Gamache and the others drive with Marcel to his house near a river, somewhat outside of the main town. As the group chats over dinner, Gamache asks Marcel whether Noman’s group struck him as cult-like when he visited. Gamache notices the lack of detail Marcel provides about the group and the fact that he did not seem to show any curiosity about their art. Jean-Guy abruptly realizes that he asked the server, but not the bartender, where Vachon goes on his trip, and he hurries off to phone the bartender. Meanwhile, Gamache phones Ruth, talking with her about how she has long known that Peter did not have the courage to live up to his artistic potential and must have been tormented by watching the success of his wife. As Ruth brutally summarizes, “Some are born to be brilliant. Peter was. But he just couldn’t get there” (277).

As Jean-Guy is trying to reach the bartender, Gamache gets a call from Reine-Marie, who has heard from the college. They could not find Norman’s file, but it turned out that one of their staff had pulled it at the request of someone else a few months ago. Gamache and Reine-Marie surmise that Peter may have gone to Toronto, requested the file, and then waited there while they looked for it.