[instrumental music playing]
[indistinct chattering]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Fuck!
[bell rings]
Move!
I know what you've done.
-Hey! -I know what you've done.
-I know. I know... -Come on.
...what you've done.
You all know, don't you?
You're all in on this!
Everyone.
I know your secrets.
Yeah. You're gonna pay for this. This is not over yet.
You hear me? You're all going to pay for this.
-[door closes] -[gasps]
[opening theme music playing]
[sighs]
-Hey. -Hey.
You okay?
I was thinking about when I was a kid.
There were all these birds in our backyard.
Mom had gone. They were all on their own.
Just like you as a child, you were left all alone.
Well, they were dead.
They couldn't survive without her.
-[bird caws] -[Reine-Marie] Maybe you.
There's a part of you that died, too.
That couldn't survive without your parents.
These memories coming back up, I know they're upsetting.
But whatever your subconscious is trying to tell you, it will come.
Don't force it.
You are right.
-[sighs] -[footsteps receding]
Look what we have here, a little squirrel.
You're all still out here.
-We won't stop until we find her. -We already searched this stretch.
It could take a year or more to cover this whole forest.
Be out here the rest of my days if that's what it takes.
It won't take that long.
Kevin said they were pulled up that way on Pine Ridge
and that's where he heard the gunshots.
-Did he say anything else? -[Lacoste] I'm sorry.
-I wish he had. -If he hadn't wound up dead,
he could have pointed us in the right direction.
-There's an ongoing inquiry. -I won't hold my breath.
When we find them, we will get justice.
Right? For Blue, Tommy and Kevin, honey. Okay?
So if your search takes you off Iotenen'tón:ni, you're in SQ jurisdiction.
-You're saying we can't search out there? -No.
No, I'm saying that maybe our search wasn't thorough enough.
-Wow. -I could get you some help.
-I'll talk to my boss. -Okay.
I will hold you to that, Lacoste.
[Bea] Hey, come here!
-You find something? -Come here!
Stay back. Is it them?
-[Lacoste] Go home. -Don't look.
Except for you.
-You stay. -Don't look.
Keep out of here until the scene's cleared.
It might take a couple days.
-Don't look. -I'm going to need backup and an ambulance
just off of Pine Ridge Road, three miles east of Iotenen'tón:ni.
A suspected suicide.
I'll send you the coordinates now.
[Bea] I think you got that wrong.
It doesn't look like suicide.
More than one set of footprints.
-Merci. -No Jean-Guy?
[Gamache] Taking some time with Enid.
I spoke to him yesterday. He sounded cheerful.
They're about to take a ferry across Lake Champlain.
[Lacoste] Sounds fun.
-[Gamache] So, when was he found? -[Lacoste] A couple of hours ago.
He's been dead 10, maybe 12 hours, by the look of it.
-He was found just over there. -Oh.
[camera shutter clicking]
[Gamache] Mmm.
What a place to end a life.
It's so beautiful.
-Did you ever climb trees? -Sure.
Still do with my girls.
These are not the hands of someone who climbed up there. Too clean.
And these thumbprints, they seem more like a manual strangulation than a hanging.
Well, maybe he was strangled and then strung up to look like a suicide?
There's multiple tracks around the tree.
Do we know who he is?
[sighs] No wallet, no cell phone, his pockets were empty.
Get a photo circulated, maybe we can get an ID.
Do you know anything about pine trees?
These needles seem...
unusually long.
Maybe Bea does.
-Been a while, Chief. -[Gamache chuckles]
You keeping well, Bea?
Well as I can.
You know who he is?
No, I'm sorry. I don't.
You know about pines.
-They're all the same here, right? -Yeah, pretty much.
-Mostly red pine. -Hmm.
So what are these ones called with the longer needles?
Those are white pine.
Their bark is paler, and I've seen white pines around here,
but there can't be more than a handful in the whole Pine Ridge.
Mmm. Thank you.
-You want to show me those tracks? -[Lacoste] Sure.
Here.
Any chance these belong to the search party?
No, not from today.
We stopped them all before they got to the tree.
It rained last night, so I'm guessing these were made then.
Show me where they're headed.
[Lacoste] Any word on ID'ing who was driving a patrol car?
[Gamache] I checked.
An SQ traffic cop named Dan Chowski was here
the day Tommy and Blue disappeared.
