The Beautiful Mystery

Before bed that evening, Beauvoir writes to Annie. He tells her the monks had arrived not just to overhear them, but for evening service, Compline. Gamache also writes to his partner about the investigation and the pain of separation.

Gamache wakes early, pondering how a murderer dedicated to Christian morality might be feeling—does the killer feel vindicated? He likens the disconcerting atmosphere of the abbey to a “fun house” where the occupants have “accepted the distortion as normal” (107).

Gamache returns to the chapel, wondering why the wolf is the order’s symbol and asks himself if the killer is the proverbial wolf endangering the flock. He reads about the order’s founder, Gilbert of Sandringham, singled out for friendship with the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket, who was famously murdered when his relationship with King Henry II of England turned adversarial. Gamache recalls that “Becket […] called his killers ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing.’ T. S. Eliot had written a play about those events. Murder in the Cathedral” (110).

Later that morning, Beauvoir reports that during his morning shower he heard more gossip about a possible second recording. Gamache confirms that all of the monks he spoke to were personally sought by the abbot for the choir. Frère Bernard explains the strength of their commitment to this art form: “Gregorian chants aren’t just music and they’re not just prayer. They’re both, together. The word of God sung in the voice of God. We’d give up our lives for that” (115). The abbot also seeks out monks with practical skills, so finding community members takes many years. For Frère Bernard, the community is like the chant, woven together out of many voices—while human flaws, including sexual and moral scandal, have plagued the church, most of the clergy are truly drawn to service.

Gamache is correct that the recording was a turning point for the community. It began as yet another fundraising effort to maintain the building, but soon the global fame meant the abbot had to beg for privacy. Frère Bernard admits that while the abbot and the prior agreed about the initial recording, they disagreed about the future: Frère Matthieu wanted the monks to go out in the world, to speak, and to discard the tradition of silence. Bernard argues that monastic peace ultimately depends on deference to the abbot as a leader who consults but has final say. The dispute over the recoding challenged this, as the prior’s dissent spread. Bernard is on the abbot’s side. Gamache likens this state of affairs to “A civil war, fought with glances and small gestures. And silence” (124).

At breakfast, Gamache and Beauvoir discuss the monastery conflicts. The abbot was the obstacle to power and fame and his supporters have a motive: “who wouldn’t kill to protect their home?” (127). Gamache then turns to the mystery manuscript found on the prior, and notes that they still have no explanation for it. Gamache plans to explore the building, while Beauvoir wants to interview Frère Antoine, a passionate defender of the prior.

They attend the morning service, Lauds, to watch where the monks go afterward. This might explain where they were on the morning of Frère Mathieu’s death. Gamache watches Frère Luc leave for his tiny room by the porterie door. Beauvoir wonders if his boss is thinking of other young men he has mentored, including agents who died on his watch, as in the recent hostage raid gone horribly wrong. Gamache asks Beauvoir to go visit the porter, a task Beauvoir regards as “babysitting” but knows he “would have burped and diapered the monk, had Gamache asked” (130-31).

Gamache learns more of the history of the Gilbertines. The Gilbertines remained in hiding even from most of the Catholic Church, as the English Reformation dissolved all Catholic monasteries when Anglicanism became the new state religion. Fear of the Inquisition lead to settlement in Canada, hiding from the official church even there. Because of this history, the Gilbertines remain “an order of worriers” (133), used to policing and caring for itself, though the murder proved to be beyond his capacity. Gamache asks the abbot for a map and his daily schedule.

Beauvoir asks Frère Luc how he spends his days. Frère Luc gestures to a large book and explains that it contains all the chants the monks need to know, but Beauvoir’s hope this is the key to the case is dashed when Frère Luc explains all the monks have access and regularly copy it for themselves. Frère Luc insists that the second recording was all but decided, and that he would have been a soloist, much to the consternation of other contenders.