The Long Way Home

At a nearby bistro, Reine-Marie is having breakfast and watching her husband speak with Clara on the bench. The bistro is run by Olivier and Gabri, who are a couple as well as business partners. She can also see Ruth Zardo, an eccentric and often cranky village woman, with her beloved pet duck, Rosa. Reine-Marie is joined by her friend, Myrna, who owns the village bookstore and is also good friends with Clara. Myrna and Reine-Marie wonder what Gamache and Clara might be talking about. Clara discloses something to Gamache, but the reader is not told what it is. Clara immediately regrets having brought up the subject and tries to tell Gamache that he does not need to do anything. However, Clara can tell that “she had set something in motion” (11).

Later that evening, Reine-Marie and Gamache are hosting a barbecue at their home, joined by friends and neighbors from the village. Most of the villagers are good friends and have warm and often teasing rapports with one another. Clara has come to the gathering but keeps herself apart from the other guests. Clara does not feel as relieved as she had expected, since “in talking about it, Clara had made it real. She’d given form to her fear” (16).

Reine-Marie and Gamache’s daughter, Annie, arrives from Montreal with her husband Jean-Guy Beauvoir. After the party wraps up, Gamache asks to speak to his son-in-law privately. Jean-Guy still works in Homicide Investigations. Annie notices the conversation between her father and husband and asks her mother what is going on.

Myrna abruptly shows up at Clara’s house and wants to know what is going on with her friend. She has noticed that Clara seems withdrawn and worried and has been spending time with Gamache. Annie and her mother talk about their husbands; because of their previous experiences working on criminal investigations, both Gamache and Jean-Guy have gone through dangerous and traumatic experiences. Annie and Reine-Marie are hopeful that the two men are healing, especially now that Gamache has retired and moved to Three Pines. Meanwhile, Gamache confides that he needs help from Jean-Guy.

The story emerges in alternating conversations between Myrna and Clara, and Gamache and Jean-Guy. Clara has been separated from her husband, Peter Morrow, but the two promised that he would come back in one year so that they could reassess their relationship. However, that date has now come and gone. On the date of the anniversary, Clara prepared a nice dinner and waited for her husband, but he never appeared. At first, she was angry but has now become worried.

Jean-Guy and Gamache walk over to Clara’s house together, where Clara is surprised and angry when she realizes that Gamache has told Jean-Guy about her worries for her husband. Gamache is confused, asking why Clara confided in him if she didn’t want his help. Clara snaps at him, telling him to leave her alone, and that “if you’re bored here […] go find someone else’s private life to pillage” (32). Jean-Guy and Gamache leave the house.

The next morning, Reine-Marie and Gamache go for their usual morning walk with their dog and pause at the bench. Reine-Marie asks about Clara, but Gamache says he must keep the information secret, explaining that he was mistaken to have shared it with Jean-Guy. After Reine-Marie leaves, Gamache sits alone on the bench and, in a short time, Clara comes and joins him. Clara apologizes for having been rude the night before and asks him about the book he is reading. It is called The Balm in Gilead, and Gamache confides that he finds it emotionally difficult to read. Gamache asks Clara again if she wants his help with finding Peter, and she admits that she does. Gamache agrees, even though he is hesitant to return to investigating. Gamache “did not want to be brave. Not anymore. Now all he wanted was to be at peace” (41). Gamache also confirms with Clara that it is okay for the rest of the village to know that they will be trying to find Peter.

Jean-Guy and Gamache meet with Clara and Myrna to begin the investigation. Clara describes how her marriage fell on hard times. She and Peter are both artists, and Peter was initially quite successful, while Clara was relatively unknown. However, a few years ago, Clara began painting striking portraits, and her career started to take off. Gamache, who has often been impressed with her paintings, observes that “Clara’s creations were filled with [joy]. The pure joy of creation. Of striving. Of striding forward. Searching. Exploring. Pushing” (44).

Peter was noticeably jealous and uncomfortable with his wife’s success, especially since his reputation was declining. Gamache looks at some of Peter’s paintings and thinks to himself that the works are technically skilled but ultimately uninteresting. Clara and Peter’s relationship became increasingly unhappy and, the previous summer, they got into an extended argument after Clara’s first solo exhibit (marking a huge achievement in her career). Peter explained that he was less jealous of Clara’s artistic success than of her capacity to feel emotion and connection to others. He has never been able to feel those things, and he believes that lack made his art ultimately uninspiring.

Clara told Peter that he had to leave, and they made a plan (including a specific date) for him to return one year later. Clara doesn’t know where Peter went when he left their home. His family lives in Montreal, but they have a strained relationship, so it seems unlikely that Peter went to them. Because of Clara’s distaste for Peter’s family, she has not yet contacted them, and she doesn’t have any idea of places Peter might have been likely to visit. 

Gamache goes to Montreal to visit the home of Irene Morrow, Peter’s mother, and her second husband Bert Finney. Irene seems surprised that Gamache is asking her about her son since, to her knowledge, Peter has been in Three Pines with Clara all this time. Gamache hedges, and discloses only that Peter has left on a trip without saying where he was going. Irene immediately assumes that Peter has left Clara and that Clara has hired Gamache to track him down. Irene dislikes her daughter-in-law and blames Clara for ruining Peter’s career by forcing him to live in the tiny and isolated village of Three Pines. As Irene explains “an artist needs stimulation, support. She knew that, and she took him as far from culture as she could” (56).

Irene has no interest in helping Gamache find Peter. She reveals her cruelty by taunting Gamache about the traumatic circumstances that led to his departure from the police force. He was shot by a fellow officer and shot and killed someone in turn. As Gamache leaves, Bert seems to express a more genuine concern about his stepson, but he has no useful information to offer. Gamache goes to meet Jean-Guy for lunch. 

Jean-Guy and Gamache eat lunch while the former shares what he has learned from reviewing Peter’s credit cards and bank activity. After Peter first moved out of his home, he spent a week at a hotel in Montreal and then flew to Paris. He stayed there for several months, first in a hotel and then in a rented apartment. From there, he moved on to Italy, then Scotland, and from there he returned to Canada. Peter stayed first in Toronto and then moved to Quebec City. The last activity on Peter’s account was recorded in Quebec City four months ago (in April). After that, nothing can be found.

Back at Three Pines, Jean-Guy and Gamache meet with Clara and Myrna. Clara seems unsurprised by the record of her husband’s movements until she hears that Peter went to Scotland. More specifically, he visited the small town of Dumfries. The group wonders what could have motivated Peter’s choice of locations. When Clara hears that the last record of Peter’s activity took place in Quebec City, she plans to go, hoping he might still be there. Gamache explains that investigators are already looking for him and suggests that Clara go instead to Toronto, where Peter’s brother and sister live. He wants to know if they saw Peter during his time in Toronto and thinks Clara has the best chance of getting at the truth, since “you’ll know if they are lying to you” (67). Clara agrees to leave the next day, and Myrna offers to accompany her.