You know him? No? Me neither.
-When can we talk to him? -Apparently, he's gone AWOL.
-No one's seen him for a week. -Convenient.
I think he was tipped off.
You think the inquiry into Kevin's death is going to get near the truth?
Someone at the Department of Corrections
told me that everything points to a self-administered OD.
Kevin sold black market cigarettes. He wasn't a drug user.
-Chowski must have gotten to him. -No, he wasn't acting alone.
But you, you have to stop blaming yourself for Kevin's death.
Who else should I blame?
I promised him he'd be safe if I took him in.
Hmm.
You really think Tommy and Blue are out here?
It makes sense.
We need to get the Two-Rivers some help.
I think we should go over it again, expand the search area a little wider.
Hmm.
As long as Francoeur doesn't hear about it.
The tracks stop there.
[Lacoste] This is where they disappear. Right here.
[Gamache] What is it with this place?
We're looking for two dead bodies and there's a third hanging from a tree.
[Nichol] So we're looking for a lynch mob?
We're looking for a reason.
It takes a lot for a group to come together to end a man's life.
He must have done something bad.
We got to figure out who he is.
-[knocking on door] -[Clara] Hey, stranger.
-I heard you were back in town. -[Gamache chuckles]
Clara. What a lovely surprise.
Gabri just baked your favourite. They're still warm.
-Is that what I think they are? -Mmm.
[sniffing] Mmm! Thank you. That's very kind.
I presume you know why we are here.
-This might be distressing. Do you mind? -No, of course.
Oh, my God.
[Gamache] Do you know him?
Not by name, but he did some damage in the Bistro last night.
How so?
[Clara] Had a few too many.
He came in spoiling for a fight.
Took Peter and Mike to hold him down.
Do you know where he lived?
He'd only been in town a few days.
He was staying at the B&B.
Let's go.
You mean, like, now?
Okay.
Mmm.
[quacking]
[Gamache] Hi, Ruth.
[Ruth] Assholes.
-[knocks on door] -Angela.
Chief Inspector, what brings you back?
Well, we're here about one of your guests, a gentleman in his 50s.
Arthur Ellis?
-He's the only male guest. -You checked him in?
Yes, on Sunday night, and he checks out next Monday.
-Paid cash for the whole week. -Is that unusual?
Most guests only stay a night or two and nobody pays cash these days.
Did he have any guests? Take anyone up to his room?
Not that I'm aware of.
Do you have any cameras?
Our guests value their privacy.
Did Mr. Ellis say why he was here?
I'm sorry. I don't recall.
He did ask for the quietest room, so he wouldn't be disturbed.
He explained why?
I assumed maybe he has trouble sleeping, or maybe he's just a very private person.
-Is he in some kind of trouble? -Big trouble.
Dead?
How?
-Was it an accident? -No. He was found in the forest. Hanged.
Suicide?
My God, that is awful.
May we see his room?
-It's right at the top, in the loft. -Thank you.
[door opens]
He didn't pack enough for a week. Three days at the most.
Maybe he didn't change his clothes too often.
Some people are pigs.
Pigs don't wear suits outside of work or leave rooms this neat.
No wallet. No cell phone.
Not on him. Not here.
Maybe the killers emptied his pockets before they strung him up?
Have SIJ process the room.
Agent Nichol, did you check the bed thoroughly?
-Yes, sir. Every nook and cranny. -Mm-hmm.
So what is that?
Oh...
It's...
I'm sorry.
"My work is finally done.
"Sometimes vengeance is the only path to peace.
"I know you cannot forgive me, but perhaps you can understand."
That reads like a suicide note.
Can we be wrong?
You've seen suicide notes before.
Shaky handwriting, ink smudged with tears. This is too neat.
Somebody wrote this to stage a suicide.
-Is it true? Is he really dead? -Yeah. I'm sorry.
I can't believe it.
We heard there was some sort of altercation last night.
Ellis was drunk, upsetting my customers, mouthing off.
About what?
None of it made any sense, just drunk and angry.
Who was his anger aimed at?
Anyone in his path.
Path to vengeance...
What?
[cell phone vibrates]
I have to take this.
Get a list of everyone who was at the Bistro last night.
Mmm.
Pierre, at last. I was beginning to worry about you.
I'm sorry. It's been one hell of a week.
Listen. I heard Lacoste found a suicide at the Pine Ridge.
