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Nichol stared at hi a mistake, sir’

Gamache met her eyes His voice when he spoke was calm, steady, but still Nichol stepped back a half-pace fro You need to leave Now’

Froent Nichol slouched across the bridge, kicking a stone as she went

Gahter without Agent Nichol Ga ht a platter of brownies and date squares for dessert Over coffee and dessert they heard about Monsieur Béliveau

‘He went there to die?’ said Agent Lacoste, putting her brownie down ‘That’s so sad’

Sad There was that word again, thought Gamache Poor, sad Monsieur Béliveau But unexpectedly what carocer but the baby bird Its shriek nified by fear Killed because it wanted company

Then it was Lacoste’s turn to report on her trip to Montreal

‘The school secretary gave me these’ She put two dossiers on the conference table ‘Madeleine and Hazel’s school records I haven’t gone through theend in that school’

Beauvoir reached for the dossiers while Lacoste ducked under the table again and caet out of it, but she also gave me these’ She put the year-books on the table and reached for her brownie again It was rich and ho on the top it had a thick layer of fluffy rilled under the broiler

‘You spoke to Madeleine’s former husband?’ Gamache asked

‘François Favreau wasn’t much help Madeleine was the one who asked for the divorce but he ad badly He also ad with her was like living too close to the sun It was glorious, but painful’

They sat in silence, eating and thinking Lacoste thought about a wo Nichol, Beauvoir about Sophie who probably killed the woht about Icarus

Jean Guy Beauvoir drove while Armand Gamache looked out theand tried not to notice the potholes and ruts and chas in soht his mind back to the case

Sophie Smyth had the ephedra She’d been at the second séance but not the first, which would explain why the s for Madeleine And there was onethat Gamache hadn’t paid attention to, but that further condeed him was how the murderer put the ephedra in Madeleine’s food Clara said Sophie had hurried to take the seat right next to Monsieur Béliveau But that would also put her next to Madeleine Sophie had deliberately seated herself between them