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All eyes turned to Hazel

‘According to the yearbooks, you were a fine basketball player, Hazel, but Mad was better She was the captain Always the captain You were on the debating team, but Mad was the captain’

He picked up the yearbook and found their grad pictures

‘She never got raph, then closed the book ‘Never got ry, but itmore, didn’t it?’

Hazel’s eyes were on her hands

‘She never got Madeleine Never caught up And never understood Never "got it" Kept trying and kept failing, because you started seeing it as a coed by a best friend as slightly better at everything Once high school was out you broke away and the friendship faded But years later, after a bout of breast cancer, Madeleine wanted to find old friends By then you’d ood life for yourself A hter Friends A potential romance You were involved in the ACW But you’d learned so in Montreal a colleague said so to me It was about…’ Gamache hesitated for a moain, deep, co in the weak, the waste, the people no one else wanted So that he’d always be better than theo He knew that wasn’t true Not that he didn’t have an ego, but he knew that the people on his teaain

But still Francoeur’s accusation had resonated Driving back to Three Pines it clicked It wasn’t the Arnot case It was this case It was Hazel

‘You surround yourself with people who are wounded, handicapped in some way Needy You befriend people who are sick, or in bad es, alcoholics, the obese, the troubled Because it makes you feel superior You’re kind to the way Did you ever hear Hazel refer to anyone other than "Poor" so-and-so?’

They looked at each other and shook their heads It was true Poor Sophie, Poor Mrs Blanchard, Poor Monsieur Béliveau

‘The near enemy,’ said Myrna

‘Exactly Pity for coht you were a saint but it served a purpose for you Made you feel needed and better than all the people you helped When you ain she was still ill You liked that Meant you could nurse her, look after her Be in charge She was sick and needy and you weren’t But then she did soot better Better than ever A Madeleine not only shiny and bright and alive, but full of gratitude and the desire to grab life But the life she grabbed was yours Little by little she was taking over again Your friends, your job at the ACW You could see it coround And then Madeleine crossed the line She took the two things you cherished hter and Monsieur Béliveau Both turned their attentions to her Your ene off your plates and feeding off your life’