Not a suicide.
-No? -Homicide.
Homicide? Geez.
-Any news on Chowski? -Nothing. I checked with his folks.
They haven't heard from him.
I called all his buddies and I got zip.
You think something's happened?
I think he heard you were asking about him and took off.
That makes him look pretty guilty.
Well, yeah, his work file is clean.
But I did some digging.
There was an incident, he shot an unarmed man during a drug arrest.
The guy survived. Chowski was cleared.
He's trigger-happy.
Could be he got scared his history's going to put him in the frame.
We can't be blindsided here.
Kevin Kis was no angel.
I still think there's a chance he's involved.
I appreciate that, Pierre.
Oh, Kevin said that there were two officers in the car.
Do you know who was riding with Chowski?
No. He was down to ride solo, so...
Maybe it wasn't another cop.
I'll ask around, see what I can find.
Thanks, Pierre.
[doorbell rings]
[in French] We're not open yet.
[in French] Good day, Chief Inspector.
Bonjour.
-[in English] That looks painful. -Oh, it's nothing.
Did it happen last night?
So Mr. Ellis went for you.
One too many tequilas. Comes with the territory.
You get some drunk
who doesn't like the toasted almonds.
Did he object to anything else besides the toasted almonds?
I don't know, he was going on about secrets.
I kind of tuned out after he punched me.
No, I understand.
Thank you.
Wanna come back for lunch? I'll make your favourite.
Mmm.
[door closes]
[in French] Why was Ellis upset with you?
[in French] He was crazy, you saw him.
[in French] I was just the nearest target.
[in French] What was he doing in your office yesterday morning?
[in French] I saw you, I heard you fighting.
[in French] What was it about?
[in French] It was nothing.
[in French] Do you know him?
[in French] Did you know him before he came here?
[in French] He seemed really angry with you--
[in French] What exactly are you accusing me of?
[in French] We've never kept secrets from each other before.
[door closes]
[line ringing]
[voice message in French]
Hi! You've reached Enid. I'm unavailable. Please leave a message. Thank you.
-You know how she got that name. -I don't.
She was at bingo, and she needs I-29...
-I-29... -Shit.
[woman] Let's see what they want.
Sergeant Lacoste called in a favour.
They've got plenty of experience running ground search.
They can look with fresh eyes.
You've got them for two weeks. It's the best I could do.
Appreciate it.
Let's get started.
So what's your name, officer?
-Juliet. -Juliet.
Jean-Guy? How's it going?
We just got back a couple hours ago. She's in the kitchen.
-She's cooking her famous shrimp linguini. -Oh, that's great.
Yeah, well, now that everything is sorted, I think I'm ready to come back to work.
Wonderful. That's wonderful, Jean-Guy.
Okay, well...
-Have a good evening. -You, too.
[Lacoste] This is everyone who was at the Bistro
when Ellis freaked out on Gabri. They all said the same thing.
Ellis was drunk, he told the town he knew their darkest secrets.
They all had the same scripts.
Gabri told me the exact same thing.
[Lacoste] Maybe they got their stories straight together.
Ellis freaks out at the Bistro, threatens to reveal their secrets.
The next day, he's dead.
Which means someone has a secret worth protecting.
And a whole lot of help protecting it.
I can't find an Arthur Ellis matching the description
anywhere in the official records.
Angela mentioned that he paid cash, so maybe he was living under the radar.
Anyway.
Olivier said he had a rental car and I found it parked up the street.
Here's a copy of the rental agreement.
He gave an address in Ottawa.
Handwriting's exactly the same.
Which means Ellis wrote the suicide note himself.
How do you write so neatly under duress?
I'll call Ottawa, get them to look into this address.
Isabelle, when SIJ processed Kevin's place,
they found pine needles under the floorboards, right?
There's pine trees all round Iotenen'tón:ni.
The needles get stuck in the boards.
It'd be tough to find an old house that doesn't have them.
But were they identified? The exact type?
I don't know. I mean, we didn't ask. It didn't feel relevant.
-Is it relevant? -I don't know.
Perhaps.
Could you get them out of evidence? Get them identified.
Sure.
[Myrna reading] "And it was then that she knew, without any doubt at all,
"that they had done the right thing.
"That whatever secrets lay there rotting in the ground beneath their feet,
"that they would disappear altogether in less than 100 years.
