Gamache startles awake to loud noises but relaxes when he realizes that it is the sound of kids playing hockey. He and Henri run into Ruth and Rosa outside. Ruth tells Gamache that she has the book Dr. Bernard wrote on the quintuplets. She says that Dr. Bernard was self-centered, and it seemed that the parents “basically sold their kids to the government” (136).

In the Longpré house, Gamache asks Jérôme if twins share an amniotic sac. Jérôme remembers studying the Ouellet Quints in medical school. While there were two sets of two babies, one was alone. That baby probably killed and absorbed its twin. Gamache wonders what would have been different about the lone baby later in life. Thinking about Virginie’s death, Gamache thinks that Constance was going to tell Myrna everything about “what really happened in that home” but was killed in the act (140).

As the three friends discuss their predicament, Gamache explains that he wants to create a transmission tower by using one of the tall trees. He has the access code for La Bibliothèque nationale, which the librarian gave him, since they would be discovered if they tried to use their Sûreté logins.