The Nature of the Beast

“It couldn’t be the same man, he thought. It’s a common name. He was seeing ghosts where none existed.”

This quotation describes the moment in which Gamache first begins to suspect that the play could have been authored by a serial killer. Gamache acknowledges that this hunch is unlikely, but it later proves to be true, which shows Gamache’s strong instincts as an investigator. The reference to ghosts also alludes to the fact that the plot is driven by mysteries and secrets from the past.

“We have to face the truth of what we’re doing and why […] we’re demanding that a play not be produced not because it contains anything vile, but because we don’t like the man who wrote it.”

Myrna (one of the residents of Three Pines) says this when the community is discussing the ethics of staging the play after they have learned that it was written by a murderer. Myrna hesitates to conflate artists with their work because she fears that doing so could lead to a wider application of censorship and limit freedom of expression.

“Knowledge wasn’t always power. Sometimes it was crippling.”

This quotation occurs when Gamache reflects on the suffering he must endure because he can never forget the graphic details of Fleming’s crimes. Because of his privileged knowledge, Gamache has a unique awareness of the threat that Fleming poses, and this knowledge influences the decisions he makes during the investigation.