"And by that time, no one would even remember his name."
[all chuckling]
If you ask me, she was justified in killing him.
I'd have cut that fucker a new asshole.
[all laughing]
No one is ever justified in the taking of a human life.
After what he did, are you kidding me?
She could have gone to the courts.
Like that always happens.
You have to take matters into your own hands.
I had no idea he was pro-vigilantism when I married him.
You better watch your back after an argument.
Those guys got access to a bunch of sharp knives.
I keep a first aid kit in every room in the house, just in case.
[all laughing]
[in French] You think it's funny?
[in French] To joke about these things?
[in French] You carry on, but I'm leaving.
[in English] Gabri, come on.
[in French] We're just messing with you.
-[in English] Let's just wrap this up. -But we haven't voted yet.
Hands up if you think murder is justified if the circumstances are right.
You're with us, aren't you, Angela?
-Well, I-- -Who cares? It's just a story.
-Don't take it so damn seriously. -So much for fucking sisterhood.
Honestly, I thought the whole premise was kind of lame.
Like every man she meets is a rapist or a psychopath.
-Come on. -You want to hashtag that?
-"Not all men." -Well, yeah, I would--
Guys, come on. What's next month's book, Myrna?
It's biography month, so...
-Hand them around. -Thank you.
-Wow. -Biography, huh?
The Hangman?
[Gamache] Ooh.
[Nichol] I'm stuffed.
-So good. -Yeah, not bad.
I want a deuxieme creme brulee though.
I'm not sure we can eat like that every night.
Chief Inspector! Chief Inspector.
I don't know why I didn't notice before.
Hangman?
[Clara] We're reading it for Book Club next month. Right there.
Maybe it's just a coincidence. But that was his name, wasn't it?
Arthur Ellis, the man you found hanging.
Thank you.
Arthur Ellis was Canada's official executioner.
He hanged people, over 600 of them.
-Are you kidding me? -Listen to this.
Arthur Ellis wasn't his real name, it was a pseudonym.
And he came from a long line of executioners from England.
And his family had been hanging people for over 300 years.
And they knew people feared the executioner.
They wanted the job done, but they didn't want to know the person.
So the family used a pseudonym to protect themselves?
Exactly.
You know, Arthur Ellis was successful until he made a mistake.
In 1935, he guessed a woman's weight wrong.
-She killed him? That's harsh. -[Nichol chuckles]
No, he miscalculated the length of the rope
and took Tommasina Teolis' head clean off.
It caused a huge public outcry, ruined his career.
He died in Montreal three years later. A broken man.
So maybe our Arthur Ellis used the hangman pseudonym too?
To deliver a death penalty to someone who'd wronged him.
"Sometimes vengeance is the only path to peace."
Do you think he tried to get revenge on someone here in Three Pines?
What are you doing, Agent Nichol?
Cat's cradle.
It is hard. It's harder than it looks.
So Ellis came to Three Pines looking for someone, intent on vengeance.
I think the intended victim knew and got to him first.
So we find out who he really is.
-Dig up his past. -And we'll find the killer.
Who must have forced him to write the suicide note.
I think so.
[spits water]
[coughing]
[gagging]
[panting]
[breathing heavily]
-[Gamache] I'm frightened. -Of what?
[in French] My heart?
[in English] I haven't felt like this in a long time.
Tell me.
What are you feeling?
Confused.
Alone.
You're never alone.
Not as long as my heart beats.
[chuckles softly]
You felt this before?
Yeah.
When my parents died.
Hmm.
You know...
What happened to that little boy made him into the man I love.
Your pain, your grief...
It gave you your compassion. It made you fight for others
that have felt it, too. It's who you are.
Do you remember when you were at Cambridge
and I was in Toronto and we used to spend all our money
on long distance phone calls?
[chuckles]
When one of us couldn't sleep and we just left the line open
so we could be there for each other.
Want me to stay with you?
So you can sleep?
I do.
It's cheaper now, so...
[laughing]
It's cheaper now.
Let's do this.
[speaking French] Close your eyes, honey. Sleep.
Sleep, Armand. Sleep.
Sleep.
[man on video] Today I'm going to show you how to identify a pine tree.
Now, there are many species of pines, 115 to be precise.
But by learning a few techniques,
you will be able to distinguish them from other conifers.
-You're up early. -Hmm.
