Still Life

Beauvoir and Gamache are stunned to see every inch of wall and ceiling in Jane’s living room covered with bright, tacky wallpaper and the floor painted pink. The rest of the house is similarly decorated, either with wallpaper or bright, painted-on colors that clash. They note a lack of paintings on the walls, nor do they find any easels for Jane to create her art.

The next morning, Gamache meets with his team. Nichol, who tries to mollify Gamache with an éclair, is annoyed when he asks about her research into Jane’s will. She gives evasive answers. Wanting to teach Nichol a lesson, Gamache takes her with him to see Ruth. He asks Ruth whether Jane ever knew that she told her parents about her engagement, and she says no. Gamache asks whether Timmer ever confronted Ruth about it, and Ruth reveals that Timmer did so on the day she died. During the interview, Nichol uses Ruth’s bathroom and is confused when she sees a sign in the mirror reading, “You’re looking at the problem” (239), thinking it must refer to an object visible in the mirror’s background (239).

Gamache, Beauvoir, Ruth, Clara, and Peter meet with the notary Clara contacted. She informs them that Jane’s latest will, made earlier that year, leaves her money and home to Clara, with a provision for a few friends to select and keep one item each.

Seeing Jane’s living room for the first time, Clara laughs in spite of herself. She, Gamache, and the others scour the room for something that might explain why Jane never let them see it but find nothing to answer the question. When Gamache recalls that Yolande said she decorated in Jane’s home, he realizes that she put up the wallpaper. Peeling back some of it, they recognize Jane’s drawings underneath. Peter and Clara begin to remove the paint and wallpaper. Ben comes to help, and they work until late in the night. The next day, they continue, slowly revealing more of Jane’s work. Clara is disappointed to see how slowly Ben proceeds. That night, Gamache returns and recognizes Jane’s art as a pictorial history of Three Pines and the people who live there.

Clara delivers an envelope addressed to Yolande that Jane left with the notary. Yolande swears and insults her. When Clara asks why Yolande covered Jane’s drawings, Yolande explains that Jane’s family was ashamed of her art and prevented her from studying art. Jane told Yolande she would be welcome back if she would apologize. For the first time, Clara stands up to Yolande and calls her “a stupid, stupid woman” (252). After Clara leaves, Yolande opens the envelope, sees a Queen of Hearts, decides that it is not the same card she knew in childhood, and throws it on the fire.

On Tuesday morning, Gamache and his team review the list of suspects. They consider whether Peter and Clara would kill Jane for her money, whether Ben Hadley had any motive, and whether Ruth, possibly with help from André, would kill Jane to keep Ruth’s involvement in the breakup of Jane’s engagement secret.

In her art studio, Clara considers the wooden box, now mounted on stilts and linked in her mind with the blind in the woods. Dissatisfied, she goes to remove more wallpaper at Jane’s house, where she finds Ben, Ruth, and Gamache. At first, Ruth is not impressed, but when Clara shows her Jane’s depiction of Ruth as a child, Ruth recites the poem “Jenny Kiss’d Me” by Leigh Hunt. She recalls that Jane welcomed her with a kiss when she first arrived in Three Pines as a frightened schoolgirl.

Beauvoir and Lacoste search Yolande and André’s home. Lacoste gathers evidence from Bernard’s room, while Beauvoir finds Jane’s rough, yearly sketches of the county fair in Yolande’s room. Under pressure, André and Yolande reveal that they took the sketches, repulsive as they found them, with the intention of selling them back to Jane’s friends.

Cleared of all charges, Mr. Croft returns home, still hurt by Philippe’s now-withdrawn allegations of abuse. Entering Philippe’s room, he expresses his love and asks what he did to make Philippe angry. Philippe considers telling him something but withdraws and turns away. Gamache takes lunch at the bistro, where he learns that Clara intends to hold the post-exhibit party as Jane originally planned.

Lacoste prepares a report on her meeting with Timmer’s doctor, who admitted the possibility that she was killed by an overdose of morphine. On her way to the bistro, Bernard accosts her, demands that she return the item she found in his room, and says it doesn’t belong to him. He leaves when he sees someone approaching. Lacoste describes the incident and shares her findings with Gamache.

Shortly before three o’clock the next morning, Nichol wakes Gamache to tell him that a light just turned on in Jane’s home. Leaving Nichol behind, Gamache and Beauvoir enter silently to find Ben and Clara in the living room. Clara explains that she came over when she noticed the light on. Ben explains that he got up early to do extra work in the house, wanting to surprise Clara.