White Out – Part 2
CC begins the second episode of Three Pines with a murder. She takes a pillow and smears it with a corrosive substance, killing an old woman in her bed. A creak from the doorway seems to hint that someone ended up watching this take place.
Gamache is trying to figure out how the electrics play into this murder, and it’s possible that Richard Lyons could be responsible. He has a number of patents for electrical inventions, so he could have come up with this electric chair himself.
While Nichols runs a background check on Lyon’s finances, Gamache ends up speaking to Bea about CC’s book, learning that some of the words are from the Bible but a couple of words have been changed. Furthermore, CC seems to have built a whole philosophy around a Christmas ornament, potentially the same one that we saw Crie smash last episode.
According to the coroner’s report, CC’s blood had 20 times the normal dose of niacin. A high enough dose can actually promote hot flushes, explaining why she took off her gloves. This would denote that her drink was spike at the Curling match. Even more bizarre though, there’s no birth certificate in the name of Cecilia de Poitiers. It’s almost as if CC doesn’t exist. If that weren’t enough, CC also lied about her parents’ names too.
Jean-Guy bursts into the room with Saul, who was on the verge of destroying crucial evidence before being tackled to the ground. Once together, Gamache and his team find dozens of photos of Saul and CC together, along with numerous pictures from the curling match. There’s also one of Richard Lyon getting CC her coffee. ..
After the Curling match, Gamache rules out Saul as the killer. He had just broken up with CC and had no motive. Richard, on the other hand, had motive and opportunity. He was in financial dire straits and leaked money which put him in the spotlight. With CC now dead, it solved his family’s finances and put Richard Lyon in the spotlight. ..
Gamache immediately goes on the offensive and confronts Richard Lyon with Jean-Guy. He points out that CC became a bully who liked causing pain and he’s glad she’s gone… but he didn’t kill her. He’s adamant that murder wasn’t on the cards and given he didn’t even know what CC’s real name was either, it seems to add up. ..
CC’s real name was Cecilia Longpre, which seems to suggest that her mother’s name is Emilie Longpre. The same Emilie Longpre we saw glimpses of last episode. ..
When Gamache dives deeper into this, it turns out the lady is actually CC’s aunt. CC’s mother was called Eleanor. El was always troubled and it deepened her depression, having a breakdown and even striking CC as a child. El died in a shelter in Montreal about a year back.Apparently they couldn’t find a cause of death, but it seems this is the scene we saw at the start of the episode.
Gamache is clever and figures out the meaning of this “Be Calm” statement that’s been repeated throughout the past couple of episodes. It’s actually a combination of four names. Bea, Kaye, El and Em. They adapted a psalm, meaning that they weren’t strangers after all. They must have been super close to come up with all of that. “Don’t leave the villgae will you, Bea.” The Inspector finishes. ..
Gamache arrives at Emilie’s place early in the morning to find video footage of her confessing to the crime and doing so to save Crie from CC as she’s a monster. While Jean-Guy puts the evidence in lock-up, Gamache hurries over to try and find Em. Only, she’s out in the freezing cold, almost dying of hypothermia.
Emilie’s story does not hold up to scrutiny; the metal claws on her boots and the fact that someone so close to CC could not have done this indicate that she is covering for someone else. It is possible that Emilie is the real killer who has confessed everything to her.
Gamache shows up at Richard Lyon’s place and speaks to Crie. He susses out that she is the one responsible given she learned what she knew from Richard. It also turns out that Crie was the one who witnessed CC killing her mother in the past, and conspired with her to cover everything up. Police take her away and arrest the girl. ..
Gamache is shocked and helpless as Missy jumps from the roof of the police station. ..
The Episode Review
There are many questions that still need to be answered in the case of CC, and it seems as though the authorities may have been too quick to close it. This doesn’t feel like a typical criminal case, and there must be more to it than meets the eye. We’ll have to wait and see if there are any more developments in this case. ..
It seems like a little too obvious that Crie is the one responsible for this murder, given the elaborate method for setting up this murder, and the whole “unseen” element of the case. Maybe I’ve just watched and read one too many murder mysteries!
Next week’s episode of Three Pines is set to continue with plenty of drama, shocks and thrills. The show has done well so far to set up an eerie atmosphere for itself and the audience is eager to see what will happen next.
