The Beautiful Mystery

As the monks pray, Gamache checks in with Beauvoir, relieved that Beauvoir seems “happier than Gamache had ever seen him. Not the feverish, giddy highs of the addict, but a settled calm” (36). Next, he examines the garden, which has only one entrance in its high walls.

The abbot mourns his dead friend and the intrusions of privacy that are part of a forensic investigation. As he prays, he castigates himself for not seeing that his friend was in danger.

Gamache meets Frère Simon, who found the body. The abbey physician, Frère Charles, saw no one as he and Simon went to the garden together. The doctor knew immediately it was a homicide but has no idea who is responsible. Gamache considers that the vehemence of his denial could be a sign he knows more than he is saying.

Gamache asks Beauvoir to take the prior’s body to the infirmary, and the two discuss the loss: Gamache sees significance in the fact that the victim was the choir director. Gamache notes that the abbot has never tried to blame an outsider—the elderly monk has implicitly accepted that one of the order committed the murder, which seems surprising. The abbot claims he was in the abbey basement, inspecting the heating system, during the murder. He describes his initial shock at seeing the body and admits that he did “consider not calling” for outside support at first (44). In the end, he decided the police would help him fulfill his mission to protect the remaining monks. The monks begin a chant as their dead prior’s body is carried out, and Gamache reflects that the chant’s beauty is marred by the circumstances: One of the singing men is responsible.

While Charbonneau searches for the murder weapon, Gamache prepares to examine Frère Mathieu’s body. He is surprised to find the infirmary is a state of the art facility. The abbot is discomfited by Gamache’s presence, worried that in his search for facts, Gamache will miss the truth. Gamache believes that this kind of philosophical question has no place in an investigation, urging the abbot to wait until “one day you and I can sit in that lovely garden of yours and discuss it” (48).

They find that the prior hid in his sleeve a piece of manuscript that may have medieval chant notation written on it. The monks are baffled as the lyrics allude to parts of the liturgy for a service for the dead, known as a Requiem Mass, but also contain nonsense. Though the musical notation is that of a Gregorian chant, the text contains no psalms. Beauvoir asks about the prior’s general health, and is stunned to learn that the doctor had suggested the older monk join the monastery hockey team. Beauvoir cannot picture religious men playing sports.

Gamache knows that while the body shows no marks, there must be a “trail of smaller wounds, bruises, hurt feelings. Insults and exclusions” to explain the murder (62). He decides that the manuscript page must be significant, as there is no other reason the prior would have held it so tightly at the moment of his death.