The Hangman by Louise Penny Read Free Book Online

or a young person or an older person? Doesn’t exactly narrow it down.”
    “No,” admitted Gamache. “But this does.”
    From the file he took a slim piece of paper and read.
If you are reading this, my body has been found. I am sorry. I hope the discovery did not upset anyone. I tried to go as far away as possible so that no children would find me.
My work is finally done. I am tired, but I am at peace. Finally.
I know you cannot forgive me, but perhaps you can understand.
    “I wondered why it wasn’t addressed to anyone. Some suicide letters aren’t signed. But most are at least addressed to someone. This man had no one to write to. No family. But he did want people to know that it was over. And that’s the key.”
    Gamache put the note on the coffee table, next to the cookies.
    “ My work is finally done ,” he quoted. “What did he mean by that?”
    “That he’d killed the last person from that truck, obviously,” said Paul.
    “Exactly.” Gamache turned to him.
    There was silence in the room. Every eye was on the chief inspector.
    “I am arresting you for the murder of James Hill,” he said. He stepped forward, as did Inspector Beauvoir. Just in time to catch Angela and Mike as they tried to flee.

Chapter Thirteen

    Armand Gamache swirled the scotch in his glass. Around the table sat Dominique, Myrna, and Gabri.
    “How did you know?” Dominique asked.
    “It was really the only answer. They were the right age...”
    “But a lot of people were the right age,” Myrna interrupted.
    “True. But there was something else,” said Gamache. “His work was done. He planned to kill himself. He had no reason to live.”
    They thought about that while Gamache waited. Finally, Gabri lowered his beer and smiled, but without humour. His sad smile did not reach his eyes.
    “His work was done because he had found, not one, but two,” said Gabri. “He’d found the last two kids from the pickup.”
    Gamache nodded.
    “Angela and Mike had moved away and married. When they learned what had happened to their two friends, they realized that the killer would be after them. So they changed their names and moved here. Working for cash, so there’d be less of a trail.”
    “How did James Hill find them?” Myrna asked, taking a fistful of nuts.
    “His job at the Department of Records. He knew they’d married. But there were no records after that. They disappeared. Then Mike made a mistake. He applied for a social insurance number using his old name. He needed it to get the money left to him in his parents’ will.”
    “The SIN number,” said Dominique. “Ironic.”
    “James Hill knew Mike was somewhere in the area,” said Gamache. “But he didn’t know where. He booked into the Inn and Spa and started looking.”
    “Not realizing that Mike was right there,” said Dominique. “Didn’t he recognize him?”
    “Would you?” asked Gabri. “A guy changes a lot from sixteen to thirty-six. Except me, of course.”
    “Of course,” said Myrna, rolling her eyes.
    “James Hill did not recognize either of them,” said Gamache. “But they recognized him immediately. He’d been in his late twenties when the accident happened. He’d have aged, but not changed all that much. They realized Hill had probably killed their friends, which was why they had changed their names and moved to this tiny village. And they kept alert, watching for Hill. In case he ever found them.”
    “What a terrible life,” said Myrna.
    “When James Hill checked into the Inn and Spa, Angela recognized him and told Mike. They decided to act, before Hill could. They’re claiming self-defence.”
    “But why did they hang him?” asked Myrna. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just knock him on the head?”
    “They had to make it look like suicide. Angela had searched Hill’s room while he was in Three Pines and found his suicide note. Angela had been friendly with him. Then last night shementioned that something was wrong with her