'It was awful. You're lucky to have missed it. Nichol is still there. She came down after me and sat at a different table. Odd girl.'
'Woman, Jean Guy.'
Beauvoir harrumphed. He hated Gamache's political correctness. Gamache smiled. 'It's not that.' He'd divined the reason for the harrumph. 'Don't you see? She wants us all to see her as a girl, as a child, someone who needs to be treated delicately.'
'If so she's a spoiled child. She gives me the willies.'
'Don't let her get under your skin. She's manipulative and angry. Just treat her like any other agent. That'll drive her nuts.'
'Why's she even with us? She brings nothing.'
'She came up with some very good analysis yesterday that helped convince us Philippe Croft is our killer.'
'True, but she's a dangerous character.'
'Dangerous, Jean Guy?'
'Not physically. She won't take her gun and shoot us all. Probably.'
'Not all. One of us would get her before she finished us all off, I hope.' Gamache smiled.
'I hope it's me. She's dangerous because she's divisive.'
'Yes. That makes sense. I've been thinking about it. When she picked me up at home Sunday morning I was impressed. She was respectful, thoughtful, answered thoroughly when asked a question but didn't impose or need to impress. I really thought we had a winner.'
'She brought you coffee and donuts, didn't she.'
'Brioche, actually. Almost promoted her to Sergeant on the spot.'
'That's how I made Inspector. That eclair put me over the top. But something happened to Nichol between the time she arrived and now,' agreed Beauvoir.