Mystery of Perception and Transformation

Penny studies the mystery of perception and transformation as she demonstrates how a different perception can change one’s opinion of everything from a murder plot to a painting. Because Massey is outwardly nice to the people who visit him, they never suspect that he is the one guilty of murder until it is almost too late. Peter’s paintings appear to convey different messages depending on the way they are oriented. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation challenges the mind to discern between the natural and man made with hares transforming into stone and back to living creatures.

Gamache has to admit at the end of the novel that he was so blinded by his perception of Massey as a kind old man and Norman as the crazy artist that he never considered that it was Massey who was responsible for the...