The Beautiful Mystery

Gamache asks Frère Simon to explain his reticence. At first, Frère Simon lies that the prior’s last words were protected as a sacramental confession but finally admits that he has been protecting the abbot. Gamache asks what Frère Simon thinks the motive was. Frère-Simon explains that the recording ruined everything, including the formerly warm friendship between Frère Mathieu and the abbot. But the abbot as a killer does not explain the scrap of paper—the abbot is not a gifted musician or a Latinist.

Gamache looks for Beauvoir and stops to talk to the monastery doctor, who is making chocolate covered blueberries in the kitchen. He asks the doctor about the state of the community, confirming he also knows nothing about the building foundations. When Gamache asks who was most impacted by the murder, Frère Charles suggests Frère-Luc. The doctor then asks Gamache about his scar. Gamache explains the shooting, unhappy that Beauvoir has been discussing the event with the doctor. Frère-Charles waxes philosophical, suggesting most people lead wounded lives, and the monks were no different before coming to Saint-Gilbert where they found “the joy of singing to God” (277). Gamache briefly wonders if the doctor is the killer, murdering to save the monastery.