The Murder Stone – Part 2
Episode 6 of Three Pines season 1 begins with Gamache attempting to calm Thomas down. He knows the hotel was a lifeline for him and after propping the family up as the firstborn son, and being betrayed by his father – who chose Julia over him – Gamache tries to channel that pain and talk him around. Gamache has seen this before of course with Missy but manages to grab the gun from him and talk Thomas out of committing suicide. All of this harks back to the stag from the picture, which he claims he was unable to kill. So if not him then who did? We shall find out later on, dear readers! Gamache knows Thomas lied about his alibi, and his parents aren’t exactly going to win mum and dad of the year. So what is Richard’s part in all this? Apparently he phoned creditors to ask for more time, and they’re over in Singapore, explaining his late night call. His partner, Sandra, knew nothing about this. Thomas has also deleted his phone logs too, which only added weight to Sandra’s suspicions that he was having an affair. Something he most certainly was not involved with. Meanwhile, Isabelle meets with Kevin at the designated meet spot. Apparently they were close to crossing the border but police showed up and made them step out the car. In doing so, Kevin decided to run, unwilling to face his past felons. He heard three gunshots from afar and believes this could well be the killing shots. Kevin is desperate to go back home but he needs to clear his name in order to do so. He’s convinced that he’s being framed and that the police will take him down. Eventually Kevin leaves, prompting Isabelle to ring Gamache and let him know what’s gone down. Isabelle checks out the nearby gas station and Kevin’s story seems to check out, especially if him being followed is anything to go by. With this ringing around in his head, Inspector Gamache tries to figure out who all the different symbols are in reference to. Through all of this though, it seems Thomas’s alibi checks out. Less credible however, is the note and some of the others in the house too. Thomas still has a good deal of pent-up frustrations with Peter, whom we saw last episode kick over his dad’s ashes at the end of the chapter. He eventually takes off with Thomas’s lucky cufflinks. The pair end up wresting out on the lawn which is just what they need to get their issues out in the open. Thomas and Peter eventually bury the hatchet and hug it out. Back inside the hotel, Jean-Guy stumbles upon a breakthrough. He realizes that Elliot has been using an alias all this time, and along with a bloodied shovel in his closet, notices that on the database he was arrested a few years back for assaulting his girlfriend. The pad by his bedside table confirms he was forging Thomas’ handwriting. However, it’s Agent Nichols who finds Elliot (who’s really Liam) while out and about attempting to escape. Liam confirms that the weapon isn’t his and he has no idea how it got there. Regardless, Gamache decides to take him into the station for questioning. However, something doesn’t sit right with Gamache. Everything seems to go back to this hunting picture and who took it. The thing is, Liam isn’t the real killer, it’s actually Maurice! With his cover blown, Maurice takes Bean as a hostage and threatens her with a knife. It turns out his dad was Charles Morrow but his mother died because he wouldn’t commit to him. He stayed loyal to Charles all this time but he ended up with nothing, unseen by a spoilt family. Maurice is the real firstborn son, and the one who shot the stag as well. However, Maurice was never appreciated by his dad. Julia was the only one who was kind to him and as such, he decided to confide in her and tell the truth out by the statue that night. Unfortunately, her reaction is one of nonchalance and indifference, making Maurice feel like the lonely, neglected boy all over again. Maurice claims he wanted to stop her from laughing so he struck her in the head with a shovel and eventually dropped the statue. He’s also the one who took the hunting picture that the whole family were in too. As the episode closes out, we cut back to Isabelle and Gamache, who show up to see Kevin. He’s gone. In fact, he tries to get out of town but he’s stopped by authorities who show up and arrest him. Gamache and Isabelle rush to the station, where he’s being kept in solitary confinement. And he’s also unconscious in his cell too, foaming at the mouth.
The Episode Review
This week’s Three Pines episode comes to a close with a rather rushed conclusion to the whole case. I can’t help but feel these episodes should have been made feature length and play out as mini movies rather than two-part chapters. Either way though, the final killer reveal is a good one and there’s a solid reasoning behind Maurice’s motives and what he was doing. However, it would have been nice to actually see the aftermath for all of this, with some characters like Sandra and Irene, criminally underdeveloped. Despite all that though, it seems like the next 2 episodes are going to focus more exclusively on the Blue storyline and exactly what happened to her. We’ll have to wait and see if there are any other twists and turns to come, but for now Three Pines rounds out a decent two-part tale with a rather rushed conclusion.
