In the flashback narrative, Jean-Guy is outraged and confused as to why Gamache let the agents go. After securing a search warrant for Dagenais’s home, Jean-Guy and Gamache drive there but wait outside. Within a few minutes, one of the agents arrives and hurries inside. Gamache explains his plan: He knows that any evidence about the abuse of the children is very well hidden, but they can now follow the agent, whom he assumes will hurry to destroy this evidence. Leaving Jean-Guy outside, Gamache follows the agent to the hiding place, and after a struggle, he is able to secure a notebook that contains the records Clotilde has kept of the “clients” who visited her home in order to have sex with her children.

With this evidence in hand, Gamache is now able to arrest all of the agents, along with a few other agents who are not at work that day. Throughout the experience, he has been deeply impressed by Jean-Guy’s courage, loyalty, and sharp instincts.

The flashback narrative continues, and the investigation seems to be wrapping up. The coroner confirms that while Clotilde had many drugs in her system at the time of her death, the cause of death was a blow to her head (as Jean-Guy observed, likely from a brick).