The Nature of the Beast

Gamache and Jean-Guy drive home, speculating about the identity of the unknown fourth individual who was involved in the supergun plot. Possibilities include the CSIS agents, Rosenblatt, or even Al Lepage. They also learn that a major Canadian broadcasting company now knows about the supergun and will run a story about it in a matter of hours. As soon as the gun’s existence is made public, many individuals with bad intentions, including arms dealers and terrorists, will join the race to find the plans. Anyone who locates the plans will effectively possess the means to create a weapon of mass destruction.

Gamache ponders the utility of taking Fleming out of prison to gain more information about the locations of the plans. Jean-Guy finds this idea shocking and counters that Fleming will “kill again. And again” (318). Gamache is distraught over the choice and reveals the grotesque information that has been withheld from the public: that Fleming created a seven-headed “Beast of Babylon” by severing the heads of his seven victims. Even though he is one of the few who knows what Fleming is capable of, Gamache believes that finding the plans is absolutely vital. In a burst of emotion, Jean-Guy suddenly announces that his wife (Gamache’s daughter) is pregnant.