You're looking tired, Chief. Not sleeping so good?
Something like that.
I saw the new installation, the red dresses.
Yeah, each and every one represents a missing Indigenous woman or girl.
It's humbling.
Is that what's keeping you awake at night?
Blue Two-Rivers?
Blue and other things.
Everything's connected, one way or the other.
[Lacoste] Patron.
The pine needles found at Kevin's place, they're white pine.
Are you sure?
-Lab confirmed it. -Excellent.
White pines were probably walked in by the killers of Tommy and Blue,
which means that they're buried near some white pine trees.
That could be anywhere along the ridge.
Except that white pine is unusual in this area.
There's just a handful in this forest.
According to Bea, they're concentrated in this area.
Was this area checked by the search parties?
No.
It wasn't.
Call Arisawe and the others. Let's get them searching the right area.
-Meanwhile, I'll get started. -Okay.
[exhales]
[Gamache] We should call the Two-Rivers.
Isabelle?
Isabelle.
We should call the Two-Rivers.
Stop them before they head back out.
You okay?
[choking up] Any news on the IDs?
Both sets of dental records were a match.
It's Blue and Tommy.
I found more bullets at the scene.
The striations are pretty distinctive.
Police issue.
Ballistics might be able to tell us whose gun they came from.
You still have them?
I didn't think it was wise to hand them
to SQ ballistics until we know who we can trust.
First bullet I found must have killed Tommy.
The pathologist thinks it hit soft tissue, but can't say exactly where.
Blue had a bullet in the back of her skull.
[Lacoste] So she was running away.
[Gamache] She was.
Here we go.
[knock on door]
Is it them?
Oh...
There's no doubt.
[sobs]
Come in.
[sobbing] It's them.
It was them.
Come here, sweety.
Oh, my baby.
So when do we get her back?
Well, there are bullets that need to be analyzed first.
Are those bullets going to tell us which cop killed her?
It's possible that we can trace them back to the gun,
if it's police issue.
Well, I want my granddaughter back so we can lay her to rest.
And after you bring her back to us and Blue's killers are behind bars,
your work is done.
We're going to find who did this to her and we're going to make them pay.
You can count on it.
My baby.
[door closes]
[sobbing]
This was never gonna work out the way we'd hoped.
But you never gave up.
We brought Blue back to them, which is something.
Finding Blue and Tommy is just the start of it.
At least now we've got something to work on,
help us find their killer.
[cell phone vibrating]
Hello.
[Nichol] Lacoste.
The address on the car rental forms was a dud.
But there was a tracker on the car.
It had Ellis driving for two days before he came here.
Kept returning to the same point, an apartment in Ottawa.
Well, I'll ping you the address, okay?
Okay.
-Thanks. -Thank you.
Why don't you check it out, just in case Nichol screws it up?
How long do you think ballistics will take?
I called in a favour.
He's running it through a private lab.
Do you think it'll trace back to Chowski's gun?
I'm sure of it.
[sighs]
[speaking indistinctly]
[sobbing]
[cell phone vibrating]
Isabelle?
His real name is James Hill. He packed up his whole apartment.
He wasn't planning on coming back.
-Did you find anything significant? -He had a family.
He had a wife, a daughter.
His neighbour said he'd been living alone for years.
Maybe the wife left him, took the kid?
And left half of their possessions behind?
Something's not right.
What if the suicide note was genuine?
Perhaps Hill was planning to take his own life before he was murdered.
Maybe. I don't know.
We need to track down his family.
I'll get on it.
How about you? Any news?
I heard from my friend. The bullets are a match.
I didn't want them to email it, so I'm driving back to the city.
He's going to meet me at nine. Can you meet me then?
Yeah, sure. Just text me the address.
See you later. Bye.
[indistinct conversation]
Well?
[sighs]
Based on analysis of bullets fired in other cases,
he traced the markings back to two different guns,
both registered to Sûreté officers.
Shit.
Their names and badge numbers are in here with the report.
Are either of the guns lost or stolen?
What does it say?
"Bullet number one fired from firearm number one
"into male victim, registered to Daniel Chowski.
"Bullet number two and Bullet number three
"fired from firearm number two into female victim, registered--"
Well?
"Firearm two registered to Chief Inspector Pierre Arnot."
-[gunshot] -[gasping]
[closing theme music playing]