The Nature of the Beast (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #11)

by Louise Penny

go of a bit of the unbearable pain. The guilt

few more miles before she got up the

was found. If the plans had been there, the killer would have started sending out feelers, looking for buyers. Setting up an auction.” “How do you know he hasn’t?” It was just the two of them and the real Mary Fraser was beginning to appear, seeping out from the ladder in the stocking, the undyed roots of her hair, the clotted mascara. The file clerk was receding. But then, the real Armand Gamache was also appearing. The kindly retired cop was receding. She gave him a patient smile. “We know.” “You don’t know everything. You didn’t know about the gun.” But even as he said it he wondered if that was true. “We knew Dr. Bull was working on it, of course, but not that he’d actually built it. That came as a surprise.” “An unpleasant one, I’m guessing.” “Well, not necessarily. After all, we now have the world’s only Supergun. It might come in handy.” “Until another one’s built,” said Gamache. “Where are the plans?” “Nowhere. They were destroyed by Gerald Bull.” “Then why are you so worried?” “I’m not.” “Then why are you still here?” he asked.